Checking up on your query

One of the most important things to cultivate when you start looking for an agent is patience. Sometimes a reply to your query can seem to take forever to arrive, but it’s usually best to simply wait until it shows up, rather than nudging the agent in an attempt to move the process along.

Having said that, if there’s still no sign of a reply well after what the agent has posted as their timeframe for responding to queries, you may want to check up on your query. In my case, there’s only a very slim chance that either I or the agent I work for is going to remember a query that was read six or more weeks ago, given the volume of queries we receive during an average week. Therefore, including a copy of your original query with your followup is definitely a must, and you should also make sure to be polite and professional.

Of course, if the guidelines for the agency state that they don’t respond unless they are interested (something that’s more often true for e-queries than for paper ones), then you shouldn’t be requerying at all. While it is of course possible that your query was waylaid somewhere in the wilds of the internet, it’s far more likely that the agent you queried simply doesn’t want to see more of your book. You should accept that and move on to the next agent on your list.

Communication is the key

Good relationships are built on communication, and that’s as true for the agent/writer relationship as it is for anything else. When a writer and their agent are on the same page, things will usually run smoothly. When either the writer or the agent has issues that they don’t communicate about, things tend to fall apart. That’s why it’s important to let your agent know when you have a problem with how things are going. While agents do have many amazing powers, most of them are not psychic, so if you don’t let your agent know that you’re uncomfortable or unhappy about something it probably won’t get fixed. Letting problems fester isn’t doing either you or your agent any good, and certainly isn’t healthy for your long term relationship.