TGIF, Operation Awesome! Summer is almost over (EEEP) and you know what that means: people are going to be returning from vacations and hopefully requesting up a storm! But, as in any business where you receive approximately 10,000 e-mails a day, sometimes things get missed. To that end, sharkly agent Janet Reid has posted some advice on when and how to confirm receipt of requested materials if many months have passed and no one ever told you "Hey, I got it."
Sending e-mails like that can be daunting, I know. I see a similar sort of phenomenon in my day job, where something will go wrong, but the person in question won't tell me about it for fear of bothering me. (And I can't hold that against them - I worry about bothering people all the time!)
But if you're terrified that you're going to come across as pushy or step on someone's toes, then chances are, you're not the kind of person who would do that. If you're here, reading this, then you already know how important it is to be polite, professional, and recognize that you are not entitled to an agent or editor's time. And if you're received a full request, or an R&R, or have otherwise gotten past that initial contact with a publishing pro, then this is a person who is potentially interested in working with you. Don't let that slip by you!
Have a great weekend, all, and happy writing!
I ran into that "did they get it" problem repeatedly with one agent--and then she showed up at a conference and talked about how they have all sorts of email issues at their agency. Gave me the nerve to introduce myself in person (and sure enough, she said, "You never got back to me!") and we worked it out. But even with a different address, kept having issues and it got to a point where it seemed highly unprofessional on her part (was she having these issues with editorial emails too?) and I eventually just didn't follow up again. It can be so maddening though, to not know if it's a case of "no response means no" or "no, I didn't get it"
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