Hi, an agent asked me for a full manuscript, however he has had it for 6 weeks now and still I have not received any answer. I know that as of two weeks ago he hasn't had a chance to read it (he emailed me). How long should I be waiting for a response. Should it be soon or what. I have no idea what to do (send an enquiring email or remain silent).
This is stressing me out even more because I will be moving house within the next week and half the contact information on my submission will be wrong. Any ideas on what I should do about this?
Please help, and thanks for any responses :)
I'd council simply waiting. Its only been a couple of weeks, it's really not a very long time.
Also if your communication has been by email, your moving should not really effect any response. They are unlikely to send snail mail when already in email communication.
I do sympathise though!
I would go with the above. Send them a polite email stating your new address and home telephone number. This would bring your name and record to the forefront of their mind and could trigger them to respond to you about your work.
Good luck with your move and your book.
Do not call him.
For the love of everything DO NOT SEND HIM MAURICE'S LETTER. Also, do not write to agents to ask them why they turned you down. If they want to give you feedback, they will. If you want feedback, get your wallet out and head towards Cornerstones or The Writers Workshop.
Before I send anything to agents, I imagine *I've* received it from a gentleman admirer. If a gentleman admirer asked me whether he was not to my taste ... well. Things would end swearily.
The standard wait time is between 3 and 6 months. When he emailed it before, had you been in touch? If so, I would be cautious about getting in touch with him again. As has been said, he works for his existing clients, not you (yet).
If you do need to send a nudge email, something like:
Dear SuperBloke,
Thankyou for requesting MYBOOKTITLE on DATE. I'm emailing just to check in to see if you're still considering it.
Yours etc
Me.
(Lifted from agent Janet Reid's response here: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=251906 )