March 27, 2009
Lately, I’ve had a change of perspective when it comes to e-mail queries. For a while now, I’ve assumed that if an editor or agent does not reply to my e-mail, he or she isn’t interested in my work. Silence equals “no,” right? Seemed pretty obvious. However, recently, this subject has come up on a list I frequent, and a trusted voice announced that the only thing silence means is that the person I queried did not receive the query…or misplaced it…or just forgot about it. What to do in such situations? The trusted voice advised that the writer should send the query again, this time via snail mail. By querying via both e-mail and snail mail, the writer increases his or her chances of getting a query actually seen, read, and considered.
How does this make me feel? Enthusiastic, for sure. So many times, I’ll spend hours finding just the right editor or agent, researching his or her latest submissions guidelines, writing and refining a query letter, and sending it…only to get no answer at all. No reply is almost as bad as getting a really nasty one. Now I know that some of those editors and agents I liked so much might still be possibilities, so they’re going back on the list. That’s definitely good news.
Now for today’s photo. This one’s from the Flinstones Bedrock City Campground, Grand Canyon, Arizona. This photo’s from 2007…20 years after I first visited the campground in 1987! I’ll post a shot from that visit, too. See you tomorrow!
Flintstones Campground, Grand Canyon, Arizona, 2007
