[JFLewis]

Originally Posted by pklentz

Thanks, you two, particularly for mentioning the agents.

One thing I'm always sure to mention in queries is the two more manuscripts and third in progress. But a question for anyone who might know: would an agent prefer to see consistency in a potential genre client's work (i.e. following up hard SF with more hard SF) or diversity (near future, far future, historical, etc.)?

Edit:

Yet another question: A fairly well-known agent asked for the manuscript, gave me rewrite suggestions on it, and is currently considering the re-draft non-exclusively. Assuming he passes, is this something I should mention in queries--in the sense that it says a colleague in the business liked it enough to offer advice and take a second look? If yes, do I mention the agent by name?

In the initial phases of my agent search, I tried querying multiple projects at once with little success. When I queried Shawna McCarthy (my absolutely wonderful agent), I queried only the book for which I had the best sounding pitch. I waited to mention my other projects until Shawna had read my manuscript (typescript in the UK - because I certainly didn't write it by hand), asked for a rewrite, received and agreed to represent said rewrite... only then did I mention the other projects.

Your mileage may vary, but that's what worked for me.

Jeremy