Later

If you're thinking of sending a query to Susan Golomb, might as well wait until after the New Year. She's out of the office, you see, until the third of January. Go ahead and send the e-query if you must, but she won't answer until after she's back.

Funny, that. After my partial manuscript was sent and then ignored, she hasn't answered any of my e-queries. Why start now? It'll be the same as before, I suppose. The overflowing e-mail box, crammed with queries, will be glossed over on the third of next month. And I'll get my answer. The same answer I've gotten in the past.

It's the return of the 'no answer means no', and I'll have to wait until the New Year's been rung in to get that no response. Now, I could send a snail mail query, but some agents don't seem to be taking the time to send back the SASE. No response means no, and it won't matter how you send the query. Michelle Beno, Chris Parris-Lamb, and Gail Hochman are at three months and still nothing. Sally Van Haitsma at Castiglia Agency is winning, however, with no response to a snail-mail query after four months.

This weekend I took another look at the query, after reading up at the very useful Crap-o-Meter for queries as presented by Miss Snark. Read enough of them and your eyes will bleed, but you'll get a sense of what it is one agent looks for. Scroll through and find the formula for composing the hook portion of your query...it should get your head wrapped around the general notion of how to. I'm preparing a new batch of snail mail queries to be posted while the agents are 'out of the office' and look forward to more waiting in the New Year.