What's Your Number?

My number is somewhere between 10 and 15, I think. I haven't gotten any for a while because I decided I had started querying too soon and that the book wasn't really ready. Now I'm not sure it will ever be ready, but I might start querying it again sometime. What could it hurt?

I'm not submitting. My only querying process was two novels ago, when I gave up after 25 or maybe 28 no's, no requests at all, threw up my hands, and quit writing for a long while. In effect, I took my ball, ran home, and hid in the basement. I do not recommend this. Keep at it. Keep keeping at it, and consider self-publishing if you have faith in your work. I should have.

My whole writing life, poems, stories, genre, mainstream, a novel direct to publishers, plus those 25, btw? Total is 900+ (which is on my bio, so anyone and their uncle can see it). I've quit counting, so when I reach that magic four-digit figure, and I most certainly will, I won't even know about it. (And about 100 pubs, just so you know it's not only 900 rejections, which would indicate a personality much stronger than my own.)

You wanna read numbers, try the Rejection and Dejection threads. Some amazing tales in there, many of which end in triumph!

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=28

I sold my first novel, and my first three short stories, without receiving a rejection, but I made up for it later. I've received a bunch of rejections in thirty-three years. More than I would have believed, actually.

I went through my old paper rejection lists a couple of weeks ago, and found close to a hundred rejections that I would have sworn didn't exist. So I have roughly three hundred in total.

But rejections never bothered me, largely because I learned early on that no number of rejections automatically kills a story. Two short stories brought in almost thirty of those rejections, but both short stories eventually sold to two of the biggest mags in the country, and earned me a bunch of money.

It is, in a way, fun to keep track of rejections, and as long as you don't allow rejections to cause depression, it may even be that a large number makes ultimate success all the sweeter.

rwm4768 said:

I haven't gotten any for a while because I decided I had started querying too soon and that the book wasn't really ready.

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How did you know to take a break and revise it? Did you have more people read it?

Anyway, my number is 3 form rejections. I have about a dozen that I queried a 2-3 weeks ago that I haven't heard back from yet. I know it's normal, but it makes me fidgety. I kind of want to send out a dozen more, but I don't want to have 20 queries out there at once. Seems a bit excessive.

Last time I submitted a novel, in 2007, I sent out 59 queries and had one full request. The novel probably needed more work, and the query letter, too, but I had so much going on in my personal life at the time that I didn't even really consider keeping at it.

I do intend to go back to that novel some day.

I've also collected between 40 and 50 rejections for short stories, but I feel like I'm not much of a short story writer -- I prefer novels, so that's the form I'm more invested in.

So far it's none as I'm currently writing my first novel. One day, I will be sending it to publishers, but I know how hard it's going to be through. Going against 1000 to get published.

I gave up after the 500 rejection or so and turned to self-publishing.

Ethan

The lamented Miss Snark said 100. Don't give up until you've reached 100.

That said, if you're 15 rejections in with no love at all, it might be time to tweak the query/first pages.

Eee gads. I had to go to my Way-Back Machine to get a tally, but they number in the 1000s for every poem, short, radio play, article, novel, non-fiction book, profile, agent, interview...you name it. I had 446 agent rejections for just one book 18 months ago--but four agents offered.

I have, gleefully or sadly, rejected or put on hold 11 small press contracts in the past five years. So, I'm gaining on them.

tri

I just started querying three-ish weeks ago, and have since received five form rejections.

Then again, I've also revised my query four times so everyone queried basically got a different letter.

Maybe I should settle on one...

Over the years, I've lost count. In the hundreds, certainly. I could go back and look at my spreadsheet for individual submissions vs rejections, but that's 1) painful, and 2) a waste of time for me right now.

Let's just say ' a lot'.

It's very good incentive to write new works instead of hammering the old ones at brick walls.

Lost count, long ago. But I do know the percentage of acceptances/submissions, which is 0.0000000000%.

caw

Adding up all the rejections I've gotten on all the novels I've written would number in the thousands. For this book, for this revision - 350.

One agent said yes.

So did one editor.

It's coming out in 2013.

JoNightshade said:

Adding up all the rejections I've gotten on all the novels I've written would number in the thousands. For this book, for this revision - 350.

One agent said yes.

So did one editor.

It's coming out in 2013.

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Went to your blog. Wow. Just wow. What sentiment. I was deeply touched. I'll bet your prose brings out this type of emotional reaction. No damn wonder you got picked up.

Very well done, Jo,

tri

I submitted to around 45 agencies...out of those, around 30 of them rejected, 10 of them didn't reply, and 5 requested fulls.

The first one who requested the full was nice enough to give me a two-page criticism on what worked/didnt work for her. Although she rejected it, I worked on editing the MS and months later, asked her if she would like to read the edited version. She said she would be happy to and came back with two more pages of criticism. Once again, back to the drawing board for me. I submitted the MS for the 3rd time to her, but it was during this time that I received an offer from another agent. Although I ultimately went with the other agent, I honestly don't think he would've given me an offer if not for the edits I made to the MS based on the first agent's comments. When I told her about the offer, she told me to go with this guy and that although she loved the world and the writing, she didn't think the story was a good fit for her.

Altogether the submissions process took about 1.5 years...and now I'm just waiting to hear from my agent (he submitted the MS to 6 editors 2 weeks ago)!

P.S. The other 3 agents who requested fulls: 2 rejected with form rejections and 1 gave me criticism that I didn't quite agree with, so I withdrew my submission.

I would take Miss Snark's guide to get to 100 rejections...seems like a sensible number!

Hmm. I don't remember the exact number, but it was a lot--more than 50--before I had an offer of rep for my YA. My favorite rejection said, "I simply don't think I can sell this to a publisher." Then my agent sold it to friggin' D!sn3y. (I had my own personal "nanner-nanner-boo-boo" moment.)

Anyway, I agree with Miss Snark's rule of 100, but take the time to tweak your query and/or ms if you're getting nothing but rejections. And don't stop writing. While I was querying, I was writing another book. And while I was out on sub, I was writing yet another book. Rejections will pack more punch when all you've got is one ms completed, because all your hopes are tied up in that one project.

taylormillgirl said:

And don't stop writing. While I was querying, I was writing another book. And while I was out on sub, I was writing yet another book. Rejections will pack more punch when all you've got is one ms completed, because all your hopes are tied up in that one project.

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Just have to echo this.

JoNightshade said:

Adding up all the rejections I've gotten on all the novels I've written would number in the thousands. For this book, for this revision - 350.

One agent said yes.

So did one editor.

It's coming out in 2013.

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Very inspiring...congratulations on your hard work and perseverance!

I've only ever subbed short stories, and haven't been doing that for long, really. But my number is 32. Six of these have been personal rejections of various types ("this was well-written but it didn't fit" or "far too much telling," etc).

I am working on novels, though, so someday I will have the agent-querying experience. I think I could deal with that better, honestly. I'm an impatient person, and sending all these stories to one magazine after another only to receive form rejections . . . even if I've only sent a story a couple of places, I start to seriously doubt its quality. It's just one of those psychological things.

JoNightshade said:

Adding up all the rejections I've gotten on all the novels I've written would number in the thousands. For this book, for this revision - 350.

One agent said yes.

So did one editor.

It's coming out in 2013.

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Congratulations. Love your blog.

With this revision of this book, 3. I think my beginning isn't catchy enough, so I wrote something that would hook in more fish and just sent it out, no news yet.