I don't know what to make of this...

December 2023 — Elisa liked my Twitter pitch for my book and invited me to query her with the first 50 pages.

May 2024 — Half a year later, Elisa wrote back the sweetest, most excited email, gushing over my query, premise, and overall scope of the book, but mentioning it will be quite tricky to pull off and she has ideas for a revision, but she needs the whole manuscript to figure it out. She said she would get to me soonish, but not very soon, and we exchanged a couple of pleasant emails. I remember sharing her excited request in private with my writer friends, they all felt like it had the spark and it would lead to something.

May 2025 — A year later, Elisa wrote back a "shit, I'm so so sorry" and that she's no longer looking for manuscripts like mine, followed by many pleasantries. Obviously, no sign of the promised feedback and no reading past the first 50 pages.

I'm not sure what the point of this year-and-a-half-long interaction was, considering it wasn't me cold querying Elisa in the first place, but her liking my pitch and thus inviting me to query. This rejection arrived after receiving some terrible real life news, so I don't have the energy to write back and at this point, I'm just numb and disappointed.

email query 11/15/23
partial request 1/9/24, sent same day
nudge w small press offer 1/16/24
nudge w offer of rep 1/19/24
full requested/sent 1/20/24
best most wonderful pass ever 1/20/24
88k ya low fantasy

4/21/25 She reached back out when I parted ways with my agent and offered representation!

Queried off of a conference in May, received a gracious email apology for the time passed in September and a promise that she reads every submission eventually. Is behind in query list, but updates how far along she is in the backlog at her MSWL: https://www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/elisa-saphier/

Email Query 3/30/2024
CNR 7/29/2024

106K Urban Fantasy