Comments on: When To Call an Agent

By: webpage

webpage — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:42:05 +0000

By: Andrew Pelt

Andrew Pelt — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 14:58:20 +0000

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By: Don Weston

Don Weston — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:48:13 +0000

Thanks for the timely tip. I met with an agent at a conference last year and she gave me her card and announced we were friends. I think she said to call her when my revisions were done, but I was not sure.
I planned on emailing her anyway, but its good to know the rule.

By: Otin

Otin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:32:09 +0000

I have an agent but I’ve never talked to her. lol

By: Peter DeHaan

Peter DeHaan — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:51:32 +0000

In general I prefer email. I can send, read, and respond to messages outside of business hours, there is a record of what was communicated, and it eliminates phone tag.

However, for complex communications or those email exchanges that keep going on and on, I prefer to pick up the phone and get resolve quickly things.

By: Sherrie

Sherrie — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:29:52 +0000

I have a question related to sending (via Airmail) the first ten pages of my ms. It has been two years since the agent requested I send them when my ms is “finished & polished”. How ill they know that this is a legitimate request? Is there something I can write on the envelope that tells them that?
Also, how long do you think it will take for them to get back to me?
Is there a name for this, like 2nd request? Or something? I am also trying to figure out what the letter should say since they also requested a synopsis. Maybe the letter could just be short and sweet? Or maybe it should be a modified version of the query?
Thank you for any advice you can offer me. I must admit I’m a lot more nervous than I thought I’d be.
Sherrie Miranda

By: Allison Brennan

Allison Brennan — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:46:50 +0000

I agree, though there are some exceptions. When I was on an agent hunt, with 14 published books behind me, I emailed my top agent choices and asked to set up a phone call. (I had a couple pubbed friends who said I should just call, but I didn’t feel comfortable doing that.) One agent didn’t get back to me yeah or nay, and I really wanted to talk to that person, so I called the phone number on the website and left a message about why I was calling. She called me back the next day.

I much prefer email. I still email first to set up chatting time with my agent and/or editor even though I know I could call them and they’d talk to me. But I also want their undivided attention so prefer if they’re expecting the call. If I call without an email first, it’s always something urgent and time-sensitive.

@Kristi — I agree with the agent. This exact thing happened to me, too–I had offer, emailed the other agents considering, but all of them got back to me. What I didn’t do was email/call agents I queried. After I sold, TWO agents emailed me saying they wanted to read my full manuscript (this was after 3+ months they’d sat on the query + 3 chapters.)

By: Kristi Dosh

Kristi Dosh — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:33:36 +0000

I was told by an agent that I should have called when I was submitting to her after receiving an offer from another agent. Although I specified that I had an offer in the subject of my query to her, it was weeks before she saw the email – past my deadline for making a decision. She said I should have called and let her assistant know I was sending a query and already had an offer so they could be on the lookout. Not sure if other agents would want a call in this situation though.

By: Brianna

Brianna — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:05:50 +0000

I dislike talking on the phone, so if there’s another way for me to communicate, I will. However, part of both of my jobs involves talking on the phone. I’m getting better about making and taking phone calls.

By: Jill

Jill — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:33:33 +0000

It’s always good to advertise this. I say this because I remember, a long while back when Nathan Bradford was still an agent, a snafu over a writer coming personally to his *gasp* business office (not his home, as I realize other agents work from home). I couldn’t understand the horror of a person going to a business office. I would never do anything like this–I wouldn’t call a business that I don’t have legitimate business with, or show up w/o an appointment, but not everybody has my same lack of confidence or sense of politeness. So it’s best to be upfront, rather than snarky after the fact.

By: Janet

Janet — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:29:04 +0000

Initial contact: Email.

Now, I have had an agent reply to my email saying that she would like to set up a time to chat on the phone. I responded that I would love to know when she would be available to take my call and also provided my cell phone number. I never got a call – no email response, either. So, I found myself in a quandry: Should I call? Should I wait for her to call? Should I email again?

More than a month passed with no contact, so I just sort dropped the whole thing and moved her las email to my saved messages. I feel like the ball is in her court and she’ll get in touch with me if she is really interested in further discussion. I don’t want to bug her if she isn’t really interested in talking further.

By: Bret Draven

Bret Draven — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:19:46 +0000

Let me get this straight… you’re saying that someone with no vested interest in me, isn’t automatically enthused at the opportunity to run-up their “anytime minutes” by listening to incessant ramblings about my “awesome-ness?” That’s weird!

By: Kathy

Kathy — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:09:04 +0000

I connect with my agent, editor, publicist by e-mail. I don’t even own a cell phone. We talk at scheduled times on occasion or meet in person when I’m in town, otherwise it’s e-mail and it suits me just fine. Must be the writer in me!

By: Jessica Kelley

Jessica Kelley — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:07:55 +0000

I avoid the phone like the plague. No faster way to stall a conversation with me than to say in e-mail, “can we set up a time to talk on the phone?”

That said, I have started to use the phone more for quick questions that take longer to type out than to ask on the phone.