This is a particularly good question. No matter whom you are contacting, it is always a good idea to imagine how your communication is likely to be received. And there are so many different methods of communication available to us, it is worthwhile to think each time we decide to contact someone in business which method is most likely to achieve the best results: e-mail, fax, phone, snail mail, Federal Express, etc. This is especially important with agents, considering that a typical agent's day is a hectic whirlwind of communication with editors, authors and prospective authors.
On a typical day, I receive a mail bag filled with mail, which might include 50 queries, several requested manuscripts, rejections from publishers, forms to fill out, contracts, royalty statements and, thankfully, a check or two. During the day, I receive regular visits from my friends at UPS and Federal Express. Each of these transmissions must be read, dealt with in some way, or delegated. Which queries do I wish to pursue? Which requested manuscripts do I think I can sell? Which forms must be dealt with today? Which contracts negotiated? Which authors must I communicate with? Should I write them letters or call?
Meanwhile, I must make several phone calls. I must call publishers to excite them about the book I am selling today. Then I must write to them and send them the proposal or manuscript. Many of the publishers I call are not immediately available, and so I leave a message for them to return my call. I also need to speak with certain authors. One of them did not get the proper promotional support from the publisher. Another has a question about a royalty statement. Another saw books in the store before getting his author copies. Another is excited about her review in The New York Times. Another has a question about the contract. I have to speak to all of them. Sometimes I must take action as a result of these calls--such as calling or writing to their publishers--and then get back to them.
Also, I am busy developing proposals with authors who have projects I wish to represent. It's necessary to do some bookkeeping, to oversee workers, to go to the bank, and almost every day I have a lunch with a publisher and a professional meeting at night. Sometimes one of my out of town authors is in New York and wants to come by for a quick visit. At the same time, the phone is ringing constantly with people returning my calls and calling with reasons of their own.
Once you assimilate this vision, you'll understand that it is impossible to be a good agent and still take calls from prospective authors who call to say, "I met you at a conference six months ago and am terribly sorry that I waited this long to send you my manuscript, a heart-wrenching autobiography called Why is it so Hard to Get Published? I know that you've been eagerly expecting it, but I caught the flu from my cousin Doris, and it was pretty nasty. Anyway, I'm sending it tomorrow by Express Mail and you should have it by Wednesday. It was only seen by Joe Smith of St. Martins who is my cousin's brother-in-law (actually, he's only in the mailroom), but he says that St. Martins will only consider agented manuscripts, so please let me know when you receive it, and if you don't like it, I want to know why. I'll call you on Thursday to make sure you received it, and I'll call you on Friday to find out what you thought of it."
Please forgive me the sarcasm, but every day brings several calls that are not very different from this composite, and because I believe in niceness in business, I answer my own phone whenever possible and take and return nearly every call. That's why you can usually make the best impression by sending a professional query with a self-addressed stamped envelope concisely stating everything that needs stating. A good agent is equipped to deal with your query by mail in a timely manner.
Once an agent has expressed interest in representing you and certainly after the agent sends you a contract, you should expect to have reasonable phone access
After researching qualified agents whom you think might be compatible with your material, it is reasonable to send a short query letter and s.a.s.e. to any number of agents. Although, everyone likes to feel special, and so when you tell an agent that she is the only one seeing a particular query, you are very likely to get special attention. It is when you are sending a large volume of material such as a long proposal or an entire manuscript that many agents, like myself, require an exclusive period to decide whether they wish to represent you or not. Some agents do not require that your long manuscript be exclusive, but this is not necessarily to your advantage. Often such non-exclusive submissions will sit for months or forever on such agents' over-piled desktops or filing cabinets.
I, on the other hand, feel I have devised a fair solution that works for me and the author. When I see a query that I like, I call the author and ask for an exclusive THREE or FOUR-WEEK period to decide about representation. This way authors know that if it is with me alone for three weeks, they will have an answer--and sometimes I can provide an answer even sooner. Because I make this promise and am devoted to keeping it, I'm very selective about the number of manuscripts I request. I understand that if it turns out that I am incompatible with the author, we may not actually end up working together, and that would be fine, albeit a pity (and unlikely). The only situation I wish to avoid is reading the entire manuscript, loving it, telling the author I want to sign her up and having her tell me she is going with another qualified agent. I want authors to choose me first; then I'll choose them back.
Incidentally, when I request an exclusive, I also request that the author tell me in writing if the manuscript has been to publishers, and if it has, to whom and what they said. Furthermore, I always request a s.a.s.e. with which to respond.
Agents appreciate authors who respect their time and do not call when it is completely unnecessary or when a note or fax will do. That said, I believe strongly that it is an author's right to receive copies of all correspondence between the agent and the publisher pertaining to the book--and in a timely fashion. When I receive a rejection letter from a publisher, I immediately have it copied and sent to the author. This not only keeps the author informed of who is seeing his manuscript but it also allows the author to determine if the rejections have a common theme in order to decide if the proposal or manuscript needs further work. When an editor calls to express interest or make an offer, I immediately call the author. When an editor sends a contract, the author sees it before I negotiate so that I can answer any questions and present a united front to the publisher. When royalty statements and other correspondence arrive, they are immediately examined and copied and sent to authors.
I remain available to the author to answer all questions and to troubleshoot in case there are problems between the publisher and the author. I also try to lend moral support and offer publicity and marketing suggestions to both the author and the publisher. Sometimes the author has a favorite publisher to whom she wants the manuscript sent. I always make every effort to comply with such requests.
When I am ready to start submitting a proposal or a manuscript to a publisher, the first thing I do is write a compelling submission letter and think about a concise but irresistible phone pitch. Then I make a list of all the publishers whom I think would like the project. Next, I call them all and pitch the pitch. I then send over the material to them all, telling them each that it is with other publishers and asking for a response by a particular date, approximately three or four weeks in the future. If several publishers are interested, I set an auction date and hold an auction. If only one publisher is interested, I try to negotiate a fair contract, which includes a reasonable advance against royalties.
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