When I submitted, I was told that it would take about six WEEKS to get an answer regarding representation. I think at this point I've been beyond patient. I have sent one very polite email to "ping" the agent through her assistant. I did not receive a response.

My mamma didn't raise a fool, so I'm assuming at this point that no response equals no. My question is, should I call and confirm this? The agent herself called me to request the manuscript and gave me her phone number at that time. Should I use it now? If so, what are some suggestions for what to say? Or should I just punt and move on, starting over with the query letters to other agents?

Suggestions as for what to say? Be professional and upbeat, state your name, remind her that on such-and-such a date she called you to request your manuscript, and you're now following up on the status of it. (State what the project is; fantasy, sci/fi, etc., and the working title.)

If she's busy/doesn't have time to talk, or can't remember your manuscript, I'd gently push to have another phone conversation later in the week, and set a date & time for the call while you're on the line. (And I'd personally keep the ball in my own court - you call her, not leave yourself waiting for a call that might not happen from their end.)

As for moving on to query another agent, I wouldn't until I'd learned for sure about this one. Six months is a long time to wait, and, yes, you've been more than patient. But you also chose this agent for a specific reason in the first place, so I'd give this a few more days to get closure with it one way or the other before sending the work elsewhere.

Anyway, I wanted to state that if this agent says no but has feedback to offer, listen to what she has to say and take notes. (You can chew on all of the advice later and use it or not.) Before ending the conversation, thank her for taking the time to read your work and for sharing her thoughts.

I wouldn't defend my work to someone giving me a no-go, because I think that's just wasted energy. (If you didn't convince them to buy from the words you wrote, I don't think you'll convince them to do so by arguing points on the phone.) So I would listen and then thank her (unless, of course, she is just rude, and if so I'd end the call nicely and forget the whole incident the minute I hung up. We writers must protect our creative energies! Forgetting and moving on works well in that case).

But definitely thank her if she offers feedback, whether or not you agree with the feedback. The reason I say this is because I know of one agent who is now a senior editor at a publishing house, and of one editor who has since become a major player as an agent.

So...my added advice is to not burn any bridges with anyone. You never know if this person will one day become an editor with whom you feel your work will ultimately click.

As to advice--listen to it. Listen to it. I could say that again. An agent knows what will sell. Is the advice given on a --do this and resubmit or just a general --hey you have too much of this or not enough of that.

Keep in mind that you are likely to gather a mess of rejections.

Are you doing one at a time? You might want to consider more at a time.

Off to work--