Never thought I would retract my long held position about agents saying pass on projects by not replying, but on Friday I received this email:

Dear Sam,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review The Last Track. As much as I enjoyed reading this, I am sorry to say I did not fall in love with the novel like I had hoped. As agents do, I need to truly love a project to take it on. Considering that you will also want and need an agent who will get behind your work with her full commitment, I wish you the best of luck placing your project with an agent who adores it. Thanks again and apologies for my belated response.

Best regards,

* Name redacted By Sam *

* Agency redacted by Sam *

Normally I do not post rejections but I thought this one was interesting for several reasons.

1) They actually sent it on their own volition. Usually I query, get a request for material, send it off and the project disappears into a void. Usually any request about the project status is unanswered.

2) Response time. Five weeks to evaluate a manuscript is very acceptable, given the circumstances, as BEA sat squarely within the consideration period. And for perspective, I can cite one agent that took more than eighteen months to reply to a query.

3) Professional tone. This was not written by a snarky junior assistant. If it was, they are ready to be an agent.

As soon as I prep another query blast pack, I’ll send this agent a thank you note. They did me a favor.

After a few years of trying to sell agents on a manuscript, I finally have some closure. With one agent, at least. And apparently there are some with manners, even in NYC.