Ever heard the saying 'You don't know what you've got until it's gone!"?  Well that is exactly how I am feeling now. 

Logged in to check my Agent in the Box and... the Agent table lists everyone I have queried but I can't see if they are currently looking at my submission or whether they have commented on anything. 
The 'Tracker Service' used to allow me to see which documents they had viewed (i.e. Synopsis, Manuscript, etc) and even if they rejected me there would be some feedback - FEEDBACK FROM AN AGENT!  I can't tell you how valuable it is and when its positive (even when followed by a 'no thanks') it's so encouraging. 

Whilst I consider upgrading my Agent In The Box to a paid 'tracker account', I shall look at the feedback and share some of the posive feedback with you in due course.

New feature:  Choice

On 21 July 2010, Agent in the Box will be free.  Anyone who has a current fee account with them (i.e. within the 6 months paid period) is getting a refund.

Free Agent in the Box (Basic Service)
Quote WeBook "Agents will be able  to respond to your query whether you’re a Tracking subscriber or not—choosing to stick with the basic service will not prevent you from receiving responses from agents." 

Paid Agent in the Box (Tracker Service)
Quote WeBook "For $9.95, authors can upgrade to use AgentInBox Tracking for a six month period. Tracking allows writers to find out when agents have viewed their submissions, and which parts of their submissions—such as the synopsis, query, or sample—have been viewed. Tracking also provides a Comments field for authors, for easier organization of notes."

As I am not sure exactly how this will effect me I took a screen shot of my current Agent in the Box 'tracker service' so once the change has taken place I will be able to better assess whether it is a premium I wish to pay for. 

Still, I think this is a excellent improvement as it now gives people the choice and anyone who can't afford it can still use it.  Yay for WeBook!

Aww - how sweet.  WeBook do take care of you.  They don't call it a 'pick me up, following your rejection coupon', they call it 'thank you for joining Agent in the Box'.

Today I recieved a coupon code for use on WeBook's competition Page 2 Fame.  Usually the competition would be $4.95 (shorts) or $9.95 (full length).  I guess that's another saving from entering Agent in the Box - not an advertised one and maybe not always available - but a free entry for me.

Recieved an email back saying that my submission has not passed the flight check and details on what I need to do to improve my submissions.

Error 1
One of my 'query letters' has the persons name at the bottom and not at the top.  I have now amended this.

Error 2
One of the agens seleced is not interested in YA fiction.  Unfortunatley they didn't say who.... so I had to check through all the agents to try to identify them.

Now resubmitted.  Hope I pass the flight check and even better...  hope to find my future Agent.  *fingers crossed*

So I have used Agent in the Box to contact 26 Agents.  The process was pretty simple and you can save your progress at any time and come back to it when you have more time or have things more ready (i.e. you could log to work on your query letter).

First you enter basic details about your manuscript such as your name, title of the book, word count, short synopsis and genre 1 and 2. 

The genre selection is important as this searches their database of Agents for you to contact.  You then can view these agents profiles to see if you like them and if you do 'click add'.  This brings up an e-mail form where you can paste the body of your 'query letter' but remember to consider editing it to make it specific to that agents line of work.  This can take some time.

The next screen details the different submission requirement attachements:

2 agents = query only no attachment
4 agents = 5 page sample
7 agents = 10 page sample
4 agents = 25 page sample
2 agents = 30 page sample
3 agents = 50 page sample
3 agents = 1 chapter sample
1 agent = 3 chapters samples

So you paste in the required text for each sample and then WeBook make sure the agents get what they need.  This is a little fiddley but a lot simpler to do it 8 times than 26 times. 

Finally you are asked to complete an Authors Bio.  They ask questions to gather information from you.  This can be tricky if you haven't got a background as a published writer but concentrate on what you have got 'what are you best to write this novel' and 'what experience have you got, i.e. blogging, member of a writing group, participate in online writing communities, etc.  How long have you been writing (I think most writers - it's as soon as they could pick up a pen).

The last page it for payment details.  All your progress will be saved and you can pay at anytime but until you pay nothing goes out.  Now I have paid, it has passed to a member of WeBook staff to do a 'Flight Check' where they check that your synopsis, letter and manuscript is at a suitable standard before sending it out.  Last thing you want is a spelling mistake in your query letter.

Will let you know the outcome...

Cost Estimate
This is a guess that 30 pages or 3 chapters would be a package and that all the rest except query would be a large letter, i have estimated the cost to 26 agents by post would have been:


First class:  £19.58
Second class:  £15.52

This would be if all the agents lived in the UK whereas most of them are in the USA (so it would be more with international costs).  However, many of the agents I've subscribed to do accept email submissions so I could have mailed them for free. 

I'm still on the fence as to whether Agent in the Box is worth it but will continue to keep you informed as my submission is now pending 'Flight Check'