I just did something stupid.

So, yeah, I just basically emailed a bunch of agents my full manuscript by mistake.

I haven't been getting much response to my queries, but then last week I got a couple of full requests. So tonight I decided to send out a bunch of new queries to agents I'd been researching (a few in the US, most in the UK). I figured the latest version of my query letter that netted those full requests must be strong, so I decided I'd use that and forwarded it to myself to use as a new template for composing new queries. I'm using a new email server that I'm not hugely familiar with so that may have had something to do with this gaffee too. Anyway, I forwarded the email to myself, but this was from the same thread that I had replied to the most recent agent with, sending my full manuscript back to as requested. Unbeknownst to me, my email kept that file attached to the new template and on my end (but maybe not on theirs!) the attachment part is really small, easy to miss unless you're looking to see if a file is attached.

So there I went, happily composing my new query, adding personalisation where applicable and changing names, checking to make sure they were spelled right. I wasn't just shotgunning out queries, I was composing each one individually, just using the basic template, but really taking my time, putting effort into each one. But each time I sent out a new email, I forwarded the last email, changed it around, etc. etc. You know the process. You've probably used a similar one. Took me a couple of hours and decided to call it a night. Just happened to glance at my sent box, noticed a weird little clipmark icon on all the emails I sent. I thought that was strange as I always paste the first few pages into the body of the email, I never attach a sample unless they specifically ask for one to be attached. So I investigated and saw to my horror the FULL manuscript was attached to every single email. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

I have no idea what to do now. I suppose I could email the agents and explain the gaffe, ask them to ignore the attached manuscript. Or I could just ignore it, which is my gut instinct. I really have no idea what to do. I figure this might cost me a few chances as a lot of the agents might delete the email when they see an attachment or it might be rejected by their spam filter. A few might not notice it. And a few will probably figure it was a mistake. A few more might be offended.

I'm mortified and don't know what to do. Feeling really stupid. Any advice? And has anyone ever done anything like this or am I the only one?

I ultimately decided to leave it alone. I considered writing back to the agents but I thought that might annoy them more or confuse things. Fortunately, I had mainly queried UK agents who require or accept attachments (as opposed to US agents, who seem to prefer samples pasted in the body of the email) so I don't think the queries will have been rejected by their spam or filter settings. It's possible they might be annoyed when they see the three sample chapters pasted and a full attached, but I figure most of them will realize it was a genuine mistake and will either ignore it or write back and tell me to resubmit. Anyway, even if those agents ultimately decide to pass solely because of that error, then that's their decision.