When mailing out a query...
- Thread starter KikiteNeko
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Stamped standard white #10 self-addressed envelopes are fine. Generally if you fold the SASE in thirds, it will fit inside another standard envelope.
Is there any harm to sending it along in a manilla? I sent out four in manillas because they included other materials. But the regular queries are lying on my desk in manillas that I haven't sent yet. I was worried that folding a SASE would look unprofessional, but is that not a concern?
I've received requests for partials and fulls in my folded SASE's, so I guess it's not considered too unprofessional. 
No worries. There's nothing wrong with sending the manila envelopes, but you get charged a "flat rate" postage of more than a $1 each, where as the standard envelopes cost you one stamp for the mailout and one for the SASE.
Yes, I DEFINITELY need to be more money-conscious. On the plus side, I did get the manillas for a cheapy walmart price. I think I'll send them out since they're already addressed... it takes a surprisingly long amount of time just to sit down and address enveloples. Like an hour or something along those lines. But after that I think I'll go for the more financially wise decision of just folding the SASE. Thank you for the advice! ^_^
That's awesome. Do you have an agent right now?
I've received requests for partials and fulls in my folded SASE's, so I guess it's not considered too unprofessional.
I'm so horrified about the queries/samples/synopses I sent out. Eeep! What genre are you currently trying to publish, if I could ask?
Nose away! Haha. I'm horrified because it's my first time querying an agent. I fully expect to get rejected, although in my wildest of wildest dreams I imagine getting an offer for representation. I suppose I've staked quite a bit on having this particular novel published. I know you're supposed to find something else to make you happy, etc etc, but the truth is, I'm worried about never being published at all. And if I'm never published, no matter what I do in life, I'll always know I didn't fulfill the one thing I truly wanted to do. (Horray, I'm an emo kid)
Don't be horrified and don't give up. Even if this novel doesn't get the results you hope for (my first two didn't make it past the query phase, but they were inherently flawed.) you have to keep trying. Keep writing and keep querying.
It happens I ran into an agent (Joshua Bilmes to be exact) commenting on this on a website. He said something to the effect that when you send him a query only (which is what he wants), to put it in a #10 envelope--that there is no reason to use a manila. He commented that no one minds unfolding a single sheet or two.
Aren't all works inherently flawed, though? Of course I don't know what your first two MS looked like, but it must have been devastating to never get them past the query phase. How did you muster up the confidence to write a third?
The one I'm trying to get off the ground, it is my very first serious novel, and I've poured a lot into it. I've peer-edited, revised, scrapped... I rewrote the first chapter three times. Of course I'm sure all serious writers do this, I'm not saying I'm special. It's just scary to think nothing will come of it.
The one I'm trying to get off the ground, it is my very first serious novel, and I've poured a lot into it. I've peer-edited, revised, scrapped... I rewrote the first chapter three times. Of course I'm sure all serious writers do this, I'm not saying I'm special. It's just scary to think nothing will come of it.
I'm one of those wretched unspeakable cross-genre types--literary/fantasy, literary/suspense, etc.
And I get the horror. I had horror over my first novel queries, too.
My unsolicited advice: don't let the horror sink in too deep. I knew nothing about querying when I queried my first novel, and only now do I understand that I was doing very well for a first time novelist.
At the time, after 7 queries, 3 partial requests, 2 full requests, and 7 rejections, I thought I was done. I thought, "Well, that novel must be a pile of shit."
What I didn't realize was that getting 5 requests out of 7 queries was pretty darned amazing, even if they ended in rejections--all quite friendly and encouraging. It's unfortunate I didn't realize that, because I might have tried harder. Instead, I threw the novel in a trunk and started work on the next one. I still haven't done anything with that first one.
So, what I'm saying is, the horror is totally natural, but keep it in perspective.
And I get the horror. I had horror over my first novel queries, too.
My unsolicited advice: don't let the horror sink in too deep. I knew nothing about querying when I queried my first novel, and only now do I understand that I was doing very well for a first time novelist.
At the time, after 7 queries, 3 partial requests, 2 full requests, and 7 rejections, I thought I was done. I thought, "Well, that novel must be a pile of shit."
What I didn't realize was that getting 5 requests out of 7 queries was pretty darned amazing, even if they ended in rejections--all quite friendly and encouraging. It's unfortunate I didn't realize that, because I might have tried harder. Instead, I threw the novel in a trunk and started work on the next one. I still haven't done anything with that first one.
So, what I'm saying is, the horror is totally natural, but keep it in perspective.
It was my second novel that I decided was seriously flawed--although only the second half. Eventually I'll completely re-write the last half because I think the first part is good. It's all part of the learning process.
I sold my first to a small publisher without an agent. Now I'm just starting the query process for my third novel. And I admit it, I was worried about folding a query too until I came across Bilmes' comment.
I sold my first to a small publisher without an agent. Now I'm just starting the query process for my third novel. And I admit it, I was worried about folding a query too until I came across Bilmes' comment.
Thanks for all the support. It definitely means a lot. If I get rejections all around, requests or not, I think I'll take some time off to revise what I currently have. I suppose what worries me is that I have an interest in writing very "quiet" literary stories. Stuff sort of like Pieces of April (which is a film, not a book) and The Lovely Bones (minus the supernatural stuff, although that book actually did very well for itself). I don't know that the market will be very high, and I'm concerned that agents will feel I won't make them enough money.
Well, it took me a few years to work up the nerve to write again, I won't lie. But I realized that I could spend my life being unhappy and envious every time I went into a book store and if I was going to be a writer, I had to get up off my butt and WRITE. And my first MS's were just not good. You have obviously put a lot more effort into you first novel than I did. I learned a lot in my off-years.
There's still a market for "quiet" literary stories, although not a big one. You may in fact be better off querying some of the smaller literary presses instead of agents.
(Oh, on the topic of my slushie job: you've got your account set up so I can't do a kick-back email, so I'll answer here. To clarify, I was a slushie at a literary magazine, not an agent or publisher office.
I got my slush job at a literary magazine at a university when I was a freshman. I had been in the editor's freshman composition class the previous semester and I babysat for him a few times. (Gotta love Big-12 Unis in small towns.) We soon discovered that we had similar taste in fiction and he liked my writing style, so he decided I'd be a suitable "surrogate" reader for him. I'm sure similar things happen at other university literary magazines. Students apply for internships or jobs and are hired based on their reading tastes/writing skills. I hope that helps.)
(Oh, on the topic of my slushie job: you've got your account set up so I can't do a kick-back email, so I'll answer here. To clarify, I was a slushie at a literary magazine, not an agent or publisher office.
I got my slush job at a literary magazine at a university when I was a freshman. I had been in the editor's freshman composition class the previous semester and I babysat for him a few times. (Gotta love Big-12 Unis in small towns.) We soon discovered that we had similar taste in fiction and he liked my writing style, so he decided I'd be a suitable "surrogate" reader for him. I'm sure similar things happen at other university literary magazines. Students apply for internships or jobs and are hired based on their reading tastes/writing skills. I hope that helps.)
I don't know about nobody - there was an agent i am trying to query to but I have to buy a self-sealing envelope for the SASE - you know the ones where you just rip off the thing and stick the flap down? Yeah - I doubt this agent would take the time to unfold something. I'm kind of irritated - they don't sell them at the post office, and I don't really want to spend the money on an entire box of self-sealing envelopes, you know? They're pricey! I may skip this agent altogether.
I really admire the courage. I always think that if I can publish this one novel, even if it makes a terrible, like, $1.50 advance, there: I'll have done it. And I can do it again. If I can't, I'll be absolutely devastated. And right now, at 23 years old I don't know how seriously I'm going to be taken by agents.
Odd. I'll have to figure out how to configure the message section or whatever it is. It hasn't occurred to me to query a literary press. Would I have to make my own contract negotiations or any of that stuff?
You may want to look into Publish on Demand if your not trying to establish yourself or make some money in this trade. POD still pays, there's still subsidary, and Vanity, (But I would never pay someone to print my stuff unless thats all I cared about, seeing it in print that is.)
I went to a Writers Conference just a few weeks ago. It was a great experiance, you should look into it. I think it really helped me. I have had almost a hundred rejections in three years, but I still keep writing.
I had a chance to pitch an agent on my material and he liked it. He asked me to submitt my work to him. Still waiting for another rejection yes, but its good to see industry BIZ types talking about my stuff.
My advice is figure out what it is in writing that makes you happy. Do you want to be a career author? Just see one or two books in print? Or hit the big time! Each one can have a totaly different path.
Rejections dont mean "No", they mean "Not Now."
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