Did I just completely blow it by spacing off on the SASE?

[CrankItTo11]

I realized last night that I mailed the manuscript without an SASE. It was a real drop-to-the-knees-slow-mo-noooooooo kind of moment. In the excitement of getting a request from Ms. Dreamagent, I became a moron.

A bit more info on the situation: I sent an e-mail query to Ms. Dreamagent, and she responded via e-mail within an hour requesting the manuscript. God Almighty, I still can’t believe she was even interested. Her list intimidates the crap out of me.

Do I send her an e-mail and say “Sorry, I forgot the SASE, but I’m sending one in the mail today”? This may make everything even worse… like, here is a little reminder of how disorganized and annoying I would be as a client.

More optimistically, is it possible this isn’t a huge deal because the material was requested? And we have been in e-mail correspondence, so she can simply e-mail me the rejection? (So much for the optimism.)

Anyway, while beating myself up over this feels like the right thing to do, I thought you all may have some better advice. (Long time lurker, first time poster here…)

[poetinahat]

First of all, welcome, Crank!

I'm sure people here with more experience will steer you right. Merely as a person, I'd probably be understanding and appreciate the follow-up notice with SASE on the way. Then you're solving a problem before waiting for her to find it. (And you're aware enough to know it was missing.)

Furthermore, I'd guess that she's more interested in your MS than whether you left out the SASE.

Hang onto the optimism; here's hoping it's well-founded!

[Little Red Barn]

I did it too, and beat my self up for about 15 min. Made me extra careful the next time...I bet she'll email you anyway. Good luck! kimmi

[ORION]

Don't worry Crank. For requested material it is not a problem not enclosing an SASE. You will hear back via email or phone, I promise you. Do NOT bother sending an SASE in this case - REALLY -
Was it a partial or a full?
If it is a full FYI I always heard back by email - for any rejection - and was given great feedback.
Most agents request so many fulls that you draw negative attention to yourself by sending a lone SASE asking them to match it up with your manuscript which very well may be in a pile of fifty!
Miss Snark actually addressed this very thing. She said she looks for a valid email address on the cover letter...you DID enclose a cover letter and your original query didn't you?

hope this helps

[CrankItTo11]

Thank you all for the responses.

Orion - I included the original e-mail and her response to the e-mail as well as a brief cover letter. So the e-mails, the cover letter, and the manuscript all included my contact info and e-mail address. This was a full manuscript, btw.

OK, I'll just play it cool (even though I feel the opposite of cool right now).

[jchines]

Miss Snark actually addressed this very thing. She said she looks for a valid email address on the cover letter...you DID enclose a cover letter and your original query didn't you?

Are you thinking of this entry (http://misssnark.blogspot.com/2006_09_17_misssnark_archive.html#1159056864502545 30), where Miss Snark talks about how you should include a SASE because sometimes e-mail bounces, or the address gets mis-typed, or something else goes wrong in cyberspace and in this example, "if he had not included [the SASE], he'd never hear from me even though I tried."

[CrankItTo11]

jchines... yikes. Now, I'm not sure what to do. Of course, Miss Snark was referring to a query letter - not a requested manuscript.

If I send the SASE, I feel like I need to do it today. The manuscript was mailed yesterday and I'd want to SASE to arrive at roughly the same time.

(Whhhhhhhhy?)

[Julie Worth]

Don't worry about it, Crank. They don't reject requested fulls because you forgot your SASE. In a couple of weeks, you might also realize you forgot something else. Like maybe you forgot to revise it six more times. If that happens, resist the temptation to send out more material.

[jkorzenko]

LOL, Julie. So true!

Crank -- don't worry. It was a requested FULL for goodness sakes -- she's interested or he's interested, as the case may be. You haven't shot yourself in the foot.

J.

[jchines]

I tend to agree that in this case, it's not the end of the world. If you wanted to be extra-safe, you could e-mail the agent and ask if she'd like you to send the SASE along. I tend to play this sort of thing very conservatively, myself. (Which isn't to say I haven't messed up any number of queries ... letters in the wrong envelopes being the most annoying.)

[HorrorWriter]

Crank, Orion is right. Don't worry about the SASE. The only thing it's good for is a rejection. You want to receive a phone call or e-mail which is what will happen anyway, I'm sure! :D If you have come this far apparently you have a great story. You won't even need that stinky old SASE. Good luck! ;)

[popmuze]

I've been sending SASEs religiously for the last six months and thus far a whole bunch of people still haven't replied.
On the other hand, earlier I neglected it a couple of times and I still got responses. One agent actually sent back my entire manuscript on their dime (or $2.47, I forget which). But I wouldn't expect that.
Basically, if an agent is interested you won't have to worry about hearing from him or her.
(If not, you may be waiting a long time for the rejection, with or without the SASE)

[CrankItTo11]

Thank you all so much. I'm just going to let it go and not send an SASE. Must! Not! Obsess!

I'll let you know when (and how) I hear back from her

[ORION]

jchines - The agent emailed the request so you know she knows crank's email address and it works. That is what I was referring to.
Crank - that was good to enclose the original email correspondence -
Now play it cool. Forget about it and start you next novel.
JMHO

[Elektra]

Congrats on the request from your DreamAgent(tm)