Is this woman just being nice? I don't get it. If she can't market it to a publisher, what makes her think someone else can?
I need the truth. If this book sucks I need to move on.
A reject I don't understand.
- Thread starter Wayne K
- Start date
Is this woman just being nice? I don't get it. If she can't market it to a publisher, what makes her think someone else can?
I need the truth. If this book sucks I need to move on.
Rejections suck. Period.
Don't sweat this. So, she doesn't have connections to any editors she thinks will appreciate your novel. A different agent will have different connections.
Focus on the good stuff here: you're a talented writer. An agent says so!
Forget the rest.
Don't sweat this. So, she doesn't have connections to any editors she thinks will appreciate your novel. A different agent will have different connections.
Focus on the good stuff here: you're a talented writer. An agent says so!
Forget the rest.
Just a guess . . .
She might be saying your work contains elements that would make it hard to get it accepted by one of the larger publishers, or at least the ones she has contacts with; however, it's possible that you could find an another agent who specializes in dealing with smaller publishers who might take a risk on the book, or would be willing to put in the effort required to market such a book. In other words, she's politely saying she thinks your book is probably going to be a tough sell as a mass market trade book.
Again, just a guess. It's always hard to put too much into a rejection letter. Sometimes they mean exactly what they say, sometimes they are pleasant "brush offs".
She might be saying your work contains elements that would make it hard to get it accepted by one of the larger publishers, or at least the ones she has contacts with; however, it's possible that you could find an another agent who specializes in dealing with smaller publishers who might take a risk on the book, or would be willing to put in the effort required to market such a book. In other words, she's politely saying she thinks your book is probably going to be a tough sell as a mass market trade book.
Again, just a guess. It's always hard to put too much into a rejection letter. Sometimes they mean exactly what they say, sometimes they are pleasant "brush offs".
I wrote this as a novel for her. I didn't consider that there would be marketing to be done. As a memoir it has built in publicity.
As a memoir I might end up dead.
Eh, I've outlasted these pricks this long. I'm subbing it as a memoir from now on.
Thanks.
As a memoir I might end up dead.
Eh, I've outlasted these pricks this long. I'm subbing it as a memoir from now on.
Thanks.
All releases need marketing. No book has built in publicity.
But yes, as others have said, just because she doesn't know how to sell it (market it) to a publisher doesn't mean another agent won't. Delete the rejection, put it in a drawer, whatever, but move on.
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2008
- Messages
- 1,203
- Reaction score
- 103
Wayne, come on. Seriously? One very nice rejection and you want to know if your book is crap? My day job is art. I paint expressionist style. If a realist gallery says they like my work but can't market it I don't toss my painting. I just find a gallery that can market it.
Maybe you ought to be asking instead just how much she sucks if she can't market your book.
Maybe you ought to be asking instead just how much she sucks if she can't market your book.
I wouldn't think agents generally have time to be nice unless there's some kind of genuine gesture behind it.
A personal note, to me, means you're getting under someone's skin enough to move them to words.
I didn't mean to say it didn't need to be marketed. I mean that it it would be marketed through the media. Three of the main characters have been in the news and on Dateline in the past few weeks. The story would cause a stir. As a novel with different names it would be a lot harder to sell.
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2006
- Messages
- 20,770
- Reaction score
- 2,726
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Website
- www.gallagherwitt.com
Having read the book, I don't think she's "just being nice". She sees great potential in it (and I can't blame her for that), but maybe there's something that she just can't put her finger on. A lot right, a little wrong, but she can't figure out how to fix it. I've beta read material like that before...I knew something needed to be fixed, but hell if I knew what or how.
You're getting closer. Keep at it.
You're getting closer. Keep at it.
Yes I did. What I'm worried about is making the same mistake with them.
I think making this nonfiction solves that.
I think making this nonfiction solves that.
If I were you, I'd give the others time to reply. This is only one agent's opinion.
I'd wait and see the general consensus before rushing into major changes.
I'd wait and see the general consensus before rushing into major changes.
Definitely wait to see what the others say. That letter has a "form" quality to it that I wouldn't read much into. (I don't know what agent you got it from, but I've got some in my inbox almost identically worded.)
It's probably a modified form letter because she really did like the material (hence the not wanting to compromise it part), but she doesn't know how to make a sale with it. It's possible that you've pitched it as a genre she isn't very active in.
It's probably a modified form letter because she really did like the material (hence the not wanting to compromise it part), but she doesn't know how to make a sale with it. It's possible that you've pitched it as a genre she isn't very active in.
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2007
- Messages
- 3,802
- Reaction score
- 465
- Location
- Canada
- Website
- www.linneaheinrichs.com
What's the story about? Can it easily be slotted into a genre? I had the same problem with mine because it crossed genre lines and couldn't be clearly marketed for a single genre. Can yours?
It started out as a memoir, but I changed it to a novel. The thing is, (and my wife agrees) is that as a novel it's not nearly as interesting as nonfiction. I'm going to change the names back to the RL names and send out the requests.
Which sounds better?
The one he called John Minetti laughed.
or,
The one he called John Gotti laughed.
The end of chapter 23. I think the latter is easier to sell.
Which sounds better?
The one he called John Minetti laughed.
or,
The one he called John Gotti laughed.
The end of chapter 23. I think the latter is easier to sell.
I've seen all those statements before, so it reads like a form rejection, to me, but so what if it is? All rejections, however worded, mean the same thing; I can't sell this book.
You just have to send it to another agent and hope she can sell it.
You just have to send it to another agent and hope she can sell it.
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2008
- Messages
- 4,151
- Reaction score
- 954
- Location
- Manchester, UK
- Website
- www.teriegarrison.com
Be sure you have the critical documentation to back up what you write. Ever since the fiasco with James Frey, publishers are more wary than they used to be. For the memoir I co-ghostwrote, the subject had to provide documentation and family corroboration. She gave them copies of court records (a matter of public record), copies of her own private social services records, and an e-mail from a family member substantiating her story. Without the last, there was some question whether they'd proceed. Luckily, she got what she needed.
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2005
- Messages
- 43,746
- Reaction score
- 8,654
- Location
- Los Angeles
- Website
- www.amazon.com
1. It's a rejection. It means no, and the agent is not inviting you to resubmit, so you should move on.
2. It means she couldn't really find a home for it based on what she knows about her market. She didn't say the books sucks and it's not her position to say so whether it's true or not -- she's not doing a critique
3. You've already decided to write/market it as a memoir so forget about the novel and go with the memoir
4. Selling novel and selling memoir are two different things -- if the agent represents nonfiction, she may be interested in that; but you don't know. You may want to query her again with the memoir
2. It means she couldn't really find a home for it based on what she knows about her market. She didn't say the books sucks and it's not her position to say so whether it's true or not -- she's not doing a critique
3. You've already decided to write/market it as a memoir so forget about the novel and go with the memoir
4. Selling novel and selling memoir are two different things -- if the agent represents nonfiction, she may be interested in that; but you don't know. You may want to query her again with the memoir
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2005
- Messages
- 28,750
- Reaction score
- 2,937
- Location
- right here
- Website
- www.veinglory.com
Why would they put this in a form reject?
I was feeling pretty good about the talented writer comment.
I was feeling pretty good about the talented writer comment.
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2005
- Messages
- 28,750
- Reaction score
- 2,937
- Location
- right here
- Website
- www.veinglory.com
Well, it may well be real, but most form rejections do say something very like that to defuse the rejection. The agency will not all use the same form.