We authors query a novel to multiple agents simultaneously--standard practice. What is the etiquette status of querying multiple agents with different projects? Fr'example, I query Agent A with my Regency Romance and Agent B with my epic Fantasy and Agent C with my YA. At the same time. Both books are complete and polished. Is this acceptable practice, or considered a no-no?
I'm wondering about the level of awkwardness in informing an agent that another agent has offered representation on a different project.
No, I haven't been foolish enough to do this, though the temptation tugs at the corners of my soul. Curse these finished books looking for homes.
You can query any agent with any project you want. There are no Query Police to enforce my ideas about what you should do. (One of the many things I will attend to when crowned Queen of the Known Universe, of course.)
But your question assumes a fact not in evidence: you can write at a publishable level in not just one category but three.
I don't think that's possible. Not for a debut writer.
And if you point to authors who do that (and there are some) I'm going to ask you to look carefully at whether they wrote all those books at the same time, or started after they had an established career.
I'm not saying you shouldn't try your hand at several categories. Write what you love and let the chips fall where they may.
BUT when you get ready to query, you're asking to have your work considered not as a passion project but a publishable book. To know if your book is publishable you need to know the category VERY well. That means reading, and paying attention to what's selling, and what's not. Unless you've cloned yourself or figured out how to add six hours to every 24-hour day, you simply don't have enough time to do that for more than one category. If you're the parent of children still at home, hold down a job, and don't want your spouse to forget your face, you have even less time than those of us who eschew having a real life.
There's an understandable urge to query and just see what happens. I strongly urge you not to do this to yourself. Hearing a raft of No or worse, deafening silence is hard under the best of circumstances. Doing it for three books at once would wound the strongest creative soul.
The answer to your question is: yes you can.
My fervent hope is you may not.
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