A while ago I wrote about attempting to get an agent for a novel. It has been a while and so far nothing but rejection and silence. It has been more than three months since the latest round went out, and based on the guidelines for the agents I sent them to, silence means rejections.
Except.
One way of sending queries is through a sight called query manger. You essentially fill out a form and attach whatever is asked for and the request goes to the agent. From the perspective of the writer, it makes following the progress easy and you are assured that you followed the majority of the instructions properly. I assume there are similar ease of use benefits for agents.
As a writer, you can see how the agent has responded or not responded to all of the queries sent to them for a period of time. One specific agent has accepted or rejected all of the queries they received, very quickly, before mine and after for a decent interval in both directions — except mine. What am I to make of that?
Are they uncertain and trying to decide? Are they holding mine in reserve in case nothing better comes along in the next couple of months? Are they trying to decide if it is salvageable with the right amount of work? Are the holding it in expectation that the market will shift favorable for it in the next little while — or perhaps they have a specific editor in mind who is currently not available for one reason or another? Should I be hopeful or despondent? What could this possibly mean?
Oh.
Oh. They’ve forgotten they read it, haven’t they? It made such an insignificant impression that they didn’t even remember to reject it. That’s it, isn’t it?
Lesson learned: never check the query tracking data.
Back to writing.
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