When I first started out as an agent, I was able to respond almost immediately to query letters and to respond within a week or two to partial manuscripts and non-fiction book proposals. This was because I knew most of the people who were querying me, and I did not get as many queries each week as I do now.
So, my response times have changed. For queries, I now generally respond within a week of receiving them, but do allow two before e-mailing me to ask if I received your query.
I do accept unsolicited proposals (for non-fiction) and the first chapter/30 pages of a novel manuscript as long as they are accompanied by a pitch. The pitch (query) should be in your e-mail to me, and the proposal or manuscript pages included as an attachment. I need to emphasize the importance of sending your query in the e-mail itself, not as an attachment. I don’t open attachments to read query letters. If you send something more than a pitch letter to me (i.e., a non-fiction proposal or partial manuscript), expect it to take me about a month to respond.
If I request a full manuscript (for fiction), it will take me 2 - 3 months to respond.
You are free to e-mail me to follow up, but please allow some time for me to respond, as outlined above. Following up is professional and admirable, especially considering that e-mails don’t always reach their intended recipients; displaying impatience, annoyance and a tendency to ask, “Have you read it yet?” every thirty-seven seconds is not.
Please note: I am NOT representing children’s and young adult. Feel free to pitch me practically anything else.
Also, please note: I don’t respond to queries I can make no sense of, queries that are copied to every agent in the known universe, and queries that aren’t queries but are requests for instructions on how to write queries.
Phew. Thank you for your time.
Tags: The Publishing Business