The Daily Rejection

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Quickbread

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I agree with you guys on thanking agents for personalized rejections. If someone takes the time to read my manuscript and make comments on it, especially thoughtful comments, it only seems polite to express some thanks for that. It doesn't require any further interaction with you on the agent's part, and it's likely to create a warm, fuzzy feeling, which never seems like a bad thing to have connected to your name.
 

TomGrimm

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Got two rejections from my two top choices tonight. Form rejections are pretty friendly though, so that's nice. I'm quite surprised with how quick they were in getting to my query - I only queried these agents last night.
 

Nickman

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Good to be in such robust and resiliant company. I have had 4 this week: now just waiting for the other shoe(s) to fall. Best one, gotta tell you, was from a lady here in UK, who sent a form rejection, but on WP, so that she typed in the address for return. I live in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and she typed, 'Dumbfriesshire'! Says it all, huh? More than a little snarky, so I sent a gushing 'thank you', right back at her. Manners! LOL
 

Nickman

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@MT. God I hate it when they come straight back at ya! I've had more than my share, almost worse than those who don't reply. Ah well.
 

Hathor

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I have a new draft of the NF! Now to polish and then figure out if I need to get beta-reads. Frankly, everybody willing to read it before liked it before. (Don't know about the folks who said they'd read it, then dropped off the face of the earth, of course :Shrug:) I made the changes in response to agent criticism. It's now 30,000 words shorter, less technical and advice-y, with more details of the actual story and a livelier voice.

I'll have to figure out how to requery. Now I wish I'd been appreciative of their comments at the time. I didn't respond because I didn't agree then. Oh well. I suppose, "I took your wonderful advice, thanks so much, want to take a gander" might work. Only one agent specifically said to come back if I made certain changes.

I have an empty house for the rest of the day. No distractions or little projects that need doing. I'm going to read through the entire thing now and see if I still like it. I want to get that done while it's still an odd-numbered day.
 

Carleree

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Turns out thanking an agent for a personal response really does work. The agent that just said no to my book because of market concerns wrote back and said she'd like me to query her with my new book when it's ready. I told her a little bit about it in my thank you email. I'm 20k in, so I'd best get cracking.
 

Drachen Jager

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Figured I'd try my luck overseas, so I hit a half-dozen British agencies the last couple of days.

I just queried J.K. Rowling's agent.... Might as well shoot for the stars, right?
 

itsmary

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Didn't really expect any rejections today since most of the agents I queried 6 weeks or so ago have already responded. But I did just get another form rejection. Oh well, time to get back up and try again.
 

Drachen Jager

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Um..why? I thought he was closed to queries.

There's two different agencies claiming her, I think. A couple of years back I came across 'her' agency, but from the looks of it, that was just her agency for the first books. I am not sure if her agent left that agency to strike out on his own, or she changed agencies, but the guy she's with now accepts e-mail submissions. There's quite a few people working there actually, and they seem to be keen on expanding their horizons.

Here you go if you're curious.

http://www.theblairpartnership.com/about

Web site is annoying as hell, someone got so caught up in being artsy they forgot about utility. Finding the correct query information took some work, but they do clearly say they're open.
 

Lissibith

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I got a rejection today. This makes me happy. It's proof that after a very long time, I've once again written and revised something to the point I felt I could submit it. It's weird, feeling this good about a form letter. >.>
 

triceretops

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I got a rejection today. This makes me happy. It's proof that after a very long time, I've once again written and revised something to the point I felt I could submit it. It's weird, feeling this good about a form letter. >.>

It's confirmation that we're alive and active as writers. It could be worse, where no one considering us.

So, good job on getting yourself out there!

tri
 

itsmary

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Just got another form rejection. This is the first one I've gotten that hasn't come on a Friday or Monday.
 

Filigree

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I'm expecting rejections in the next few weeks, since I just sent out three stories to unfamiliar markets. Feels good, in a way. Rejections are such a part of normalcy, after a long time of writing and subbing. They make me feel like I'm actually doing something.

Now that I'm not hunting for an agent, and the romance is getting published, the big task on my plate is revising a vast epic fantasy for an agent's request. Sending out little short stories is therapy by comparison!
 

TomGrimm

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Got some more form rejections. Going to wait a few days to see if the others I sent to get back to me - they're the kind that don't respond if they're not interested, so I'll have to wait a few days to meet their "if we don't respond by ___ then we're not interested" deadline. I might tweak my query and synopsis a bit if it's all still form rejections and no responses though.
 

Drachen Jager

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If you've been rejected 70 times, you should think about pausing and figuring out what's wrong. Get up to 50 posts and put your query and first chapter up on SYW, people there are pretty good at spotting what's working and what's not.
 

triceretops

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I agree with the above posters. Get that sucker in the Query Hell SYW thread and let us have at it. That many rejects on a query, with no partial or full requests, is a bit unusual and definitely points to a problem in the query. Also, make sure you are targeting an agent who reps your particular genre.

tri
 

itsmary

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Sent more queries last night (with a revised letter) and got a very short form rejection from a top agent this morning. I guess if you're going to get rejected, that's the best kind: Short, fast, and to the point. :]
 

ChelseaWriter

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*peeks in and waves* Glad to have found this thread!

For the first time, I'm querying publishers and agents simultaneously (well, technically, I queried agents 3 months ago, am still waiting on some full and partial requests, so I decided to submit to a handful of publishers in the meantime).

The non-responders are the hardest for me. I'd almost rather have a rejection than a "nothing." Especially since I took the time to craft (and revise) a query letter, then research agencies, then meet their submission requirements.

Ugh. Just....frustrating. :rolleyes:
 
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