Yesterday I enjoyed a “turn-around day” where I basically caught up on stuff so that today I can begin to dig into my revisions on SEX, PIs & PACKING TAPE. Thought I’d get to them way before now, but summer intruded. Also, the news I didn’t announce yesterday intruded, and I wasn’t gonna complain.
I don’t know if anyone remembers, and I’m too lazy to check back through my posts and provide a link, but awhile back we were talking about how agents could help alleviate author stress, specifically the stress created when an electronic query or submission floats off into the stratosphere and we never hear from the agent again. I mentioned email auto-responders. To me, it seems like such a simple solution. Set up the query/submission email to automatically let the writer know her/his submission or query has been received, give an estimated time frame for your response and ask that the writer not bug you during that time frame. Well, the other night, I submitted a story electronically for Penny, and, wow, how nice to receive an auto-responder in a matter of minutes. Makes me feel bad that I put a return-receipt indicator on the email. Now, this was a publisher that deals in ebooks, so manbe that’s why they’re so on the ball. But the auto-responder works so well it still makes me wonder why more agents who take email queries and submissions don’t make use of one.
Another tidbit…I went to see Julie & Julia the other night. Anyone seen it? What did you think? I loved it. Heartily recommended.