No News

Josh Getzler

So I spent quite a bit of time this week having catch-up conversations with clients whose manuscripts have been submitted to publishers. Most of these conversations went something like this:

Author: "I know they're busy, but why haven't we heard anything for the last three weeks? Does it mean we're dead?" 

Me: "No. Really, no. Really no. No news is not bad news. Really! No news is...no news."

Author: "Oh come on now."

Me: "No. REALLY."

Author: "Oh, okay." (Meaning, "Oh, stop trying to make me feel better; I know we're really dead.")

At the same time, I got a whole bunch of emails from authors who sent me email queries a (ahem) long time ago, and have not heard from me. With excruciating politeness belying their entirely justified pique, they say, "Dear Mr. Getzler: I submitted my manuscript, Naked Came the Zombie, in mid November, and I haven't even heard a peep from you. I know you agents are extremely busy, but I was wondering whether you've had time even to take a look. I appreciate the time you are taking just reading this email, and I wish you all the best. Sincerely, ..."

This means: "Dear Arrogant Jerk who can't even take a couple of minutes to read the first five pages that I formatted exactly the way you wanted: I'm DYING HERE. I spent nine years writing this and you don't even have the courtesy to respond at all. And now I don't know what to do, since I'm simultaneously totally resentful of being ignored and hopeful that if you do read it you'll like it, represent me, and sell my book."

OK, so this week we're talking about waiting. Perhaps it's because I'm about to head into Passover, which is all about querying the Pharoah for 200 YEARS, then hearing that he's requesting your Partial, then getting a REALLY GOOD agent, before being told to wander in the desert--for 40 YEARS--to reach the Promised Land.

But ultimately, the waiting (which is, as Mr. Petty so aptly said, the hardest part), is a necessary evil of this process. And here's the thing: I'm really not just blowing smoke: For the most part, no news is simply just that: no news. Whether it's an unrepresented author waiting for a query to be read (or worse, when we ask for a partial and that takes even LONGER), or an agented writer checking the inbox at midnight for THAT email, the waiting is excruciating.

And the thing is, all the agents and editors I know realize it, and feel AWFUL about it. And it's not a theoretical feeling of guilt--it literally keeps us up at night when we realize that we have not only five full manuscripts to read, but also 10 partials and 243 unsolicited queries, and our mother-in-law's bridge partner just sent us her cousin's novel which needs to go to the top of the pile. It's simply a prioritization, and it sucks. We need to take care of the people we're contractually obligated to work with before those whom we aren't. I state an expected response time for partial manuscript requests of 8 weeks, but I also say upfront that that's a hopeful guess. Sometimes, when I have a mess of clients submitting new or revised manuscripts, it takes a lot longer than that. And sometimes I lose projects as a result. And I hate that. And my editor friends hate getting nudge emails and calls from me because they've had sales conference or a bunch of authors submit revisions and haven't gotten to my submission from Thanksgiving.

BUT here's the other thing: Most of us (and really, MOST), do go through all of our queries; and editors do read their manuscripts. And because they are in the middle of a large inbox full of similar queries/submissions doesn't mean that we don't WANT to like them. And the editors DO want to publish them. I've found clients in the unsolicited query folder, and I've gotten offers after editors hadn't responded for three months to repeated emails. No news, it turns out, is no news.

Next week, I'll talk about what happens when no news turns into GOOD news. I'll be happy to respond to comments (after Wednesday evening). Obviously this is a subject everyone from all sides of publishing has had to deal with, and there is a ton more to say about it. Till next time! Happy Easter, Happy Passover, and see you next Tuesday.  

Comments

[AuthoressAnon]

I think I'll keep you.

[lexcade]

Goodness. I can't even imagine the stress on your end with everything to read. Yeah, I obsessively check my email after I send queries out, but I have other stuff to do to take my mind off it. You guys...do not.

Thanks for the reality check. Always good to have one of those every so often.

[lexcade]

Also, Happy Passover :)

[JM Frey]

Perfect timing for me to read this entry. I'm waiting as well, and it's a nice mantra to have: "No news is just no news."

Thank you for helping me take each day a with a little more calm.

[Brooklyn Ann]

Loved your Passover query analogy! And thank you so much for mentioning agented authors. We've all been dazzled by the tales of someone signing with an agent and getting a book deal the next day. A dose of reality is great.

[TimC]

I think some of this could be ameliorated if agents used confirmations consistently. As a neurotic writer, it's easy for me to convince myself that my email never went though. A quick reply of "got it, turnaround is currently three months" or even an "email received" auto-reply would eliminate that fear (though I'm sure I'd replace it with some other fear).

[Adele]

Wait a sec. Your MIL's bridge partner's cousin goes to the top? What's your MIL's name? Where does she live? I can live there. I can learn bridge... Wait - would you like my book better if it were about bridge? 'Cause I'm just starting revisions on my latest and I could change the setting...

[Kristi Helvig]

My crit partner found the submission process even worse than querying to get her agent. Luckily, she ended up w/ a book deal but the "no news is no news" part was difficult. :)

[Mags]

As someone who's considered the word "wait" to be profane for about as long as she's known what it meant (along with "no" and "patience"... nasty little words that should only ever be used together, followed by "required"), I actually find the w&*ting much easier on submission than I did when I was querying.

For me, knowing that the book is my agent's problem now is SO much less distracting. I can *mostly* ignore the process when nothing I need to address or respond to is happening, and time my freak-outs accordingly.

[R. King Kollman]

To mix cliches...this process epitomizes the triumph of optimism over experience, the ultimate Easter egg hunt, too much daily correspondence to read, much less evaluate, for any industry to absorb and still operate effectively. Check out http//:hiccupcricket.net for further observations along these lines.

[Irene Vernardis]

Hi. Interesting post and enjoyably written :)

I understand the position of editors and agents, I really do. But in my world, that is the business world, it's called "hire an assistant".
Time is something that all of us would need much more in a day, but if I let my clients wait for 8 weeks for a response on their business questions, they'll fly me around the globe 8 times. No, they'll just look for another professional in maximum 2 weeks.
Waiting is a necessary evil, but a book is business nowadays, whether we like it or not, and businesses don't operate successfully on holds. And there are so many capable people out there, job searching, who would make great assistants.
Thank you for your post :)

[mike in texas]

So why not just close to queries occasionally to have time to work on those submitted? Much better from the writer's side to submit later when there is more chance of a response than to twist in the wind for months.

[Fed Up]

Ditto! It's been almost a YEAR since I submitted my full to two top agents without one word. Since then, my ms. has been cdompletely revised and is under consideration by different agents.

If agents are SO busy, and there are so many good editors out there without jobs, wouldn't it make sense to hire one or two to help with your mounds of queries, mss. and mail? College interns can work for free. How hard can it be to ask for some help? Even if these agents finally read my ms. and wanted to rep me, I'd turn them down since I'd question their work habits and time-management skills (or lack of).

[Patti Abbott]

What's even worse is a return email reply saying no.

[Tania Roxborogh]

I'm actually not acustomed to waiting. Here in New Zealand, I run an idea past my editor and, if she's interested (funny how all the editors I deal with a female), I put in a proposal, it goes to acquisitions (once a month) and I know pretty quickly if it's a goer. Mind you, getting the thumbs up from the editor usually means a thumbs up from everyone else.

The brick wall we're encountering with the States has everyone here completely stumped. You should hear my mother's suggestions!

But, I love your analogy and like Authoress, I'll keep you on *grin*

[Apiusman.blogspot.com]

Tell them to go out and buy an edition of the Idiots guide to getting published. You know, the one that dedicates entire sections to "this is what your editor's/agent's day looks like -- it's only 24 hours of pure hell a day. Thank you."

If they don't get it then, they're in trouble.

Heck, I have an agent going on two years now trying to seel one property -- and he's querying to one publisher for the last two years, because they keep firing and hiring new editors.

In short: tell your authors to get a grip.