One question I get asked a lot is how long it takes for an agent or producer to respond to a query letter. A lot of screenwriters put together their query letter and don’t know how long it’s going to take before an agent or producer will get back to them with a response. It’s also important to know how an agent or producer will respond once they get back to you.
The most important thing to remember is that your response rate will always vary depending on the type of script that you’ve written. If you’ve written a very commercial story with an attractive idea, you have a much higher chance of getting your screenplay represented or purchased by a producer. On the flip side, you will have a lower response rate if your story is less commercial and more of a quirky independent type of movie.
A screenplay that falls into one of the more common commercial categories such as action/comedy/romance/comedy/horror/thriller is much more appealing to an agent or producer than a movie that is focused on some other off-beat topic that is less entertaining and more of a niche category. If you have a more commercial screenplay on your hands then you are more likely to receive an immediate response from agents and producers who will feel as though your work is more commercial and they have will have a higher chance of getting your screenplay made into a movie.
Dealing With Unsolicited Responses
When you first contact agents and producers you will always receive some auto-responses immediately stating that a particular agent or producer isn’t currently accepting unsolicited submissions. This is impossible to avoid and there is no successful screenwriter out there who hasn’t received one of these messages.
The important thing is not to worry about receiving these messages. Speaking as a former agent, the agencies that I used to work for would change their submissions policies bases on current workloads, client quotas and industry demands. Just because an agent/producer says they’re not currently accepting submissions doesn’t mean that they haven’t received your query letter and will not consider it in the near future. It also doesn’t necessarily mean that they won’t read your idea. When I was working as an agent I used to occasionally have the auto-response on my email system state that I was not currently accepting new submissions. This didn’t stop me from receiving email submissions and reading them. I would also make an exception to this rule if i saw a story or query letter that caught my interest. Even if an agent or producer is not currently looking for new material, they are not going to turn a blind-eye to that next great idea.
Immediate Interest
As a general rule, you should also expect to receive expressions of interest from other agents and producers who are interested in your work and want to know more about your script. This initial interest will come fairly quickly—usually within the first week. Once you get this initial interest from an agent/producer you can also expect to receive more responses in the near future.
The initial interest will usually be based on the power of your query letter. If you’ve written a compelling and interesting query letter, you will receive a higher response rate than someone whose query letter was put together in a couple of minutes. (I highly recommend you get a copy of our free guide “How To Write A Great Query Letter” which can be downloaded from the homepage on our website)
Long Term Interest
Assuming that your query letter is interesting and engaging, you can expect to receive response from agents well up to a couple of months after first sending your query letter out. It is not uncommon for agents and producers to contact a screenwriter several months after first receiving their query letter.
This happens because agents and producers are usually playing catch-up with their emails. They don’t have time to focus exclusively on their emails because their work involves a lot of other tasks and their focus is usually elsewhere. Agents and producers will often read their emails then file them away into a special folder to action later on. They are aware of your query letter and if they like it, it still doesn’t mean they are going to respond immediately. They have to respond to all the other emails and query letters they receive first. Yes, it’s true that agents and producers receive a lot of query letters. But it’s also true that they don’t receive many good quality query letters. Believe me, when an agent/producer reads a great query letter they will be dying to get the screenplay—it just so happens that great screenplays are hard to come by as well.
In short, you can expect to hear back from agents and producers from the moment you send your query letter out. You will always get some immediate interest as well as the usual automated responses. This isn’t the end it, however, You should also expect to hear back from agents anywhere up to three to six months after initially sending your query letter out.
It is also advisable to re-send your query letter again after a month or two to give it another boost. There is a rumor that you must not send your query letter out more than once or to the same person more than once—not true. Believe me, if you send your query letter out to agents or producers one month you might get a completely different response rate if you send it out again a month later.
In the world of the query letter, timing is everything. It is also crucial to pay attention to your subject line. A great subject line is what attracts agents and producers to click on your email and open it. This must not be forgotten after you’ve put in considerable time and effort to craft a great query letter. Take two minutes to think about your subject line before sending your query letter out into the world.