When you’re shopping for an agent, “they” say, you have to query a lot of them. Dozens, anyway.
It’s the “only my mom knows how special I really am” approach to finding an agent. You have this book, you know it’s adorable, now all you have to do is find that one agent out there who can See what’s Really There– the one agent who will Believe.
Then every once in awhile you come across a writer who sent out a few queries and whoops, next thing you know, he/she has offers from multiple agents.
Kristin Nelson blogged today about that experience from her perspective as an agent:
I wish it wouldn’t happen as often as it does but when I see a great project, chances are good that other agents think it’s good too. I offer and the writer mentions she already has a couple of offers on the table.
“When I see a great project, chances are good that other agents think it’s good, too.”
So what’s that say about a project that’s been shopped to, say, 20 agents, or 50, or more, and none have responded with particular enthusiasm? (Assuming, of course, that your query letter is literate and you’ve done your due diligence about which agents you’ve approached.)
It’s not easy to accept the fact that the wonderful book you’ve written isn’t good enough. But agents aren’t dumb. On the contrary, they are the ultimate novel quality feedback machine: they screen novels for a living, they have a vested interest in spotting projects that can sell.
So personally, I’ll know I’ve hit my mark when I have multiple agents vying to represent me. That should be the target, IMO. It’s my target, anyway, I’ll say that.
Hi Kirsten:
On the other hand, there’s the telling literary prank of sending old classics and prize-winners off to agents and publishers, only to have them rejected across the board — recently attempted by the Sunday Times in the UK with a couple of Booker prize winners (see link below):
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1965623,00.html
My own experiences with agents suggest that many of them are more knowledgeable about business and marketing than they are about literature — though it’s true that they often (but not always) have a fairly sharp sense of what will sell. I shopped my novel around to about 15 or so agents before getting an offer of representation, which I happily accepted (my agent is rare, I think, in that she has an English lit. degree). There might have been one or two more offers to come, but I don’t think multiple offers would have signalled much of anything about the quality of my work. It’s crucial, of course, for writers to get qualified outside feedback on their writing, but I don’t think agents are, in general, the best folks to provide such feedback.
Cheeers,
Heather
p.s. I happened upon your blog by way of a link on James Bow’s blog — he and I have the same publisher. Happy writing!
Hi, Heather, and thanks for commenting.
but I’ve been thinking it over & I’m not sure your experience disproves my point. Getting representation when you’ve only sent out 15 queries says to me that your book was good enough to earn more than nibbles — particularly since you think you probably would have received other offers as well.
Contrast that with people who query 100 agents or more, and the response is never much more enthusiastic than a few requests for partials . . .