This agency’s website says they will get back to you in a few weeks to request additional information and please don’t follow up because if you haven’t heard, they’re not interested.
It’s been a few weeks (six and a half, to be exact). I haven’t heard.
They’re not interested.
***
So here’s what I wish I’d done differently in my query letter:
I wish I’d mentioned that I’ve read this agent’s blog. (It’s actually her colleague’s blog, but she contributes every once in a while, and I tend to resonate more with her posts than her colleague’s.)
I wish I’d said I love some of the same books she loves—because I do.
Mostly I wish I’d asked a writing acquaintance who knows this agent to let me use her name in my query letter. That way, I’d at least have had a connection (however tenuous) through an established, respected writer.
If you’re querying agents, don’t be shy. Ask every single writer/editor/agent/ person-even-remotely-related-to-publishing you know or have ever met if they can recommend an agent and if you can use their name in your query. It’s awkward to ask, I know, but it’s worse to wish you had after it’s too late and you’ve already burned that bridge.
Trust me on this one.