Today is my last day in the office until January 2, 2013. In clearing my desk, I ran across this lovely note I've been holding onto from an author expressing gratitude for a response, even though a rejection, to her query.
With electronic submissions, it's increasingly difficult to keep up, not only with reading, but also with responding to queries. Our agency receives about 500 submissions per week. It's our intention to respond to every query, but it has become nearly impossible to do so.
There was a time when I was submitting my work to agencies, but not necessarily tracking responses. I remember getting a rejection from this very agency months and months later and being happy that my work was still circulating.
The phenomenon of not receiving a response to a query has quickly become standard practice for some agencies, the idea being, if you don't hear, you can assume it's a rejection. This is not our policy, as of yet, but again, we are struggling to keep up.
Don't think you are alone, though. Many of the queries we send out on behalf of our clients to editors go unanswered. Kimberley says this didn't used to be the case. Editors are also struggling to keep up with the volume of electronic submissions.
I want to thank and show my appreciation for the author above for her kind note. A note like this--when the pace of our world has increased, chaos reigns and publishing seems impersonal--reminds me how important it is to stop, value and foster (to the best of my ability) the creative spirit of all those submitting to this agency.
