What do you do?

Nina Kaytel

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I have been querying since January, at least two a week, but I have not even gotten a rejection. Mostly when I send short stories out it is very rare I never hear anything (though it took two years and some hard honesty about my craft) and those queries are about two sentences long. Now, I am querying for a novel, and I am getting nothing, so what do you do when you don't know what is wrong?
 

Sage

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Have you been to Query Letter Hell?

Could be that you happen to have queried a mix of agents who are slower or no response. Have you looked at the average response rates for the agents you've queried, and whether they're likely to respond? Also, keep in mind that, for some, the last few weeks might allow them to go through the slush faster, but for others, they might have other things on their mind than going through their inbox.
 

Nina Kaytel

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Oh thank you. It's been a few years since I used this forum I forget where to go. I have been checking on agents (two days of research), some I have been prepping for are not open (because of my disability I have to edit then re-edit, my edits so it is a tedious and long process.), and others who pop up seeking isolation as a topic, which is good for me since my novel is about the recuperation of a feral child, so it is a mixed bag...
 

Undercover

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Have you tried QueryTracker? A lot of agents on there that take queries through querymanager will likely respond.

And yes, there are some that just will not respond, unless they're interested. I agree, check the guidelines. Maybe some will even say in there, if you don't hear back in 6 to 8 weeks, consider it a pass. I would mark those off the list.
 

cool pop

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You've been querying for about three months. That's NOTHING. Three months is like a week in publishing. The publishing industry is SLOW as hell. I've known authors who got pregnant and had babies before hearing back from agents and pubs (no joke). The querying stage is the slowest of all. If you do get any correspondence it will be probably three more months before you hear anything. You'd be lucky to hear anything within a month especially with what's going on right now. Agents have lives and families just like everyone and many live in NY and that has been ravished by the virus. So my guess is that getting responses to queries is going to be even slower than usual.

Also, you don't query to find out what's wrong with your work. You need to get beta readers, into a critique group, or ask other writers to look at your work. There are forums you can post your work on to get feedback. You can post on AW after having 50 posts. So, yeah, sounds like you are looking for feedback on your stories so getting critiques before querying would be best.
 
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Sonya Heaney

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You've been querying for about three months. That's NOTHING. Three months is like a week in publishing. The publishing industry is SLOW as hell. I've known authors who got pregnant and had babies before hearing back from agents and pubs (no joke).

^^^^ This. I have waits like that and I already have a publisher. It's hard to learn patience in this industry, but it's the #1 thing you need.
 

Little Anonymous Me

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I have queries that I sent Sep. 2 of last year that still have no response (I have these categorized as rejections in my data sheet). I find silence more depressing than the actual rejections I have received, but I also shrug it off, because: either my email went to spam and was never seen again, they received 100+ emails that day, they hated it so much that the English language failed to do them justice, or they're rude. I just leave them be and move on. (Also, no response means I may have a shot at querying a different person in the same agency once time has passed.)
 
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