You wanna know what really pisses me off?

OneTeam OneDream · Aug 1, 2005

Why an agent would list on their site that they accept email queries, and are currently seeking new clients, but would delete a query without even opening it. (It is amazing the things you can track with AOL.)

I just don't get that kind of thing. I know agents think they are "high and mighty", but how in the world could they explain something like this?

To make matters worse, not only did they do it once ,they did it twice!

Jamesaritchie · Aug 1, 2005

queries

OneTeamOneDream said:
Why an agent would list on their site that they accept email queries, and are currently seeking new clients, but would delete a query without even opening it. (It is amazing the things you can track with AOL.)

I just don't get that kind of thing. I know agents think they are "high and mighty", but how in the world could they explain something like this?

To make matters worse, not only did they do it once ,they did it twice!

One problem with e-mail queries is that they can be deleted so easily, and often by accident. Spam filters can also delete them. So can agents and editors if the subject line is wrong. So can agents and editors if you send it "return receit requested," and they don't want them sent this way, which many do not. I delete everything that hits my inbox, if it asks for a return receipt.

OneTeam OneDream · Aug 1, 2005

Jamesaritchie said:
One problem with e-mail queries is that they can be deleted so easily, and often by accident. Spam filters can also delete them. So can agents and editors if the subject line is wrong. So can agents and editors if you send it "return receit requested," and they don't want them sent this way, which many do not. I delete everything that hits my inbox, if it asks for a return receipt.

Yeah, I don't do it that way, AOL does it automatically.

PattiTheWicked · Aug 1, 2005

OneTeamOneDream said:
Yeah, I don't do it that way, AOL does it automatically.

That's weird, what version of AOHell are you using? I've got 9.0, and I have to check a box if I want to request a return receipt when I send email. Do you need to tweak your default mail settings maybe?

RainBrain · Aug 1, 2005

the thing about this writing thing has had me depressed. i dont have a problem writing the book but the drama that comes after that makes me wanna give up sometimes. all this agent this, query that, proposal yadi ya. i mean, damn. lol.

but seriously, my approach to this whole thing is purely nonchalant now. that mentality keeps you from going insane.

brinkett · Aug 2, 2005

OneTeamOneDream said:
Yeah, I don't do it that way, AOL does it automatically.

No it doesn't. My mother uses AOL and I've never been asked to send a return receipt when receiving her email.

OneTeam OneDream · Aug 2, 2005

brinkett said:
No it doesn't. My mother uses AOL and I've never been asked to send a return receipt when receiving her email.

No No No, it tracks it automatically. I'm not talking about return reciepts, you just check the status, it is something automatically there in your mailbox. Has been for years. But it only works for agents with an aol address. That's the crappy part.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 3, 2005

OneTeamOneDream said:
No No No, it tracks it automatically. I'm not talking about return reciepts, you just check the status, it is something automatically there in your mailbox. Has been for years. But it only works for agents with an aol address. That's the crappy part.

Many people don't like the tracking part of AOL, either. I sure don't. I left AOL years ago, but I never let anything come into my incbox that had AOL tracing on it. I can't remember now how it was done, but you can disable this on the receiving end so that no one knows the status of their e-mail.

This means you can't automatically assume that your message hasn't been read just because the tracking says it hasn't.

eldragon · Aug 3, 2005

the thing about this writing thing has had me depressed. i dont have a problem writing the book but the drama that comes after that makes me wanna give up sometimes. all this agent this, query that, proposal yadi ya. i mean, damn. lol.

I agree. I almost get depressed when an agent asked me for a copy of my manuscript. I have been burned too many times (the worst was when an agent asked me for 2 copies, last April ......then, after acknowledging receipt and saying the book was good, but needed work ............dropped off the face of the earth. That pleasure cost me about $30 in postage and copies.)

My book is over 300 pages. Getting copies is expensive. Mailing it can be expensive, too. PLus, you have to make sure everything is "just so."

Yesterday - I got a form rejection from an agent. How nice!

Another $10...........down the drain. I could've had a V8.

Torgo · Aug 3, 2005

I have my read receipts on all the time, and they don't always tell the truth, especially if the recipient is using a Mac. Most times someone reads one of my emails on a Mac I get a 'deleted without being read' receipt back; so don't get too annoyed about it, it's more than likely your submission was read.

triceretops · Aug 5, 2005

Oh yeah? How's this one grab you for email non-openers?

45 submissions

21 answers.

These are ALL agent non-responders and deleters. Do you know where my four acceptances came from? Small publishing houses, who were just as polite and interesting as they could be.

I cannot stand nor tolerate agents who claim that they eagarly accept email queries, and yet blink me off their screens without so much as a "howdy do--go fugg yourself."

I would much more prefer the negative so I can track my submissions to (supposedly) open sources. That way I would know whether this fool was alive and really in business.

Sorry, feel the pain mucho on this topic.

Tri

Jamesaritchie · Aug 5, 2005

triceretops said:
I cannot stand nor tolerate agents who claim that they eagarly accept email queries, and yet blink me off their screens without so much as a "howdy do--go fugg yourself."

Tri

Well, you know that when agents or editors say they eagarly accept e-mail queries, most of them really mean they eagarly accept ones they like. It's just par for the course, and it's really they same thing as magazines that don't respond to submissions unless they accept them.

In either case, you just wait a reasonable amount of time and then scratch that one off as a rejection.

OneTeam OneDream · Aug 5, 2005

Jamesaritchie said:
Many people don't like the tracking part of AOL, either. I sure don't. I left AOL years ago, but I never let anything come into my incbox that had AOL tracing on it. I can't remember now how it was done, but you can disable this on the receiving end so that no one knows the status of their e-mail. .

I've never heard of being able to disable it. Of course, it only matters if you have aol, that is the only way it tracks it automatically.

[/QUOTE]
This means you can't automatically assume that your message hasn't been read just because the tracking says it hasn't.[/QUOTE]

Sure I can....I can assume anything....I just might not be right.

GonnaBeFamous · Aug 5, 2005

eldragon said:
I agree. I almost get depressed when an agent asked me for a copy of my manuscript. I have been burned too many times (the worst was when an agent asked me for 2 copies, last April ......then, after acknowledging receipt and saying the book was good, but needed work ............dropped off the face of the earth. That pleasure cost me about $30 in postage and copies.)

My book is over 300 pages. Getting copies is expensive. Mailing it can be expensive, too. PLus, you have to make sure everything is "just so."

Yesterday - I got a form rejection from an agent. How nice!

Another $10...........down the drain. I could've had a V8.

Any way you can get them to mail it back with postage paid for them?

triceretops · Aug 5, 2005

My book is over 300 pages. Getting copies is expensive. Mailing it can be expensive, too. PLus, you have to make sure everything is "just so."

I'll triple that notion, Eldragon. I fret most when they want wholes--I'm living on borrowed money and time.

Tri

brinkett · Aug 6, 2005

Jamesaritchie said:
In either case, you just wait a reasonable amount of time and then scratch that one off as a rejection.

Or send a snail mail query. Agents will tell you that for whatever reason, email queries can be snagged by their spam filters. So if you query by email and don't receive a response, don't assume they read it and didn't bother to answer. If they accept snail mail queries, try snail mail.

OneTeam OneDream · Aug 6, 2005

I'm suprised no one has answered this thread with "No, not really"

Sassenach · Aug 9, 2005

GonnaBeFamous said:
Any way you can get them to mail it back with postage paid for them?

No. Sending out partials, ms, etc. is the 'cost of doing business' if one is trying to get an agent.

Jaben · Aug 17, 2005

new to board but following conversation and feel your pain. i don't send my ms or query letters to any publisher or agent that doesn't accept them electronically. it's not even a matter of money - although that's part of it - but also of time. eventually, a savvy publisher or site will come along that will recognize this problem and make a lot of money off it. until then...i wait.

- J

RainBrain · Aug 19, 2005

Jaben said:
new to board but following conversation and feel your pain. i don't send my ms or query letters to any publisher or agent that doesn't accept them electronically. it's not even a matter of money - although that's part of it - but also of time. eventually, a savvy publisher or site will come along that will recognize this problem and make a lot of money off it. until then...i wait.

- J

i thought about this too. i mean, wouldn't it make more sense if people can just send the query via email and if the agent or publisher likes they reques it via snail mail. i sure wouldn't mind.

triceretops · Aug 19, 2005

I'm for saving trees and my wallet. I'm sick and tired of blowing the entire amount on a 400-page disposable manuscript that ends up in the trash outside a New York alley. I deal exclusively with email queries, partials and fulls for right now. The only reasons agents and editors keep insisting on snail mail is because their fear of viruses (the most often quoted), and the portability of the written word on paper (which means they can read it in the hottub or their limo). Correct me, but can't attachments be scanned (somehow) before opening? I'm an old scribe but brand new to the internet. How can this problem of Attachment fear be quelled?

From 1986 to 1991 I suffered over 350 various rejections of every kind, and you wouldn't, couldn't, shouldn't believe the amount of money I spent on copy machines, postage, ink cartridges, paper, envelopes and packing boxes. It was in the several thousands of dollars. I only made it back and then some with my first book sale.

Tri

RainBrain · Aug 19, 2005

triceretops said:
I'm for saving trees and my wallet. I'm sick and tired of blowing the entire amount on a 400-page disposable manuscript that ends up in the trash outside a New York alley. I deal exclusively with email queries, partials and fulls for right now. The only reasons agents and editors keep insisting on snail mail is because their fear of viruses (the most often quoted), and the portability of the written word on paper (which means they can read it in the hottub or their limo). Correct me, but can't attachments be scanned (somehow) before opening? I'm an old scribe but brand new to the internet. How can this problem of Attachment fear be quelled?

From 1986 to 1991 I suffered over 350 various rejections of every kind, and you wouldn't, couldn't, shouldn't believe the amount of money I spent on copy machines, postage, ink cartridges, paper, envelopes and packing boxes. It was in the several thousands of dollars. I only made it back and then some with my first book sale.

Tri

WOW. thousands on mails? thats waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay tooooo much. lol.

Greenwolf103 · Aug 19, 2005

Jaben, welcome to the AW Cooler. Do stay a while and post more often.

OneTeam, I am sorry you're having this kind of trouble. Maybe you can try sending it from a non-AOL email addy? I have heard of some people who won't open email from AOL addresses. It's worth a shot, at least. But if that fails, I think you should look elsewhere. If they are going to be THAT indifferent based on a person's email address, I don't think things will get much better down the road. Good luck!

OneTeam OneDream · Aug 19, 2005

Greenwolf103 said:
Jaben, welcome to the AW Cooler. Do stay a while and post more often.

OneTeam, I am sorry you're having this kind of trouble. Maybe you can try sending it from a non-AOL email addy? I have heard of some people who won't open email from AOL addresses. It's worth a shot, at least. But if that fails, I think you should look elsewhere. If they are going to be THAT indifferent based on a person's email address, I don't think things will get much better down the road. Good luck!

Yeah, but these people HAVE AOL ADDRESSES! So my email address wouldn't be the problem. I can't track anyone that doesn't have AOL, I'm just talking about the folks that actually do have aol.

daoine · Aug 20, 2005

brinkett said:
Or send a snail mail query. Agents will tell you that for whatever reason, email queries can be snagged by their spam filters. So if you query by email and don't receive a response, don't assume they read it and didn't bother to answer. If they accept snail mail queries, try snail mail.

Pulling my hair out here too. Decided earlier this year (after a year of snail mail submissions) to try an agent who stated that he accepted queries by email. Long story short, it took months of follow up emails before he responded with something like "sorry it took so long - not interested". So I went back to trusty old snail mail... only to wait another several months with no response. I emailed (twice) to query it, and finally discovered that their rejection to me got lost in the damn post. So now I'm back to trying email, because like everyone else, I just cannot afford the postage anymore - my submissions have to go overseas. With return costs that's the equivalent of a week's groceries in one shot. I'm feeling very hungry at the moment.

You wanna know what really pisses me off?

OneTeam OneDream

Been a long time...

Jamesaritchie

OneTeam OneDream

Been a long time...

PattiTheWicked

Unleashing Hell.

RainBrain

brinkett

Elder Scrolls devotee

OneTeam OneDream

Been a long time...

Jamesaritchie

eldragon

in a van down by the river

Torgo

Formerly Phantom of Krankor.

triceretops

Jamesaritchie

OneTeam OneDream

Been a long time...

GonnaBeFamous

triceretops

brinkett

Elder Scrolls devotee

OneTeam OneDream

Been a long time...

Sassenach

5 W's & an H

Jaben

RainBrain

triceretops

RainBrain

Greenwolf103

I'm a grrrl dog, yo

OneTeam OneDream

Been a long time...

daoine

Lateral writer