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Today’s guest post is excerpted from The Modern Guide to Querying Literary Agents © 2026 by Alyssa Matesic and Patrick McDonald. Reprinted with permission from Matt Holt Books, an imprint of BenBella Books, Inc. All rights reserved.

If you haven’t heard back from an agent and you’re starting to wonder if you ever will, you might consider sending the agent a nudge. These are short inquiries asking for confirmation that your query was received and if a reply was sent.

Before you nudge, first determine if it’s an appropriate time to do so. Start with the agent’s reply rate on QueryTracker (refer to the online tutorial at QueryTracker for details). If their reply rate is very low (20% or less), that means they rarely reply and there is probably no point in nudging. They probably abide by the implied rejection policy.

Check the comments on the agent’s QueryTracker profile to see if anyone else is also waiting, and what happened if any of them nudged. If others are nudging and not getting replies to their nudges, then you should move on to the next agent.

Only nudge if other people are receiving replies. But before you do, make sure enough time has elapsed. You certainly don’t want to nudge too soon and frustrate the agent.

To determine the appropriate amount of time to wait before nudging, check the agent’s website to see if they state a projected reply time. Then check the agent’s typical reply time on QueryTracker. Take whichever is longest and add two weeks to it. Only after that time has elapsed should you consider nudging. If you want to be extra sure, give it a few more weeks still. Agents are often several weeks behind on getting through their queries.

How to nudge using email

Unfortunately, email isn’t always 100% reliable. When you send a query, you may not know for sure that it arrived. The same goes for the agent’s reply. So, if you don’t hear back from an agent, you might wonder if your query made it to their inbox. Or did the agent reply, but you never received it?

When nudging by email, you should reply to the original query so the agent knows who you are. Find the query you originally sent in your Sent folder and click “Reply” in that email.

This time, add the words “Follow-Up” to the subject line just after “Re:” and before the rest of the subject.

Make sure the original query is quoted in the message body and add a short message above it. It should be short and polite.

Something like…

If your nudge goes unanswered as well, don’t keep nudging. Just nudge once, and if it doesn’t produce any results, consider it a silent rejection.

How to nudge on QueryManager

Nudging on QueryManager is not usually required. Since queries on Query­Manager are instantly written in a database, there is little chance of them being lost, unlike an email. You’ll get immediate confirmation of receipt upon submitting your query. And replies from the agent are also recorded in the database, so even if you don’t get the email reply, you can check your query status page and see the reply there. Or see that there has not yet been a reply.

That means if your query goes unanswered on QueryManager, you don’t have to wonder if it was lost. It wasn’t. You should check the agent’s reply rate on QueryTracker, as mentioned above for email queries, and only nudge if more than double their usual reply time has elapsed.

We suggest doubling the time because the only reason for a delayed query on QueryManager is if the agent has become too busy to answer, and they likely already know they’re behind.

To nudge on QueryManager, go to your query status page and click “Contact” in the top menu and choose “Contact Agent.” Look for the “Other” option and send your message there. But be aware that each agent can enable or disable that option for the queries they receive. So if you don’t see the “Other” option, that means the agent has it turned off and is not accepting nudges. Learn more about nudging using QueryManager at QueryTracker.net/message.

The outcome of your nudge will depend on the agent’s specific process. According to our survey, 55% of agents will not review your query any faster, while 37% will review it faster with an open mind.

Nudging agents after a partial or full request

When should you nudge agents after you send a partial or full manuscript? You may be confused as to why an agent hasn’t replied after you shared the manuscript with them. After all, weren’t they interested in reading it? Does this mean they’re no longer interested?

Just like agents have a backlog of queries to review at any moment, they also have a backlog of manuscripts to review—not only from querying authors, but also from their own clients. Reading an entire manuscript takes hours, much longer than reviewing a query, so agents typically need several weeks.

In our survey, 55% of agents stated that it takes them somewhere between two and eight weeks to begin reading a manuscript that has been submitted to them, so if you’re still in that timeframe, it’s highly likely the agent simply still hasn’t reviewed it, especially if it’s over summer vacation or holiday periods. We recommend waiting 10 weeks to check in with agents after sending a partial or full request.

If you’ve waited that long and want to check in, use language like: