I wrote this as a response to a posting in another forum congratulating me on landing William Clark Associates for representation -- I'm posting it here as well because I hope it will encourage people to keep on submitting despite rejections.
Let me tell you straight out -- William Clark was my "pie in the sky" query recipient. You know, like when you apply for college -- except that there are no "safety" or "shoe-ins" when applying for representation ...
I decided to send him my query letter based on the fact that he accepted e-mail queries -- I figured, what the heck? What do I have to lose? We're not even talking postage here. And then I pretty much forgot about him -- which was easy to do, since it took him 14 weeks just to reply to that query e-mail.
Now, back to that college application analogy: I remember thinking at the time that admissions officers at Ivy League colleges just threw the applications down a stairway -- those that landed on the top steps got in, those that landed further down were put on the waiting list, and those that fell further down ... well, rejected.
Just too many high school classmates who were not at all "Ivy-league material" as far as I could see who were getting in -- was it because they were jocks? because their parents graduated from that school? because they wrote about their beloved Great Dane in their essays and the head of the selection committee breeds Great Danes????
Same thing with landing an agent, I believe. You just don't know what individual agents are looking for -- what is important to them. Sure, "a well-written novel/a good read" -- but what does that mean to an individual agent?
So, for example: I got very excited at the beginning of my agent search (c. 5 months ago) when one agent passed on my novel but suggested that I contact her former assistant (who had moved on to open her own agency). A referral! I was so hopeful -- so, I sent the query to the new agent. Her reply was not so enthusiastic -- she noted that the novel was perhaps a bit too short -- but agreed to read a partial. I still have not heard from her.
Before hearing from William Clark, I received 11 or 12 requests for partials (out of c. 25 query letters sent). Yes, an extremely high positive response rate. Most of those agents have rejected my novel by now (some still pending) -- most without critique. But of the three who bothered to give me some feedback:
1. One agent said the manuscript needed to be "line edited" (a comment which confused and depressed the heck out of me. Note that I have worked as a writer/editor.)
2. One agent said the manuscript had a real sense of time/place (it's a historical novel), but that the characters needed more work -- more "layering," I think was how she put it.
3. One agent said it read too slow -- the plot needed to be speeded up.
So, there you have it: Three different agents rejecting the same partial, but apparently for completely different reasons. And then William Clark tells me that it was a great read -- that I'm a natural-born storyteller -- and can't think of anything that needs to be changed/modified!
Go figure.
Oh, and maybe this will encourage some people: I have never written fiction before this manuscript -- not even a short story.
Let me tell you straight out -- William Clark was my "pie in the sky" query recipient. You know, like when you apply for college -- except that there are no "safety" or "shoe-ins" when applying for representation ...
I decided to send him my query letter based on the fact that he accepted e-mail queries -- I figured, what the heck? What do I have to lose? We're not even talking postage here. And then I pretty much forgot about him -- which was easy to do, since it took him 14 weeks just to reply to that query e-mail.
Now, back to that college application analogy: I remember thinking at the time that admissions officers at Ivy League colleges just threw the applications down a stairway -- those that landed on the top steps got in, those that landed further down were put on the waiting list, and those that fell further down ... well, rejected.
Just too many high school classmates who were not at all "Ivy-league material" as far as I could see who were getting in -- was it because they were jocks? because their parents graduated from that school? because they wrote about their beloved Great Dane in their essays and the head of the selection committee breeds Great Danes????
Same thing with landing an agent, I believe. You just don't know what individual agents are looking for -- what is important to them. Sure, "a well-written novel/a good read" -- but what does that mean to an individual agent?
So, for example: I got very excited at the beginning of my agent search (c. 5 months ago) when one agent passed on my novel but suggested that I contact her former assistant (who had moved on to open her own agency). A referral! I was so hopeful -- so, I sent the query to the new agent. Her reply was not so enthusiastic -- she noted that the novel was perhaps a bit too short -- but agreed to read a partial. I still have not heard from her.
Before hearing from William Clark, I received 11 or 12 requests for partials (out of c. 25 query letters sent). Yes, an extremely high positive response rate. Most of those agents have rejected my novel by now (some still pending) -- most without critique. But of the three who bothered to give me some feedback:
1. One agent said the manuscript needed to be "line edited" (a comment which confused and depressed the heck out of me. Note that I have worked as a writer/editor.)
2. One agent said the manuscript had a real sense of time/place (it's a historical novel), but that the characters needed more work -- more "layering," I think was how she put it.
3. One agent said it read too slow -- the plot needed to be speeded up.
So, there you have it: Three different agents rejecting the same partial, but apparently for completely different reasons. And then William Clark tells me that it was a great read -- that I'm a natural-born storyteller -- and can't think of anything that needs to be changed/modified!
Go figure.
Oh, and maybe this will encourage some people: I have never written fiction before this manuscript -- not even a short story.
