If you don’t hear back at all after an initial query letter, you can try following up about two to four weeks after the response time stated in the submission guidelines. If no response time is given, wait one or two months and follow up using the same method as before. Include another copy of the query in that follow-up. If you still don’t hear

When agents find a hot property, they tend to jump on it right away and not take weeks or months to get back to you.

period, maybe two weeks to consider a full proposal or manuscript.

When you receive positive responses, they will tend to be something like, “Yes, send the first three chapters,” or “Yes, send the full manuscript.” If someone asks for an exclusive, that means they want to be the only one considering the project, and you must promise not to send the work to anyone else during the exclusivity period. I would only

Once your query is final, I recommend sending it out in several rounds. If you’ve “graded” your markets into best fit, good fit, and OK fit, create an initial round that includes a few of each and send out your materials. See what the response is like. If you get immediate and enthusiastic responses, you may want to go ahead and send out more to

beginning of the email—that’s wasted time and space. Start right in with the greeting.

If you are emailing the query directly to the agent rather than using an online submittal form, copy and paste it from your word processing document into the email message as plain text, block format, without any colors, unusual fonts, or images. Make sure it can be read with minimal scrolling. Don’t include your mailing address, special headers,

Some authors do best to lead with their credentials or prestigious awards. This is especially true for previously published authors, or those with MFA degrees from well-known programs.

In fact, if you browse #mswl, you’ll often find that agents and publishers will use all kinds of pop culture references when putting their story preferences out into the world.