E G Logan
Full Member
This is a comparatively gentle rant because – honestly! – I hadn't expected anything other than a rejection from the agent who stars in this bitter-sweet tale. Maybe not a one-hundred-to-one chance, but certainly a long shot.
It would have been wonderful beyond words for her to have offered representation, this (US) lady who could reputedly sell ice-boxes to Arctic dwellers – but it wasn't to be.
I knew from comments on an agent site that this person was taking a long time to turn submissions around. Three months plus. And as she was now supposed to be considering my full ms, I tried to put it out of my mind.
But, even so, at around the four months mark I decided to chase. I asked her assistant if there was any news on my ms. The following day the assistant replied: 'Please be assured that your materials are still under XX’s consideration...'
Six days later comes a form rejection.
So why am I irritated enough to be telling you about this? Well, normally some kind of more submission-specific comment is to be expected on a full ms... BUT, the really itchy bit is that, on the agent site, another full ms submitter was on the receiving end of the exact same procedure just weeks ago. (And s/he was seriously aggrieved.)
So obviously, for this agent, 'still under consideration' means 'it's still in the pile/she's using it as a doorstop/hang on while I see where the hell it's gone'... In other words, no one is looking at it until the assistant is nudged.
It would have been wonderful beyond words for her to have offered representation, this (US) lady who could reputedly sell ice-boxes to Arctic dwellers – but it wasn't to be.
I knew from comments on an agent site that this person was taking a long time to turn submissions around. Three months plus. And as she was now supposed to be considering my full ms, I tried to put it out of my mind.
But, even so, at around the four months mark I decided to chase. I asked her assistant if there was any news on my ms. The following day the assistant replied: 'Please be assured that your materials are still under XX’s consideration...'
Six days later comes a form rejection.
So why am I irritated enough to be telling you about this? Well, normally some kind of more submission-specific comment is to be expected on a full ms... BUT, the really itchy bit is that, on the agent site, another full ms submitter was on the receiving end of the exact same procedure just weeks ago. (And s/he was seriously aggrieved.)
So obviously, for this agent, 'still under consideration' means 'it's still in the pile/she's using it as a doorstop/hang on while I see where the hell it's gone'... In other words, no one is looking at it until the assistant is nudged.
