Agents Not Responding to Queries: A Rant
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 มิ.ย. 2018
- BookEnds Literary has a policy that we will always respond to all queries and requested submissions. This has never changed throughout our history and it irks Jessica Faust to no end that there are agents out there who don't have the same policy. We strongly believe that it's not just good business, but a matter of respect.
Jessica Faust’s love for books is what first brought her to open BookEnds Literary Agency. It is her desire to be an advocate for all authors that pushed her to create her blog, the BookEnds TH-cam channel and to maintain a vibrant presence on Twitter.
Jessica is proud to have grown BookEnds to an agency that represents authors of all genres for children and adults, allowing her to reach more readers and help more authors and illustrators achieve their dreams.
Connect with BookEnds!
Twitter: bookendslit
Instagram: bookends_literary
Website: www.bookendsliterary.com
Connect with Jessica: bookendsjessica
Last week I pitched you. Within about an hour you responded me - rejected me, but responded. That is soooooo appreciated. Truly. Pulling the plaster off in one quick rip allows one to get on with the next pitch. Thank you.
Thank YOU! And good luck :)
Yes, THANK YOU for this! I do understand that in these days of electronic submissions you may well be slammed with far more queries than back in the mail-and-SASE days, but at the same time, it's also far easier, as you point out, to send a quick response. Besides that it's simply rude to not respond, it's also kind of unprofessional and unbusinesslike. And especially an author who has gone to the trouble of actually reading the submissions guidelines and taken the effort to adhere to them, it can take an hour to personalize the query letter, the blurb, any synopses or partial requested to be sent with the query. But the agent can't take 30 seconds, to send a polite thank you but it's not for me response? And "If you don't hear back from us within...." is not a good answer, first the author is left hanging and hoping for that entire time, and even then, what if the query got lost, or hung up in a spam filter? This has been bugging me for awhile, so I'm REALLY glad to hear an agent come right out and address this issue. Hopefully other agents who have the no-response policy will listen, and consider changing their policy.
Not receiving a response--and NOT being "that guy" who pesters the agent--I have been wounded more by the silence than the rejection. Indeed, the rejections have meant more to me than I can convey. In her thoughtful rejection, Janet Reid told me what was wrong with my MS. Meanwhile, the offer of representation by an agent (never to be named) followed by abandonment after a couple of months knocked me back on my heels. You're aces for this, Ms. Faust.
Wow, this perspective is really refreshing. Great point about working with people who you had previously rejected but had responded to.
Thank you for being a rare breed of agent who a take second to send an email (form or not) to decline a query. A response accept or decline is a show of courtesy.
This is SO important. Thanks, Jessica. I wish more agents thought like you guys at BookEnds do.
You're still one of the few agents who gave me an auto-receive, requested a full, and responded to the full, all in a very timely manner. And hope that wine was good.
Thank you for watching and good luck with your querying. This wine was only okay. lol.
One of the nicest, most informative, and timely rejections I have ever received was from a bookends agent. This has encouraged me to work harder and do better and try submitting other projects to book ends agents. It is refreshing to find agents that do not follow the practice of no response means no. Add that to the wealth of information bookends puts out to help aspiring authors and you have a grade a agency. Thank you to all bookends agents. Keep on doing what you are doing. Be the role models for other agencies to emulate.
I really think that is awesome. I have a ton of respect for that .
I submitted a query and no, I wasn’t accepted but I got a reply, I so appreciate the reply, and I wasn’t left hanging. Thank you so much
I agree with this so much. Even a form response is something (ofc we all prefer it to be personal [and even better a YES]). An agent may not have anything to say other than no, but a no message is better than wait x time and it's a no.
If you read a book and the last two chapters are missing, it's almost always worse than two bad chapters that the author thought was a proper ending.
Stay safe and be well.
Thank you for your policy. Getting a response, even a rejection, is a show of respect to the author that a non response just doesn't convey. I don't take rejections personally. I know there are lots of reasons to say no. Hearing it allows me to move on to the next effort. I respect you for responding.
On a side note, one of my favorite policies I've come across by other agencies that don't respond is that some ask to be informed if I receive an offer of representation.
Yes! They want the writer to be courteous and polite, but aren't considerate enough to do the same.
All I can say is don't submit to these agencies. Do you really want a partnership with people that treat you badly? Because that's what an agent/author relationship is. A partnership. The agent isn't your boss or your parents. The relationship should be mutually beneficial. Seek out an agent who can help you both to succeed, and don't waste your time with agents who can't take 10 seconds to type "no thanks," and hit "send."
@@infernalfemme you summed it up perfectly!
Thank you for this. I really appreciate your take.
Thank you! Thank you! Cheers😊
Thank you so much for this! Authors agonize for years writing the best book they can and then hours or days to polish their query only to hear nothing. Was it lost in the cybersphere? Thank you for your polite and prompt response. Though rejected, it felt like an acknowledgment and was encouraging.
It's true. This way you don't burn bridges. So smart and nice too!
You are a classy, agent. Thanks.
Thank you!!
I love your honest and positive energy! I've been looking for a family agent relationship for a very long time! With that said, I will be sending you my query at the week's end...thanks!
Thank you so much for this! It means a lot to writers, especially newcomers like me.
two thumbs up. Your next glass of wine is on me.
Thank you all for your feedback and for watching.
Thank You!💙✨
Love you’re drinking wine! As a writer hoping to be published this video made my heart warm. Thank you so much for making this video. 💜
Good rant. I like your feelings and policies on that. I like rose wine too : )
Thanks. I heartily agree. Once I even wrote a funny piece about the untimely death of "no news is good news." Still, I try to honor every agent's policy.
I recently saw a tip that whoever responded back (that's not a sentence-long post) to your query is worth sending future works. Since the agent was engaged enough to craft a letter (even though it's a rejection), then they're more likely to read your next submission than a silent agent. Part of the reason why I collect my rejection letters.
Smart!
No response from the author side of things simply means that the query letter got lost. A month or so later, the agent deserves another one. Indefinitely.
Really admire this.
I really appreciate receiving a response. Thank you for this video.
Thank you so much for your videos! They're really helpful to an indie author, such as myself.
Thank YOU for watching! Good luck
Thank you for the respect and for writing back.
:)
I sent a few queries out so far. I haven’t gotten a response yet but I’m giving it time as many agency give a timeline. I think it would be nice to get even a rejection but some agents don’t have time which is unfortunate
What Jessica said.
Thank you for saying this.
Closure is so very important and so weirdly easy to help with. I'm glad you're enjoying the videos. More to come.
What does it say about me that what bothers me most about all of this is how little rose is actually in that glass?
Thank you so much for these videos. Your agency is first on my querying list!
Hahahaha! It was a work day!! Thank you, we can't wait for your query.
Thank you for your courtesy. I think the no response policy is basically quite rude.
Best :)
I agree this is a great video and it's appreciated. However, I need to say that I did send queries for a previous work to your agency. One agent never responded and the other, although I did receive a response and a request for a full, I never heard back even after a few nudges. I do have a different work with another of your agents now, that I hope to hear from soon.
Hmm. I surprised to hear that. There are two possibilities. One is that the agent hasn't yet gotten to the manuscript. The other is that the response got caught in your spam folder.
Thanks for your reply! Maybe it did get caught although I'm pretty on top of things with the spam folder. But I should clarify this was before you started using the Query Tracker Form and my queries were sent by email. It's been a few years since the full was sent with nudges. I did hear about my recent work a few days ago. I'd just like to know the outcome with the other.
I think after a few years you can assume it's either been passed on or, more likely, lost somewhere. I would suggest you simply resubmit.
Excellent! The work needs some tweaking but I'll do it. Do you recommend I mention the full was previously submitted? Thank you!
I would mention it was submitted. It's always better to be upfront.
Randall Moore
Can I send you my science fiction book when I finished?
Jessica doesn't represent Science Fiction. If it's adult, try Naomi Davis. Or check out bookendsliterary.com/submissions
@@BookEndsLiterary Sure I will. I am sorry for the inconvenience. I appreciate that. However, I just finished a novel prior to the one I am currently working on. I will look into it. Thank-you.
Lol, I queried Jessica Alvarez at Bookends for my romantic comedy novel, “The Manly Masculine Men’s Book Club” in Fall 2019, and to date I haven’t even received a form rejection from her. Absolutely LOVE this channel, but this rant about always replying to submissions is not true. :(
Hi John. We're sorry you had this experience. Did you ever receive a confirmation email from QueryManager?
Majority of authors still receive the same blanket reply. Not a good fit at this time. Nothing else.