How long before editors give feedback to agents when you're on submission?

[Barnes55]

Here's a question to the submission pros: after your agents have sent your manuscript to the targeted editors, how much time generally goes by before feedback is received? We understand that time frames can vary, due to any number of reasons. But I read that an established agent will generally receive feedback from their contacts within two weeks. Does that sound right?

[Tabris]

Nope. Some genres they'll get back to you in that time, and for some agents they'll get back in that time. I'm sure Stephen King gets responses back in two weeks. :-)  But for most of us, it's typically a lot longer.

[violet]

Many will disagree with me, but I think response times can vary depending on the agent. My sense is that J0d! R3am3r will get a faster response than the new junior agent at XYZ literary.

There is a hierarchy in publishing, along with "who you know" and I think response times do play into that.

2 weeks in general, though, seems pretty fast, unless you are a celebrity of some sort. This time of year, along with the grievances that Sandy and the Noreaster caused, will probably warrant a longer period of response.

[emily__]

I'm not a submission pro by any means, but here's my take.  I don't think two weeks is a hard and fast rule.  Honestly, I think it really depends on a lot of factors - the relationship an editor has with an agent; the time of year; how many submissions the editor has received lately; if there are conferences or other previous engagements; and then there are the random interruptions like super-storms or company mergers.  There's really no way to predict these things - sometimes they move quickly and sometimes it takes a while.

Hope that helps!

[MaryL]

I agree with what the others have said. It depends on lots of factors including the agent's relationship with the editors. Two weeks is very quick, but that was the time on my first book. I have published friends who wait three months and it is not unusual to wait even longer depending on the time of year and circumstances.

[swanndown]

My agent got our first feedback within two weeks, then a big lull through the month of August, then a handful came rolling steadily in one after the other over the period of about six weeks, then editor interest accelerated the remaining responses, and an offer brought the rest in.  So many factors at work: agent/editor relationships, level of interest piqued by pitch, everything else going on in editor's professional/personal life, seasons, natural disasters, etc.

[BMC]

It's all over the map, in my experience. We went out on sub and got some responses quickly -- within two weeks -- and others came later. My agent started to nudge after a month, and we never did get a response from a handful of agents. I think this is a particularly rough time with Hurricane Sandy affecting so many, coupled with the holidays. 

Best of luck!

[Magpie]

Oh, gosh, there are so many factors, like others have said. Two weeks would be extremely fast. When my agent first took me on sub two years ago, the norm was more 4-6 weeks. The last time I went on sub, the norm was more like 4 months--and I have a very well-respected agent. And, yes, some editors will drop everything to get to certain agent's submissions first, but more often, it's going to be the genre or premise that gets you a fast read than who reps you.

[Wordwise]

I read that an established agent will generally receive feedback from their contacts within two weeks.

Ha! Have you ever seen an editor's reading pile? How fast can you read a 90,000-word novel, in-between meetings and contract negotiations? Two weeks is very rare.

Absent extraordinary circumstances (new pope, terrorist event, new president), the time frame will probably have less to do with the stature of the agent, than with the agent's workload and travel schedule.

[Wordwise]

I'm sure Stephen King gets responses back in two weeks.

I suspect he probably gets the advance check the same day as he delivers the ms, or even before.  People at that level can demand such.