Okay, just another quick post today.
For the most part, requested partials and fulls will be sent via email, so this post is probably irrelevant--minus the cover letter. However, there will come a time when you will need to send via “snail” mail.
So, you’ve perfected your query and you’ve gotten a request for a partial, or even better, a full. Now what?
You take one more glance through your manuscript, looking for typos. You don’t need to rush this, just take your time. Chances are you’re going to miss things anyway. But, if you even catch one that slipped by your beta readers and you, you’ll be golden.
Don’t take too long though, no more than a day for partials or 3 days for a full. While agents/editors don’t expect to get the manuscript the next day, they don’t want to be kept waiting either. They’ll begin to wonder why it took so long! Note: There are exceptions, but that’s a post for another day.
Okay, so they’ve requested the partial/full and you’ve done your run-through, now you need to draft your cover letter, which is basically the same thing as your query, but it reminds them they’ve requested your manuscript and what it’s about.
Here’s usually what I used:
Dear Agent:
Thank you for requesting the partial/full of my manuscript, TITLE. I am pleased to enclose it, along with a synopsis (only include the synopsis if requested).
(Include the synopsis from your query here.)
I truly appreciate your taking the time to read it. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Then you print it and the requested amount of pages up, grab two more blank pages to put on top and on bottom of the pile to protect your pages, and secure them with a rubber band. I always used two. One to go lengthwise and another going widthwise, so it forms an X in the middle of the paper.
Then, I include a SASE and take it to the post office. I usually secured the SASE with a paper clip to the cover letter, which so it didn’t get lost.
Now here’s the tricky part. How do we send it?
Well, remember, it doesn’t matter how fast it gets there. There’s no need to send it overnight. Save some money and use a priority flat rate envelope/box. They’re red, FYI.
There’s no real difference between boxes and envelopes. The paper envelopes are plenty big enough for your whole manuscript, but they might end up being dinged up. If you use a box, they might slide around during transport and get dinged up that way. So don’t think too hard about this one. Just pick one and stick your stuff inside it.
Then grab delivery confirmation, it’s the bright green one. It will let you know the package arrived, but they won’t have to sign for anything. That way they don’t have to come to the post office to get it, and you know it got there safely.
If you’ve done this right, it shouldn’t cost more than $10 (at the time of this writing) to send this along.
And there you have it. Now all you have to do is wait for your manuscript to do its work.
Good luck!
