Out of about 150 email queries covering three books, (and that's not exhausting the sources), I have received about a 55% non-response rate, and half of those proclaimed that they answered back via email with either a yay or nay. I'm getting pretty damn sick of this kind of treatment, where I thought this email thing was revolutionary. I'm from the old school of paper and stamps, and sold books, dozens of short stories, radios plays and other pubs via snail mail. I've probably had about 10-12 requests for partials and fulls via email, and this is unacceptable to me. I cannot track and record agents and editors who mass-delete. I'm in the process of snail mailing all of those I missed with personal touches that are directed personally at the agents/editors to up these odds.
Half of all agents/editors who admit to accepting or prefering email queries admit up front that they are terrified of spam and viruses. Therefore if you do not get the directions right: proper subject line, right format, exact headers, precise indentation, exact font, page number placement, bio and address placement, single or double space, underline or italics, etc, etc. this will get you an imediate dismisal (eraser). I find these stringent guidelines, which don't appear as readily in snail mail directions, to be a more prevelant excuse for making your submissions go poof into cyber space.
Email definitely has its advantages over snail. But I believe that it is horrendously abused now, both by authors and agent/editors. Email is also less personal and carries the stigma of the mecho-age. I'd much rather have an editor/agent open a real piece of mail on his/her couch in front of a crackling fire, than have them hunched over their computer, in the confines of an office environment. And believe me, agents/editors drag their snail mail around with them and read that stuff in all sorts of environments--parks--coffee shops--amusement parks--family room settings--waiting in the car, and so on. How do I know this? They've told me. Nothing--absolutely nothing will ever replace the intimacy and convienence of a nice letter that comes out of an envelope.
Now, as far as patial and full subs? Every dang agency and house should allow electronic submissions to cut down on this terrible waste of materials and expense to the author. I needed a part time job just to afford my submission mail from 1988--1991. But hey, those were dozens and dozens of positive requests, and I was hitting 60--70 percent request rates. I made 15 times the money back through the sales generated when it was all said and done
Tri