Snail mailing a requested partial

Lizzy said:

An agent responded to an email query with a request for a partial, and she wants it submitted via snail mail. What I'm not sure of is how do I make sure she knows this is a requested submission? Do I include a cover letter explaining that this is a response to her email? Or do I just assume that she'll know she requested it?

I know this must have been asked before, and I apologize if it has--I couldn't find a specific thread about this.

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You can write 'Requested Materials' on the outer envelope. Then in your cover letter, you want to start with language such as 'Per your request, I've enclosed the first three chapters of my novel .... (blah blah blah).'

That should do the trick. And good luck!!!

Terie said:

You can write 'Requested Materials' on the outer envelope. Then in your cover letter, you want to start with language such as 'Per your request, I've enclosed the first three chapters of my novel .... (blah blah blah).'

That should do the trick. And good luck!!!

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All of the above, plus I also include a copy of the original query just to refresh their memory or in case they deleted the email.

Lizzy said:

Thank you! It's funny how writing the book seemed easy compared to these dumb little things I end up worrying about!

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I've long asserted that writing the synopsis is harder than writing the whole darn book!

I would also e-mail them to say that you have sent the requested package and when to expect it. If you can afford it, use a mail service that tracks your parcel so you can tell when it has been delivered by looking at a webpage. Then, wait a couple of days to give them a chance to look at it and then contact them politely to ensure that they received it.

That way, if it ends up lost in thier slush pile because someone in the mail room doesn't know its a requested manuscript, there is a chance someone will get your mail asking if they got it and think 'Hang on, no we didn't get that...' and ring up the mail room to try to track it down...

Having worked in mail sorting job before (temp job late last year) I really understand how easy it is for things to get lost...

areteus said:

If you can afford it, use a mail service that tracks your parcel so you can tell when it has been delivered by looking at a webpage. Then, wait a couple of days to give them a chance to look at it and then contact them politely to ensure that they received it.

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I have to disagree with all of this. Don't send it by any way other than standard mail, and especially don't use anything that requires a signature. If there's a means of tracking that doesn't require a sig, go ahead if you really want to, but DO NOT send it in a way that needs a recipient signature.

And the unfortunate truth is that most agents will get annoyed it you nudge within a few days just to find out if they got it.

Just because most agents have moved to e-submissions, it isn't a good idea to disregard all the long-established practices for snail mail subs.

Terie said:

I have to disagree with all of this. Don't send it by any way other than standard mail, and especially don't use anything that requires a signature. If there's a means of tracking that doesn't require a sig, go ahead if you really want to, but DO NOT send it in a way that needs a recipient signature.

And the unfortunate truth is that most agents will get annoyed it you nudge within a few days just to find out if they got it.

Just because most agents have moved to e-submissions, it isn't a good idea to disregard all the long-established practices for snail mail subs.

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Agreed.

And I feel very old reading this thread .

And agreed again.

REQUESTED MATERIALS written across the mailing envelope will automatically direct your submission to the agent. The last thing you want to do is piss someone off who wants to read your work.

If you send it Priority Mail, you can have delivery confirmation - no signatures required. And it's only a couple dollars more than sending it standard. I would send it priority, so I could track it and know that it got where it was supposed to go... but I would not, not, not contact them to see if they got it. You can see they did just by entering your tracking # on the usps website. Congrats, by the way!

I just mailed a partial snail mail and delivery confirmation (no signature required) cost $.70. You get a tracking number that you can type into the USPS web site and find out what day it was delivered. Good luck.

Lizzy said:

Thanks everyone! I ended up sending it with delivery confirmation. I feel like a big idiot though, because I forgot to put "Requested Materials" on the envelope, and I had every intention of doing so. No idea how I managed to forget to do that. Hopefully it still gets to her without any problems!

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Don't sweat that part. A lot of people put that on the envelope even if the materials weren't requested (talk about cheeky, eh?!), so lots of mail rooms don't give that as much special attention as they used to. And good luck again!