The Daily Rejection, Vol. 2

sockycat said:

So I just barely, barely started querying. Like, only sent out five. But I figured it couldn't hurt to participate in DVPIT. I know we're allowed to enter #DVPIT six times for the day, so I figured I'd tweet out six different versions of my pitch right? The same agent liked my 11am and 4pm pitch tweets. Now I'm off to frantically polish my first 50 pages.

Click to expand...

Good luck, sockycat!

Well, another full rejection.

Ugh, Collie. I'm so sorry.

Welcome, amillimiles!

collie. Chocolate wishes for you (or broccoli or, you know, whatever your preferred cheering up food is).

New story came out this month! (in sig). I looked at my huge author pic and suddenly started panicking 'oh no I'm going to get judged for having too massive a picture people will think...' Stupid panic over minor things is written into the 'writer life' contract, I swear.

Health is looking dodgy again so I need to try and get as much editing done as possible while I'm still feeling good (hopefully I'll still be able to do NaNo this year, it's going to be my last in this city and I was looking forward to it).

Another full rejection for me, too.

A psychological horror/crime story I'd worked really hard on got rejected. In retrospect, I think it was too heavy for the what the anthology wanted. I realized only a few days ago it was not a paying anthology, so it's just as well. I worked so hard on it it deserves to go to a paying market.

Well, so much for my clever plan of screwing up the personalization to draw attention. Form R.

Collie, Stephen, lianna, Cobalt, I'll share my cookies with you. (Stephen's has extra positive chips.)

amillimiles, welcome to the madness!

sockycat, cheers on the likes!

Tamlyn, yay on the story!! Hope you get to feeling better again soon.

i just got a #DVPit request from an agent that rejected me yesterday lol

S. Eli said:

i just got a #DVPit request from an agent that rejected me yesterday lol

Click to expand...

Rats, that sentence started out so well and then went downhill. I don't suppose the rejection was long enough ago that you've done significant rewrites since then? If that were the case, I might try sending to them anyway, and be clear that I've rewritten majorly since they saw it. I suppose they'll most likely just reject it again anyway, but it might be worth a shot.

JJ Litke said:

Rats, that sentence started out so well and then went downhill. I don't suppose the rejection was long enough ago that you've done significant rewrites since then? If that were the case, I might try sending to them anyway, and be clear that I've rewritten majorly since they saw it. I suppose they'll most likely just reject it again anyway, but it might be worth a shot.

Click to expand...

I'm considering. I submitted to her months ago so I did/am revising, AND the #DVPit sample is longer...

But also, I mean I could just try a different agent.

Ah, being a writer is so difficult

Sending out cookies and wine and hugs for all those with Rs.
I haven't heard about my subs lately, but am steeling myself. This writing business is not for the faint-hearted.

Ugh. Sorry, lianna.

Thank you guys for the warm welcome! *hands out cookies*

Lianna, so sorry about the rejection. I don't mean to be insensitive -- just genuinely wondering, does "full" rejection mean they requested your full and then rejected? If so... that's the worst!!

S. Eli - best of luck on your #DVPit queries! One rejection means nothing. Query all the agents that liked your pitch, and all of those that didn't!!

Edit: I realize I keep getting this thread mixed up with the Next Circle of Hell... as for my own stats, I sent out my #DVPit queries two nights ago and received three full requests and one partial thus far! I'm sure the rejections will start flowing in soon... after all, I've only been querying for a week (exactly). Looking forward to everybody's guidance as I wade through the trenches.

Sorry to hear about the latest rejections.

Good luck sockycat and amillimiles!

Thank you, CJSimone!

I just checked my personal mailbox during lunch break and nearly got a heart attack. TWO MORE FULL REQUESTS from queries I sent out last night. Oh, my heart my heart!!!!!

S. Eli said:

I'm considering. I submitted to her months ago so I did/am revising, AND the #DVPit sample is longer...

But also, I mean I could just try a different agent.

Ah, being a writer is so difficult

Click to expand...

I also got #DVPit likes from agents that rejected the first pages / query earlier. How massive of a revision is necessary? Since then, I've gone back and filled in a lot of holes and gaps that were in the original pages, but a lot of the structure is the same.

I guess trying again doesn't hurt in the end, right?

Also, commiserating with those who got rejections. Got a rejection on a full earlier, so I can join the club?

S. Eli - LOL, indeed! I would totally go ahead and send the requested materials. Who knows, maybe the agent was just in a better mood this time....

amillimiles, cheers on all the requests! That's excellent results, especially for just having gotten started.

ETA: Welcome to the club, laserkey! Have an R cookie. And the same thing goes for you on the rejected/requesting agents. What have you got to lose, eh?

amillimiles said:

Lianna, so sorry about the rejection. I don't mean to be insensitive -- just genuinely wondering, does "full" rejection mean they requested your full and then rejected? If so... that's the worst!!

Click to expand...

Yup-- the agent requested a full, then rejected it. I've gotten one partial and two full rejections so far. At least this one was super complimentary-- she could be just blowing sunshine up ass, but she had no negative comments to make about the book, said she's not the right agent to represent it but she's sure it will find a home, etc. So not terrible. But still not "yes".

And then I woke up today to another partial request.

lianna williamson said:

Yup-- the agent requested a full, then rejected it. I've gotten one partial and two full rejections so far. At least this one was super complimentary-- she could be just blowing sunshine up ass, but she had no negative comments to make about the book, said she's not the right agent to represent it but she's sure it will find a home, etc. So not terrible. But still not "yes".

And then I woke up today to another partial request.

Click to expand...

Well that's AWESOME!!! It is already so promising to receive partials and fulls -- it means there is truly something to be desired in your story and your writing, but the agent might not be right. Best of luck!

Yaaaaaaay lianna and miles!!!! Fingers crossed for both of you!!!

I'm peering nervously into the query trenches. It's been five years since I last queried, so I have to ask--what's the typical timeline for partial and full requests? I realize every agent is different, but is it time to panic if I don't get a request in a day? A week? A month?

sockycat said:

Yaaaaaaay lianna and miles!!!! Fingers crossed for both of you!!!

I'm peering nervously into the query trenches. It's been five years since I last queried, so I have to ask--what's the typical timeline for partial and full requests? I realize every agent is different, but is it time to panic if I don't get a request in a day? A week? A month?

Click to expand...

Give it a few weeks before you start getting nervous. I think my record on a form reject has been about one and a half years just for the query, whereas the fastest was less than 10 minutes. It's the same with requests. The agent I ultimately signed with, I submitted the query in January, got a partial request towards the end of February, then a full request in May. However, I've also had full requests on the same day I submitted a query.

It really does vary from agent to agent. Newer agents won't have the huge backlog of queries and partials/fulls to go through as more established agents. More established agents may make a full request from you right away, but, due to their organization and priority system, may not get around to reading it for months, maybe even close to a year. So two weeks without a peep? Nah, don't break into a cold sweat just yet, it's business as usual.

sockycat said:

Yaaaaaaay lianna and miles!!!! Fingers crossed for both of you!!!

I'm peering nervously into the query trenches. It's been five years since I last queried, so I have to ask--what's the typical timeline for partial and full requests? I realize every agent is different, but is it time to panic if I don't get a request in a day? A week? A month?

Click to expand...

This is also my first time querying, but I have to agree with Shoeless here. It could range from two weeks to two+ months. I've heard the fastest agents usually respond is a few days (at least), and on average it might take them weeks or months. Queries, as one agent kindly told me, are on the lowest of agents' priorities. For superstar agents, queries are saved for lunch breaks and nights and weekends (though I don't know how true that is...). The most established agents will always prioritize their clients' work (as they should!). Newer agents won't have as much clients' work and query backlog, so they may be faster. Some agents also have literary assistants who read your work and then pass it on to the agent him/herself (one very established agent's assistant reached out to me within hours of my query).

So it IS a waiting game -- and it's torture! Best of luck to you!!!

I appreciate that perspective. I've been focused on submitting short stories lately, and I know in that realm the longer it takes to hear from a magazine the better. It's the rejections that come lightning fast. But I wasn't sure how that process translated into querying because this will be the first time I've actually done it "correctly" and 17-year-old me was a bit of a knucklehead when she tried to query her first book. I'd been seeing that some people got full requests in only a few days which made warning bells go off in my head because it's so opposite to the submissions process I've become accoustomed to. Thank you guys!!!

Ha! I just got another rejection, and was like, "oh well" and then was like "wait... I don't remember querying this agent." It's a rejection on my last book, responding to a query I sent in May of '16. I'm honestly surprised they bother to even send a form after that long!

When it comes to queries, it can be insightful to follow a list of agents on QueryTracker. I've been following both new agents and established/superstar agents in the YA market for a few years now on QT, and often the fastest responders are the superstar agents, probably because they have assistants. But sometimes I think that's just part of their style, to deal with the slush quickly. Also, I've seen queries from contests like DVPit and Pitch Wars get action quicker because agents know they have fierce competition for those manuscripts.

Condolences on the Rs! Especially for full rejections.

Congrats on the requests!