I had given up querying before I even came to this board, after a serious, heavy duty effort. Got the usual mix of no response, no unsolicited, not at this time, pass, not our cup of tea -- nothing rude. Nice pre-printed to a scrawl on my letter. Occasionally a small personal touch or send future loglines.
I had a few requests but with the exception of three, never heard from them again. I didn't follow up as I have been at the other end of the pestering stick and never found it was anything but pestering. Figured if I didn't hear from them, they weren't interested.
One respected agent requested a script. It was clear from her laughing request that she personally responded to the premise. She politely passed within a month. Another small WGA agent called me several times, I never understood what he wanted me to say. Finally he requested one of the four scripts he had loglines for. After reading twenty pages, he called to pass and then kind of hung on the phone. I thanked him for his consideration and he still hung out on the phone. I couldn't figure out why. Finally, he said "You write a helluva letter." Huh?
The third was some producer's asst. A WGA agent had passed my query to him. All his converstion was on my machine, I didn't speak to him directly. He called again after he received the two scripts. He was all excited, wanted the other two scripts, was going to pass the scripts he had to the assts of some "A-list" actresses and would be back to me within two weeks. Never heard another word.
Then out of the blue a request for three scripts, course I haven't heard back from them either.
Now, several people have indicated they are having an incredibly high rate of requests. Tina nabs an agent with a one page synopsis, course maybe her cover letter was filled with her "innocense is bliss" charming nonsense and they thought they had discovered a unique "voice."
I'm thinking of trying again. My letters were short. Nothing about myself as it didn't seem to have anything to do with whether I could write a screenplay or not. Just titles, genre and loglines, some with an extra small paragraph. Queried with from one to four scripts at a time. No hype, taught not to "toot my own horn." Polite, simple business letters.
Would love it if other people would offer advice, what they do or used to do, and from those on the receiving end, what attracts your attention.
Thanks,
lilybet
I had a few requests but with the exception of three, never heard from them again. I didn't follow up as I have been at the other end of the pestering stick and never found it was anything but pestering. Figured if I didn't hear from them, they weren't interested.
One respected agent requested a script. It was clear from her laughing request that she personally responded to the premise. She politely passed within a month. Another small WGA agent called me several times, I never understood what he wanted me to say. Finally he requested one of the four scripts he had loglines for. After reading twenty pages, he called to pass and then kind of hung on the phone. I thanked him for his consideration and he still hung out on the phone. I couldn't figure out why. Finally, he said "You write a helluva letter." Huh?
The third was some producer's asst. A WGA agent had passed my query to him. All his converstion was on my machine, I didn't speak to him directly. He called again after he received the two scripts. He was all excited, wanted the other two scripts, was going to pass the scripts he had to the assts of some "A-list" actresses and would be back to me within two weeks. Never heard another word.
Then out of the blue a request for three scripts, course I haven't heard back from them either.
Now, several people have indicated they are having an incredibly high rate of requests. Tina nabs an agent with a one page synopsis, course maybe her cover letter was filled with her "innocense is bliss" charming nonsense and they thought they had discovered a unique "voice."
I'm thinking of trying again. My letters were short. Nothing about myself as it didn't seem to have anything to do with whether I could write a screenplay or not. Just titles, genre and loglines, some with an extra small paragraph. Queried with from one to four scripts at a time. No hype, taught not to "toot my own horn." Polite, simple business letters.
Would love it if other people would offer advice, what they do or used to do, and from those on the receiving end, what attracts your attention.
Thanks,
lilybet
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