Stuff I Hope Someone Else Knows Something About: Unopened Query Letters
by V
Busy today, mostly because after a year of looking I finally have a job. It took some nepotism to get, but I have it. Anyway, shortish post.
About three weeks ago, I queried an agent. His website asked for either an email under 250 words, or a longer mail query with a synopsis. As I tend to lack the capacity to shut up, I sent the latter. It came back today, unopened, labeled “Not Deliverable as Addressed”. The address is identical to what is listed on the website; believe me, I’ve spent the last 15 minutes reading both over and over, looking for a discrepancy.
My research, both online and in the 2012 Writer’s Market, suggests that there is absolutely nothing about this fellow, his agency, or his clients which is not perfectly aboveboard. I have no concerns on that front. My question is this: Fellow writers, if you were in this position, would you try him again via email, or move on? I have another query to send Monday, so I have to rework the letter anyway.
Has anyone else had this happen? What would you do?
tentavailetimes.wordpress.com 
I’ve never been in your situation, but I was talking to a writer a while back who said that she’d been having a fairly productive dialogue with a movie producer when, suddenly, she stopped hearing from him. After months of trying to track him down, she found out that the producer had passed away unexpectedly. While the solution to your mystery may be less dramatic, it may also be a matter of happenstance: the agency has recently moved, the particular agent you addressed has left the agency, or the Post Office simply made a mistake. If there’s a phone number in the WM listing, you could always try giving the agency a call. Otherwise, it’s probably best to move on.
That was my initial reaction—to just let it go and try someone else— but I wanted to make sure that wasn’t just my annoyance and frustration getting the better of me. WM doesn’t list a phone number; the website does, but considering the address issue I’m not sure if it’s accurate. May give it a go, though.
Thanks so much for the advice.
Congrats on the job. Ugh on the query letter. Strange.
Thanks, I’m super excited about it. Haven’t worked since before my first daughter was born in ’09, and have been looking for a job since I got out of school in the winter of ’10. It’s been kind of nuts.
It is strange, but I’ve decided that if it’s the weirdest thing that happens to me during the query process, I’ll be more than grateful.
Keep trying.