How long should you wait for an agent to get back to you?

[fljustice]

Sorry to hear it, Divia. You're doing the right thing keeping busy on the your other projects. If you still want to go the agent route, don't wait too long to send a pitch out to the next batch. Also pitch the small press publishers directly and if you get an acceptance, skip the agent and get a good Intellectual Property lawyer to look over the contract.

[Divia]

I'm always in good company when I"m on this MB.

It hurts, but really, it was expected. I suppose everyone has that small glimmer of hope though, right?

I thought about small publishers. My friend who works in comics thought it might be a good thing to try. I'm going to send out the story to a few more and see what happens.

Meanwhile, if I can only get over that writers block on the one story

[wendy]

Condolences Divia. Rape topics are always a hard sell. My Dickinson-and-incest book was rejected by every US university press I sent it to, but on the advice of an agent I sent it to the UK and the first British editor who read it said yes. So you might want to try Canadian or UK agents / houses too. Good luck - and don't give up!

[Village]

Sorry to hear that Divia. I've just submitted to agents and am now accordingly donning tin helmet and bracing for the blitz of rejection emails.

[LoveHistory]

Sorry that agent wasn't interested Divia. But it's a step on the road to publication. Everybody who's ever submitted has been rejected. Keep going. Your story will find the right home.

[Divia]

[quote=""wendy""]Condolences Divia. Rape topics are always a hard sell. My Dickinson-and-incest book was rejected by every US university press I sent it to, but on the advice of an agent I sent it to the UK and the first British editor who read it said yes. So you might want to try Canadian or UK agents / houses too. Good luck - and don't give up![/quote]

Hmm. Very interesting. Thanks for the advise.

[bevgray]

Oh how disappointing for you, Divia. I read a comment over on Passive Voice the other day about persistence being an underappreciated, yet essential, characteristic of a writer.

In addition to trying other agents, you might also look at some of the smaller presses (Absolute Write maintains a decent list of both publishers and agents) as some of them will accept unagented submissions as well as be more willing to take a look at something that is less commercial than current trends.

[maggie anton]

I would imagine that in general novels on the subject of rape will be difficult to sell. Certainly you've limited the appeal.