The Daily Rejection

Drachen Jager said:

Now I'm nervous as hell. I waited a few hours before even responding. If I'd written it right away it would probably have come out as gibberish.

It still hasn't quite sunk in yet. She's a really good agent, a perfect fit for my manuscript and even wrote a successful book on writing for the YA market.

In all I think I'd be hard pressed to find a better fit. All of which means I'll probably be a wreck by Friday.

Thanks everyone for your support, I really appreciate it. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

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I don't blame you - that's a long time to wait! But I am keeping my fingers crossed for awesome news.

Ooo exciting. Good luck on the phone call!!

delurking...drachen phone call is a super good sign!!! good luck!!!

Phew. Just when I was about to stare in the abyss another request came in. Total so far: 17 rejections on the query, 3 read requests.

That's actually not a bad ratio. Anything over 10% seems to be pretty good, if you get over 25% you're doing very well. Most people who come through here who manage 10% or better from the start seem to find representation sooner or later. Many of us take a few months of rejections with few requests to fine-tune our pitch to the point where we get over a 10% positive response rate.

Drachen Jager said:

I have a phone call with an agent on Friday. Cross your fingers and toes for me!

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Everything is crossed! Good luck!

Latest query went out to 2 agents. One asked for a partial, one passed with a just-above-form rejection. I'm not querying anyone else until agent #1 gets back with me. I'm trying to stay positive on this. The mms is already at a publisher, through odd and unlikely fate, and an editor wrote back yesterday about wanting to get some more reads of it in-house. But she also gave me the go-ahead to shop it to other publishers.

The part of me that still daydreams is wondering about the possibility of an auction. Agent #1 has been known to do this...

Brandy said:

Everything is crossed! Good luck!

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On second thoughts, you may find it hard to type or walk if you keep 'em all crossed from now until then. It could be rather awkward.

From what I gather these phone calls are mostly to filter out the crazies who are either difficult to work with or refuse to take criticism of their work, so I think I'll be okay. I am crazy of course, just not in that way.

I really appreciate the positive thoughts though, only one more day to get through before 'the call'.

Drachen Jager said:

That's actually not a bad ratio. Anything over 10% seems to be pretty good, if you get over 25% you're doing very well. Most people who come through here who manage 10% or better from the start seem to find representation sooner or later. Many of us take a few months of rejections with few requests to fine-tune our pitch to the point where we get over a 10% positive response rate.

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Here's to the triumph of hope over experience

So far I'm batting at 0%, though I've only queried 7 agencies. I think my query definitely needs work.

I'm at 50 queries (different versions, same project), two partial requests, and no takers -- yet. I have 100 agents on my list to query. Partial #2 came from a re-query to an agent who rejected me in the first round two years ago. And yes, I've done query letter hell. It helped, but I'm not relying on it.

I just got a rejection within 24 hours of sending the query. At least they're quick...

Drachen, it is 10:52 AM, PST. Crossing fingers. Please update us asap.
Polly

pollymilton said:

Drachen, it is 10:52 AM, PST. Crossing fingers. Please update us asap.
Polly

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Yeah, same here. I'm getting nervous and it isn't even for me.

It's time for some good news, don't you all think?

Just got a request from a big agency and have another request from a referral. So now batting, out of 22 responses to the query, 18 rejections and 5 read requests.

Hathor said:

Yeah, same here. I'm getting nervous and it isn't even for me.

It's time for some good news, don't you all think?

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I can't take the suspense!

pollymilton said:

Drachen, it is 10:52 AM, PST. Crossing fingers. Please update us asap.
Polly

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I'm just slowly climbing the walls here. A telemarketer just called, I took a few deep breaths and picked up the phone with my best cheerful, "Hello?" Only to hear some recorded message about credit cards.

Augh!

If she doesn't call by around 4:30 NY time I think I'll call her.

I made the mistake of brewing myself a second coffee this morning which isn't helping either.

Those are good numbers, kidC!
Drachen. Just....

Well, at least I have a contact with her. She sent off a quick e-mail to say she's super busy and to ask if she can call as late as 4 (my time I presume since she sent the mail at 4:00 her time). Or she could call me Monday.

Guess which option I picked.

Drachen Jager said:

Well, at least I have a contact with her. She sent off a quick e-mail to say she's super busy and to ask if she can call as late as 4 (my time I presume since she sent the mail at 4:00 her time). Or she could call me Monday.

Guess which option I picked.

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Go Drachen!

Sum0 said:

I just got a rejection within 24 hours of sending the query. At least they're quick...

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I got a rejection this week that came 2 minutes after I sent the query!

Drachen Jager said:

Well, at least I have a contact with her. She sent off a quick e-mail to say she's super busy and to ask if she can call as late as 4 (my time I presume since she sent the mail at 4:00 her time). Or she could call me Monday.

Guess which option I picked.

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I'm on the edge of my seat here, Drachen. Can't wait to hear the details!

The phone call went well, but she wants a bit more time before tabling an offer. She wants to look at some placement options.

In any case, it was a good call, she seems really nice and loved the book.

Yay! Good news!

drachen, exactly what my agent did. I know it's hard, but be patient...it will work out...