Holy crap... lost list of agents. How screwed am I?

Mom

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I haven't sent out any queries to agents in over a year now. (Took a break to have a baby...)

I decided I was ready to query agents once again... but the computer which had the spreadsheet DIED. It was a sudden and dramatic - an excellent computer death. Anyway, I had all my writing backed up, so I didn't lose any of that... but for some reason I didn't back up this spreadsheet. Nooooooo!!!

So, where do I go from here? I remember the names of some of the agents... especially the ones that I had some back-and-forth correspondence with. But, otherwise, it has been about a year and I honestly don't remember who I queried.

What is the best way to go about this? Obviously, I don't want to include an apology in a query (PS- if you already received this, I'm a dumbass and I apologize). Would I risk getting put on some blacklist if I queried the same agent twice in a year for the exact same novel? Or is it highly unlikely that they'd keep records of queries and much less compare those records to look for repeat offenders?

There are some agents I am pretty sure I didn't query yet... but the vast majority fall into the "I'm not sure" category. Should I just stick to the ones I know I didn't query so I don't risk ticking off anyone I already did query? I hate to limit myself, and most the one's I'm pretty sure I didn't query are on the "probably didn't query" list for a reason. Either their sales are less than impressive, or I'm borderline on whether my book would fit in with their current list.

I'm trying to convince myself that agents recieve thousands of queries a week. It seems like there is basically NO way they would remember me. Even if someone did remember me, their assistant reading the queries would likely just send a form rejection and not put much thought into it. I feel bad wasting their time with a double query... but, I don't want to not query hundreds of agents because they are on my "not sure if I already queried them" list.

I've got to win some sort of award of shame for this. Thanks for your opinions on the matter.
 

CaoPaux

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I seriously doubt anyone will remember and/or fault you for requerying after a year. Assuming you've updated/repolished your query letter, etc. in the meantime, chances are the response will be better than the first time around.
 

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Do you by some chance still have the e-mail account you had back then (and was it online or in a program like Outlook)? If my computer crashed now and took my spreadsheet with me, I could always look up what agents I queried through gmail, where all my submitting is done these days. However, when I first started querying an old project, I did it through Outlook, and when that computer crashed, I lost all those e-mails.
 

AlterEgox5

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Exactly what Cao and Sage said. If you haven't taken any time to spruce up your query letter, now's your chance - a different letter may get a better response and they also may not realize it's the same book from last year.

Likewise, an email account like Gmail is great for keeping tabs on your queries. Even better, when your queries are responded to, the two emails are kept together. And of course with snail mail you can hang onto the replies so you know who agents have responded.
 

Mom

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Thanks so much for your responses! I started on gmail, but then moved to outlook. So I do have couple e-mails sent, but not the bulk.

And in an attempt to minimize clutter, I thought I was being brilliant by tossing rejection letters and just noting them on the spreadsheet. So with the exception of a couple sentimental paper rejections, I don't have any of those.

I will take this time to revisit my query. Thanks again for the great responses!
 

DeadlyAccurate

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Really, at worst you'll receive a rejection letter, so I wouldn't sweat it too much. Unless you're the guy who's sent the same query 109 times (and counting) to a huge list of agents*, they'll most likely think it simply sounds familiar if they remember it at all.

*Somehow I doubt that's you. ;)
 

WildScribe

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It's been a year... you don't remember them, and they don't remember you. Just query and re-query where necessary, and make it even better this time around. :)
 

Judg

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And may I recommend querytracker.net for another place to keep track of your queries? I had to set up a spreadsheet too, because there were some agents they didn't list on the site, but I still keep records there. And the results are compiled to provide statistics on the agents from writers' practical experiences.
 

Mom

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Thanks for the responses. I'm feeling much better now (still stupid, but better). I'll check out that online tracker - otherwise I'll stick to the gmail account and backup my agent spreadsheet as diligently as I back up my writing.

I'll go forward with the hope and assumption that agents don't track the thousands of queries they get, so I won't get a red flag for "stalker" by sending a query for the same project twice. I feel bad wasting their time with my own mistake, but maybe I'll come up with a genius new query that will generate more interest than before.
 

waylander

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Chances are at many agencies it will be a different intern/assistant that looks at your query anyhow
 

JanetReid

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Don't worry about it. Stuff like this happens all the time. Just query with your best work.
 

Mom

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Don't worry about it. Stuff like this happens all the time. Just query with your best work.


Thanks... Assuming you are "the" J. Reid, you will fortunately not suffer a re-query. I had some excellent and helpful correspondence with you that I remember quite well. (Your responses to a full actually inspired some major rewrites that I think really improved the book.)

Not to diminish your shark persona here, but I could see you being one of the kinder and more forgiving agents if a duplicate query were received. ;)
 

JanetReid

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You clearly have me mixed up with someone else. I'm not kind or forgiving in the least. I eat queries for breakfast...with jam!
 

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You clearly have me mixed up with someone else. I'm not kind or forgiving in the least. I eat queries for breakfast...with jam!

Cool!

So, like, if I send my queries with Loganberry Jam, and Wild Strawberry-Peach Jam, and Maine Wild Blueberry Preserves it's a shoe-in, right?

I have this thrilling proposal for a piece about the role of the schwa in Chaucer's use of Rhyme Royal meter . . .

(N.B. do not send jam to Ms. Reid or any other agents. Really. Just don't)
 

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Not even a little bit of jam?

That'll be where I went wrong.