The use of no response to indicate a rejection means we have to cull our submission list from time to time, to keep things updated.
I sent a query to Amy Boggs, a newish agent at the Donald Maass agency. According to her short bio, she started in 2009, so you'd think she was keen to build her client list and would be receptive to some great writing, a brilliant plot set in the Victorian era, and a decent query letter that explained it all.
How long to wait? Based on the statistics available at Querytracker, she hasn't answered many queries at all.Out of 144 submitted, only 8 received a response. One was a full request, another a partial, while the remaining six were rejections.
She got those answers out in anywhere from four days to two months. That leaves over one hundred unaccounted for.
Should I keep waiting, or write it off?
The signs point to the exit. Mr. Maass recently updated his page at Publishersmarketplace.com, and Amy Boggs is not listed as one of his key personnel.
Her name is still there on his website, but to update a page and leave her off? Sounds like someone's given up the agenting business.
A few folks who use Querytracker to monitor their submissions have already written Ms. Boggs off and labeled their queries as closed with no response. Guess I'll join them. The writing, or lack thereof in the agency's most recently updated information, is on the wall.
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