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Requested Materials Question

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Phaeal

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Say you get a no thanks from an editor who closes with "But I'd be happy to look at another story some time."

Does this give me the right to put "Requested Materials" on the submission of a new work to that editor?

Sometimes my reasoning is, well, he asked for it!

Sometimes my reasoning is, well, he didn't ask for this particular story.

Sometimes, when I'm feeling really sulky, I think, aw hell, he was just being polite, he doesn't really want to see this.

At one highly regarded magazine, I twice sent the editor new stories with "Requested Materials" on it, hoping he'd open them himself, but I still ended up getting form rejections from subeditors or slush readers. Did he not open the submissions himself? Or did he open them, snarl at the presumption, and toss the offal down to his minions? :Hail: :whip:

Ooh, that last paragraph was pretty dramatic. I better have a nice cup of chamomile tea. :Coffee:

Thanks for the help!
 

Julie Worth

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Say you get a no thanks from an editor who closes with "But I'd be happy to look at another story some time."

Does this give me the right to put "Requested Materials" on the submission of a new work to that editor?

Absolutely. But be sure to mention this in your cover letter.
 

Seif

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I'm sorry but could you please explain the concept behind 'Requested Materials'?
 

gettingby

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I would not put requested material on the envelope, but I would remind him in the cover letter that he was interested in seeing more from you. That way anyone who opens it is going to know he has been in contact with you in the past and pass it on to him. If you just mark it requested material, it might piss him off.
 

dawinsor

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I'm sorry but could you please explain the concept behind 'Requested Materials'?

If you query an agent or editor, and they ask for more material, you write "requested material" on the envelope, so it doesn't go into the pile with the first time queries.
 

jodi henley

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I agree with gettingby too. You don't want to put "requested material" on your envelope unless it IS requested material. Just say, Hey? Remember me? in your letter so the slush pile reader doesn't auto-reject you.

The agent might auto-reject you and make you the subject of a blog post or something about people who send stuff in that isn't specifically requested. You don't want a reputation of that sort.
 

Julie Worth

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If you query an agent or editor, and they ask for more material, you write "requested material" on the envelope, so it doesn't go into the pile with the first time queries.

Some agents have told me to put "requested materials," one told me to put "we talked." Miss Snark has a different view. When asked if they should put "requested materials" on a partial requested during a conference, she said they'd be better off writing the name of the conference on the envelope, and then said, "Really all you need is to mention you met the agent at the specified conference in the first paragraph of the cover letter. Most of us do not devour the text on the outside of envelopes; most of us don't read it at all."
 

Crinklish

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"Most of us do not devour the text on the outside of envelopes; most of us don't read it at all."

It's true. People decided somehow that "Requested Material" was the magical key to unlock the publishing gates...and many of them were, shall we say, unconcerned with the accuracy of their claims :). I honestly don't care what it says--my assistant is opening all the mail anyway, so I'm never going to see it.

The key, as noted by several astute commenters above, is to tell me in your cover letter where/how we met and why you have an "in" with me. This can be "I met you at Conference X, where we chatted about whether a shark could beat a tiger in a fight" or "You looked at a previous submission of mine and suggested that I might approach you with something new" (in this case, I'd recommend including a xerox of the previous letter, just to jog my memory).

But "Requested"...don't obsess over it. The currency has been sorely devalued.
 

scope

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I totally agree with Crinklish but in your case I would not put "Requested Material" on the envelope.
 

maestrowork

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No. The agent may have said "send us something else, by all means" but he or she did NOT request THAT particular manuscript. To say "requested material" would be stretching it.

Now, if you mentioned "my manuscript of Great Novel" in your query and the agent said, "that sounds kind of interesting. I'd be happy to take a look" then it'd be considered a request. It's specific.
 
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