Yay! Today we have a guest post from my fabulous agent, Elisabeth Weed, who will be chiming in here every month or so, whenever it strikes her fancy. For more info on Elisabeth and her agency, check out Weed Literary. And please feel free to reply in the comment section, so that she knows how much she's loved here. :)

We've all been there. We meet a guy who looks great on paper. He's got a great smile, a cool job and a full head of hair.   But we just aren't feeling it.  We don't want to go home with him and make out all night. We aren't imagining what our kids will look like. We don't want to call our best friend and our mother the next day and tell them just how fabulous he is.  Nope.  We are going to smile politely and decline the dinner. Drinks were great. We're glad we met, but we're pretty sure there's someone out there who's a much better fit for us...and him. There's nothing wrong with him, per se, but he's just not right for us.  

The same can be said about agents and authors in this similar dance of trying to find the perfect match.   I can't tell you how many times I've read something and thought, this is really good, but I am just not super excited about it. In lieu of the make out, I don't want to stay up all night reading it and  I don't want to call my favorite editors and tell them that I have found the one that is going to change my life. And theirs. 

So, for any of you out there who are going through the agent search, looking for the perfect match, please take heart when you get the rejection that "fiction is so subjective, I'm sure another agent will feel differently."  We agents use that line. A lot. But it's really not just a line.  Fiction IS so subjective.  And, to prove my point, I wanted to share a little publishing anecdote with you.

Recently, a fabulous agent and dear friend, who I will refer to here as Super Agent, called me close to tears. A novel she'd rejected about year ago had just sold for a big sum to a very tony house and to a very respected editor.  "What's wrong with me?"  Super Agent lamented. " I feel like such a loser, but I really didn't like the book at all.  Did I just miss an amazing opportunity? Do I suck? I suck, don't I? " Okay, maybe those weren't her words exactly, but having been in her shoes myself, I knew how she felt.  In fact,  I am not sure there's an agent out there who hasn't been in this situation, scrolling through Publishers Marketplace, only to see a deal announced about something they rejected.

But what I told Super Agent, after reminding her of her super-ness, is that fiction is subjective and if she didn't love it, she was very wise not to take it on because she wouldn't have sold it the way the other agent did.  In dating terms, she would have strung the guy along, not really feeling passionate about him, and wasted both of their time.  And, okay, I am stretching my metaphor here, but if the dating goal is to find the chapel/temple and priest/rabbi (Publisher! Editor!) It never would have happened because she just didn't like him enough.  Thank goodness for the author that she did reject it. 

So, in all seriousness,  when you do get those responses, try to remember that it's not just a form rejection. There is hope that someone else really will see your work differently.  And comfort yourself knowing that you are lucky that the agent who passed, did pass, because would you want that agent be telling her editors that you are great and all but you're just not in love?

One more anecdote that always makes me laugh. My first boss, an older gentleman who has great taste, actually likes to brag that he turned down The Perfect Storm, because, "Why the hell would anyone want to read about a storm that kills everyone on a fishing boat?"  Perhaps it's his age, or more likely his Y chromosome that gives him the confidence, but it all comes back to the fact that while we are all looking for that next great book, that next great book is different for everyone. So, take heart.  It's Not you. It's Us.  

Question of the day: I have just completed my first novel, and got a referral from a writer friend to my first agent. My question is, can I query more than one agent at a time? How accepted is this?

Not only is it accepted, it's standard and agents expect that you are out there querying your tush off to agents other than them. Landing an agent is sooooo difficult that you have to protect your own best interests in the process, and you may end up querying 100 agents before landing one. If you did this on a one-by-one basis, you'd be downright geriatric before you got representation. Agents know this, and yes, you should thus be querying a bunch of them at a time. 

When I was on the agent hunt myself, I queried in about 10-person batches. As in, I'd fire off about ten emails and then as a rejection came in, I'd send off another one, so I always had about ten irons in the fire. I know that this is counter-intuitive to magazine writers (such as myself) who are very, very careful not to send in multiple queries for story ideas, but unlike with magazines, who demand some sort of propriety non-compete, agents can't ask for this. And when they do - some will ask for an exclusive read - it is in your best interest to say no. Politely. That you already have the manuscript out with someone else and that while you'd like to honor the exclusive, you simply can't. If they refuse to read, you have a pretty good indication of what said agent would be like to work with, but most will shrug their shoulders and read anyway. They just want a leg up on their competition. Which is fine, but remember that finding an agent is about YOU and YOUR career, not theirs...so keep querying and keep going. And good luck along the way!

(TWSS! - Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Question of the day: I recently wrote a novel and started querying agents in early August. Two of the three I queried requested the manuscript right away, which is great ... except they're taking their sweet time to read it. Any thoughts on how long I should wait before moving on? I don't want to break some agent protocol that I don't know about ... but I'm also excited about this (maybe naively so :) and want to find someone sooner than later. I also want an agent who's super enthusiastic about the book, and taking a month to read it doesn't scream excited to me. But again, maybe I'm being naive. 

Ah, the great agent waiting game. Been there, done that. It sucks. 

But, a month isn’t unusual, unfortunately. It’s actually pretty standard, even though, yeah, it seems like if they want it, they should want it NOW. But I do think the standard window is between four to six weeks, at least that's what agents will tell you. That said, sure, there are plenty who read faster and there are plenty who don't. I'm not sure it's really an indicator of enthusiasm because if they requested a ms from you AND a few dozen other people, they're interested in them all, and they all take time to read.

But – what I’d say, just to keep your nerves calm AND your chances higher – is to keep pitching even while they’re reading. You should probably pitch about ten at a time (even agents tell you this), so you always have a lot of irons in the fire and aren’t banking on anyone in particular. I used to send out a new query as soon as I got any sort of rejection, so the wheel was always turning. Having just three queries out is putting too few eggs in too few baskets. Some writers will literally query hundreds of agents, and again, the good news is that multiple queries is both expected and encouraged.

Also, I do think that after a month or so, you're well-within your rights to follow up with an agent when they've requested materials. I wouldn't follow up if you don't get a reply to your query - I think that's answer enough (though some might disagree, and that's fine too - think it's a personal decision), but since you've already gotten their attention, sure, you can send a polite, quick email to hopefully get an ETA.

Good luck! Anyone else want to chime in here on time frames?

So, just a quick late Friday post, as I'm traveling and might not get a post up on Monday.

Two fun things - first, I did a Q/A over at The Novel Girls blog, which consists of a fabu group of debut novelists...check their blog out regardless of whether or not you want to hear what I have to say. :) But check it out to hear what I have to say on the best and worst things about writing and my advice to new authors.

http://thenovelgirls.blogspot.com/2009/09/novel-girls-welcome-allison-winn-scotch.html

Also, perfect timing: turns out that my agent, Elisabeth Weed, whom you guys know I adore, chimed in on the Guide to Literary Agent's blog, responding to what she liked about my initial query to her and why she signed both me and the book. Check it out here.

Okay, I'm going to wrap up the query week here at AA with an example of a query that I think does just about everything right. It's snappy, it provides enough detail to set it apart, it has a good energy to the writing that I think would interest an agent. If for some reason I DIDN'T post your query here, it's only because a lot of the ones I got in had the same issues as the others I DID post, so I just tried to pick and choose good examples of where people - again, only in my opinion - might go wrong. But I'm hoping that this exercise was helpful to everyone, whether or not your specific query was critiqued.

Okay, so without further ado:

Dear XX, 

Mapleton Falls is a perfect town where perfect families lead perfect lives. At least, that’s what Jenny Sampson thinks when she first moves in. But, four years later when Jenny’s next-door-neighbor, Amanda Brennan, a beautiful, caring, doctor’s wife and mother of two, turns up dead in the entryway of her Georgian-style McMansion, Jenny finds herself muddled in the middle of a murder.

Bree Lang, the Assistant District Attorney, is one of Jenny’s best friends. Lucky for Bree, Jenny’s got the inside scoop on a host of potential suspects. Like Stone Brennan, Amanda’s anesthesiologist husband, who knocks people out for a living and carves manger scenes out of tree trunks with chainsaws for a hobby; or the neighborhood gals Nikki, a raven-haired ex-stripper, and DeeDee, a mother of two sets of twins, who have one gigantic thing, in common: they’ve both slept with Stone. Then there’s Sean Roberts, a member of St. Augustine’s where Amanda’s kids go to school. Sean’s got a crush on Amanda, which his wife’s not too happy about. And, of course, there’s Father Groark – the priest at St. Augustine’s. If only Amanda hadn’t uncovered his secrets and written about them in her journal…

As Jenny, a nice, Jewish girl from Long Island, and Bree, a privileged shiksa from the Main Line, navigate their way around upscale Mapleton Falls, will they be able to solve Amanda's murder? Or will this perfect town be forever marred by a killer in their midst?

MURDER ON TWILIGHT CIRCLE is the first in a series of edgy cozy mysteries where doctor’s wives disappear faster than wrinkle lines on the faces of Hollywood movie stars.

I’m a freelance writer living in the suburbs of Philly where I write articles for the Philadelphia Examiner. I’m a doctor’s wife, mother of two, and slave to six cats. Conferences I've recently attended include the BEA Writer's Conference, the Backspace Writer's Conference, and the Algonkian Pitch and Slam in New York City. I am a member of Mystery Writers of America.