# Manuscript request questions!



## luckyscars (Jul 29, 2020)

Tonight I received a partial MS request from an agent at a fairly well-known NY agency and while that is exciting it's a bit anxiety inducing...

I have another novel due to be published later this year by a small, independent publisher (who accepts un-agented submissions) and now I'm slightly regretting agreeing to that because it seems like a potential landmine. 

Even though they are entirely separate books (in very different genres and markets) so the agent I am working on now probably wouldn't have been interested anyway, and there was nothing in the contract for the first publishing house laying claim to any future work, I'm still not sure if that's something I need to disclose at this point. 

I guess mainly I'm concerned that the agent won't like it, though I can't really identify why that would be an issue. Anybody have any kind of experience with this?

My secondary question is, what is the approximate likelihood of an agent signing up having got to the request of full MS stage? Like, statistically I guess? So far I sent a query + synopsis + partial so it's not like she doesn't know the basic gist and seems interested. I'm just trying to figure out if this is even stuff I should be thinking about at this point...


----------



## Ralph Rotten (Jul 29, 2020)

You owe neither publisher an explanation.


----------



## bdcharles (Jul 30, 2020)

luckyscars said:


> Tonight I received a partial MS request from an agent at a fairly well-known NY agency and while that is exciting it's a bit anxiety inducing...
> 
> I have another novel due to be published later this year by a small, independent publisher (who accepts un-agented submissions) and now I'm slightly regretting agreeing to that because it seems like a potential landmine.
> 
> ...



You're further along the trad route than me, but first, well done for getting to this point  I read recently that a typical agent won't be concerned by any other submissions you have with anyone else. Why would they, especially if you are contractually in the clear? It's this one submission they are interested in, nothing else - and if  they do kick off that would be a bit of a red flag to me. I have never heard of it being a problem, basically - even though it often feels like being somehow unfaithful. If they ask about the other MS, then just tell them. 

As for the agent signing up following the full MS, it is not a definite (as I can attest to), but you're still part of a select group. Personally - gut feel - I think you are in with a reasonable chance. Sounds like the standard crop of stresses for submission. Good luck though


----------



## Bayview (Jul 30, 2020)

I wouldn't begin to speculate about odds, but clearly your chances are quite a bit better than they would have been if the agent HADN'T requested the full. Helpful, right?

And I don't think you have anything to worry about in terms of the other publishing deal. Agents don't expect authors to be plastic-wrapped and brand new when they're signed. That said, I doubt I'd mention it at this stage of the game. There IS, apparently, a marketing advantage to being a "debut author", and unless you're looking at pen names you'll have lost whatever that advantage is for your later books. If the book had already been published and sold well, you'd be able to use those numbers as a tool to help sell the new book, but since it's still up in the air, it's just a mild complicating factor. Not a big deal, but not a selling point, either, so probably best to not mention it until you're further along in the process. IMHO.


----------

