For years, we writers have been complaining about the length of time it takes to get any answers in this business. Sometimes it can take years after we send out our first pitch, before someone rejects or buys the manuscript. Like everyone else, I’ve schemed ways around this, sending out multiple pitches or spending all my time trying to find someone to email the manuscript to, hoping to get a quicker turn around.
And every once in a while, it happens. Recently an acquaintance of mine emailed our writing group claiming the award for fastest rejection ever. He had sent out a query and had the rejection in his in-box in a record seven minutes. Not great for his writing ego, but at least he got an answer.
My pet peeve though is a newer trend I’m spotting from U.S. agents and publishers– no answer at all. They might respond to the query, even shoot off an email to say they received the manuscript. And from then on, it seems as though any effort to communicate with them goes into a big black hole in space. Didn’t their mamas teach them any manners?
I’m not the only one noticing. Just this month, one man I know finally did get an answer to a query he sent out in 2005. It was fine with him, the manuscript in question had gone on to be published in 2006 with another house.
Don’t give me the economy as an excuse either. Snail mail queries and manuscripts are routinely sent out accompanied by a self addressed stamped envelope. How long does it take to scrawl, ‘Not right for me’, or ‘I’m not taking on clients at this time’? As for email correspondance, hitting reply and typing in a quick, ‘Sorry’ is even easier.
My plea to these folks is simple: Send me a blistering critique. Return my manuscript with coffee stains and pen scratches. Just scribble No Way! on my query letter. But don’t ignore me. Be more professional than that.
Better yet, buy the darn thing. You know you want to.
8 responses so far ↓
zeldafitzgerald // June 16, 2008 at 7:21 pm
I am a poet, but I can most certainly relate to this post. My question is this: what can we, as writers, do to counter this problem-slash-industry-standard?
globalwrite // June 16, 2008 at 7:50 pm
I agree Christine. It’s just good manners…oh, and it’s their JOB!
Narelle
Kate // June 17, 2008 at 4:05 am
I work in for a fairly prestigious publication and use email a lot as a method of communication with experts in various fields. Very often my queries are not acknowledged and I have thought people were being uncooperative, but that’s not what it was. It was that my emails were being blocked by their spam filters, and they didn’t realize it.
I discovered this after sending and resending my emails and finally giving up and phoning, whence the recipient would inspect his or her junk mail folder and voila, there my emails would be.
To think how often writers are assuming their work has not been well received, when the truth may well be that it has not been received at all!
globalwrite // June 17, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Wow, Kate brings up a good point. And here I thought I was kidding about that black hole. I have some follow up to do on some queries out there.
As to what to do–as ZeldaFitzgerald asked, I believe in multiple submissions. How else do we keep up?
zeldafitzgerald // June 23, 2008 at 2:58 pm
[am very behind in comments -- my apologies!]
I completely agree about multiple submissions; they are my saving grace!
zak // July 4, 2008 at 5:17 am
sounds like agents are acting morea nd more like HR representatives
Georgie B // July 4, 2008 at 11:00 pm
I don’t know. I deal with HR on a daily basis, and while I have sent out mulitple queries, all but one has responded. All negative, but at least they responded.
My main beef would be that some have used my own query to write their rejection on.
C’mon people, it’s not that hard to send out a form letter. Everything else is supplied to you.
globalwrite // July 5, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Amen! Or send the darn thing out in an email if you don’t want to spend any money. But then I want my darn SASE back! LOL