Talk about non-response...

Stanmiller

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Stan here,

In a new low in agent non-responsiveness, today I received one of my SASEs in the mail. Sealed, no return address and...wait for it...drum roll please....

Absolutely nothing inside.

If I squint into the future, will I see this as a trend to go along with the email trend of 'no response = no?'

Or is this a simple case of agent forgetfulness?

Querying minds want to know...
 
CaoPaux

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Heh. Somewhere there's an intern who cleared the outbox and had a letter left over.
 
Chumplet

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Uh... don't you put the return address on an SASE yourself? At least then you'll know who it came from.

I once got an empty, sealed envelope with "No Thanks" scrawled on the outside. But that's okay. I'm over it. Really.
 
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Stanmiller

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Chumplet,

Uh... don't you put the return address on an SASE yourself? At least then you'll know who it came from.
Click to expand...

I do now. Started a couple hours ago, for a fact.

How's things in Canader? I was in Ottawa last month. People complained about not having much of a winter this year.

--Stan
 
thothguard51

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Stanmiller said:
Chumplet,



I do now. Started a couple hours ago, for a fact.

How's things in Canader? I was in Ottawa last month. People complained about not having much of a winter this year.

--Stan
Click to expand...

They really complained? Well, they should have came to the DC area, we got their F-nnn snow.
 

Stanmiller

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Well, they didn't really complain.

More like this:

Me: I expected lots of snow still around. I didn't see any as we landed.

Them: Yah. No trouble getting to the store for beer this winter, eh?
 

Jamesaritchie

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Stanmiller said:
Stan here,

In a new low in agent non-responsiveness, today I received one of my SASEs in the mail. Sealed, no return address and...wait for it...drum roll please....

Absolutely nothing inside.

If I squint into the future, will I see this as a trend to go along with the email trend of 'no response = no?'

Or is this a simple case of agent forgetfulness?

Querying minds want to know...
Click to expand...


You don't put the return address on the envelope yourself? That's a serious mistake.

But goofs like this happen. I once received a rejection intended for another writer, and another time, with a larger SASE, received a rejection, along with another writer's story. I thought it was pretty good.

When you're dealing with hundreds to thousands of envelopes, sometimes you make mistakes. It just happens.
 

Stanmiller

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Thanks, JAR,

As I told Chumplet, I now put the agent's name in the upper left corner of the SASE. (I started that right after I opened the empty envelope).

Now about this getting another writer's story...that's a serious glitch. Did the other author get your material?

--Stan
 

Mopap

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Chumplet said:
I once got an empty, sealed envelope with "No Thanks" scrawled on the outside. But that's okay. I'm over it. Really.
Click to expand...

Should've written on the outside "You're welcome, so how have you been lately?" and sent it back.
 
aadams73

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I love the publishing business. So many oddball things happen.

My favorite was receiving a scrap of notepaper with "no thanks" scribbled in pencil in one corner. I laughed. :D
 
Tallent

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Do they really use a whole page of paper to say "No thanks"? The rejections I get are 1 inch by 8 inches with, "Thank you for your submission. At present it is not quite what we are looking for. Good luck."

I'm guessing that they print out 10 paragraphs of this on one page and have an intern slice them up and put them in random SASEs. I've never seen hand written, scribbled stuff. I love to get that rejection.
 
aadams73

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Tallent said:
Do they really use a whole page of paper to say "No thanks"? The rejections I get are 1 inch by 8 inches with, "Thank you for your submission. At present it is not quite what we are looking for. Good luck."

I'm guessing that they print out 10 paragraphs of this on one page and have an intern slice them up and put them in random SASEs. I've never seen hand written, scribbled stuff. I love to get that rejection.
Click to expand...

Sometimes. I've also received hand-written notes on my original query letter.

I've also heard the tale of someone who received "NO!" written on on their query. I guess the agent really didn't like it. :D
 
agentpaper

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aadams73 said:
I've also heard the tale of someone who received "NO!" written on on their query. I guess the agent really didn't like it. :D
Click to expand...

That would be me! Though I never posted about it, so I guess it wasn't me. :tongue Funny thing is, that manuscript was the one that got me my agent. There's no accounting for taste.:D
 
Tallent

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agentpaper said:
That would be me! Though I never posted about it, so I guess it wasn't me. :tongue Funny thing is, that manuscript was the one that got me my agent. There's no accounting for taste.:D
Click to expand...


It's not a matter of taste, "Your story just doesn't fit our needs at this time."
 

Jamesaritchie

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Stanmiller said:
Thanks, JAR,

As I told Chumplet, I now put the agent's name in the upper left corner of the SASE. (I started that right after I opened the empty envelope).

Now about this getting another writer's story...that's a serious glitch. Did the other author get your material?

--Stan
Click to expand...

No, he didn't. I'm sure someone, somewhere did, because it was gone, but there must have been a trile, or quadruple snafu.
 

Jamesaritchie

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aadams73 said:
Sometimes. I've also received hand-written notes on my original query letter.

I've also heard the tale of someone who received "NO!" written on on their query. I guess the agent really didn't like it. :D
Click to expand...

I've seen such rejections. And I have, as an editor, just a couple of times, written Hell NO! on page one of a manuscript.

Note to new writers. Do not submit openly racist treatises masquerading as fiction.

Though the worst rejection I've ever heard seen, for a somewhat similar "story", read something like, "Don rubber gloves, burn this manuscript, bury the ashes deep, and plant a sign over it reading ' WARNING: Toxic Watse. Do Not Uncover For 10,000 Years."
 
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