The Daily Rejection

Woo hoo! Looking good, DJ.

Drachen Jager said:

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.

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Way to go Drachen! Umm, what are placement options?

kidcharlemagne said:

Way to go Drachen! Umm, what are placement options?

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Essentially she has an in with an e-pub, she can confirm a guaranteed contract with them as a fall-back if the book doesn't sell to a traditional publisher, so we can go hunting for the two birds while keeping the one in hand. As far as I can gather it's her way of ensuring I pick her.

Typically when a manuscript gets one offer, the author is expected to notify all agents who are sitting on requested materials so they know to either not bother reading or read quickly if they want to make an offer of their own. Often a half-dozen offers follow the first one and the author is left to pick and choose among them. Because of that, if an agent is first to throw their hat in the ring they want to make sure they have the best chance possible of landing the client.

Drachen Jager said:

Essentially she has an in with an e-pub, she can confirm a guaranteed contract with them as a fall-back if the book doesn't sell to a traditional publisher, so we can go hunting for the two birds while keeping the one in hand. As far as I can gather it's her way of ensuring I pick her.

Typically when a manuscript gets one offer, the author is expected to notify all agents who are sitting on requested materials so they know to either not bother reading or read quickly if they want to make an offer of their own. Often a half-dozen offers follow the first one and the author is left to pick and choose among them. Because of that, if an agent is first to throw their hat in the ring they want to make sure they have the best chance possible of landing the client.

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So when she offers will you notify all agents who have your query or only those who have your MS?

That's so exciting, Drachen! Congratulations - hoping you get an offer soon!

kidcharlemagne said:

So when she offers will you notify all agents who have your query or only those who have your MS?

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Normally you're supposed to notify all those who you have 'active' queries with (haven't been rejected and are less than two months old) and those who have requested material. In my case, since things were going well for me regarding requests, I paused in my querying a while back so I don't have any fresh queries out there.

At the very least, you really should let them know if you sign so they don't spend a few hours reading your manuscript only to find it was a complete waste of time.

Drachen Jager said:

Normally you're supposed to notify all those who you have 'active' queries with (haven't been rejected and are less than two months old) and those who have requested material. In my case, since things were going well for me regarding requests, I paused in my querying a while back so I don't have any fresh queries out there.

At the very least, you really should let them know if you sign so they don't spend a few hours reading your manuscript only to find it was a complete waste of time.

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Conventional wisdom on these boards says to give other agents a week to offer. Once you have several offers, what happens then? A series of phone interviews to decide?

Hit the 20th rejection (on the query) today. 5 read requests, of which one passed. Hope springing eternal for the other 4.

My last one was about a month ago (sorry...I'm usually better at following directions), and I actually didn't feel too bad about it. She was no longer taking on fantasy novels. Agents have no reason to soften the blow or try to make you feel good, so I'm pretty sure it was the truth. It wasn't like she was rejecting me because my novel sucks; she's no longer representing fantasy, which it decidedly is. It was honestly the best rejection I ever received

wow I got two rejections today- I had sent the letter to three agents two months ago- but to get two of those in one day is unusual....

Yikes. Picked up my BB and what I assumed to be a rejection turned out to be a substantial nibble! This will be interesting, in a good way, I hope

I haven't received a writing rejection because quite frankly, I have no interest in being recognised for writing. I have something else that I want to be recognised for.

got a rejection from someone in a half hour! Nice that she was prompt.

Hello, all! Just wanted to whine a little about my Rejection on a full yesterday. The agent seemed just right for my MG book for boys. (I was really hoping.) He complimented my writing style and offered to take a look at other projects but said it's just not right for his list right now.

Pretty disappointed. My husband said: "Stop being a baby." So I'm trying to brush it off. I have two other fulls out there for the same ms. (But one has been out since April.)

Fingers crossed.

Pardon my saying, but your husband is being a bit of an ass.

It's a big deal and rejection sucks. But that kind of rejection is very positive, at least you're getting close to the mark. I think you should e-mail the agent back and say, "Hey, if I figure out how to fix it and do a major re-write do you think you might give it a second look?" You'd be surprised at how often agents agree to that sort of arrangement. Did he point out specifically what he thought was wrong with it? If not you should find a good beta reader to help you clean it up.

I've heard many a story about an agent acquired in that manner.

my best rejections yet!

Just got back into the quering market with my completely rewritten/ proofread manuscript and have started sending to some agents. Got 5 rejections back already but this were not all regular rejections, three of them were personalized with my name (no dear author) and the name of the book. The first came in his own envelope and stamp even though I sent a sase. the second one was a little note with my name hand written on the top. The last one commented on the writting saying she "found it intrigueing," I dont know if this a good sign or normal placed. still have nine more out there but have been left high and dry for a while now.

The only thing worse than getting a rejection is not getting any returned letters at all.

Drachen Jager said:

Pardon my saying, but your husband is being a bit of an ass.

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He's really good at that.


He thought I had a "fun voice for middle grade," but said it was "too slight" to compete in the marketplace, which I'm a little puzzled what "slight" means. It may be not quite long enough at about 25K, but I'm not sure. (Slightly not good enough?)

But his main issue seemed to be that it's not the right type of MG for his list right now.

My husband was trying to get me to be strong. (He really likes the book and sees the potential. He wasn't trying to be a jerk. This time.)

E-mail the agent, say you really appreciated that he took the time, yadda yadda, would he be open to looking at this manuscript again after heavy editing? Oh and by the way, what did you mean by 'too slight'?

Nothing to lose by trying, as long as your tone is polite and upbeat he'll probably remember you in a positive light. It may be he simply means it's a bit short and the story is simply not something that can be 'beefed up' easily as he sees it. 35k is average for MG, so that should be the target for first-timers. Is there a way you can enhance it to make the plot deeper and more complex? That would be my only guess as to what he's looking for. Otherwise you could always look at streamlining and market it as a chapter book.

DJ, I've actually wondered if it would work better as a chapter book. For what it's worth, there's a lot of humor in it. But it's way too long for a chapter book and maybe not long enough for middle grade. I wrote it very quickly while I was waiting to hear back from an agent who had my first book (which I'm still waiting to hear back on.)

I've still got two fulls out on it, so I'll see what they say before I try to fix it.

Thanks for the advice!

No problem. I wasn't suggesting you work on a fix right away. I haven't read the book so I can't provide any kind of substantive advice, merely spitballing ideas for you.

It's funny though, I had the whole "is it a chapter book or is it MG" discussion with myself. (Of course, this was AFTER I finished writing it.)

So we'll see.

Update on my status.

I just got the counter-signed contract in the mail so it's official!

YAAAAAAY! *throws confetti* Congratulations!

That is absolutely great, DJ! I'm so happy for you.

Do come back and visit us rejectivistas sometimes...

I was going to post something about my status, but I don't want to detract from the wonderful news. (Besides, I'm too busy cursing and rereading my book from the beginning and... oops, said I wasn't going there.)

At least, Strasmas II* went well last night, well, when he was pitching. The fact that I continue to be a Washington Nationals fan should show how I can persist for years with occasional encouraging signs, but more usual failure. You've gotta have heart, and all that. (I hope I'm not dating myself with a Damn Yankees reference.)

*What the season debut of Strasburg, newly returned after Tommy John surgery, has been called locally.

Anywho, congrats again, DJ!

Just wanted to poke my head in to add a big woot for Drachen! Congrats! .