Spent >10 yrs writing a book, now it's getting rejected

[Princess Of Needles]

I spent literally half of my life writing a YA fantasy novel. I finally finished the first draft three years ago and have since revised it a couple of times. I started querying earlier this summer. I've gotten one partial request so far, but all my other responses have been form rejections or CNRs. I've submitted to 20-25 agents, using four different versions of the query. I'm really excited about the agent who has the partial and I'm still waiting to hear back on a few queries, but I'm not optimistic, especially since most of the agents who've expressed a desire for books like mine (based on mswl and interviews) have already rejected it.

I knew going into querying that it would be a difficult sell, but it's still really disheartening, especially after spending so many years writing the book. I was really excited about finally being able to share it with the world and now I don't think it's ever going to happen.

I'm working on another project now. The project is more query-friendly and less complicated which means I can write it much faster, but it's hard to stay motivated. I haven't even finished outlining and I'm already losing the spark.

 

[Robots]

Hi Princess, nice to meet you.

I feel you. I'm right now querying my debut novel, a story which has been in my head for around 13 years now and which I spent around 1,5 years full-time writing, and it's getting nothing but CNRs and form rejections (> 40 and counting). It also makes me feel disheartened; one begins to question everything - one's tastes, skills - and one begins to wonder if it was delusional to set so much hope into a project like that.
But to me, one partial request in 25 submissions does sound promising. Hang in there, and most importantly, don't ever give up ! From what I've read in other places like Querytracker, many writers have to query 100 or more agents before they find something.
Maybe you can also let your query be critiqued in the Share Your Work subforums here, once you have reached 50 posts ?

As for switching projects, it's always good to write something else as a distraction or backup but personally, I wouldn't give up on book No.1 just yet !

 

[MaeZe]

...I knew going into querying that it would be a difficult sell, ....

Why?

I'm going on seven years writing mine. I think when you say that, some people think it must not be good, but truth be had, lots of writers take years to finish books. The reason I've taken so long besides the fact I have a day job is that I've been learning how to write as I go. I'm good at writing now (not great, but good).

I'm close to finishing. I believe in the book I'm writing. But I suspect writing a good book is a separate issue from selling one's book.

Have you gotten feedback on the book? Beta readers or critique group/partner? Feedback on the query letters?

I don't know if 20-25 submissions is enough. There are other people on this forum who have well written interesting books that no one has paid attention to yet. And there are a few good published books that don't have great sales. There is an element of serendipity involved that we don't have control over: I like it but will someone else like it?

My opinion for what it's worth: you need to find out what the barrier is. Is it the story, the writing, the opening, the query, no agents in that market.

Without analyzing what the problem is you can't address it. You need feedback.

 

[Jersey Chick]

Hi there and welcome!

Try not to get to disheartened. I wrote the original draft to my first real sale (sold in 2008) waaaay back in 1989. It was revised ten times (I'm a bit of a perfectionist. It's maddening, really.)

You might find it useful to send the ms to a few trusted beta readers. Or just work on other projects for now and go back to the original. And, there is always self-publishing as a viable option if you truly think it's going to be that hard a sell to an agent.

 

[Collie]

Querying is just a horrible process. Please don’t let it steal the spark from your next book, which is easier said than done but, truly, this is just a terrible experience for almost everyone.

 

[Treehouseman]

Hey, don’t give up! I wrote my first novel at about 19-ish but it took me years to get guaranteed agent reads. Most writers will draft about 5-6 books before hitting some success, so having finished one project and onto your second, you’ve passed some major hurdles.

But you are not over the biggest one.

Your second and more important milestone is to draft and complete a novel in UNDER 12 months. At the moment it’s taking you 10 years. Agents will want to know you can pump out books frequently and often, as book deals (and their money) are based around 2 or more books. That needs to be wrapped up in under a year to take advantage of marketing etc. Enjoy the querying journey, but now is the time to strengthen your writing muscles.

 

[Girlsgottawrite]

My advice would be to STOP and take another look at your query. If you have only one partial for 20 - 25 query letters, that's a sign your query is weak. Go onto Query Letter Hell, critique others' query letters (trust me it really helps), and get your posts up to 50. Once you've done that, post your query for critique.

And twenty really isn't that many, especially for YA, but I would get that query up to snuff before sending it out again.

 

[RaggyCat]

I understand what you're going through. Others have given good advice (QLH etc). What I'll also say is give your new book a chance. I assume as you're approaching agents that you don't want to be just a one hit wonder writer, so hard as it is, you need to try to emotionally distance yourself from the project you're querying and focus on the new one. You may think you can't fall in love with something new but you definitely can, even though it may not be the book you've started. I've written many books now and mourned finishing each one, and have been so on the fence when I start the next one, and then, at some undefined point, with every new one I've fallen in love with that too. When I experienced one of the biggest disappointments of my career, the blow was substantially softened by the fact that I was enjoying writing a new book by the time I got the bad news and for that I am very grateful.

 

[something]

Just to let you know, that I feeling hurt from rejection too... A lot of the stuff I have applied for / submitted too haven't gone to plan this year, so if you're feeling alone and questioning your ability, like I was at 3am this morning, you're very much not alone. Rejection is hard wired into writing, keep going, keep fighting the good fight! I read a tweet from a screenwriter the other day, he said some thing like: be like the T1000, no matter how many bullets Arnie shoots at him, no matter how much liquid nitrogen he gets stuck in and shattered to pieces, you have to piece yourself together, and hunt down success like it was your Sarah Connor.

 

[Undercover]

Just to let you know, that I feeling hurt from rejection too... A lot of the stuff I have applied for / submitted too haven't gone to plan this year, so if you're feeling alone and questioning your ability, like I was at 3am this morning, you're very much not alone. Rejection is hard wired into writing, keep going, keep fighting the good fight! I read a tweet from a screenwriter the other day, he said some thing like: be like the T1000, no matter how many bullets Arnie shoots at him, no matter how much liquid nitrogen he gets stuck in and shattered to pieces, you have to piece yourself together, and hunt down success like it was your Sarah Connor.

I love this. This is pretty much how it goes. I've been doing this thing for over 12 years, got things published, but it depends on your choices as a writer. Trying to get an agent is horribly hard, especially now. There's more and more non-responses going on. But as everyone said, you must fight through and believe in your work to continue. All that while writing on other projects and yes, continuing to query/submit.

It took me years to connect with the right publishers. I've had 2 agents in the past and it didn't work out. That's when I started submitting directly to publishers and was having much better luck. So just know there are other options out there, and self publishing too (another option.) Don't think the agent thing is the be all and end all. It's definitely not.

25 is low. Shoot for much more than that. There are 100's of YA agents out there. You've been writing this for 10 years. It would be a sin for you to give up this easily, after all that hard work.

 

[Robots]

If you have only one partial for 20 - 25 query letters, that's a sign your query is weak.

Is it ? I'm fairly new to querying (started in May) but I was under the impression the chances to get a request are much lower. Or am I getting things mixed up with full requests ?
Based on your experience, do you have any estimate for what would constitute a good response quota ?

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If you have only one partial for 20 - 25 query letters, that's a sign your query is weak.

Is it ? I'm fairly new to querying (started in May) but I was under the impression the chances to get a request are much lower. Or am I getting things mixed up with full requests ?
Based on your experience, do you have any estimate for what would constitute a good response quota ?

 

[lizmonster]

Is it ? I'm fairly new to querying (started in May) but I was under the impression the chances to get a request are much lower. Or am I getting things mixed up with full requests ?
Based on your experience, do you have any estimate for what would constitute a good response quota ?

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Is it ? I'm fairly new to querying (started in May) but I was under the impression the chances to get a request are much lower. Or am I getting things mixed up with full requests ?
Based on your experience, do you have any estimate for what would constitute a good response quota ?

Back of the napkin, I'd say anything less than 1 in 4 or 5 (on the query letter alone) merits a serious look at the query.

Aggregate odds don't really tell you anything, because they include non-standard (and just plain bad) query letters that get rejected out of hand.

 

[Robots]

Back of the napkin, I'd say anything less than 1 in 4 or 5 (on the query letter alone) merits a serious look at the query.

Aggregate odds don't really tell you anything, because they include non-standard (and just plain bad) query letters that get rejected out of hand.

Ah ok. My queries mostly required a few sample pages (first chapters) as well, so maybe that is different then ? (Maybe my writing isn't good enough...)

 

[ap123]

Back of the napkin, I'd say anything less than 1 in 4 or 5 (on the query letter alone) merits a serious look at the query.

Aggregate odds don't really tell you anything, because they include non-standard (and just plain bad) query letters that get rejected out of hand.

Just my (not a professional) .02, I'd disagree. A request rate of 1 in 4 or 5 is really high for any genre/age group, and I think request rates vary depending on what you're querying (what's selling, what's sold too much, what's off the beaten path, etc).

We've all heard stories of queries that yielded a 40% request rate, and the stories where 100 queries were sent, maybe 2 requests, and one offer. For most of us, as people who are actively engaged in learning the ropes, tropes, and doing our research, I have to guess we won't be at either extreme.

 

[Shoeless]

Ah ok. My queries mostly required a few sample pages (first chapters) as well, so maybe that is different then ? (Maybe my writing isn't good enough...)

It's really, really hard to say with any certainty on this, unfortunately. Different agents will have different attitudes with regards to queries. I've seen some agents claim that a functional but not amazing query is not enough to make a big dent in their decision making process, because they WILL look at the pages and make a decision based mostly off that. Other agents don't even want to see your pages unless you can hook them with a good query first, so this bounces all over the place.

 

[Treehouseman]

Just my (not a professional) .02, I'd disagree. A request rate of 1 in 4 or 5 is really high for any genre/age group, and I think request rates vary depending on what you're querying (what's selling, what's sold too much, what's off the beaten path, etc).

We've all heard stories of queries that yielded a 40% request rate, and the stories where 100 queries were sent, maybe 2 requests, and one offer. For most of us, as people who are actively engaged in learning the ropes, tropes, and doing our research, I have to guess we won't be at either extreme.

Oh, there’s definitely wiggle room there. As well, though, there’s the editor submissions, and one can sometimes be indicative of the success of the other.

You’d also need to look at which agents were being sent to: top tier agents are hard to get the interest of. I got my 3 successful agents on query #61, #10 and #44 respectively.

 

[Fuchsia Groan]

I had a one in 10 request rate on queries, and the book then sold pretty quickly, for what that's worth. But this was after I'd workshopped my query. Getting fresh eyes on your query (and opening pages) always helps; just reading QLH and critiquing other people's queries helps, too!

YA fantasy is huge, but it's also a very hard genre to break into because so many people are now writing it. So don't beat yourself up about rejections, just realize this may not be the moment, and it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with your writing. Every book you write is a learning experience that helps you produce a better book the next time. Believe me, I've learned that the hard way, with one book published and more than ten years' worth of others on the shelf!

 

[Dennis E. Taylor]

Lots of good advice on this thread so far, and the place where people disagree (query metrics) just shows how subjective that aspect is.

Couple of things I'd like to reinforce:

- Most writers do not succeed on their first novel. Stephen King (among others) has said you need to write a million words before you're ready to be a writer. Granted that's a pretty sweeping generalization, but it still makes a valid point--writing takes practice. It's a long game.

- If you're querying, and you're not even getting requests for partials, then your query has a problem. What problem? Don't know--there are a lot of possibilities. But work on that. Check out QLH, as mentioned, but also check out Query Shark. The author of that blog is an agent, and she tells you straight up what works and doesn't work for getting her attention. And she's pretty blunt.

- Get your work critiqued. That may include Share Your Work (SYW) here, chapter critiquing on the likes of scribophile or critique circle, and/or beta readers. If you don't go through these processes, you're basically existing in an echo chamber with one member, and you have no real idea if your writing is good, bad, or ugly.

- It's way, way, WAY too soon for you to be giving up.

 

[Davy The First]

*snip*
I'm working on another project now. The project is more query-friendly and less complicated which means I can write it much faster, but it's hard to stay motivated. I haven't even finished outlining and I'm already losing the spark.

Others have answered the first part of your post, but this part concerns me more.
If I can say anything of truth about writing, it is this.

ONLY WRITE WHAT YOU LOVE

and usually, that's what you love to read, or WOULD love to read, (or would have loved to read as a kid)

Writing to market, is the worst possible thing you can do as a FLEDGLING writer. (and imo, at any stage, but i do understand an occasional sidetrack once established))

 

[cool pop]

I think you are worrying way too soon. Twenty to twenty-five agents is NOTHING. I wouldn't start worrying until you've queried at least 50 and were still getting nothing but form letters. Most authors send out hundreds of queries before they start panicking. Send out more and if you still only get forms then let people check out your query to see if it's working. Get some beta readers or a critique group to read your story to make sure it's the best it can be before trying to send it out.

The truth is, it is rare that the first book written gets sold. With most authors, the first book is probably the tenth or more. With me it was like the fifteenth. Read my response to Dennis below to see more about that.

Also, self-publishing or small presses are great for pieces that agents and big pubs feel aren't commercial enough. Don't give up just because you get rejected. There are always other avenues to try. I'd never trunk something just because a few people didn't feel it could sell. Not this day and age when you can put it out yourself or as I say at least try smaller presses.

The first step is to be a bit more patient I feel. If you keep getting rejections work on the query and while you are doing that, make sure the story is as good as you can get it. You need more outside opinions for that.

Down the line if you feel confident about the book yet can't get any offers then self-publish.

 

[cool pop]

Lots of good advice on this thread so far, and the place where people disagree (query metrics) just shows how subjective that aspect is.

Couple of things I'd like to reinforce:

- Most writers do not succeed on their first novel. Stephen King (among others) has said you need to write a million words before you're ready to be a writer. Granted that's a pretty sweeping generalization, but it still makes a valid point--writing takes practice. It's a long game.

- If you're querying, and you're not even getting requests for partials, then your query has a problem. What problem? Don't know--there are a lot of possibilities. But work on that. Check out QLH, as mentioned, but also check out Query Shark. The author of that blog is an agent, and she tells you straight up what works and doesn't work for getting her attention. And she's pretty blunt.

- Get your work critiqued. That may include Share Your Work (SYW) here, chapter critiquing on the likes of scribophile or critique circle, and/or beta readers. If you don't go through these processes, you're basically existing in an echo chamber with one member, and you have no real idea if your writing is good, bad, or ugly.

- It's way, way, WAY too soon for you to be giving up.

So true about the first novel. Mine NEVER sold. I just chalked it up to practice after shopping it around ten years and it got nowhere. This was over 20 years ago so back then the option of self-publishing wasn't a good one at all and small presses for what I wrote didn't even exist. It was either you got with a big house or trunk the novel. That story is still close to my heart but it wasn't meant to be published. I've accepted that. It took me years to get a publisher and I'd written numerous books and shopped them around before I got signed. I think my first published book was like the fifteenth or more I'd written. The first published book is rarely the first written. LOL!

If I was starting out today I'd self-publish in a minute, but back then Amazon wasn't on the radar nor did they have KDP then and ebooks weren't even on the radar. Also, there was the huge stigma against SP books. Back then if you self-published people treated you like you had a contagious, incurable disease and shunned you from the rest of the author community. So there was only one option if you wanted to give your book the best chance to sell.

I know it's hard but new writers need to realize that the chance of their first written book ever being picked up is incredibly slim. It just is.

 

[Girlsgottawrite]

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Is it ? I'm fairly new to querying (started in May) but I was under the impression the chances to get a request are much lower. Or am I getting things mixed up with full requests ?
Based on your experience, do you have any estimate for what would constitute a good response quota ?

There's no magic number, but a good goal is approximately 20%.

Think of it this way... A query letter is your sales pitch. If it's not doing a good job conveying your idea and plot then even good writing may not be enough to garner a request. Remember that some of these agents get hundreds of queries a week. That's a lot of competition, so they have to be really picky about what they request. You're doing your writing a disservice if you're not making the best possible first impression you can.

I know how hard it is to stay positive. Trust me, I'm with you. I went through QLH, sent out about 60 queries with approximately a 25% success rate. Of those, I've only gotten two responses that weren't forms and no offers. It's sooooo hard! But you have to keep writing because that's the only way you can improve. Having natural talent is all well and good, but in this industry, it's hard work and tenacity that wins out in the end.

Good luck!
Courtney

 

[Robots]

Great posts here, thanks for all the different viewpoints !

 

[CharlesXav]

Ha! Very similar story to you. I have a novel I've been working on for 10 years and have had it finished for ~2 years. I've sent out 15 queries (3 versions) and havent gotten a single partial request. I've modified the beginning two chapters to be more engaging and still - nothing. I've written another 70k in a different novel and 10k in a sequel to the one I'm querying.

Trying to stay positive by just continuing to write - but I agree that its pretty disheartening. Keep your head up and keep pushing on your new project!

 

[bgtgauthor]

Agreed with your assessment of Girlsgottawrite's comment. I don't think this is a bad ratio at all from all I've heard. Some times it just takes finding the right agent. Keep it up! Fight the good fight!