When should you nudge agents? 👈

Your complete guide to following up with agents you've queried

You’ve poured hours into your query letter, carefully curated a list of agents to send it to, and after proofreading your query three dozen times, you’ve finally sent it off — only to hear crickets.

Months have passed, and you still haven’t heard back about your query, even from those agents whose websites state they’ll respond within a certain timeframe. That window has long passed.

Now, what should you do? Follow up? If so, what should you say? And will your gentle nudge come across as a friendly reminder, or as overeager pestering from an amateur writer?

Don’t fret. Today, I’m breaking down exactly when — and how — to follow up with agents you’ve queried. Here’s what we’ll cover:

• When is it appropriate to follow up on a query?

• Should you follow up with agents who miss their own deadline for responding to queries?

• What if the agent doesn’t indicate a response time?

• Should you send a new email or reply to your initial query?

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When is it appropriate to follow up on a query?

First-time queriers often hear mixed messages about when and whether to follow up on their queries. Is it acceptable to nudge an agent after a certain number of months? When should you mark a query as a no-response or assume you’ve been rejected, and when should you follow up with the agent for an update?

First, check the agent's website and see if they have specified a response timeframe for queries. Some agents state on their query instructions page that if they haven't responded in a certain number of weeks/months, you should consider it a rejection. In that case, you won’t need to follow up, and unfortunately, you should consider it a rejection.

Let’s look at a few examples of response timelines from real agency websites:

1. The Book Group

In this case, no follow-up is needed since the agency does not respond personally to every query, and after three months, you should consider your query rejected.

2. Writers House

This agency indicates that they intend to respond to queries within eight weeks, so if eight weeks have passed and you haven’t heard back, you could consider a nudge. (Though I’d go ahead and tack on another two to four weeks on top of their timeframe given agents are often behind on reviewing queries.)

3. Madeleine Milburn Literary

This agency does not reply to every query and takes up to 12 weeks to review queries, so if that time has passed and you haven’t gotten a response, you should consider your query rejected.

But what if the agency doesn’t specify a timeframe for responses?