Follow Up On Your Queries

I am sure a lot of us have gone through this in the past. You sent an email to someone and you have not heard back from them. So what happened? The answer is that we really don't know. In publishing this is a situation far too many authors are facing when they send out queries to editors and agents. I want to take the time today to talk about both the why element of this as well as the what you should do about it piece.

So, why is it that you don't hear back from and editor or an agent after sending out a query. There can be any number of reasons:

1. The editor or agent takes a no answer = reject approach. Personally, this is one of those issues that I disagree with. I get that people are busy. I get that we all get a ton of emails, but in my personal opinion, this is not professional. OK, sorry about the rant there, but this might be the case. It is tough for you since you don't really know what happened or if it was an issue with your story that might have gotten fixed.
   
2. You sent a project to an editor or agent that is not what they acquire We are all trying our best (or at least I think others are) to make it clear what we actually acquire. In this case, this scenario sort of falls into the category of that first one. I am sure some people out there feel that if you cannot read the submission guidelines, then what is the point responding with a rejection letter.
   
3. You sent an project to an editor that only takes requested submissions or agent submissions If you are trying to get your project into the hands of some of those big house editors, make sure to see if they are open to un-agented submissions. In the past, they used to just send the project back in the envelope unopened. Today, it is just easier to delete.
4. The editor or agent is no longer there People move around a lot. If they have left that publisher there might be a pretty good chance the email is still active and has just not been deleted. This requires you really doing your homework to make sure the person is still there.
   
5. The agent is closed to submissions at this point Every now and then we close to submissions. Here at Greyhaus, I do have a closed to submission email I can send out, however, I will say in the past, I have also posted that I will just delete a submission if it comes in during this time.
6. Technical glich on their end Look this is an issue with everything digital now. How many times have you found an email message you have been waiting for in the SPAM folder. Same thing happens here. The server on their end my be wonky,
7. Technical glich on your end This is user error. Type in the wrong email address. Leave off key information. Hit send but it stays in your OUTBOX for some strange reason. It can happen. 

So, what do you do with these situations.

The first solution deals with # 2, 3, 4, and 5 - Go back and look to see if these people are still acquiring, or if things have changed. When you first considered that person, it might have seemed like a great chance but maybe they are now closed. It happens. If so, move on. If this was requested material, contact the person and mention this was requested material before they closed to submissions. Also, check to see if this person actually does acquire your genre. Yes, this means reading those submission guidelines that you probably did not read the first time,.

The second solution deals with #6 and 7. In the case of an error on their end, send them an email after the time they say they will normally send back a response and POLITELY check on the status, but then state you are willing to resubmit the material if something got lost. I always like to do this FORWARDING the prior email to verify. If it is your error, yell at yourself for being stupid and resend.

The last one deals with #1. If this person really does take that approach, I would still resend that story to them after the time period they say they would respond. If they do not have a time stated, I would send a follow up after three months. Again, forward the sent message, be polite and ask for the status of the query.

The point is, follow up. Things happen. We are human.

But above all else, BE POLITE!!!!!!