Ok, this might be a daft question, but I'm going through the agencies I want to contact and many have generic email addresses to send submissions through to.

I remember reading that you will be an automatic delete if you address a query to "dear sir/madam" but also it seems wrong somehow to address to a particular agent, when it's an general email account and could be read by anyone?

Anmy advice appreciated.

Many thanks
Eve

I always put "dear..." the agent I was actually subbing to.

It probably won't be read by them - but that way the assistant or whoever knows who to refer it up the chain to, if they think it's worth while.

After all - at SOME point it's got to go to an actual agent, so it might as well be the one you want!

but sometimes even if you ring up and ask who to address it to, they will still say, 'The Reader' or 'Children's Submissions team'. I agree that it's better to find a specific agent to send it to, but if you at least obey the rules they tell you, it's not going to be discarded.

Eve, I used http://www.everyonewhosanyone.com/aguk.html to find specific email addresses for agents. No one ever complained that I had sent it to them direct.

That's a good idea Becky. And there's me having just sent a sub to a 'Dear Sir' - bugger! Anyway, I have sent some to named people and got no reply and others to generic destinations and got a reply (albeit a rejection!)

I kind of hope that if the work is good and they like it and (as I am sadly finding out - if they can make money from it!) then what will be will be.

Still trying to get my head around the fact that the making money seems to be the defining criteria - hey ho, it's the game we're in I guess...

Stu
http://tollesburytimeforever.blogspot.com/

And there's me having just sent a sub to a 'Dear Sir'

Ooops! 85% of the book trade is female.

Oh dear! It's going to be a long old journey!!!