Email vs Snail-Mail Queries

[sunna]

Any thoughts on which is likely to be better-received? Most if the agents I'm looking at say on their websites that they welcome emailed queries, and it is obviously a hell of a lot more convenient (and cheaper) for me, which - convenience never being free - begs the question:
1) does it end up being detrimental to the 'presentation' factor (seems like it would), and
2) does that actually matter, as most of them are quick to point out that they're far more interested in content and whether you managed to avoid stupid typos?
my instinct says it does matter, but this being novel numero uno, I'm betting my instinct is just a panic reflex on eternal loop, to be ignored in favor of sage advice.
Opinions?

[herdon]

My advice is to read the guidelines. If they say that they accept email queries but prefer snail mail then send it snail mail, otherwise I wouldn't worry about it. Some agents might prefer snail mail, others might prefer email, and most of the time I'd say it doesn't matter as far as your chances of catching their eye -- but unless you see information pointing you in a specific direction you are just going to be guessing.

[Elektra]

If you've got the money, I would recommend snail mail. That way you can add five sample pages of writing.

[Rolling Thunder]

So far I have one (1) rejection by snail mail that took 3 months. Three Email rejections that took anywhere from 20 minutes to 4 days. Three out right now that haven't replied yet.

Pace yourself on submissions. You might get some good feedback and find a little tweaking is needed for your work.

[blacbird]

In my experience, both methods suck. Equally. Without exception.

I spent a chunk of today preparing submissions. Where's that damn Talisker?

caw

[sunna]

Pace yourself on submissions. You might get some good feedback and find a little tweaking is needed for your work.
You mean they do more than just laugh in your face and stomp on your heart with their spiked combat boots? Thank god!
(I'm mostly kidding, but I actually had nightmares about this all last night. The difference betwen a hook and a short synopsis and a long synopsis and an outline: sheesh....it's fairly humbling to discover writing 120K of not-so-deathless prose was the easy part, you know? I feel like I just fell back into highschool.)
What would you say is acceptable pacing? Based on the very helpful advice I'm getting I may try a bit of both and see who laughs and who simply ignores. And return to smoking, as, sadly, I have no Talisker. :-)
Thank you everyone for the advice!

[blacbird]

Rather than work on a "hook" I think I'll go for a "cleaver".

caw

[Shadow_Ferret]

So far I have one (1) rejection by snail mail that took 3 months. Three Email rejections that took anywhere from 20 minutes to 4 days. Three out right now that haven't replied yet.

I've been waiting on my email rejection going on three weeks now. I've gotten snail mail rejections quicker.

One thing I was wondering about (not to hijack this thread) is formating of a email letter.

Do you format it like a snail mail letter with an address and a salutation thusly,

Joe Blow
c/o The Joe Blow Agency
123 Break Your Heart Ave.
City, State Zip

Dear Mr. Blow,

Or do you just go into the salutation like most emails,

Dear Mr. Blow,

[BardSkye]

Oh, I'd be interested in knowing that, too. I've been formatting it as as if it were snail mail, address and salutations.

Six e-mail queries out in the past week and a half, four replies so far, all polite "not quite what I'm looking for."

[ORION]

My successful email query was formatted exactly like a business letter. I also just pasted the first five pages of my manuscript at the bottom.
When I was in New York this last week my agent was describing her feelings when she saw my query each step of the way to my editor while the three of us were at lunch. It was fascinating.
She said first that I sent an email query and she hates email queries but the premise was wonderful and the query writing was professional. Then she scrolled down and she usually hates to have the first few pages there but she read mine anyway and thought wow this woman can write and she thought to herself if she's querying me she's querying other agents and she asked for the full in 40 minutes.
Then she described that I had not put .doc so it was hard to open my file (she's PC and I'm Mac) But she did it anyway -- printed it out and had her assistant read it. He loved it so she read it. She offered representation two weeks later.
The moral.
Good writing/premise trumps all as Miss Snark says.

[Shadow_Ferret]

Orion, that's a great example of doing everything wrong and still succeeding. I don't think that formula is one anyone should subscribe to though. More often than not the rest of us would simply be deleted if we didn't follow the rules.

Anyway, congrats on that anyway. :)

[jodiodi]

I've had 2 requests for partials from e-mail queries so far. I format them like a regular e-mail (since they are e-mails) and have a line near the end that says: My contact details are below. Then I put my address, phone number and e-mail address below my name, skipping a line between the phone number and e-mail address. It just looks better to me.

[Just Me 2021]

I've had 11 requests off email submissions - 7 for partials, 4 for full mss, and only one request (for a full mss) off snail mail queries (and that one included the first three chapters, per the submission guidelines of that agency.) I've sent out almost equal numbers of both.

As you can imagine, I'm a HUGE fan of email queries. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong with the snail mail queries, but I have some theories. It could have to do with my query letter being long - a page a third - which doesn't seem to matter when sent via email and does matter in snail mail. Also I slip in the first five pages always, so maybe in email that's not such a no- no but in snail mail it is?

[Just Me 2021]

One more thing. I also format my email queries like a business letter. It just feels more formal and therefore safe to me.

[sunna]

Fabulous. I'm going to bite the bullet and send out 4 email queries this morning - formal-business-letter style - and go smoke a few Camels. And obsess until my husband wants a divorce. :-)
Speaking of formatting, I'm guessing plain text is the way to go? I'd hate for it to come across garbled; but I also hate the look of plain text email. Maybe I'm getting too nit-picky, I dunno.

[Just Me 2021]

I myself use my microsoft outlook account for equeries because I can use microsoft as my editor - It just comes out looking most professional, I think.

Also be prepared not to hear back from the agents you equery. Many of them do not respond to emails they are not interested in. Of course, some agents don't send back the SASE from a snail mail query either, but it seems more common to not hear back from agents queried by email if it's a rejection (than snail mail ones.) Many agents state that is their policy on equeries.

[RainbowDragon]

....it's fairly humbling to discover writing 120K of not-so-deathless prose was the easy part, you know?

Is your book 120K? If so, you may have a struggle just because of the length (and not because it's too short). Check out the threads on word count for more controversy, and good luck!

[Spiny Norman]

Agents come in all the colors of the rainbow, and even in a few colors that aren't on the rainbow and in fact aren't in the visible light spectrum at all. Each one is going to have different tastes, so I would say that the best thing to do is just to do your research and follow their directions.

For example, I just sent a snail mail query to someone at the start of the month, and then last week they contacted me by email and then asked me to submit the full - again, by email. (If I preferred, which I sure as hell did.) That agent had specified that they don't take equeries, but they apparently don't have a problem communicating with me via email.

So it's really up to them. You're not exactly at their mercy, but I would approach them in the manner that they want to be approached.

[swvaughn]

Following the rules is usually your best bet. Unfortunately, the "rules" of email queries are not yet set in -- whatever publishing rules are set in (it sure as hell ain't stone...) :D

It's my opinion, based on attempting to pay attention, that many agents are choosing to accept e-queries. They'll state in their submission guidelines what their preferences are (query only, query with synopsis pasted into the email or attached, query with sample pages pasted into the email or attached). Each agent varies.

Early on, when e-queries first moved toward the norm, several agents stated they still preferred paper queries because they tend to read e-mail while engaged in other activities (phone calls and whatnot), and therefore didn't give e-queries as much attention as paper. This, too, is slowly changing.

A lot of agents/agencies will only accept electronic submissions now. When I queried for my most recent novel, I started with e-queries and ended up not needing to mail a single letter (oh happiness, oh joy!). I got several requests for partials and fulls, and signed with Cameron McClure (Donald Maass Agency) after she requested the full via e-mail. Her initial submission guidelines are either paper or e-query, including the first five pages (pasted in to the email), so either way would have worked, I think.

After that long sidetrack... usually, just make sure you're sending what the specific agent wants (as others have mentioned here). Good luck - I hope you get a fast and favorable response on those you've sent!

[sunna]

Is your book 120K? If so, you may have a struggle just because of the length (and not because it's too short). Check out the threads on word count for more controversy, and good luck!
122,167 - not that I'm counting or anything. :-) I did think to research that one a while back, when I realized I'd cut just about everything I could without starting to leave holes and freaked. (Though I hadn't discovered this site at the time, so I'll go look @ those threads now and likely panic some more.) Gawd. Does it ever get routine, or is od-ing on adrenaline just the norm?
I just have to hope they don't expect things like glossaries and indexes to be included in the word count, or that number jumps a wee bit. It's definitely in the sf/f category, and it seems like the limit is a bit higher for those...mmph. I can only hope. (doppler effect of pitiful whimpering noises...)
Thanks for the info!

[RainbowDragon]

Does it ever get routine, or is od-ing on adrenaline just the norm?

Well we're always up against the same possibilities: submit as is and be rejected a million times with an acceptance possibly forthcoming, OR revise (yet) again and submit, be rejected a million times with an acceptance possibly forthcoming. The only thing that's routine is the rejections, I think. . .:)

[sunna]

ok, one more silly question and then I swear I'll stop prolonging this thread with my feeble rookie-ness...I got a request to send a partial via snail mail about 10 minutes ago. I am obviously thrilled, as this is the first query I sent out and I have received a stay of execution on having my face laughed in, at least until she decided my first 3 chapters are slow and/or poorly written. My question in this: she asked specifically for a synopsis and the first 3 chapters. Do I follow that absolutely to the letter, and send her nothing but that, or would it be
1) more professional to include a short letter explaining that I sent her the query via email on April 16 etc. etc and "re-introduce" my novel, or is that a classic slobbery-newbie move?, and
2) can I include the prologue in the partial or is "first 3 chapters" hard and fast? I personally feel the prologue is kind of useful, but I don't know - maybe it's just annoying when you read a thousand of them a week.
I certainly don't want to slobber all over her just because I'm new and wigging out. I also don't want to slobber all over you-all; so if I've gotten (more) annoying just tell me to shut up. :-)
going to drink myself silly now...

[RainbowDragon]

1) Short cover letter, "Thank you for requesting my partial from my e-query" type thing is fine. No need to recap the query in full, just a quick refresher so they'll remember it. Be sure to write "Requested Materials" on the outside of the envelope so they'll know it's a solicited partial.

2) If I had a prologue I'd include it, just make sure it's a page-turner. They can have short attention spans if they're not grabbed on the opening line :)

3) Don't forget the SASE - No. 10 for reply only or a 9x12 with enough postage if you want the MS back (cheaper to print a new copy though, generally).

4) Good luck!!

[waylander]

ok, one more silly question and then I swear I'll stop prolonging this thread with my feeble rookie-ness...I got a request to send a partial via snail mail about 10 minutes ago. I am obviously thrilled, as this is the first query I sent out and I have received a stay of execution on having my face laughed in, at least until she decided my first 3 chapters are slow and/or poorly written. My question in this: she asked specifically for a synopsis and the first 3 chapters. Do I follow that absolutely to the letter, and send her nothing but that, or would it be
1) more professional to include a short letter explaining that I sent her the query via email on April 16 etc. etc and "re-introduce" my novel, or is that a classic slobbery-newbie move?, and
2) can I include the prologue in the partial or is "first 3 chapters" hard and fast? I personally feel the prologue is kind of useful, but I don't know - maybe it's just annoying when you read a thousand of them a week.
I certainly don't want to slobber all over her just because I'm new and wigging out. I also don't want to slobber all over you-all; so if I've gotten (more) annoying just tell me to shut up. :-)
going to drink myself silly now...

I'm going to disagree here and say do not send the prologue, and further I'm going quote Miss Snark as my authority on this. The agent wants to see it you can write. Send what they asked for.

[Susan B]

Nearly all my queries were by e-mail, and I did get a number of positive responses, and eventually got an an agent that way. Most wanted the proposal/partial in a hard copy, but some also wanted that as an e-mail attached file, which pleasantly surprised me.

Agents themselves are now increasingly using e-mail to correspond with interested editors--and even sending the proposals out as e-mail attachments! Incredible advantages in time and money for all--though it does make me a little nervous because of all those mac-to-pc formatting issues, difficulty opening files, etc.

One alternative to doing a recap in the cover letter: include a copy of the previous correspondence. I read this suggestion in one of those proposal-writing books, and it made sense to me.

Good luck!

Susan

[Saundra Mitchell]

I got my first agent by snail mail. I got my second agent by e-mail. For me, either method works equally well.

As for sending pages- send the first three chapters, no prologue. In my cover letter, I always thanked them for their interest in my novel X, and say that I've included the requested pages. Nothing fancy, just a reference to previous correspondence.

Good luck!

[JeanneTGC]

Sort of reviving this thread, because I have some related questions in terms of equerying.

I'm querying a handful of agents who want ONLY equeries and who also want the sample pages and/or synopsis in the BODY of the email (versus as an attachment).

I know to get all my punctuation marks plain so that my email system will send them without garbling. I also know that if I've italicized anywhere that I need to show that by underlining.

However, I do have a few lines in my short synopsis that are bolded, and I have no idea of how to show that in an email. Is there a proper way?

Also, I'm backing up to another question from earlier in the thread about how you format the equery letter portion. I have normally just put "To Agent Extraordinaire, Extraordinary Agency" as the first line, and then gone into "Dear Ms./Mr. Agent," and launched into my query letter.

It wasn't until reading this thread and a couple of others that it dawned on me to put MY contact info anywhere (I do it for short stories and humorous essay subs, but haven't for email novel queries...I know, DUH!). So, adding that in (thank you!)

I am of two minds, however, about putting the agency's info, other than that first starting line, onto the email. Any suggestions as to whether or not you need to put all the Extraordinary Agency contact info actually into the body of your email or if merely by sending it to their requested email address and putting To Agent Extraordinaire on the first line is enough? Or is there a better way altogether?

[Bealeblast]

I've gotten much more action and gotten it quicker via email queries than snail mail. There's also the thrill of getting a response within hours, 1 to 24, there's just something cool about it and seems to lead to quicker reads. I know I'm not imagining all this...although I'm still waiting for several to finish reading the full.

I start with agents who take equeries and I have to really want one to bother if they only take snail.

but that's just me.

[ORION]

I did not include any bold or italics in the five pages that I pasted in the body of my email. Agents know these end up looking funny anyway. I used to put my contact info on the top and the agents underneath. ( I composed mine just like a business letter.)

[JeanneTGC]

I did not include any bold or italics in the five pages that I pasted in the body of my email. Agents know these end up looking funny anyway. I used to put my contact info on the top and the agents underneath. ( I composed mine just like a business letter.)
So, would it then be odd if (thinking positively here), the agent requests the MS or a partial MS through the mail, or via an attachment, and now sees italics or bolding here or there?

[justpat]

One of the items QueryTracker.net is trying to compile data for is which agents respond better to e-queries, and which to regulars. This is done by having all users specify how their queries were sent and the results. We don't quite have enough data collected yet to make any conclusions, but getting close. If you want to participate, please check it out at QueryTracker.net (http://querytracker.net)