Is this now normal? Am I that old?

jjdebenedictis

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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?
 

MysteryRiter

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I sent out about 35 query for my novel which isn't really being queried anymore. I think only about 5 of the agents said that they wouldn't respond if it was a rejection. With only 17 response rejections, there's a gap there. A lot of these agents just don't respond anymore and it's annoying because they say they will respond. It's not just you. I actually have just gotten a full request (my first as pathetic as that is!) about a week or so ago from an agent who I queried mid-August. I'm thinking "what? That long?"
I kinda gave up on tracking responses... I'm just assuming that they are rejections now...
 

Williebee

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Just imho--

The magic of the internet, word processing software, and e-queries has made it ever so easy for anyone with an internet connection to submit whatever they think is a book to whoever they can scavenge an email address for, thoughtfully or not so much.

Add to that numbers driven pressure to find what sells, in some cases, ahead of what's good.

Yeah, I can see where it would not be standard practice for all, but it would become so for some.

Civility and professionalism are two way streets, and well meaning, well acting folks, on both sides of the street, can get abused by the shear volume of the traffic.

:(
 
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E-queries make it far easier to submit a novel before it's ready to see the light of day.

This has substantially upped the number of submissions each agent and publisher receives.

They couldn't possibly reply to all submissions. Even if each email took five seconds to send out, they'd be slammed 24 hours a day just sending out rejection emails.
 

Paul

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Ah the e-query double edged sword. ouch.

Personally I love it, even if it means you get clogged up in the machinery of 'oh, i have an idea' mails and spam, and mail exhaustion.


Not just because I hate spending money (no SP, I've no Scottish blood in me) but because -


actually it's the money thing.


:D
 

Rob Lefebvre

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I assume everyone who is trying to find an agent is in a similar position. I don't think that agents should respond to every query, I just think they should respond to all of mine.
 

rebmacrath

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Well, this is certainly one of the most helpful threads I've found here. I too had been wondering about the Wall of Silence. Weronika J is almost unique in stating upfront that she will not respond if uninterested--and in acknowledging receipt of the query. She's also refreshingly candid in her advice to writers to not send exclusives to anyone: queries are meant to be shared, she says, with as many agents as possible. :)
 

triceretops

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True story: I sent out 450 queries and samples to agents, under thriller, action adventure, suspense and military espionage during a three month period. After 12 months, and with repeated follow-ups (dozens and dozens of them), I listed-had 280 non-responders. I was...quite shocked to see such a change in the agent reponse area. That was 18 months ago. I had no such reponse failures 3 1/2 years for my second agent. I think I had a 75% response rate then.

Tri
 

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I was wondering the same thing with my latest batch of agent queries. No responses at all, even from those who promise to on their websites. It's annoying, and unprofessional in my opinion.

Some agents have assistants who go through their email and provide a first cut through the slush pile. Those, at least, tend to give rejections quickly.
 

Drachen Jager

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Just accept that about 50% of agents will never get back to you. Write them off after two months and consider yourself lucky if they give a positive response after that.

No big deal.
 

thothguard51

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How well I remember the days of coming home from work and checking the old snail mail first thing. Now, I check my e-mail three, six, or more times a day.

I miss the old days, sort of, only had to check the snail mail once a day...
 

DeadlyAccurate

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Is this the new normal? Is "No reply means no" now standard practice?

I think it is.

The simple act of responding puts those agents at the top of the query-with-new-work list. Some of the biggest names are up there, too, so it's not like non-responders are only people with a miles-long list of NYT bestselling authors.

I even had one agent who said, with a previous book, "Query me with your next work," who didn't bother with even a form rejection when I did, although I mentioned in the query that she'd specifically requested my next work. Yeah, not particular eager to send to her in my first batch of new queries.
 

quicklime

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i think it is normal, and i suppose you can't have it both ways.....you get the free send, increasing your reach, but you also get the diminished response.



You will get more responses if you enclose nude pics....either by promising more, or agreeing to stop sending any in the future, depending upon personal situation.
 

buz

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If I were an agent, I wouldn't feel obligated to send a response if I didn't like the query/sample pages...unless there was something I really liked about it and truly regretted not feeling up to representing it.

From what I understand, the amount of submissions they get is daunting, and responding to every one would waste a lot of time. Especially if the reason for rejection is "mean-sounding" or vague--I imagine trying to explain something like "your grammar sucks" or "I don't like it but I don't know why" in a tactful or reasonable-sounding manner is taxing if you do it over and over again.

At the same time, I'm impatient, and I like to know where I stand immediately...so I do understand the annoyance...but the agent is human, too, and can only do so much with their workday. :)
 

happywritermom

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Weronika J has a system.
That's the biggest problem I see here. Most agents haven't caught up with the times and developed systems to handle the huge query loads.
There is no reason they can't have software that automatically sends out form rejections to those they reject. It takes no more time than a lack of response.
Better yet, it should save time because they won't get nudges from people like me who just really want to see something from agents in their inboxes now and then.
They just have to take that breath and hire someone to develop it or, if they are technical enough (It's not that complicated.) develop systems of their own.
I know that's hard to do when they are so busy, but, hey. What would have happened if they had all said they were too busy to switch from typewriters to computers back when that was the technical issue? It wouldn't have been a big deal at first, but they would eventually have been left behind.
I try to tell myself the lack of response this time around is not rude, that they are not obligated to respond to me in any way , shape or form. But I can't help it.
It just feels rude, you know?
What surprises me though is that generally the biggest, most successful agents have taken the time to respond to me. Those are the people I would expect no response from.
 
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Old Hack

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Most agents haven't caught up with the times and developed systems to handle the huge query loads.

This doesn't correspond with the agents I know (and I'll admit, I don't know "most" agents). They all have good systems in place, and do their best to respond to submissions in a timely manner.

But no matter how good a system one has in place, it still takes time to respond to submissions, and a lot of time to deal with a lot of submission; and doing so still has to take second place to dealing with one's existing clients.
 

kidcharlemagne

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Just accept that about 50% of agents will never get back to you. Write them off after two months and consider yourself lucky if they give a positive response after that.

No big deal.

This.

After 80 e-queries and an offer of rep, 50% of the agents I queried were tumbleweeds.
 

CrastersBabies

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Wow, been a while since I've queried too. I'm kind of disappointed to read this. It makes agencies seem more unprofessional (on one hand) yet, if the submission number is really that high (Scarlet gave a good number there) then how could they?
 

Mark Thyme

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I found it instructive when I queried last year. I'm an established journalist with a leading publication so I guess my queries would have at least been looked at. And I had an agent interested before I started to query or had even finished my book. But as additional insurance I queried about eight other agents. Six turned me down and two didn't bother to respond.

My contact with the original agent was through a friend, who this agent also represents. Thankfully, the agent liked my manuscript so I didn't need to query further.

Said agent sold my manuscript within a week of submitting and also sold a second novel to the same publisher on nothing more than a one page outline. For good money. Either this agent has super special insight or the other agents didn't really give much attention to the query/first few pages. Much as I think my agent is great, I'd plump for the latter.

I don't write this to depress people, but rather to say that if you get rejections or no responses there's a pretty good chance it has less to do with a manuscript's failings than with not being able to get an agent to devote enough time to the work to judge it fairly.
 

Velcro

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Said agent sold my manuscript within a week of submitting and also sold a second novel to the same publisher on nothing more than a one page outline. For good money. Either this agent has super special insight or the other agents didn't really give much attention to the query/first few pages. Much as I think my agent is great, I'd plump for the latter.

I don't write this to depress people, but rather to say that if you get rejections or no responses there's a pretty good chance it has less to do with a manuscript's failings than with not being able to get an agent to devote enough time to the work to judge it fairly.

That is a little depressing but sometimes it does help having "friends in high places" as the case may be. Well, congratulations on getting your books sold and thank you for this insight.
 

Old Hack

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I don't write this to depress people, but rather to say that if you get rejections or no responses there's a pretty good chance it has less to do with a manuscript's failings than with not being able to get an agent to devote enough time to the work to judge it fairly.

Or that there's a good chance that you sent it to agents who don't represent the sort of book that you're querying, or to agents who are not taking on new clients, or that you submitted your work in such a way that the agents couldn't read your work, and so on and so forth. A lack of response to a submission that a different agent goes on to sell well doesn't automatically mean that the unresponsive agent is at fault.
 

Mark Thyme

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Or that there's a good chance that you sent it to agents who don't represent the sort of book that you're querying, or to agents who are not taking on new clients, or that you submitted your work in such a way that the agents couldn't read your work, and so on and so forth. A lack of response to a submission that a different agent goes on to sell well doesn't automatically mean that the unresponsive agent is at fault.

I've been a journalist long enough to read, understand and follow submission guidelines. I don't think that was the problem.

Clearly unresponsive agents might just not have liked the work. Tastes differ. But I suggest that they're so innundated with material that they find it hard to filter what comes across the transom and it becomes a much more random process than they'd like us to think.

In fact I'd wager that agents use personal recommendations as a key filter in much the same way as most of us do for a lot of things in our lives.

All of which is to say that people shouldn't necessarily feel that rejections on the basis of cold calling (which is what the query process is) is a true reflection of the quality of work they're submitting.
 

Old Hack

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Clearly unresponsive agents might just not have liked the work. Tastes differ. But I suggest that they're so innundated with material that they find it hard to filter what comes across the transom and it becomes a much more random process than they'd like us to think.

No, it really doesn't. When I worked as an editor full-time I looked at every submission I received, and gave every single one my full attention--for as long as it held it. So did all the other editors I worked with.

My friends who are agents are all very respectful of the submissions that they receive, and pay attention to every single one. My neice, who was recently an intern at a major London literary agency, was briefed very carefully on how to assess the submissions she was asked to filter. By suggesting that dealing with submissions is a random, confused process you're making assumptions which in my experience are neither safe nor true.

You might find Making Light's Slushkiller an interesting read.

In fact I'd wager that agents use personal recommendations as a key filter in much the same way as most of us do for a lot of things in our lives.

All of which is to say that people shouldn't necessarily feel that rejections on the basis of cold calling (which is what the query process is) is a true reflection of the quality of work they're submitting.
Personal recommendations only get you an introduction; they don't get your name on a contract. Only good writing does that.

I know it's tempting to assume that if your writing was passed over or ignored it was because of some fault of the agent, and that only people who know someone "on the inside" have any real chance of publishing success: but that's just not how it works most of the time. Sure, sometimes an introduction from a friend might help move you a little further up the pile than you'd have been if you'd just submitted cold: but that's all that will happen.
 
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areteus

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It sounds like what agents need is more help in filtering out the submissions... for a reasonable wage, I'll do it for you... :)

No, seriously, I am that desperate for a job...

One thing about autoresponse systems is that they do cost money to set up and maintain (decent ones at least) and many people are not as clued up on IT to use them properly and many are scared of them. Eventually they will become more common... You still currently need a human to review all the manuscripts and place them in 'piles' indicating whether they are 'immediate rejects' or 'pass on to the next stage in the system'.