When an Agent’s Inbox is Empty

One of my goals for 2017 was an empty inbox, and I succeeded. By the end of 2017 I had answered all queries and read all submissions. I was pretty proud of this goal and, I’m not going to lie, I might have bragged a little about this feat. Now though, I’m paying the price for that bragging.

What I hadn’t expected coming into 2018 was how depressing an empty inbox would be for me. Every day I open it and seeing only a handful of queries and submissions, and being on top of them all, bums me out. My Query Manager is like a treasure chest for me. It’s full of discovery and potential, it has stories and authors and dreams. You know how you feel when you walk into a library or bookstore, that heart-filling feeling of excitement? That’s what my query inbox is for me. Every day I think that somewhere in there is my next great read, my next discovery, my next client, and my next sale. These days though, it feels a little like walking into a bookstore that’s closing for business. It’s empty, with only a few scattered books here and there, and not a lot to browse or explore. It makes my heart sad.

Authors hear so much about the downside of queries, the wrongs they make when querying, but those queries are everything to an agent. Without them we wouldn’t have clients, without clients we wouldn’t have careers. As the year goes on I know my inbox is going to fill up and there will be days when I fall behind and am a little slow to respond. I can’t wait.