- Joined
- Jun 25, 2010
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I haven't queried in about three years, but the changes I see between this time and last time are pretty notable.
One change is awesome: It used to be that agents who only wanted e-queries were rare, and agents who accepted e-queries (usually grudgingly) were still the minority.
Now, it seems almost every agent prefers e-queries (hurray for my wallet!) or at least accepts them also.
But that's not what my question's about. The thing that's really shocking me, this time around, is the utter lack of response.
I miss my form rejections. Have they gone the way of the dodo and the diskette?
I've queried agents that say "No reply means no," and I'm fine with them not sending me anything.
However, I've also queried agents whose websites list a specific time frame for their response. I've queried agents who give no time frame whatsoever, but who have reasonable statistics for their response times listed on QueryTracker.
Yet nothin' seems to be coming back to me. I've gotten just enough response to know my email account is working, and that's it.
Is this the new normal? Is "No reply means no" now standard practice?
And yes, I wait two to three months before writing that agent off as a pass and moving on. Yes, I have re-queried politely in a few cases. Yes, I understand that publishing lumbers along at a glacial pace, and yes, I understand they don't owe me anything, not even a "No".
It's just that I'm confused at how sucking and black the vortex I'm tossing queries into has proven, this time around. Is this normal? Am I just behind the times? What do all of you think?
One change is awesome: It used to be that agents who only wanted e-queries were rare, and agents who accepted e-queries (usually grudgingly) were still the minority.
Now, it seems almost every agent prefers e-queries (hurray for my wallet!) or at least accepts them also.
But that's not what my question's about. The thing that's really shocking me, this time around, is the utter lack of response.
I miss my form rejections. Have they gone the way of the dodo and the diskette?
I've queried agents that say "No reply means no," and I'm fine with them not sending me anything.
However, I've also queried agents whose websites list a specific time frame for their response. I've queried agents who give no time frame whatsoever, but who have reasonable statistics for their response times listed on QueryTracker.
Yet nothin' seems to be coming back to me. I've gotten just enough response to know my email account is working, and that's it.
Is this the new normal? Is "No reply means no" now standard practice?
And yes, I wait two to three months before writing that agent off as a pass and moving on. Yes, I have re-queried politely in a few cases. Yes, I understand that publishing lumbers along at a glacial pace, and yes, I understand they don't owe me anything, not even a "No".
It's just that I'm confused at how sucking and black the vortex I'm tossing queries into has proven, this time around. Is this normal? Am I just behind the times? What do all of you think?