Do agents ever...

John, I hope others do weigh in on this, but my feeling is that anything's possible. Now that you're considerably past the response time, it would most likely be appropriate to send a follow-up note to make sure they received everything. Miss Snark has a great example of how to handle this.

Kristen

It could mean anything from a lost ms to lost contact info to unforseen circumstances to even an uncaring agent. But after 5 months, I don't think any agent would be annoyed by a follow up about its status.

I sent a polite follow up email to an agent after 5 months with no word and received an apologetic response for the delay and a promise to get to the ms within a couple of weeks. Apparently this agent was swamped and then had some personal life changes that resulted in the delay.

Don't assume they're just blowing you off.

A friend of mine waited the time they suggested, I think it was 3 months. Then, when she called them, they said if you don't hear back please wait 6 months. At the end of the 6 months she contacted them again and they said they never received the MS. She had a receipt signed by somebody in the company, but it never got to the intended agent. Needless to say, she needed to resend and wait out those months again. I believe she went somewhere else, cursing the unprofessional attitude of those she dealt with at the first agency. I would send a polite follow up.

As long as they don't send back your SASE with a no, anything is possible. However, if they said they would respond in 3 months, wait another three. If by then you don't hear from them, send a follow-up inquiry.

Mine took twice as long to respond as they said they would. I went nuts, absolutely nuts until that phone rand, but it IS possible.