The literary agent is also a practicing author - say what?

[maybegenius]

May I ask why you are emailing agents to ask whether or not you can query them? Unless they have something posted on their website that states they are not accepting queries, it's safe to assume you may query them. Sending an email to "feel them out" (in other words, to see if they respond to you positively) is a superfluous step that many agents probably find irritating.

[Nathan Bransford]

As I stated, part of the reason I sent the e-mail to begin with was to feel her out. I've sent e-mails to other agents, asking them the same question, and many of them have responded with an oh so simple: Yes.

Guess we're just going to have to agree to disagree here.

Honestly, I don't even respond when someone asks if they can send me a query - they can find my submission guidelines with a Google search. Jessica was being polite answering your first question. And then you asked another question after she had given you an answer. Time would have been saved all around if you had just sent the material in the first place.

[Dankrubis]

Then again, who knows... maybe this person IS delving into the slush pile in search of stuff... did anybody here submit anything even remotely like The Space Kapow or whatever it's called?

Ohhhh, you're a forum troll. Well now this thread makes a little more sense.

^^^^!!!!!!!^^!^!^!^!

*headdesk*

[r louis scott]

You know, call me crazy, call me irresponsible, but reading this thread has given me a great idea for my next book! Thanks username!

[Dankrubis]

You know, call me crazy, call me irresponsible, but reading this thread has given me a great idea for my next book! Thanks username!

Is it about a forum troll that argues impossible points just to mess with people?

[r louis scott]

Don't even THINK about stealing my idea, Dankrubis, or there will be trouble. Trouble I tells ya!

[Username]

As I stated, part of the reason I sent the e-mail to begin with was to feel her out. I've sent e-mails to other agents, asking them the same question, and many of them have responded with an oh so simple: Yes.

Guess we're just going to have to agree to disagree here.

Honestly, I don't even respond when someone asks if they can send me a query - they can find my submission guidelines with a Google search. Jessica was being polite answering your first question. And then you asked another question after she had given you an answer. Time would have been saved all around if you had just sent the material in the first place.

And even more time would've been saved if she had simply said, yes.

[charlotte49ers]

No, more time would have been saved if you'd read her submission guidelines in the first place.

That's kind of the whole point.

[Username]

No, more time would have been saved if you'd read her submission guidelines in the first place.

That's kind of the whole point.

Nope. Not for me it isn't.

I'm looking for somebody who will be more open than this. It wasn't a completely unacceptable request (other agents have indeed responded with a simple 'yes' when I've made the exact same request) - but need I remind some of you people that the reason she gave me for not accepting the submission in the first place was her concern for the environment. That's not a person I want representing me.

Sorry, but I have every right to post this statement: an agent who believes that a ten-page submission sent by me is not worthy of being printed on paper, is absolutely not a person I want representing me.

[charlotte49ers]

Ok, then.

Good luck to you.

[r louis scott]

No, more time would have been saved if you'd read her submission guidelines in the first place.

That's kind of the whole point.

Nope. Not for me it isn't.

I'm looking for somebody who will be more open than this. It wasn't a completely unacceptable request (other agents have indeed responded with a simple 'yes' when I've made the exact same request) - but need I remind some of you people that the reason she gave me for not accepting the submission in the first place was her concern for the environment. That's not a person I want representing me.

Sorry, but I have ever right to post this statement: an agent who believes that a ten-page submission sent by me is not worthy of being printed on paper, is absolutely not a person I want representing me.

Then why are you so worked up about her saying no?

[Username]

Ok, then.

Good luck to you.

Luck: perhaps the most important thing that a commercial novelist needs.

[Username]

No, more time would have been saved if you'd read her submission guidelines in the first place.

That's kind of the whole point.

Nope. Not for me it isn't.

I'm looking for somebody who will be more open than this. It wasn't a completely unacceptable request (other agents have indeed responded with a simple 'yes' when I've made the exact same request) - but need I remind some of you people that the reason she gave me for not accepting the submission in the first place was her concern for the environment. That's not a person I want representing me.

Sorry, but I have ever right to post this statement: an agent who believes that a ten-page submission sent by me is not worthy of being printed on paper, is absolutely not a person I want representing me.

Then why are you so worked up about her saying no?

Who's worked up?

Everyone else here is much more worked up than I am. I'm just responding to what others have written. I speak my mind at forums. That's kind of what forums are all about. If you want a consensus of opinion in every thread... well, what's the point?

[Nick]

Nope. Not for me it isn't.

I'm looking for somebody who will be more open than this. It wasn't a completely unacceptable request (other agents have indeed responded with a simple 'yes' when I've made the exact same request) - but need I remind some of you people that the reason she gave me for not accepting the submission in the first place was her concern for the environment. That's not a person I want representing me.

Sorry, but I have every right to post this statement: an agent who believes that a ten-page submission sent by me is not worthy of being printed on paper, is absolutely not a person I want representing me.

Well, that's your opinion, and you have every right to it. But the fact of the matter is, a quick glance at agents' websites (or little blurbs on publishing house/agency websites for those who lack their own individual site) will show you that a lot of agents don't accept print submissions. Of all the agents presently on my shortlist, I can remember only two stating they accept snail mail, and one of them had a little notice at the time stating they were swamped and would only be accept e-queries until their workload was reduced. My "shortlist" has somewhere between 18 and 25 agents on it...I think more towards the latter end of that scale, but I'm not sure. Still, even if you take the lowest number, that's 2/18 agents who accept snail mail. By refusing to go the e-route and only use snail mail, you're limiting yourself needlessly. Now, granted, that's 2/18 agents who represent my genre. Maybe most of them don't represent whatever it is you've written. But I'm willing to bet even agents who represent your genre are much the same way. The fact of the matter is, the industry is changing. Doing our best to keep up is the only hope we have of seeing publication. Do you think you'd be published now if you just sent a copy of your manuscript in a box to Random House? Odds are they'd return it or just chuck it without so little as a glance.

And okay, so you feel she's the wrong agent for you. Personally I think you're reasoning behind it is a bit...well, jejune, but you're perfectly allowed to feel that way. But getting so worked up over it is pointless. My first MS got rejected six times (and thank God because that was utter shite), the first time by Nathan. I'm still here. I don't attack Nathan for rejecting me (and I still wouldn't even if I thought that MS was golden). Nor do I complain about the manner in which I was rejected or anything else about the process. Rejection happens. Even some of the most well-known authors took years to find publication. Odds are good you're going to see a lot more noes than you will yeses before your book sees print. It's harsh, but that's life.

And pardon any errors in this post. I was writing it on the fly while getting ready for school at 6:30 in the morning and operating on very little sleep.

[Remus Shepherd]

I'm looking for somebody who will be more open than this.

You won't find it. Sorry.

The problem is that agents are standing between the masses and the spigot of what gets published. Think of it like a dam; huge lake on one side, tiny outlet pipe on the other. There's pressure, inconcievable pressure on them. To deal with that pressure they have to take shortcuts. If it doesn't match submission guidelines, junk it. If it has too many errors on the first page, junk it. If it doesn't grab you soon enough, junk it. Throw enough filters like that in the path of the oncoming pressure, and you will reduce it to a manageable stream.

These are not arbitrary rules set to trap the innocent. They are necessary to pare down an insurmountable pile of work to levels that a human being can manage. If you think about your own job, you may notice that you have similar filters on what you do.

Something you can rail about, if you like, is that the submission guidelines aren't standard. It would be nice if we authors could know that what worked for one agent would also work for another. But, eh, human beings differ, and so will the shortcuts they use.

Learning to work within the system is not that difficult...although sadly, it doesn't guarantee success. It only guarantees that you have a chance to let your real talent -- writing -- be noticed.