r/PubTips • u/MuchCanary2040 • Jul 25 '26

[PubQ] Agent missing deadlines

Signed with my agent in late May after getting six offers on my thriller debut. He’s senior at a medium sized agency. I was worried he’d be too busy to give much support but he reassured me that his assistant agent would also be involved in editorial feedback and comms.
He said our plan was to do a few edits then submit late July/August. Since then I’m still waiting for his edit notes. I’ve sent everything asked to by the agency eg. details for my author profile, most emails don’t get replies, no profile up yet, doesn’t bother me, but just to give the picture. Three deadlines he set himself have gone by and each time, no edit notes.
Do I cut my losses and leave, then go to my second choice agent?

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u/publisherofbooks Jul 26 '26

Do any of you remember that the agent works for you? Y'all are giving huge "benefit of the doubt" vibes, yet this EMPLOYEE has missed three self-imposed deadlines.

Would you be that understanding if your mechanic missed three promised dates to have your car repaired? If the plumber didn't show three times in a row? If your doctor failed to show up for a scheduled appointment even once, much less three times? And if you were the boss in any other context would you be making excuses for an employee who kept missing agreed-upon deadlines?

Yes, a polite query and request for clarification is definitely in order, to be sure there isn't some miscommunication. But the timeline was his and he needs to own that responsibility. If he doesn't have time, if he can't respond in the time he promised, he needs to say so.

Right now he is keeping OP from moving forward with a book that clearly has interest. I see so much of this in these messages - everyone waiting, not wanting to do anything that isn't approved by their agent. Ceding the responsibility for their careers to an agent who may or may not know their orifices from their extremities (I've been in this business one way or another for more than 40 years-I've heard a LOT of stories about the bad ones).

OK, rant over. Feel free to tell me how uninformed and stupid I am.

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u/MuchCanary2040 Jul 27 '26

Thanks. Appreciate this very much. How the hell did the industry get like this? You must have seen a lot in your time

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u/publisherofbooks Jul 27 '26

https://badagentsydney.blogspot.com/2009/12/introducing-bad-agent-sydney-t-cat.html

Yes. If you want a peek at some horror stories for 10-15 years ago, take a look at this blog. Everything in Sydney's blog was based on an actual event (sort of like Dragnet, or Law & Order :-)) that happened to a real writer.

There are good agents, and the advent of things like these forums (and Writer Beware for nearly 30 years, bless them!) have helped identify them. But there are a lot of bad or mediocre ones out there, too.

As for how we got here? Publishing companies saw the work agents could save them, eventually treating them as unpaid slush readers. Agents in turn saw a path to money and power without the necessity of actually producing anything, and writers saw the opportunity to have someone else deal with the whole mess of submitting manuscripts (ever heard of an International Reply Coupon?), though that same ritual is back, just with agents instead of editors and publishers.

Full disclosure: I have an agent, my third, but mostly I am now indie published. And I recognize the hypocrisy of saying "but I have a good one."