A literary agent from one of the agencies I queried, stated that it was easy to get to the no. It takes only a couple of minutes for an agent to know something’s not going to work. It takes a long time, however, to evaluate the maybes.

Many of you know that I received a request for my full manuscript the end of February. It’s been almost a month and a half. I check my email constantly and answer every phone call that I receive.

I used to ignore numbers I didn’t recognize. They were all robo calls regarding my car warranty, my credit card that I don’t even have, or whatever new scam/spam that was going around. But what if it was the literary agent who has my manuscript? I can’t take the chance.

The wait is getting to me. I’ve been reading blogs and agent pages on the dos and don’ts when you receive a request for your full manuscript. Yes, there are rules you should follow to maintain a working relationship with your could-be agent. Remember no one wants to work with a high maintenance individual no matter how good they are.

Do

Write your next story while you’re waiting. Most agents don’t want a one-time wonder. They want a career.

Keep pitching your current project. You may choose to give the agent 2-3 months before sending out additional queries, but you can’t sit on the fence forever hoping.

Be nice. Agents are human. They have as many hours in the day as you have. Agents receive hundreds and sometimes thousands of queries monthly. Thus, the nice, thoughtful, form-letter rejection. Those who survive the cut, have to wait in line behind existing clients.

Don’t

Pin your hopes on an agent who has your full manuscript, because it could be a long wait. Unfortunately, even with a full request, they don’t always accept or get back with you.

Burn bridges.

Lock yourself into that one perfect agent that you just have to have. Because you’ve developed a crush on a particular person, doesn’t mean they will notice you.

There are other common sense rules to keep in mind. Don’t hound the agent or troll them. Give them their space. It’s okay to research but you probably should have done that before you sent them a query.

For now, I’ll keep writing and hoping :-).

-Jan R