On not knowing how to say 'no' now

For this sunny Sunday, I offer you a brief tale of supplication and mild disrespect

22 October 2013

Wrote to literary agency to ask if they would like to represent me in my ongoing battle against the forces of darkness attempt to break into the world of mainstream publishing.

Not an arbitrary pick of an agency from a Google search. Oh no. Not one bit.

Targeted. Oh yes. My work has been favourably compared with the writing of someone they already represent. And that favourable comparison was by a proper literature professional.

Included samples of work, potted history of my writing career - its ups, its downs, its smiles, its frowns. Well, mainly the ups and the smiles.

Bigged up the link to their current client.

Website guarantees promises posits vaguely suggests responses in six weeks.


1 January 2014

Wrote again. Said this:

I sent a couple of extracts from my writing a little while ago. We're a little bit over the six weeks suggested by your website.
But I know these things take time and I'm not trying to rush you.
It's just a gentle enquiry to check that my work ended up on the right desk and to ask whether you'd like me to send anything else.
Best wishes and happy new year,

Maybe I should have waited till 2 January.


8 January 2014

Received first reply:

Thank you for your email. I apologise for the delay, there is always a little bit of a backlog over the Christmas period but you should expect to hear very soon.

13 September 2014

Okay, I took my eye off the ball on this one. I probably should have chased it sooner. But I think my sin of failing to chase up is lesser than their sin of [I can't decide - pick one for yourself and insert it here].

I wrote this:

I sent some samples of my writing last October. And, in January, I wrote to check they had found their way to the right person.
A long time has passed since then!
I'm not impatient - as long as you can reassure me that someone will consider my work at some point, that's fine. But I'd hate to think that it had been lost and never read.
If you need me to resend anything, please let me know. Otherwise, I hope you can give me at least a guess of when I might hear back from you.

(Okay, there's a lie in that email. Did you spot it? It was the bit where I wrote "I'm not impatient".)

I'd love them to write back and say that...

• they had prepared a letter offering representation and setting out terms!
• that the letter must have been lost in the post!
• here's one by email instead!

Really, I would.

But, if that's not the case, they really just need to say 'no' now.

If I don't get a reply by 22 October 2015 (our two year anniversary - gifts are cotton or paper depending on whether you follow the US or UK customs), I will name them.

It's not much of a threat, is it?


UPDATE - 3 October 2014

No reply yet.

Tomorrow will be three weeks since a polite request for them to even acknowledge that their response is very overdue.