It is actually worth sending a manuscript out to multiple agents at once?

[DAgent]

Okay, got my first "final" draft ready and sent out to just one agent whose gave me a response that they will get back in around six weeks. That's fine, I'm patient, I'm going to leave that alone and go work on something else for now.

But is it any way a good idea to send the same manuscript out to several different agents at once to see what kind of feedback, if any I get, other than the old "thank you but this is not what we are looking for" ?

 

[Pyan]

Should I Submit My Book To Multiple Agents At The Same Time?

 

[Tirellan]

Some agents take forever to reply, some never reply. Some occasionally give feedback. I would advise having queries out to maybe 5-8 agents at any given time. If you get no positive response (or no responses at all) then you need to rework you query, but at least you haven't burned your chances with the whole field of agents.

 

[Steve Harrison]

You will die of old age waiting if you submit to one agent at a time. I usually send out 5 to 10 targeted queries at a time, then reassess depending on the feedback, if any.

From a batch I expect on average two or three replies of the 'not for us' variety and occasionally a partial or full manuscript request, but sometimes I don't get anything back at all. It's rare to get any specific feedback - it was more common last century - so it's hard to know if a query needs changing or whether it will make any difference.

The only thing that doesn't change is the exciting feeling that this could be the one!

 

[Juliana]

I usually send out 5 to 10 targeted queries at a time, then reassess depending on the feedback, if any.

The batch approach is the one I usually see recommended. With each batch a mix of fast and slow responding agents (you can check average response times on QueryTracker), and also don't send to all your top listed agents in the first go, in case you have to tweak the query... At least, that's the advice I've seen out there. Haven't had any luck yet with agents so take my advice with a big old pinch of salt...

 

[DAgent]

Well, I got a response, annnnnnd I'm a bit suspicious that it's a vanity publisher given how the email reads. They did give an option when submitting for either a "traditional" or "hybrid contract" if they accepted the manuscript, and guess which option they are recommending?

Also no feedback at all on the actual writing, which might be a sign they do like it, but I kind of doubt it.

Thank you for submitting your work to us to review and consider. I understand it can be frustrating when waiting to hear back from publishers. However, we have now completed our evaluations of your paranormal murder-mystery (I'll just keep the title to myself for now ).

In the last few days we have considered and discussed your novel. Editorial consider various aspects of each work we are sent to conclude what type of offer, if any, that Olympia can make. We agree your work is well-written with a consistent and absorbing narrative, we believe that your work deserves a chance to reach the wider market.

As I’m sure you know – as it is explained on our website – we receive hundreds of submissions each month, many of which are rejected. When we accept a work, we can offer either a traditional publishing contract or a hybrid publishing contract. In this instance we would be able to publish your work under the Olympia banner and wish to make a hybrid publishing offer.

Please consider this offer carefully. This type of contract would incur a one-off fee for the publication of your work. Any future costs, to cover marketing over the lifetime of the book, will be covered by Olympia.

We understand this decision cannot be taken lightly and you will need to see the contract before you can make a decision. The contract, along with the one-off fee and royalties, will be finalised once we have a request to view it.

At this stage we are seeking only an agreement in principle to view the contract. Please note, there is no obligation with the contract and both parties are still free to withdraw at any point, until contracts have been signed.

Please note the finite figure can be paid in monthly instalments over 10 months.

Please let me know whether or not you wish to view the proposed publishing contract for your work. I am currently working remotely from home so if you have any other questions regarding publishing then please do not hesitate to contact me by email.

 

[Christine Wheelwright]

Yeah. Scam.

 

[Astro Pen]

Just google
vanity publishers olympia.

It is pretty decisive and often paired with 'A-M' in terms of modus operandi.

I'm suprised , or maybe not, to see the name so close to the famous and radical 1950s Olympia Press. Ask yourself the obvious.

The Infamous Olympia Press - Fine Books & Collections

The Good, the Bad, and the Obscene -- Maurice Girodias published Lolita, the Naked Lunch, and other salacious books

www2.finebooksmagazine.com

Just carry on submitting, don't make the mistake I did and submit serially. As @Steve Harrison says 'you will die of old age' and the the time spent waiting for a statistically likely first novel rejection is totally wasted. I'd now advise to scattergun to at least six agents, houses at a time.
I've had agents read 5 chapters and offer very constructive appraisals even when it was 'not quite the book for them'. If that happens you can consider yourself well on the road.

 

[Swank]

Anything that causes agents to multiply is good.

 

[Christine Wheelwright]

Olympia is on the SFWA warning list (fifth bullet down):

THUMBS DOWN PUBLISHERS LIST - SFWA

THIS LIST MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION Contact Us Below, in alphabetical order, is a list of the publishers (not all of them currently active*) about which Writer Beware has received the largest number of complaints over the years, or which, based on documentation we’ve collected, we...

www.sfwa.org

 

[DAgent]

I will say this, when I started looking around for agents to submit to, Olympia cam up as one option among many listed as being agents, only to go on their website and see they were publishers. And when I looked into each of the recommendations, all of them got bad feedback, apart from Olympia who everyone seemed to have only good things to say.

However, now I've had the feedback, and done the same sort of searches, guess what? EVERYTHING I can find about them is now suddenly showing them as being vanity publishers...

 

[JS Wiig]

Writer Beware is a good source for these types of questions:

Seven Prolific Vanity Publishers (Austin Macauley Publishers, Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie, Olympia Publishers, Morgan James Publishing, Page Publishing, Christian Faith Publishing, Newman Springs Publishing) - Writer Beware

Vanity publishers, unfortunately, are not in short supply. Writer Beware’s files include hundreds of them, large and small. But there’s a select few about which we hear most often, via writers’ questions and complaints. These companies reel in scores, hundreds, and even thousands of writers...

writerbeware.blog

 

[DAgent]

Writer Beware is a good source for these types of questions:

Seven Prolific Vanity Publishers (Austin Macauley Publishers, Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie, Olympia Publishers, Morgan James Publishing, Page Publishing, Christian Faith Publishing, Newman Springs Publishing) - Writer Beware

Vanity publishers, unfortunately, are not in short supply. Writer Beware’s files include hundreds of them, large and small. But there’s a select few about which we hear most often, via writers’ questions and complaints. These companies reel in scores, hundreds, and even thousands of writers...

writerbeware.blog

That's one of the things I like best about this forum, you can ask questions and get very good answers.