Today’s post is by editor and ghostwriter Jacqueline Salmon.
Every writer in the publishing business is, or should be, schooled in the “Silence means no” practice of the publishing industry. That is, if you don’t get a response from an editor or literary agent within a reasonable period, assume it is a rejection and move on.
Gone are the days of polite rejection letters—typed, mailed, and sometimes even offering helpful feedback or suggestions for improvement.
I get that. Who has time now for this outdated practice—even in an email? And I know that agents and editors worry any response might trigger a blizzard of emails from anguished, inexperienced writers clogging their inboxes, asking, “But why?” and “How can I fix it?”
But what concerns me is that the “Silence means no” practice is expanding in insidious ways.
In the past few months, two of my author clients were met with silence after submitting projects to agents—despite both agents having expressed strong interest and inviting the submission. There was not even an acknowledgment to the writer that the submission had been received. Polite follow-up queries by the authors several weeks later asking for confirmation of receipt were also met with silence.
Is there anything wrong with a brief “Sorry, this no longer meets our needs” and then slam down the cone of silence? It takes five seconds to type those seven words and hit send. I timed it.
When a once-promising project gets radio silence, the writer’s stuck. Do they keep waiting—for two months? Six? Maybe there’s still interest, and it’s just taking time. But without clarity, giving up and submitting elsewhere risks offending the agent or publisher who had originally invited the submission.
Responding, even after expressing initial interest, could open that floodgate to follow-up emails, especially since some sort of relationship—however tenuous—had been established. But I know plenty of writer-pros who would suck it up, learn from the rejection, and move on. I wonder if agents and editors sometimes underestimate how professional some writers really are.
Beyond the potential damage to a writer’s publishing path, there’s another risk. You know who always responds to writers fast and enthusiastically? Scammers. To be clear, not everyone who replies promptly is illegitimate. But after enough silence from the legitimate publishing world, disheartened writers become more vulnerable to the siren call of a growing number of predatory players targeting them.
“But they were so helpful,” a recently scammed client told me. This ‘publisher’ responded right away, answered all of his questions, and made him feel like his book really mattered.
Of course they did. They also took him for $30,000.
To be clear, I’m not saying the legitimate publishing industry is responsible when writers fall for scams. And writers need to know that constant rejection is a reality of the publishing business. To be honest, it’s a brutal industry.
But when an agent or editor has expressed interest, five seconds is all it takes to set expectations and avoid confusion. Just five seconds so the writer can move on.
And it’s not only writers who get ghosted like this. A hybrid publisher recently reached out to invite me to coffee. I accepted and asked for dates. Then, nothing. A month later, I followed up with a quick note, assuming my response to her had gotten buried in her email. Still no response. The irony: I have two clients seriously interested in publishing hybrid who are able to cover the significant costs.
But any chance I’d refer them to her? Gone.
Jacqueline Salmon is a New York Times bestselling ghostwriter and collaborative editor who specializes in nonfiction. She works with both traditionally and independently published authors, drawing on 30+ years in book publishing, media, and communications. Her book projects span memoir, health, spirituality, and policy, and she often collaborates with first-time authors throughout the writing and publishing process. You can find her at jacquelinelsalmon.com.
”I wonder if agents and editors underestimate how professional some writers really are.” Thank you. And, thank you for making my morning with this excellent piece.
Thank you for a helpful word – this lands well.
The author might want to follow the posts of BookEnds Literary Agency or any similar literary agency to learn how that side of pubishing works. I worked in publishing years ago, and her expectations are not realistic.
I think it’s unrealistic for writers to expect every query to receive a response if the guidelines make it clear “no response means no.” I consider it a separate issue when agents/editors request the manuscript/proposal, then never communicate again. If “no response means no” after inviting materials, it would be great if they’d state that upfront to set those expectations.
I agree. I should have been more clear that I was responding to the expectation of quick responses and of receipt of manuscript. Of course, ghosting after a request is awful behavior. However, agents are deluged, and as wonderful as it would be to hear sooner rather than later, there’s always a balancing act between the needs of current and potential clients. Love your posts, btw!
Sorry, not sorry, the “I’m so busy” excuse is unprofessional. We are professionals and expect the same courtesy agents expect of us. Even a “if you haven’t heard from us in x number of days assume a ‘no'” is better than nothing.
Thank you. I’ve been appalled with the lack of common courtesy in our society today.
After waiting about a year on a book submission to a small press, and no news, I withdrew the submission via Submittable with a note that I assumed it was a “no.” Shortly afterward, I received an email from someone at the press saying they had really liked my book, but they had no money to publish anything right then (though they were open to submissions). The person requested that I submit my manuscript, again, directly to her and she would review it again. I tried twice to follow-up. No reply. This just seems incredibly unprofessional.
All the more reason for authors (and agents) to subscribe to mail tracking services like Mailtag. Then at least you can see whether and when your emails were opened.
Interesting! I should try that.
Ghosting is common everywhere now. When applying for jobs, it is also common to be ghosted. If you don’t hear back from a company, it likely means no. Gone are the days of formal emails saying that a search is closed. It also happens when trying to make new friends as an adult. Did the person who talked to me for an hour as the conference want to be real-life friends? Some speculate that it is the result of people being conflict averse or overwhelmed. However, for the person who is putting themselves out there it is hard to know what went wrong and if we should change ourselves or change directions.
Thank you. I hope (genuinely, not snarkily) an agent or agents will come across your post and offer some insight in the comments.
I have felt the pain of this kind of silence.
Even worse than the silence mentioned here is the silence from friends after the book launch. I heard a lot of “I’m reading it and loving it. I’m on page 50-something!”* Then nothing for two weeks.
For me, the worst part of it is my glorious and fierce imagination.
It makes up all kinds of stories about the book. It’s a runaway disaster train of thinking. I have to wrest control away from the imagined scenarios and continually reconnect with my faith in my book and its purpose in the world.
*Note to friends of authors: Don’t do that. Wait until you have finished reading. No need to say anything fancy or even complimentary. No need to lie if you didn’t like it. Just say, “It was great! So happy for you. Congratulations!”
Very good piece. Authors are told to personalize their query to the specific agent, but are then treated so casually! Of course agencies are inundated but they can easily set up a simple bounce-back reply to a query to confirm that they got it and that no response after x time means no. A little politeness and professionalism is not too much to ask, especially from people whose income depends on selling what we provide for them in the first place.
Yes! THIS! If authors are specifically asked to put more effort in, shouldn’t we expect that courtesy from agents? Auto-reply emails are so easy to set up.
The lack of response to manuscript requests is beyond rude. We’re led to believe agents ask for such a low percentage compared to the queries they receive; since they’re only serious about those manuscripts, can’t they respond to those? But then, as others have said, ghosting people has become all too common in many circles of modern society.
I fully agree with Ms. Salmon’s conclusions that this is why authors fall prey to scammers and hybrids. *Hand raised, in regret. (AND why more and more authors are self-publishing – this important conclusion must be drawn as well.)