I flip to November in my writing calendar. Responses would have been due from two publishers. I haven’t heard anything. I guess that means “no.”
I take out the next two envelopes in the order and put them in the mailbox. I mark their sent and due dates in the calendar, knowing I probably won’t hear anything from them either. What’s that old saying, no news is bad news? Hmm.
How do you feel about the current trend of publishers responding only if interested?
Chocolate and Mac N Cheese 
Siobhan
November 17, 2011 at 4:39 pm
I don’t think it’s necessarily just publishers that are doing this, I have also experienced this phenomenon during my job hunt. Maybe they think it will save them some time by ignoring those they are not interested in. However, I don’t agree with this practice. You’ve taken the time to send in your manuscript (or cover letter and resume), done the research on their company and employees the least they can do is let you know that they are currently not interested. If they really wanted to endear themselves they could give a brief reply indicating why they are not interested. If we don’t know what it is that is putting up the “red flags” then there is nothing we can do to fix or adjust to better increase of our chances of being hired!
Mary
November 30, 2011 at 1:08 pm
@ Siobhan, with respect to your job search, you should always call and follow up. (I am fairly sure I still have a script from my career advising days if you are interested.) If you find they aren’t interested in your qualifications, you can set up an informational interview (at a later time/date) to assess the strength of your application materials and identify any “red flags.” The squeaky wheel gets the oil!
Mary
November 30, 2011 at 1:13 pm
And I meant to comment last week that one of the things I appreciate most, when reading, is the amount of research authors put into their work. Even my trashy romance novels are well researched. YAY research. I also love when authors put their personal stories into their work. Isabel Allende is the master of this feat: many of the themes in House of the Spirits stemmed from personal experience. Ditto for Of Love and Shadows? She weaves herself into her stories and I think it is fascinating to see how her life experiences manifest themselves in fiction.
Siobhan
November 30, 2011 at 9:17 pm
Mary, that is very true and when possible I do follow that practice. However a lot of my applications are done via online submissions and no other contact information is given and the company name kept confidential. Those always seem to be the ones I’m most interested in and yet have no way of actually following up on unless they contact me after I submit an application….very frustrating! Certainly good advice though, thanks!