How do you fold a SASE?

CrankItTo11 · Oct 23, 2008

This has to be the dumbed question every posted here. But here I go anyway...

I've always done e-mail queries in the past, but I have gotten to the point where the top agents left on my list are all old school. So I sent out my first round of snail mail query letters today and realized I am bad at origami. How do you fold the SASE envelope to fit into the mailed envelope? What I did was fold the envelope lengthwise in half and then folded it from the top down about an inch. It looked really sad, but it worked.

Why does this seem so hard? Maybe I just need more sleep...

Seaclusion2 · Oct 23, 2008

You buy #9 envelopes for your SASE. They fit right inside the standard #10 envelopes that you are sending out. This is a neat and no-fold way to do it. Another option is to use 9" X 12" manila envelopes and then put your #10 SASE inside that.

Richard

citymouse · Oct 23, 2008

I don't use standard #10 envelopes. I use large manila envelopes. They are much easier to handle with no folding required.
C

RLB · Oct 23, 2008

Seaclusion said:
You buy #9 envelopes for your SASE. They fit right inside the standard #10 envelopes that you are sending out. This is a neat and no-fold way to do it. Another option is to use 9" X 12" manila envelopes and then put your #10 SASE inside that.

Richard

This is what smart people do. Alas, I have yet to join their ranks, and instead my SASEs looks like crumpled paper airplanes by the time I get through with them.

CrankItTo11 · Oct 23, 2008

Glad I'm not the only one, Rachel!

OK, so envelopes have numbers? This paper thing is so foreign to me. I guess I'd better get a crash course at the local post office.

Shadow_Ferret · Oct 23, 2008

Well, in the old days *gives everyone a pointed look* and I was submitting short stories that were small enough to fit in a #10, I'd just fold the SASE in thirds and include it.

Not sure how acceptable folding it is these days though, and when I send my queries, synopsis, and sample pages, I'm using 9X12 envelope and just placing the SASE inside.

astonwest · Oct 23, 2008

I usually send a manila envelope, but that's usually because I have a few pages of the manuscript included with the query (per guidelines).

Seaclusion2 · Oct 23, 2008

CrankItTo11 said:
Glad I'm not the only one, Rachel!

OK, so envelopes have numbers? This paper thing is so foreign to me. I guess I'd better get a crash course at the local post office.

Put your greeting cards in a #7 1/2. Seriously, get #9 envelopes at the office supply store. It looks so much more professional to not fold the SASE.

Richard

FennelGiraffe · Oct 23, 2008

CrankItTo11 said:
I guess I'd better get a crash course at the local post office.

Your local office supply store would probably be better.

Sharon Mock · Oct 23, 2008

Fold it in thirds the way you fold the queries, or buy #9 envelopes. Either way, it's submittomancy, like using printed labels on your envelopes. We might like to believe that folding envelopes or hand-writing addresses is a sure sign of OMG teh amateur, but I see no evidence that agents and editors care one way or the other.

...and yes, I use #9 envelopes for SASEs. And a label printer.

vixey · Oct 23, 2008

I used to fold it in thirds then I read somewhere (probably here) that folding the SASE was unprofessional.

Soooo - I started sending my query in a 9x12 (Dog knows what number that is) with an SASE unfolded. It costs precisely $1 to mail it.

Now - as to my responses sending it this way. Nada.

I've received all partial and full requests via email.

Good luck!!!!

blacbird · Oct 23, 2008

CrankItTo11 said:
This has to be the dumbed question every posted here.

I agree completely.

caw

qwerty · Oct 24, 2008

I don't know about US sizes, but I've always sent ms in a 9"X13" envelope and included a 9"X4.5" sase for reply only. I don't want to pay postage to have ms returned, so I ask for unwanted material to be recycled or disposed of.

Vomaxx · Oct 24, 2008

CrankItTo11 said:
This has to be the dumbed question every posted here.

I hope you proofread the letters carefully, as well as folding them neatly.

DeleyanLee · Oct 24, 2008

Shadow_Ferret said:
Well, in the old days *gives everyone a pointed look* and I was submitting short stories that were small enough to fit in a #10, I'd just fold the SASE in thirds and include it.

When I do mailing for work that include SASEs, this is what I do. That way the two addresses and stamps are left intact.

Red-Green · Oct 24, 2008

It is submittomancy. I assure you that magazine editors don't care. The tri-folded #10 isn't shameful or amateurish. I know this because when I was a slushie for a big lit mag, plenty of professional writers sent in tri-folded #10 SASE's with their submissions. Think Annie Proulx, Robert Olen Butler, A.S. Byatt, Salman Rushdie...do I have to go on? As for agents, many of them hate people sending a query letter in a 9x12, as it takes up more space and causes trouble that a query letter (with tri-folded SASE) in a #10 doesn't.

Or yeah, if the tri-fold is really bugging you out, buy #9, but sleep well at night knowing folks don't care.

Sharon Mock said:
Fold it in thirds the way you fold the queries, or buy #9 envelopes. Either way, it's submittomancy, like using printed labels on your envelopes. We might like to believe that folding envelopes or hand-writing addresses is a sure sign of OMG teh amateur, but I see no evidence that agents and editors care one way or the other.

stormie · Oct 24, 2008

I've been submitting work for about nine years now, and find it really doesn't matter if you fold the SASE into thirds or not. Or handwrite the address on the envelope or not. It's the contents--the ms. or query--that matters.

And if you're in the USA, use a Forever stamp on the SASE. So many times the Postal Service has upped the amount of a stamp after I've submitted my work. (I often wonder what all those orphaned SASEs are doing right now.)

Cranky · Oct 24, 2008

Forever stamps, YES! Also, as a side note, try folding the gummed flap back over the front of the envelope, so that the envelope doesn't self-seal enroute or something.

Thank you, Miss Snark, for that lovely piece of advice.

stormie · Oct 24, 2008

I second what Cranky said above about the SASE. It can get lost inside a 9x11. And I'll add--use self-stick SASEs with that bit of paper still on the gummed part. You don't want the SASE to get stuck to the cover letter or query. (Wow, Miss Snark was great, wasn't she?! Miss her blog.)

Alpha Echo · Oct 24, 2008

RLB said:
This is what smart people do. Alas, I have yet to join their ranks, and instead my SASEs looks like crumpled paper airplanes by the time I get through with them.

OMG me too. Why didn't I think of the 9/10 way to do it? That's easier, neater, and makes way more sense.

Duh.

Thanks!

Charlie Horse · Oct 24, 2008

Fold it as many times as possible until it's the size of the postage stamp you're enclosing, which, I might add, should be hidden somewhere amongst the pages of your partial.

(You do know I'm just kidding, right?)

Cathy C · Oct 24, 2008

I won't use #9s, because if the query is more than one page (such as including a few pages of the manuscript) it flat won't fit in a #9, or is such a struggle that often the agent/editor will give up and simply pitch it. I use the tried and true #10, folded in thirds and tucked onto the RIGHT side of the envelope, under the stamp. Why? Because the sorting machine grabs it by that side and the machines are happier going from thick to thin, rather than thin to thick (it doesn't jam as often.)

Just my .02. But with the extra postage of a 9x12 (one extra .42 stamp---required by the new rules, plus an extra .17), I'm still a fan of the old fashioned #10.

But that's just me.

Julie Worth · Oct 24, 2008

Use a #12 and a #10 SASE with a forever stamp. Or better, use a 9x12 and enclose material. And buy some impressive stamps from the post office. Metered mail looks like junk.

astonwest · Oct 24, 2008

If you write out the addresses by hand, you MUST use block lettering in blue ink, fine point.

stormie · Oct 24, 2008

And you must use a ruler underneath, drawing light lines with a pencil, printing out the address very neatly, then erasing said pencil lines.

Seriously, the outer envelope is torn open by an assistent usually, then the acceptance or rejection slipped into the envelope without much of a thought. They're too busy to notice if the envelope is in thirds or not. What is noticed is the writing or what they're looking for in a story. But the SASE can get lost in a large manilla envelope. Put that flap over the cover letter, as Cranky said.

How do you fold a SASE?

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