This feels like a silly question, but I need to know.

What size return envelope do you send with your submissions?

I’ve been using a standard A4 envelope, for their rejection letter to go in. I’m working on the assumption that if they want to talk to me they’ll either use the phone or e-mail me. I do state in the cover letter that I’m not expecting them to return anything I’ve sent them.

Is this the right thing to do? Or does it send the wrong (he just wants a letter) message?

Grinder


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Sorry, I meant a standard sized letter envelope (whatever size that is)

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Obviously I’m not attributing my lack of success to what envelopes I’m using. But I feel like a mutant oyster, producing a brown pearl of self-doubt from any tiny grain of uncertainty that happens to find its way into my shell.

Grinder

Grinder, you silly silly man...

Ok, just kidding. It's a reasonable question. For me, if I want my sample chapters or story sent back, I send an A4 envelope, folded and stamped , with my submission. For magaazines, I generally just send a normal envelope because I'm not that bothered about getting the story back. I think the larger sizes are to indicate you want your work returned to you.

Hope this helps!

JB

JB,

This uncertainty was prompted by a standard rejection, where the agent paid to return everything I’d sent them – including the SAE.
Having said that, it probably means they didn’t even read my cover letter.

Grinder

Hmmm, that's pretty rare Grinder. Normally, if you don't sent return postage, you won't hear anything, or at least not get your work back. An SAE just keeps the wheel turning.

JB

I usually send stamped addressed A4 but I have on a couple of occasions received a normal envelope in return (with standard rejection). Also, at least three agents have nicked my plastic folder and just returned the contents. Give them an inch and they'll take your file.
Best
Sion

I tend to go for a one fold policy, and use an A5 envelope - though I've only ever sent short stories off.

Actually, when I sent off my sketches to Shoot The Writers, as it was 100 odd pages, I used a padded A4 envelope, and as I only wanted confirmation that it arrived, I enclosed a stamped postcard.

I suppose if you only want a reply, and send a small SAE, and they send the whole lot back, at their own expense, at least you can reuse the SAE?

Once though, I had a letter opened, stuck in the SAE, and a return to sender sticker stuck on it, claiming there was no such address. Oh well.

That's enough about envelopes from me...

All the best,

Ben

Sion, I’ve always heard that you should never send your work in plastic folders. As one agent explained, this is for very practical reasons. A slippery piece of plastic in the middle of a reading pile can cause a terrible landslide – and I’m sure that’s not the way you want to draw attention to your work!

So I imagine that’s why those ‘thieving’ agents took your work out of the folders.

Dee

Is that true of sample chapters? I usually send letter, bio, synopsis and excerpts. Should I just staple them or leave them loose?
Best
Sion

I hear loose is the preffered way, or in a cardboard folder, loose. The writers and artists yearbook cautions writers against bindings of any kind. I guess if an agent or publisher wants a closer look at your stuff, then he/she will have their own filing system.

As for postage, return for a manuscript to London was thirteen quid. Rejected. Now that really does suck. Cost of emailing same manuscript to America. Not rejected. - nil.

I like the email method better, as it feels more immediate, but I must agree that a hard copy in someone's hands always feels better. And I'm not making an innuendo.

...Ok, maybe just a bit.

JB

Leave them loose. That's why it's important to have your name and the title on every page.

And I hear that one of the reasons they prefer hard copy (down, James!) is because most people find it easier on the eyes than reading off a screen all day.

Dee

Ahh...thanks. That must explain all those rejections I've been getting.
Best
Sion

Is it essential to put your name and the title on every page you send? Would work get rejected if this wasn't done?

Tara

Ha ha Sion! I always look for rational explanations as well! Was it the font? The Paddington Bear stamp?

As far as adding a name/title to every page, I suppose this could ensure no pages get lost, but generally this isn't required. Some editors will ask for it, and it's probably a good idea to ask. Usually, I just put my name/title/address on the front and last page of a submission.

JB

Ha ha Sion! I always look for rational explanations as well! Was it the font? The Paddington Bear stamp?

As far as adding a name/title to every page, I suppose this could ensure no pages get lost, but generally this isn't required. Some editors will ask for it, and it's probably a good idea to ask. Usually, I just put my name/title/address on the front and last page of a submission.

JB