follow up letters

reenkam · Jun 20, 2007

This may have been asked already, but lots of searching has led me no where so I'll just ask.

I'd like to send a follow up letter to an agent that has a full of mine. It's only been three months, so many people would say to leave it for at least one more, but the agency website says that a status check at the three month point is welcomed, so I'll do it. I'm just not sure what I'm supposed to say in this letter.

I know a follow up letter should be short, but what do I include? Title, date sent, refresher sentence, ask if progress has been made? More? Anyone got examples?

aka eraser · Jun 20, 2007

reenkam, this has been hovering on this forum's board for about 12 hours without a response, so I'm going to move it to the Ask The Agent forum. Maybe it'll generate more action there.

waylander · Jun 21, 2007

You might want to ask if they received it.

ORION · Jun 21, 2007

When I sent mailed fulls I would use some sort of tracking device (self addressed post card) to verify it was received. When I emailed as an attachment I asked politely in the body of the email to let me know if my attachment was able to be opened and satisfactory. I always got a response -- I only did this for requested FULLS. A follow up email or phone call (which I would do after 3 months) just needs to include your complete name, title of the project, who asked for it and the dates. Just the facts ma'am! Politely worded of course and short.
Keep in mind many agencies have piles and piles of manuscripts TBR (to be read) To be honest I never had a problem with calling an agency but others caution against it. You must decide your style and how long between nudges. One week? Two weeks? A month?
Then refrain from thinking about it.
Again the worry about whether your manuscript arrived safely or not can be alleviated by using fedex with tracking, postcard mailing upon receipt or asking for an emailed response.
Hope this helps.

reenkam · Jun 21, 2007

Thanks for the info.

I sent an email a few minutes ago. I tried to keep it as short as possible. In the future I'll definitely add the bit about asking for a quick "everything works" email in my cover letter-email for fulls.

Maprilynne · Jun 21, 2007

I do that even with my agent now. if there's an attachment, I ask her to let me know it got there and was open-able. Saves a lot of stress on both sides just in case something gets screwed up.

jdperren · Jun 29, 2007

Q: Just snail mailed a requested ms to agent after querying via email and sending follow up 2 chapters via email. Agent should receive ms within a few days. Keeping in mind that agents receive hundreds of emails, is a short 'Thank you' email appropriate to (a) say thanks for requesting the full, (b) say the ms is on the way?

Jeff

ORION · Jun 29, 2007

Yes Jeff,
I always emailed to let the agent know that I sent the ms priority mail or fed ex and when to expect it. In the subject line of the email I put this:

RE: TITLE OF MY BOOK: REQUESTED MATERIAL

At that point I gave all my contact info and asked if they could let me know if it was received and I always got a reply to my email days later saying that they had in fact received my full.
I think it is a wise idea.
Best.

follow up letters

reenkam

aka cupcake

aka eraser

Fish Whisperer

waylander

Who's going for a beer?

ORION

Sailed away years ago

reenkam

aka cupcake

Maprilynne

Author Waiting in the Wings

jdperren

ORION

Sailed away years ago