posted
I have a novel out there in Agent Land, I've been submitting it a while without much luck and still have a few copies awaiting reponse. So long as I don't submit to agents that already have this novel, is it ok to submit a second novel, even though some of the agents I will be submitting to will have read the query to the first novel in the last few months?
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posted
As long as the second novel is also FINISHED, I don't see a problem.
However, if you did this every few months for very long, they'd start to recognize your name instantly. You'd probably convince them that you're writing four (or so) new novels a year, which would be a good sign that you're not editing them very much, and they'd just get into the habit of tossing the submission without looking past the name.
But that's doing it repeatedly. Doing it once should be fine.
posted
I've read on at least one agent Web site asking you make only one submission at a time; however, I don't think this is a general rule of thumb.
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posted
I've read that too, annepin, but I always took that to mean don't submit two or more novels to the same agent at the same time. Maybe someone can confirm if I'm right thinking that.
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posted
Yes, if you've submitted something and the agent has responded to it, you can send them something else (especially if they say nice things about your work, but that what you sent them the first time wasn't right for them).
And who's to say you didn't finish your next novel while you were waiting to hear on the first one? Four novels a year is a bit unbelievable, though.
posted
Dave Farland has commented that he has production that high. And certainly Heinlein did way more than four a year. Consider that if you write a few thousand words a day we're talking more than 700,000 words a year. And many writers edit while they're writing new material, I think. I write in the morning and edit in the afternoon.
So I don't find 4 novels a year to be unlikely for someone who is a full-time writer.
If an agent starts recognizing my name, that's fine with me as long as it isn't because my writing is bad.
posted
Well . . . four novels a year IS unlikely for someone who's a full time writer, though not unheard of. Rex Stout is another one who might have done it. Heinlein only published 32 novels and 16 collections over a 40 year period. (I'm not including the seven years' break due to illness toward the end of his life.)
And someone trying to get his first agent is unlikely to be a full-time writer. (Though, again, it happens--but the odds are against it. Even among well-respected writers, only a handful are full time.)
Still, what matters, as Kathleen said, is the kind of response you're getting. If it's encouraging, submit as frequently as you want. But if it's form rejections, a submission every few months (NOT two a few months apart, but a regular, periodic submission) will probably have the effect I mentioned earlier.
quote:I've read that too, annepin, but I always took that to mean don't submit two or more novels to the same agent at the same time. Maybe someone can confirm if I'm right thinking that.
Sorry, darklight, I thought that was the situation you were describing, but in rereading I realize I read it wrong.
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posted
I suppose it's easy to argue over what is "likely" or "unlikely" but I know more than on writer who does four or more novels a year, although generally not under the same name. (Soory I didn't mean Heinlein and now I can'r remember who I WAS thinking of. Apparently I need a brain scan--see previous thread.)
Anyway I don't find it unlikely since I know people who do it, but I'm willing to agree to disagree. By the way I wrote three novels last year.
I recently cut my writing goal down to 1,000 words a day from 2,000 a day because the world building I'm doing seems to be particularly time consuming. At that I'll still easily finish two novels this year.
[This message has been edited by JeanneT (edited March 07, 2008).]
posted
The thing is, an agent (or an editor, for that matter) is going to suspect that those four novels submitted in one year are what they call "trunk novels," meaning novels that have been around for a long time and never sold.
Even if you have that many (or more) novels finished and ready to submit (or so you hope), it's better to not overwhelm an agent or editor with what may be perceived as old stuff, because they tend to be looking for the "next" great thing, and they may not be willing to consider the possibility that the "next" great thing was written a few years ago.
posted
I was thinking about it, and worked out I wrote three novels last years. Two were re-writes of novels I'd previously written so I already had the material for them, one being the YA novel I have out there at the moment, the third being the other YA novel I'm planning on submitting. I wrote that in November and it came in at 51,000 words.
In total, not including any shorts, I wrote 232,000 words. It was a good year for me, but I don't imagine I'll do anything like that this year. So far I've written 10,000 words and I'm not very happy with those.
posted
I figured if I ever sold a novel---a pretty big "if," actually---I'd hustle to write another novel and try to get the publishers to commit to publishing it before the first one tanked.
As for the "next big thing," I lost the mood to seek for it when I read some comments from Lennon & McCartney, where they tried to catch onto the trends, but then said "the hell with it," and wrote what they wanted---then found themselves to be the "next big thing." I could hope for that, couldn't I?
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