For My Peeps in the Trenches

It's been quiet here at Writer's Blog, which I think has a lot to do with the A-Z challenge going on.

So, instead of one of my more contemplative (read: rambling) posts, I decided to use this Monday's blogging space as encouragement for my peeps in the query/submission trenches.

We all know how much it sucks (yes, it does) to have your heart jump into your throat when you see a response to a query, only to open it and zero in on that dreaded "unfortunately..." Or when you make it past that first hurdle only to hear that an agent "didn't connect" with your work, or your characters, or their voice, or what have you. It sucks.

But published authors have been exactly where we are now, and there's no reason that hard work and proper alignment of the stars can't get us to where *they* are someday. Here's proof:

One of my favorite links is this one, where Kimberley Derting (author of The Body Finder series) shares some of the rejections she received from editors.

I also like this one, about a writer who got one of the worst Christmas gifts ever in the form of being dumped by her agent. This one, by the ever-fabulous Brodi Ashton is a similar story.

Then there's this post, that shares snippets of the rude and discouraging comments made to authors who went on to become household names.

So read and enjoy, peeps. And if any of you have your own stories to share, whether they're rejection horror stories or tales of the sun finally breaking through the clouds, please do!

The Great Intro Fakeout: Further Musings on Queries & Openings

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who weighed in on my post about whether or not queries get their due in an agent's inbox.

The consensus from last Monday's post seemed to be that sometimes, you're going to get rejected no matter what you've done right - and that other people may not, even when they've made silly mistakes.

Still, I've been wondering if maybe MY problem is not my query, but my opening.

I mentioned in that last post that almost all of my requests have come from pitch contests. And here's the thing:

The opening I use for contests is not the actual opening of my manuscript.

My "contest opening" is actually an excerpt from page 4 of the ms. I didn't feel my real opening was "grabbing" enough for competitions. And wouldn't you know, as soon as I started using Opening 2.0, I started getting requests.

And somehow... it's never occurred to me until now that maybe my fake opening should be my real opening.

This weekend, an agent who is currently closed to queries e-mailed me saying she'd seen my (fake) opening posted in a contest and would like to see my first 10 pages. Naturally, I was thrilled to have an agent stalking - er - seeking me out, and sent the pages right off - with the real opening. But I haven't heard back, and now I'm wondering if that was a mistake.

The reason I've kept my real opening is because I think it sets up the scene and the characters and the action a lot better than the portion I use in contests, which jumps into the action almost immediately.

But to reference my last post again, remember how I'd bitched about the badly written query getting requests up the wazoo in a certain contest? I wondered if the agents had even read the query. And now I'm realizing... they very well might not have. Maybe they skipped right over the query, and read the intro.

And maybe that's what they're doing when they read the queries in their inbox, too. Hmmm....

So, give me your honest opinion, peeps. Should I make my fake opening my real opening? Or does it really not matter, and I'm desperately grasping at straws here?

Fact or Fiction: Querying is the Best Way to Get an Agent's Attention?

Let me preface this post by saying I am well aware that agents have a hell of a task before them when they take on an inbox full of queries. Even my eyes start to glaze over when I read the 25-50 queries posted in contests such as Miss Snark's First Victim or Cupid's Literary Connection, so I can't imagine combing through queries on a daily basis.

I know it makes sense for an agent to judge your writing based on a sample of your writing. But I also know it's daunting.

And it's for this exact reason that I have to wonder if queries are really the best way to get an agent's attention. I'll tell you why:

I recently participated in Brenda Drake's Pitch Madness contest, where 5 different agents put in bids on pages from my LYM manuscript.
- One of them bid after already rejecting my query.
- Another had my query in her inbox, but hadn't responded yet. She requested my full manuscript from the contest. And a week or so later, sent me a form rejection on the query I'd sent weeks earlier.

I'll be the first to admit, the pitch Marieke wrote for me was pretty freaking awesome. But it's basically a 35-word summation of the same events agents would read in my query letter. And while I am EXTREMELY grateful for my requests, I have to wonder: why would they reject the query, and not the pitch?

Were they just sick of reading queries on the particular day they read mine?

Did they actually not see the query at all, and an assistant rejected it? (In which case, should they really be letting other people screen their queries, since everyone's taste is obviously different?)

Had they been requesting romance up the wazoo before they read my query, and rejected based on that alone?

Were they playing eenie meenie mynie moe?

There's any number of possibilities. But the question all these possibilities raise is this: Does every query really get the attention it deserves?

Lately, I feel like the answer is no.

I recently trolled through entries in a contest I entered, but ultimately did not get chosen for. So you can probably imagine my indignation when one of the entries I read - an entry supposedly screened and hand-selected by a panel of readers - had glaring spelling and grammatical errors.

And you can imagine my outright horror when multiple agents requested on it.

So I have to ask - Did anyone really read the damn thing? Or did eenie meenie mynie moe strike again?

All of this tells me that there really is no rhyme or reason to this querying biz. An agent can reject a query one day, and then request pages from a pitch on the same project the next day. One day they're on Blogger or Twitter putting queriers on blast for silly mistakes, and the next they're overlooking them.

So is the query letter really as important as everyone makes it out to be? Or is good luck what you actually need the most? Have any of you had similar experiences?

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Anyone who's attempted to be published knows exactly how much waiting is involved in the process.

First of all, you have to wait for your book to be finished - which, if you're a slow poke like me, can feel like eternity in itself. I mull and ponder and mull some more until I'm happy with a scene. After I've done that with every scene and finally strung together a completed manuscript, I have to go back and edit. Commence more mulling and more pondering and throw in some hair pulling, too.

Then you send the finished product off to your betas, and wait again.

And once they get back to you? You realize "finished" has no place in the same sentence with your manuscript.

So you edit again. And you write your query. And you wait again.

Finally, you're ready to send off your CP-approved query and manuscript. And once you do?

zzzzzzzzzzz.... Huh? What? Oh...

Yep. That's right. You wait again.

Sometimes the wait is worth it, ending up in a request for material. Other times, you'll wait weeks on end for a form rejection. It's the same with submissions: you send them off, floating on a cloud because someone showed interest in your work. But then the days drag on while you wait for that response, and it can all start to feel a little tiresome.

That's where I am right now. And I'm wondering if anyone else starts to get a little bored and disenchanted with the whole process at this stage, or if I've just got a case of Instant Gratification Denied-itis?

I'm trying to concentrate on WiP #3 while I wait, but I'm finding I could use some help drumming up inspiration.

So - can anyone suggest some kind of dark, angsty music to go along with a kind of dark, angsty paranormal story? I'd really appreciate it! And then you can tell me how you keep yourself from going crazy during the waiting game. Thanks, peeps!

Perseverance on Paper

I've done blog posts before about my struggles with infertility, but I've been thinking a lot lately about the parallels between trying to have a baby and trying to get a book published.

In both cases, you do everything you possibly can to ensure the outcome you want:

Writing
-You decide you want to be published
-You write a book, you let your CP's hack it to pieces, you put it back together again to give yourself the best chance.
-Rinse, lather, and repeat with your query letter and synopsis.
-You send your book out into the agent world and hope someone somewhere in that sea of queries finds yours, falls madly in love with it, and elevates it from slush to published book

Conceiving:
-You decide you want a baby
-You figure out your cycle, pee on ovulation sticks, take your temperature etc. to give yourself the best chance
-Rinse, lather and repeat each month
-You drag your spouse into the bedroom even when you're both exhausted and completely uninterested, in the hope that one bumbling sperm out of a billion will somehow find your egg, fertilize it, and make it become a baby

For some people, the journey through both processes is fairly easy and minimally bumpy. For others, one might be a lot easier than the other.

But I'm going to be blatantly honest when I say it gets extremely hard to fail at both simultaneously. There's a line in a Matchbox 20 song that says Sometimes you can still lose even if you really try, and I often feel like the personification of that line.

I've been trying to have a baby since 2008. Since then I've been through 3 specialists, numerous tests and procedures, 2 surgeries, and 2 heartbreaking miscarriages.

I've also been trying to get published since 2010. Since then I've written two manuscripts, been through numerous query rejections, 2 partial rejections, and 2 full rejections. I have a partial and 2 fulls out with ms #2, and those could very well end up rejections, too.

In both endeavors, I've come so close, but no cigar. And I'm not writing this post because I'm pregnant - I'm not - or because I got over the wall and I'm about to get published. No dice there, either. But I am writing it to say that the best way to ensure that neither of these things will happen is to give up trying.

I'm not even saying that giving up is a bad thing, if it's what a person needs to do to salvage their sanity. But I am saying that if you want something badly enough... you don't give up.

And I sure as hell have moments when I want to. But then I look at this:

Basically, these temperature charts are the last two years of my life on paper. Each sheet has 3 charts, and each chart represents one menstrual cycle.

Out of the 24 cycles represented on these pages, I was only able to get pregnant in ONE of them.
People around me have had two and three children in this amount of time. And you bet your ass it's discouraging.

BUT-  had  I not been trying, it probably wouldn't have happened at all. And yes, the pregnancy may have ended in miscarriage, but at least I know I can get there. Now, it's a matter of making it stick.

It's the same with writing.

There are only so many times you can get thisclose and watch people around you succeed with a fraction of the effort before you want to throw yourself on the ground and scream. To which I say, go right ahead. You've earned it.

But just because one person succeeds on cycle #2 or query #2 doesn't mean that another person can't succeed on cycle #200 or query #200. It just means that if you stop trying to get there, you never will.

So until you stop wanting it, never stop trying to get it.

The Rejection That Restored My Faith

I know it sounds weird, but I'm floating on a cloud from a rejection I received yesterday.

Back in December, I sent out the final set of queries for my first novel, Life Before Death. I didn't expect anything to come of them. I'd had a few requests, but all my subs were rejected via feedback-less form R's.

So when I got an email in January requesting a partial, I sent off the first five chapters expecting more of the same. But a couple weeks later I was pleasantly surprised when the agent's assistant wrote back asking for the full manuscript. Realizing it was probably my last chance with this ms, I spent 2-1/2 hours proofreading and revising before sending it off - but still, I expected nothing.

In the mean time, I threw all my love and energy into revising WiP #2 and started to send off queries. And as my CP's can tell you, it isn't going well.

Responses seem to be taking forever, and the ones that have come back are all form rejections. I couldn't, and still can't, figure out what I'm doing wrong, especially when I'm querying agents who claim to want the kind of story I've written.

Yesterday morning, another query response for #2 showed up in my inbox and -yup, you guessed it- a form rejection. I admit, I swore at my computer screen. Then did a little more copious whining to my CP's, lamenting that if I ONLY KNEW WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS, I'd fix it.

But alas, I'd never once received feedback on a rejection, and I didn't see the pattern changing any time soon.

Then, around 6:00 last night, the assistant who'd contacted me about Life Before Death e-mailed me. I steeled  myself, ready for another unhelpful form rejection. When I read "Thank you for your interest in our agency," I thought that was exactly what I got.

But then she went on to say how much she and the agent enjoyed the manuscript, and how lovely the ending was. To which my reaction was, Wait, what? She read all the way to the end??

Peeps, she most certainly did. She went on to tell me exactly what she loved about the ms, and the things that worked - and didn't work, which ultimately led to their passing on it.

And even though she passed, the fact that she took the time to offer such thorough, helpful, and kind feedback put me on cloud nine. Sure, my beloved first novel is going back in a drawer, for now. But someone had found it worthwhile enough - thought it DIDN'T SUCK ENOUGH - to tell me how I could make it even better - all while using words like "lovely" and "clever" and "multi-dimensional."

It was a rejection, but it's the best I've felt about my writing in a long time.

So now I can say with certainty that there ARE agents out there who will care about your work, and who will pay attention to what you've created. And then, even if they don't take you on, they'll tell you why with more than just a generic, "Sorry, not right for me."

And that is how a rejection restored my faith in the publishing world. Amen.

There's No Crying in Baseball, But in Writing...

Alright, let's be honest.

How many times has your quest to be a tried and true author made you cry the ugly cry?

This post probably goes hand in hand with my last one about Writerly Fears, because as far as crying goes?

I. Hate. It.

It's something I try to do as little as possible, although being that I'm kind of sensitive, I don't always succeed in that mission. Because put me in front of a movie with innocent people getting bullied? I cry. An episode of Smallville where young Lex Luthor is crying because no one came to his birthday party? Oh, damn straight, I'm crying right along with him. And Extreme Makeover Home Edition? Don't EVEN get me started.

But as far as Writing and The Mission to Be Published goes, there's only one tick mark under "Times I've Ugly Cried."

It was last year, around the time Write On Con was happening. My novel didn't fit the YA genre, and I was forced to let it hang out in the no man's land known as the "Other" forum. There it languished, unnoticed by agents and fellow writers alike, while all the YA entries were getting more traffic than Grand Central Station.

On one day in particular, Twitter blew up like crazy with everyone cheering over their WOC requests, and with each one new tweet, my stomach sank lower and lower until guess what showed up in my inbox?


Yup. A form rejection. Yet another one.

It was the straw that broke my back. I felt hopeless and worthless, and I cried the entire car ride home from work, the whole time I made dinner, and then the whole time I ate, until I fell into bed, exhausted, at 9:30 p.m.

Since then, I've faced rejections on fulls and partials, and of course, numerous query rejections. I've had plenty more moments where I've been certain I'll never succeed in this game, had countless more times where I've questioned my intelligence and my ability to write.

But I've never again cried about it, and to this day, I can't figure out why that was the moment that shattered me.

What about you, peeps? Do you rack up frequent cryer miles over your writing endeavors, or do you take it all in stride?

My Writerly Fears

Even though I was practically born with my nose in a book, and even though creating a story from thin air is one of the most rewarding experiences ever, there are plenty of aspects to this whole writing biz that give me serious anxiety.

My biggest fears right now are these:

- That I won't get a single request on the manuscript I recently started querying.

- That the characters in WiP #3 will continue to give me the silent treatment, and I'll be uninspired for all eternity.

- That I WILL keep writing, and eventually realize all my characters sound the same and all my plots are cliche, predictable, and boring.

I've been thinking about that third one quite a bit. I think the reason my mc in WiP #3 seems to be cold-shouldering me is because she's so different from the last girls I wrote. I'm used to writing feel-good novels about girls who are spunky, a little self-centered, and a lot outspoken.

Not this time. The story is much darker, and the mc is quiet, shy, and introspective. Which, in all honesty, sounds a lot like me. So you'd think it would be a piece of cake, right? Not so much.

But then I'm worried that once I DO get a handle on her voice, the writing won't be different enough from my previous novels. Because, let's face it: to some degree, no matter how different we plan for the voice or the scenario to be, or who we base our characters on, they're all a product of the one brain in our heads. And we only have so many words in our vocabularies, so many catch phrases we're familiar with, and certain ways of thinking.

I don't want my stories to be different names and faces and settings, but interchangable dialogue, emotions, and reactions. I'm trying to figure out how to write not just a different story, but a different book. And it's kind of terrifying.

Is it more terrifying than writing a novel you're proud of and having every agent you approach tell you it's not for them? Well, honestly, I don't know. But I suppose I'll find out.

So tell me peeps. What are your biggest writerly fears?

Update from the (Pre) Query Trenches

So I've been getting some great feedback on WiP #2 from my beta readers. I've been making changes as they suggest them. So far, I haven't felt like anyone's asked for anything unreasonable or overly daunting. I'm actually really happy with the improvements I've made because of them.

Why, then, am I scared you-know-whatless to query this puppy?

I'll tell you why. This time, unlike my first project, I'm not writing about an iffy age group. This WiP is straight up YA. It's also a contemporary romance, not another been-there-done-that paranormal romance that every agent seems to be sick of.

And the worst part? I honestly believe I've done a good job on this. I'm no longer the green rookie I was with my first novel.

So when the rejections come rolling in on number 2, I'll have none of those things as consolation. The only thing I'll be able to tell myself is Gina. You suck.

It might not be true, but I'll think it is.

So, peeps. Any tips on how to kick the querying boogie man's butt when you really just want to hide in the closet, hug your ms to your chest and rock back and forth? (Kidding. Sort of.)

Summing Up My Query Experience

Every time I think about querying, I remember a song I heard on Glee. The first line is

Maybe this time, I'll be lucky...

And isn't that what we're all thinking when we set out to query? Especially those of us who aren't new on the block and have a few rejections under our belt.

After all...

All the odds are, they're in my favor, something's bound to begin... It's gonna happen, happen sometime.  MAYBE THIS TIME I'LL WIN!

Sound like a song that belongs on your Ipod, too? Here's the video for you to enjoy.

I'm taking a break from the query game for a while, but I'm happily working on a new project and helping my CP's sharpen up their queries.

Here's hoping "next time" comes quickly for all of us! Have a great day, peeps : )

I Wanted Words But All I Heard Was Nothing

Long story short: the two partials I had out a couple posts ago ended in rejection. That in itself wasn't surprising, because quite honestly, getting requests for material is way further than I ever thought I'd go in this publishing game.

What bothered me more is that all three of the rejections I've received on my submitted materials have been unhelpful, push-button form rejections.

I mean, come on, people.

Would it really have killed them to type a sentence or two that would have given me some REAL insight as to why they stopped reading, and not just a generic Sorry but this wasn't for me?

After all, how am I supposed to fix the problem if I don't even know what it is?

Is it my characters?

Does my writing suck?

Were they falling asleep by paragraph 2?

I'll never know, because no one is telling me!

At this point, it's obvious to me that my query is decent. My premise must be pretty decent too, or they wouldn't be asking to see more. But it's also obvious that there's some kind of problem, and I have no clue what it is.

So tell me, peeps - how do I make revisions based on feedback that isn't there?

Update from the Query Trenches: Still a Moron, Still in the Game

The good news: After my undeniably sucky form rejection on my full, I received two partial requests (Yay!)

The bad news: I failed to learn my lesson about Exhausted Querying after my first big Querier Boo Boo.

Obviously I managed to get at least two right, but I know I screwed up at least two more very, very badly. After going through the trouble to revise my query letter yet again, and actually thinking it kind of rocked this time, I set out to query a few more agents, two of whom had just re-opened to submissions.

For agent # 1, I spent so much time making sure I'd spelled her name right and personalized the letter with reasons why I'd chosen to query her that I forgot something sort of important: the sample pages.

That's right. The sample pages specifically requested on their website. The same sample pages I claim to have included in my query letter. Yup. Somehow managed to hit send without them.

I realized my mistake as soon as I did it, and even as I banged my head against the desk, I managed to get query # 2 right.

But then, I tempted fate. I decided to send a third.

And know what I did this time? Oh, that's right. I forgot to delete the personalization from my first query letter, which claimed I was a follower of both her blog and Twitter. And I'm pretty sure this agent has neither.

I know exhaustion makes crazy things happen, but seriously, I'm no query rookie at this point. How the heck did this happen?

Please make me feel better, peeps. Regale me with your stories of stupid query mistakes. If you don't have any... make one up! I don't want to be alone in this!

Share Your Favorite Rejection

I've racked up enough form rejections by now that I have "favorites." Sure, they all basically say the same thing - no thanks - but that's only if you're taking them at face value.

I've done a little reading between the lines, and here's what I've come up with as the "best" of my rejections:

#3)Dear Author,


Thank you for your query and for letting me have a look at your work. I apologize for the impersonal nature of this email but I receive so many queries that it makes it impossible for me to respond personally to each one. Thank you for your patience.


Unfortunately, I don’t feel that this is right for me, so I’m going to pass. Just because I wasn’t quite drawn in, however, doesn’t mean there isn’t another agent out there who will love it. I encourage you to continue to submit elsewhere.


Thanks again for thinking of me, and I wish you all the best in your endeavors.

What she really means: This is the longest form rejection ever! Bet you almost didn't find the rejection key words I so stealthily hid within it... I almost had you going, didn't I?! Bwahaha, I've created the longest winded version of "no" humanly possible and you will all suffer my evil genius!

Did it make me feel any better about the R? Nope. I scan and stop reading the minute I see "unfortunately." But it did make me laugh.

#2)Please don't take this rejection as a comment on your writing, because it isn't intended to be one. While your novel has merit, I am forced to give serious consideration to the realities of the marketplace when deciding which writers to represent. And I really have to be absolutely in love with every project I choose to take on.



Best of luck with this project and all your endeavors. Due to the volume of queries and submissions I receive, I'm unable to provide a personal evaluation and/or further explanation of my decision.


Good luck with your submissions.

What she really means: You love your book. I thought I did, but I'm dumping it for the way cuter, more popular book that someone else just sent me. Toodles!
Did it make me feel any better about the R? HAHA! Um, no. This one kicked my ass. But I give her points for trying to make such an impersonal letter feel personal.
 
Ready for my absolute favorite?
 
#1) In this very competitive market, I am simply not enthusiastic enough about my ability to sell this work to offer representation.

What he really means:

Gotta give props to a guy who tries to go with the "It's not you, it's me" line! And there you have it.

Your turn, peeps. Tell me about some of your more noteworthy rejections! (And be honest - have any of them actually made you feel better about getting rejected?)

Getting Over Your First Love

Story-wise, I'm finding this impossible.

They say you never get over your first love, and whoever "they" are must have met me in another life. I can't let go of my first novel because I fell in love with it, even though it's fairly obvious no agent is ever going to do the same.

I'm even working on a new story, but it isn't helping. So what am I doing wrong?

1) Encouraging my CP's to draw me pictures of the character I just might love most of all:

LOOK AT HIM! That's my Michael. I almost fell on the floor when I saw this rendering by Chessie. How amazing is she? How amazing is he? Those blue eyes! That devilish grin! The trenchcoat! HE MAKES ME SO HAPPY!

But right after I almost bawled from happiness, I wanted to bawl from sadness. Why? Because no one will ever know Michael if he's stuck in a Word Document that wasn't "the right fit" for all the agents I queried. And that makes me very, very sad.

2) Not Hitting Fast Forward on the Ipod when LBD-related songs come on.

I never had an official playlist while I was writing. It was more like I'd hear a song and think this fits perfectly! So naturally, I put them all on my Ipod.

But now, what happens every time I hear The First Time by Lifehouse, or Some Hearts by Carrie Underwood, or even Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know by Britney Spears (yeah, I said it.)? Oh, that's right. I want to bawl. Again.

3) I Compare my WiP to my finished MS. Constantly.

Why is it taking me so much longer to write this one? Why don't I hear these characters talking in my head 24/7 like I did the last time? Why does my word count seem to inch up at a deathly slow pace that makes me want to gouge my eyes out when my last ms was 96K after 4 months?

Yeah. Comparing and contrasting doesn't fly in relationships, and it doesn't fly in writing, either. So why can't I let go?

Because I still love this story, and I still believe in it. And, because I just counted the actual number of rejections I received, and I'm only at 15. That's nothing compared to the rejections other authors racked up before landing their agents.

So I've decided to tweak my query again, and keep going until I reach a number of rejections worth crying over, or until someone offers rep - whichever comes first. But even then... will the love affair end?

Tell me, peeps. Do you have a story sitting in your drawer that you still pine for?

Back to Square One

So my very first full request ended in rejection. And not just any rejection, but a push-button form rejection with no feedback at all.

Sigh. The rejection itself didn't surprise me, but the lack of commentary did. The agent had seemed genuinely excited to read my story, so the run-of-the-mill "thanks but no thanks" felt like an extra kick in the pants.

I immediately got back on the query horse, but folks, this probably wasn't such a good idea. I was exhausted and depressed, and the Full R came on the heels of my 8 billionth negative pregnancy test (yes, I'm exaggerating, but it really does feel like that many). And you know what happened?

I made my first Big Querier Boo Boo. I got distracted, and instead of addressing the query Dear Ms. Agent, I addressed it Dear Ms. Last Name of the Agency Name. Oops.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say my Full R set off a flurry of bad luck. Because once it came, another FOUR query rejections followed on its heels after more than a week of radio silence. Exactly what you want when you've just had your hopes crushed, right?

But it's like I told the lovely Leigh Ann: if it's going to rain, it might as well pour.

Do you agree, peeps? Would you rather have all your rejections blast in like a hurricane, or endure a light but steady drizzle?

The Best Form of Rejection

There's been a lot of buzz in the cybersphere lately over the issue of The Form Rejection vs. The Silent Rejection.

It started with agents Rachelle Gardner and Jill Corcoran giving their reasons for NOT responding, which you can read here and here.

Then the ever-fabulous Janet Reid shot back with reasons why these ladies had the wrong idea, prompting Nathan Bransford to ask his readers to give their opinions, and did they ever.

I recently had two queries that never made it to the intended recipients. Both agents were kind enough to ask me to re-send when I followed up, and one of those wound up being my full request - a request I would have missed out on if I'd assumed her lack of response translated to lack of interest in my project.

So here's what I think: if an agent wants to adopt the "no response means no" policy, that's fine. But at the very least, they need to give a time frame in which we can assume they've passed, and have an auto-response in place to let queriers know their e-mail was received. There's simply too much uncertainty (and anxiety) otherwise.

In all honesty, we as queriers are expected to do our homework on these agents. We're expected to flatter them, to demonstrate knowledge of their client list. And since professionalism is a two-way street, I do think writer's are at least owed the peace of mind to know their query made it safely into the agent's inbox in return.

That said, I don't hate the Silent No policy, not after all the rejections I've received. Having a heart attack every time a new e-mail pops up in my inbox isn't fun, and neither is having yet another agent tell me that my dream agent is out there somewhere... but it's just not them. With the no-response-means-no policy, you'd automatically know the e-mail contained good news, because they wouldn't be contacting you otherwise. Then again, I have received some personalized feedback with my non-silent rejections, and I do get a certain sense of closure from knowing the reason behind the "no."

So what say you, peeps? Is silence better than the impersonal words of a form rejection? Or are empty words better than no words at all?