A long time ago, when Kirsten Manges was still at Curtis Brown Ltd., I sent her a query through the mail. After a month had gone by, she sent me an e-mail, requesting the manuscript. She must have just gone off on her own at the time, and it took a while for the mail to catch up to her.
Now she's strictly e-mail queries, it would seem, since all she has listed is her e-mail addy. Must save a tremendous amount of time, not having to stuff rejections into envelopes. Then there's the overall cleanliness of the office, without stacks of queries cluttering up the place. Unfortunately for the author, it also means that Ms. Manges has joined the ranks of the 'no response is a no' literary agent. It may also indicate that she does not have an assistant to handle the paperwork, as the non-response is a great timesaving device.
A month ago, I queried my latest venture, but not a peep out of New York from Manges Literary. It's becoming more and more common for agents to not respond with their regrets, only extending an invitation to the dance if they are interested in doing the literary waltz with you. At this end, the problem is the wonder if the query letter was received or read or lost in cyberspace.
E-mail queries are too easy to send off without much thought, they cost nothing, and like everything else, you get what you pay for. Literary agents are swamped with them, and it's no wonder that some will not even accept them. I've come to appreciate that particular sentiment.
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