EQ: 5/21/19
YA science fiction, 85K

I also received the maternity leave email. I assumed it was an automated message.

@dancingdove311, not sure — it’s possible I received the email simply to be informed of a delay in any future response (if any).

Does she always confirm receipt? I queried on 4/18, but I just checked and I never got a confirmation.

.
When confirming receipt of my query, she stated she was on maternity leave...

EQ: 4/5
CNR: 5/13 -- she's responded to a ton of queries after mine, so I guess mine got skipped over for whatever reason

I'm not sure why, but for a moment, I thought I'd received a personalized rejection letter. I was going to write back and see if there was any specific feedback that could make my work draw a reader in more. Fortunately, I see from other comments that this was a form letter (I shoulda known!), so I'm not going to take it too much to heart. Here is what it said:

"Thanks for sending along the sample pages of [title] . With regret, though, I'm afraid the material just didn't draw me in as much as I had hoped. What with my reservations, I'd better bow out. Thanks so much for the opportunity though! I really appreciate it and wish you the best of luck. Best, Andrea"

Time to keep querying!

EQ: 04/24/2019
Nudge with offer: 04/30/2019
Polite rejection: 05/01/2019

YA Contemporary Fantasy, 100k

EQ: 4/15
ER: 5/4, form
Adult scifi, 74k

EQ: 5/1/19 (107k YA fantasy)
Confirmation of receipt: 5/1/19

Queried Andrea yesterday, got a reply today stating that she's on maternity leave, will be checking e-mail, but response times might be slower than normal. States you should reach out to Rachel Ridout (rachel @ harveyklinger) "for urgent matters."

Sent a query on 4/10/2019. Will update this when I get a response.

Genre: Dark Fantasy
Word Count: 66,000

I got a rejection letter on 4/30/2019. Strange thing is that it was apparently in the same grouping of emails as another agency? Really weird. Again a common complaint is that they are not drawn into it. I guess that is the thing that I need to work on? Maybe my material is boring?

RJSmith, are any of your manuscripts published? If so, agents would be interested in the sales figures, even if self-published.

The general rule is to query one manuscript at a time.. The only time you *might* mention another manuscript if its one of a planned series. Honestly, they will assume any serious writer has already proofread their manuscript and unless the editor is someone personally known to them, there's no need to mention this either.

What genre is the manuscript you submitted? If fantasy or scifi you may get away with a novel that long, but most agents will tell you how hard it is to place a debut novel of that length.

I realize you consider it a strength to write across different genres (I do, too) but agents are looking for writers who will build a following.

Submitted 4/21/2019
Replied on 4/22/2019
422 Pages - 112,000 words

I submitted the query informing the agency I had several (7) different manuscripts in several categories of proofed and edited Horror, Suspense, Thriller, YA, Crime, memoir. The biggest markets in the industry.

The response I received ONE day after opening my initial e-mail:

"Im afraid they don't seem quite right for my list at this point
in time... but thanks for reaching out and best of luck!"

This is ridiculous. I write all genres. Each of my manuscripts lies in one of the requested categories.

FRUSTRATING

EQ 4/19/19, Women's Fiction, 102k