Have You Ever . . .

Have you ever requested the full of a manuscript where you knew it was not something you could represent, but you were dying to find out how it ended?

Yep. Absolutely. I don’t do that as much now, but that’s because I’ve made a concerted effort not to. I think there are plenty of times when agents request material from queries or even from a proposal that they aren’t sure about. We know the storyline is tired or the voice seems off, but the idea intrigues us; we know we’ll probably reject it, but there’s something about it that makes us curious enough to ask for more.

Agents are readers and as readers we’re curious people. The problem is that this is also our job and, like in any job, we need to be very careful about how we manage our time. That means being somewhat sure about what we’re requesting when we request it.

That being said, there are plenty of manuscripts I’ve read all the way through when I knew by page 50 it was a rejection. There are even times I rejected a book, but finished it anyway. It’s the natural curiosity of a reader.

Jessica

**after reading a few comments and reading the post again I decided some clarification needed to be made. Sometimes I suspect I read the question and then go off on my own little rant of what I'd like to say without fully connecting with the original question.

Anyway...

I don't think agents ever request a full if after reading the partial they know definitively they will be rejecting the book. That is something no one has time for. More than that though, I don't think an agent ever wants to purposely give an author false hope.

With every full request an agent makes, with every partial request, the agent has hope just like the author. We don't request things unless we're sincerely hoping there's a potential new client in there. That being said, there are plenty of times an agent will continue reading already requested material well beyond the point the decision is made to reject. This is the curiosity of the reader.

I apologize for not being clear or for being obtuse. That's what I get for writing blog posts in the middle of the night.

--jhf

Reactions: