Resubmitting to agents who wrote 'decent' rejections

elroy -
I think that if you have an entirely new work, you can start submitting it all around, regardless of whether you got rejections before. Sure, it makes sense to target the agents who came back with positive comments to your previous work, since they might be inclined to your style. But, really don't expect them to remember who you were. Unless the comment really was "Send me anything you write, I love your work but am too busy now for a new client," I wouldn't even mention the previous correspondence. This is a new work, and a new query, so forget the past, and don't remind them that they rejected you before.

You can always send new work to an agent you queried before. The gals over at Bookends just recently blogged about even re-querying the same agent with a revised ms. if they happened to give you feedback that helped you improve the work. It's fine to remind them that they helped you in the past. You want to be careful how you say "you rejected me, but..." so it has a positive spin though.

Remember, they're saying no to the book, not the writer.

I'd definitely widen my query net as well. High profile agents are great, but they usually have a long list of clients already, so you'd be a small fish in a big pond. You want to find the right agent for you, which is an agent who loves your work, has the resources to get your work in front of editors who will also love it, and guide you in your career. You won't know which agent that is until you look at a lot of them and talk to those who are interested in you. Don't snub the newer agents just because they're new. They're also the hungry ones trying to build their lists and careers and might be willing to take a chance on a new writer.

Agents say that you can't resubmit the same work to them. But if your work is different, then go for it!

Good luck and happy writing!

elroy said:

Thanks Sheep! I'm sure some might forget me, but part of the reason I was able to get to these folks was due to an intro from their client or close friend. Doesn't make me special, but it might also help to remind them "I'm the guy who..." as opposed to "just another query from the blue." Not sure ... ya' think?

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Elroy, if you have a personal connection, definitely do that. But, only if it's an "I'm the guy who knows your..." sort of connection, not "I'm the guy you rejected with nice comments a few months ago."

I have a similar question. I recently had a free lance agent critique my first three chapters. Since then, I've done a pretty massive overhaul of those chapters.

Is it okay to resubmit if the agent wrote, "I love the idea, but I didn't connect with the writing as much as I thought I would."?

I mean the story's execution is a almost a 180.

Just wondering!

By the way, I highly recommend Stacy Whitman for editing. She used to be a former book editor, and she's got a great eye. She also did the query and first three chapters for 50.00, which I thought was well worth it. Just my .02 though!!