Average number of rejections?

I don't know Celia, but I'm probably skewing the average...

Sorry

Although yours sounds like a reasonable question, there is no answer, for several reasons.

First of all -- "average amount of rejections" ... before what? Before the manuscript gets picked up by an agent? Before a manuscript is bought by a publisher? Before the "average" writer gives up hope and stops submitting? Before the "average" writer goes stark raving mad? Before the "average" writer goes the P.O.D. route? (some would say the last two are synonymous)

Second of all -- and you probably picked up on this point already -- who is to define what is "average"? Who is the "average" writer? A first-time unpublished novelist? A first-time unpublished novelists with several short stories published in a small anthology? A professional journalist just starting with fiction? A person who has been writing for years but has never taken a class or tried to get published? A combination of the above?

What is the "average" manuscript? Is yours "average"? Nothing original about it? If there's nothing unique about your manuscript, why would someone want to publish it?

Don't get me wrong -- I know how you feel. You want to believe there are rules to this game. You want to know when you should "take a hint" and give up on a manuscript -- how to reasonably interpret rejection letters -- but there are no objective numbers. Everything is subjective -- because you and your work are unique. There's no magic number, because there are plenty of stories of now-sucessful writers whose first works were published after 10-to-the-nth power of rejections -- as well as plenty of stories of never-published writers whose works are still being submitted after 100-to-the-nth power of rejections.

Sorry to sound so ... unhelpful? negative? pessimistic? realistic?

Rejections

Celia Cyanide said:

Does anyone know what is the average ammount of rejections for a novel manuscript? What is a normal ammount, and what is excessive?

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I don't think there is an average. But despite the stories you hear about novels being bought after fifty or seventy-five rejections, this is pretty rare. Most novels that do sell, sell after no more than a dozen or so rejections.

But it's also wise to remember that having a query letter rejected is not the same thing as having your novel rejected. Many writers never figure out how to actually get an agent or editor to read their novel. If you can't jump this hurdle, number of rejections is meaningless.

Celia Cyanide said:

Does anyone know what is the average ammount of rejections for a novel manuscript? What is a normal ammount, and what is excessive?

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It's hard to define an average (actually, I'd think it's impossible) since there are oh so many variables involved - the genre you write in, how you query, who you query, when you query, where you query etc. For instance, I read somewhere that Jasper Fforde got 76 rejections before he was picked up by an agent. But even that figure is misleading. Did he get 76 rejections on query? After a partial? After they'd read the full manuscript?

I write in a similar genre to that of Jasper Fforde. I've so far received 60-70 rejections from agents but only 3 of those even went as far as a partial. All of the others rejected on query. So should I take that as a sign that I should not bother with this novel? I don't really think so. But then again, that's just me I guess the best advice I can give is that you should go with your gut feel. If you honestly believe that your work is good, keep at it, you'll make it one of these days. Otherwise, start work on the next one, it'll be better And good luck!!

Celia Cyanide said:

I should have specified what I meant...of published novels, what was the average number of rejections they recieved? From agents or publishers, I guess.

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Well, that let's me out - don't have a novel published yet But as I mentioned before, Jasper Fforde has commented that he had 76 (or 70+ I forget which ...) rejections before he was accepted by an author and that six weeks later, he had a book deal.

Fahim said:

It's hard to define an average (actually, I'd think it's impossible) since there are oh so many variables involved - the genre you write in, how you query, who you query, when you query, where you query etc. For instance, I read somewhere that Jasper Fforde got 76 rejections before he was picked up by an agent. But even that figure is misleading. Did he get 76 rejections on query? After a partial? After they'd read the full manuscript?

I write in a similar genre to that of Jasper Fforde. I've so far received 60-70 rejections from agents but only 3 of those even went as far as a partial. All of the others rejected on query. So should I take that as a sign that I should not bother with this novel? I don't really think so. But then again, that's just me I guess the best advice I can give is that you should go with your gut feel. If you honestly believe that your work is good, keep at it, you'll make it one of these days. Otherwise, start work on the next one, it'll be better And good luck!!

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No, you should take this as a sign that you need a new query letter. One that will make agents or editors ask to see the novel. Your novel has, at most, only been rejected three times. It's your query letter that's been rejected the rest of the time.

Jamesaritchie said:

No, you should take this as a sign that you need a new query letter. One that will make agents or editors ask to see the novel. Your novel has, at most, only been rejected three times. It's your query letter that's been rejected the rest of the time.

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Dang it, let me have my illusions, will you? I'd rather believe that I have been rejected 60-70 times I am not certain the query letter can be improved upon that much - it just might be my story which is at fault. It's a humorous science fiction novel and a lot of agents seem to be leery of touching humorous science fiction. At least, that's what a couple of agents told me ...

No, you should take this as a sign that you need a new query letter. One that will make agents or editors ask to see the novel. Your novel has, at most, only been rejected three times. It's your query letter that's been rejected the rest of the time.

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Thanks for the comment. While your statement is obvious, it's not obvious until it becomes obvious. Obviously. No, I'm actually serious about this. You're entirely right, and this is good advice.