The Daily Rejection

Where is the "Query Letter Hell" thread? I'd like to see samples. Tx

It's in the AW Writing Lab section, under "Share Your Work." Pwd is vista.

Hi, WiltRhys! It's too early to give up. Don't give up! Hang out around all the different fora here and I bet you'll meet some people to do critiques with. Critique some queries. You'll learn a ton about how to write one while you critique them. Critique in your genre's SYW. You'll learn a ton about writing.

But mostly: don't give up!

Hi, Wilt.

I found a new rejection in my inbox today. Sent two revenge queries. Well, one; the other I can't send until tomorrow morning 'cause the PO is closed and they only take snail mail. So it goes...

Okay, today I believe.

Operating rationalization: it's the holiday season. Agents are busy. That's why I'm hearing crickets. (Only figuratively. The crickets that have invaded my house for years through cracks we've yet to discern are eerily quiet. And seem to eat nothing inside. Must be ghost crickets.)

Since my goal for both projects is to sit back for a few weeks more to see how recent queries go, it's good I'm busy, also.

Hathor said:

Okay, today I believe.

Operating rationalization: it's the holiday season. Agents are busy. That's why I'm hearing crickets. (Only figuratively. The crickets that have invaded my house for years through cracks we've yet to discern are eerily quiet. And seem to eat nothing inside. Must be ghost crickets.)

Since my goal for both projects is to sit back for a few weeks more to see how recent queries go, it's good I'm busy, also.

Click to expand...

Yep, even though I have about 40 subs out there ranging from one week to six months, I think most responses are on hold because of the holiday period. A good majority of them are at the three and four-month mark. I'll bet even those slowed down or shut office doors. I hate to think there will be a massive clog in Jan or Feb, and that the interns or editors will be "cleaning" us out of their in-boxes by doing mass deletions via bulk skimming. Oh, the blowness of it!

tri--red-shifting to other projects and trying not to think of it.

Yup, those figurative crickets are multiplying like rabbits. A lot of agents are posting that they're closed to new Qs for the holidays. Good news is some of them are saying they're going to focus on their requested pages this month, to catch up (good because I've got three Ps and Fs out I'm waiting on, lol. Bad for people just starting to query).

I think I'm going to put new queries on hold until January. A lot of agents are still taking them, but *I* need a little time off. Lots o' stuff going on w/ the other life, with still no news on the bomb that they dropped last week. So I've got enough stress, really. And I have 10 Qs out that are still in the regular response window, plus those page requests. Not like I'm slacking. Just...recharging. Yeah, that's it.

Just got a form rejection on a query, plus a rejection on a partial of Y0U, M£ AND £IGHT CRAZY G00DBY£S - but tbh, I was kind of expecting it. Nothing but no's on that one. No agents can 'connect' to the MC (although my betas did) and that's not exactly something I can fix. Back to editing the heck out of TH£ BRIGHT£ST F£LL *eyeroll*

Aw, that sucks, LadyA. Hopefully B.F. will be more "connectable." I remember you working on the query for BF, and think that one sounds exactly like a book I'd love to read (seriously--I want to read it. Badly. If you ever need another beta let me know. ). So fingers crossed next time is the charm.

After a couple of weeks of crickets I got an R today too. May have been my own fault, though. I have a line saying that fans of the gritty worlds of Author X and Author Y may enjoy the work, and forgot to remove it when I actually queried Author Y's agent. Oops. May have come across as presumptuous--Author Y is kind of a God among the literary folks...

Then again, they might've just thought my query sucked, lol. Onward and upward. I've got a decent amount of folks left on my list to Q, so I still have hope.

amschilling said:

Aw, that sucks, LadyA. Hopefully B.F. will be more "connectable." I remember you working on the query for BF, and think that one sounds exactly like a book I'd love to read (seriously--I want to read it. Badly. If you ever need another beta let me know. ). So fingers crossed next time is the charm.

After a couple of weeks of crickets I got an R today too. May have been my own fault, though. I have a line saying that fans of the gritty worlds of Author X and Author Y may enjoy the work, and forgot to remove it when I actually queried Author Y's agent. Oops. May have come across as presumptuous--Author Y is kind of a God among the literary folks...

Then again, they might've just thought my query sucked, lol. Onward and upward. I've got a decent amount of folks left on my list to Q, so I still have hope.

Click to expand...

Aw, thank you . Sorry about your R - and good luck with the rest of your query list, the perfect agent may well be on there!

I'm deep in edits of TBF at the moment, but I will be looking for betas in a few weeks, so if that's okay I'd love you to beta...

I got my forth rejection today, it looks like it's time for me to join the reject club

It's only been two weeks since I started sending out queries. So far I've gotten one form rejection, two "not a good fit for this agency", and one "I'm so busy I can't even look at other projects".

Shs22 -- all of those sound like form rejections to me.

Don't pay them any heed.

LadyA said:

I'm deep in edits of TBF at the moment, but I will be looking for betas in a few weeks, so if that's okay I'd love you to beta...

Click to expand...

Ooooh, you made my day. It just sounds awesome.

Off to send out more Qs for rejection. I'm feeling like I can take them today w/o it hurting too much. Might be the music I'm blasting for the WIP--it's shockingly upbeat for me. That or I'm in that odd limbo where I've got a couple of fulls out, but it's too early to hear bad news on them. Probably a combo.

The day does not bode well. I woke up to a form reject on my fiction. No biggie -- only this was the one where I had a referral. The agent didn't even see any pages (being one that says not to send any).

What makes it sting is that this agent has the synopsis and first three for the memoir. Which really isn't within her description of what she's looking for, but was a referral also. She said she'd get back to me on this submission shortly.

I take this to mean that the memoir is so sucky as far as she's concerned she won't even look at the fiction. At least, that's the way I'm looking at it right now, given this is an even-numbered day. I did run the gauntlet for the query over at QLH and thought I had a winner (not that reality has agreed at this point).

As for the agent who asked for a fiction proposal and then has said nothing for the month since he got it -- since he says on his website that he will acknowledge receipt and hasn't done so, I emailed yesterday to ask if he even has it. Obviously not, or he would have rejected it. Sigh.

Maybe, though, he can send an R today, along with the those who have subs on the memoir -- making for a perfect effing Friday.

I'm going to go lift some weights. That usually makes me feel better.

I did buy some Yukon Jack the other day. The copy on their label is just too funny. The man at the liquor store told me it prevents colds. You just mix it with hot tea and a little honey and lemon juice. Okaaaay... Well, I suppose it could well kill whatever germs you might have in your esophagus. Maybe I'll have a big belt of the stuff to finish out the day.

So I screwed up on a query -- send in 2 chapters as attachment when they wanted one chapter, no attachment. Should I mentally write this guy off already?

Hathor: Well, it may not prevent colds, but I bet it makes you not care if you have one!

Merlot: that's tough. Word on the street is that if they get an attachment when they say not to, they won't even open it. So you may have to wait a few months and then resend it right (and hope they don't remember, lol). If it makes you feel better, we all make mistakes. Like when I compared my book to a certain famous author's in a Q, forgetting that the agent actually rep'd that person. Cocky much? Oy. That did not result in a request for pages.

Hang in there.

Thanks the exact joke I made. The guy gave me a dirty look. This must be the potion his mom taught him or something.

Merlot: yes, we all make mistakes. I'm beginning to think my role in life is to make the rest of you feel better about yourselves. I'd just go ahead and send the correct query version -- not that I've established the cred to give advice.

Yes, I'm in a lovely mood. I figure I might as well wallow in pity today and get it out of my system. Like -- was my proposal so bad the agent can't even bring himself to acknowledge receipt, even though he says he will? But then, if he has problems with email (he said he didn't get my query the first time), maybe he won't get the nudge either. Then I'll have to nudge on the nudge.

Here's the real dumbass thing: I had sent an email to the agent a minute earlier BY ACCIDENT. It had no subject heading, a query and no attachment (though the query said this will have an attachment)
So, it was my second attempt... ):

Ouch. Want to share some Yukon Jack a little later? According to the label, this 100 proof "Black Sheep of Canadian Liquors" is "a taste born of hoary nights, when lonely men struggled to keep their fires lit and cabins warm." AND, according to good authority, it prevents colds, too

Got a form R on the memoir a few minutes ago. I had in my notes this was a "stretch, but what the hell" query.

merlot143 said:

Here's the real dumbass thing: I had sent an email to the agent a minute earlier BY ACCIDENT. It had no subject heading, a query and no attachment (though the query said this will have an attachment)
So, it was my second attempt... ):

Click to expand...

In the future, just don't fill out the "To:" slot until you've checked and rechecked your email to make sure everything is perfect. That way you CAN'T accidentally send it out.

Um. Now I want to get a bottle, despite loathing that stuff. Just for the label....

*mutter* Hoary nights and lonely men *mutter*

I'm sorry about the rejections, everyone! Me, too, today. My last round of queries I want to do for this manuscript have all turned up form Rs. Ugh. My shiny new query that went through QLH and that I was so proud of has only garnered one request. And still nothing from the agent who has my R&R.

Good thing I have Vietnamese food and whiskey lined up for tonight with some good friends.

idontknowwhatimdoing said:

In the future, just don't fill out the "To:" slot until you've checked and rechecked your email to make sure everything is perfect. That way you CAN'T accidentally send it out.

Click to expand...

I recommend this too. I triple check everything else before I put anything in the "to:" field, and so far I've yet to have a query accident.

Hello, everyone!

I'm new to the forums and new to the rejection path, so I was looking for some company and decided to finally register for AW. I've been meaning to do that for a long time, so here I am at last.

I've only just started querying for my very first novel. I've gathered my first ten rejections and a couple of requests for more, one of which has unfortunately already been rejected. I figured it'd be easier in good company.

So, hello!

Howdy-do