A literary agent has asked for the full manuscript. That was three months ago. Should I prompt for a response or just keep waiting? For all I know he may not have received it, although there's no reason why that should be. Any views?
Nothing wrong with sending a postcard or soemthing like that to confirm that he has recieved it after this long depending on what the guidelines say about how long it takes them to respond.
Glaciers move faster than most things in publishing. Three months may seem like a long time, but for a busy agent to read a full novel and decide...with everything else he is responsible for is not really that long. You and the couple other possible full manuscripts he has requested are not high on the priority list. Is this agent worth waiting for? What do you hope a 'prompt for a response' with respect to the manuscript will accomplish? What will it actually accomplish or say to the agent? Even if the guidelines say or indicate somehwere to expect a response in three months...expect double that at least, especially if it (your manuscript) is getting serious consideration. Yes, it may have gotten lost in the mail (you could have used tracking if you felt it might be a concern) or it could have gotten lost in the email highway (I always bcc a copy to myself to a totally different account--if I mail from yahoo I send it to my Road Runner acct. to give me a better sense of it getting through/not caught up somewhere on the sending end), but the odds of it not getting to where you sent it are pretty slim. I say wait. Work on another project and keep busy, so that you have more projects to send out there--or if you novel is accepted for representation, you'll have another ready when the first sells. Terry
Terry sound advice, thank you. Like many before me, I wait with baited breath, and have neglected all other writing. My novel ends with a sequel, I shall start it now.
