Great inspirational story for new and old alike.

That's just how it is. I'm sure they don't spend much time second guessing themselves. It just goes to show this isn't a science. And tastes vary.

Me. I've never even heard of this book until now.

Dancre said:

been made into a movie and might be up for an oscar.

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How can a movie 'might be up for an Oscar' when it's six months before the shortlist is announced. Though I will give my tip Steven Speilberg's War Horse.

And no, agents don't get all depressed over rejections. That just happens to us writers.

If the agents have been in the business any length of time, I imagine they're mostly shrugging it off. Each agent has to decide whether she thinks a book excites her enough to go to war for it, whether she thinks it's commercial, whether it's something she can sell, given her contacts. There are few break-out bestsellers that don't go through a bunch of agents before hitting the right desk -- if you can't accept that you might miss some, you probably won't stay in the agenting game long.

Besides, I doubt all 60 agents called the book "dull, boring, uninteresting." I'll bet most of the rejections were blandly polite forms. In fact, the first rejection quote mentioned in the article, "Story did not sustain my interest," is echt-formspeak.

The ultimate point of the article is not that agents were sobbing and hitting the Cherry Garcia. It's that you should never give up on a book you believe in.

When my own success story comes out, I'll get to say "Thank God for Agent Number 223." And I'm very far from holding the most-rejections record.

Dancre said:

I wonder how those 60 agents who rejected the book, The Help, are feeling now? 60 agents rejected The Help by Kathryn Stockett, calling it dull, boring, uninteresting. That same 'dull, boring and uninteresting' book has now sat on the New York Times for 100 weeks, been made into a movie and might be up for an oscar. I wonder how many of those 60 agents are now eating ice cream and sobbing into their computers?

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/powery...fore-becoming-a-best-seller-2523496/?posted=1

Ah . . . life can be so good. There's hope for every writer. 61 is just around the corner!! Never give up, never surrender!!

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I think Rowling got nearly as many rejections. for his shorts, King had a nail tacked in the wall he hung rejection slips on until their weight BENT the nail....then he pounded in a new one.

Rejection, like shit, happens. And in this case, as well as Rowling's, I have no idea how many times over those 60 she revised the book and/or the query letter. Or how many were simply the wrong fit. Or not taking new writers.

You are right, there is always hope, but those are all variables to consider.

All it takes is one agent. I guess the other sixty do feel a bit silly but they're probably used to it.

Writer's need this type of story to pop up once in a while. Thanks for posting it.

I think 'The Help' highlights how subjective books are - just because an agent doesn't like it, it doesn't mean it's not any good - it's just not to their taste... also, agents have to believe in a product in order to be able to sell it effectively. Therefore, had agents 1-60 taken it on, because of their lack of faith to begin with, odds are it probably wouldn't have done as well as it has x

Thanks!

Dancre said:

I wonder how those 60 agents who rejected the book, The Help, are feeling now? 60 agents rejected The Help by Kathryn Stockett, calling it dull, boring, uninteresting. That same 'dull, boring and uninteresting' book has now sat on the New York Times for 100 weeks, been made into a movie and might be up for an oscar. I wonder how many of those 60 agents are now eating ice cream and sobbing into their computers?

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/powery...fore-becoming-a-best-seller-2523496/?posted=1

Ah . . . life can be so good. There's hope for every writer. 61 is just around the corner!! Never give up, never surrender!!

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Thank you for this post. It's nice to know there's no magic number. And good on her for not giving up!

I read that article today, too. I just finished the novel (which I thought was fantastic), so it was nice to be reminded that even hugely successful books like this one (and of course Harry Potter!) have a long list of rejections before they got picked up.

Phaeal said:

Besides, I doubt all 60 agents called the book "dull, boring, uninteresting." I'll bet most of the rejections were blandly polite forms. In fact, the first rejection quote mentioned in the article, "Story did not sustain my interest," is echt-formspeak.

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This.

quicklime said:

Rejection, like shit, happens. And in this case, as well as Rowling's, I have no idea how many times over those 60 she revised the book and/or the query letter. Or how many were simply the wrong fit. Or not taking new writers.

You are right, there is always hope, but those are all variables to consider.

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And this, too.

Taste is subjective, whether it's between readers or agents. For every person who reads and loves a book, someone else is going to hate it.

I have a copy of The Help on my shelf. It's not usually what I read, but a good friend recced it, so I'll give it a whirl one of these days.

Great inspiring story!

I like this quote from the author of The Help: "A year and a half later, I opened my 40th rejection: 'There is no market for this kind of tiring writing.' That one finally made me cry. “

And this: "In the end, I received 60 rejections forThe Help. But letter number 61 was the one that accepted me. After my five years of writing and three and a half years of rejection...."

The book is one of my favorites.

Dancre said:

I wonder how those 60 agents who rejected the book, The Help, are feeling now?

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A couple of years ago I read a blog by an agent on this - I think it was over at www.pubrants.blogspot.com but I can't say for sure.

Mainly agents are pleased that any book does well, because it means more money in the industry.

What you have to remember is that agents and editors pass on books for all sorts of reasons. In the case of a good book it could be that they just didn't feel that they were the best person to handle that book, and that's fine.

Look at it this way, if that book had a different agent or a different editor then how would that have made a difference? Maybe a different agent wouldn't have gotten such a good deal, maybe a different publisher wouldn't have backed it so much, etc etc etc.

These things happen and in general, anyone who has worked in the industry for any length of time knows that things like that happen.

60 agents rejected The Help by Kathryn Stockett, calling it dull, boring, uninteresting.

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And maybe to them and what they handle, it is. An agent has to really LOVE a book before they take it on. You can't stand behind a book you aren't passionate about, no matter how good it is.

Phaeal said:

Besides, I doubt all 60 agents called the book "dull, boring, uninteresting." I'll bet most of the rejections were blandly polite forms. In fact, the first rejection quote mentioned in the article, "Story did not sustain my interest," is echt-formspeak.

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This.

Every agent I have dealt with has been polite and professional, even in rejections.

shaldna said:

This.

Every agent I have dealt with has been polite and professional, even in rejections.

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Yeah but reinterpreting those form rejections into "dull, boring, uninteresting" makes for a much more entertaining article.

Her story wasn't finished by the time she wrote her first few dozen queries and sent them along. She admitted she had to rewrite a couple times and polish and work very hard at research.

So her book wasn't ready for publication when she first started sending it out. That's pretty much how it goes. It'll be published when it's ready.

Without knowing the agents she sent the novel to, and without knowing how many rejected the novel itself, or just rejected a poor query, it's all meaningless.

The world is filled with poor agents, and with lousy query letters that hide a novel's true potential.

No agent or editor likes saying no to a novel that becomes a bestseller somewhere else. The difference is that it costs the agent money, but it can cost an editor his job.

shaldna said:

This.

Every agent I have dealt with has been polite and professional, even in rejections.

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I'm glad you have never had a negative experience with an agent. I have. I have known agents who were cruel, unprofessional, unethical and one who was mad as a hatter.
On the other hand, I've had rejections from agents that were not form letters, that were insightful and let me down kindly.
And in my opinion, those who are trying to tear down this amazing message of hope are just plain jealous.
It doesn't matter what shape the ms was in when she sent it out. 61 is still 61 and I am encouraged to try harder, submit more, and never take no for an answer.

I need to read this today, thanks.

Dark River said:

And in my opinion, those who are trying to tear down this amazing message of hope are just plain jealous.
It doesn't matter what shape the ms was in when she sent it out. 61 is still 61 and I am encouraged to try harder, submit more, and never take no for an answer.

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I don't think anyone is trying to tear it down, or be jealous, only point out the feel-good story of the article was very, very partial.

61, 125, 2008--nobody said to quit trying, or that what happened did not, they (including myself) only pointed out that there were many, many other variables at play. To ignore those or refuse to consider them will probably only diminish your chances--shit, someone even went so far as to point out that apparently she blew a fair chunk of those queries prematurely, when her book was less polished and researched, and she went bakc to work and fixed it. I don't call that tearing it down, I call that being aware in order to maximize your odds of success. Maybe I mis-read, but I sure as hell didn't see anyone telling you that you should not try harder....

But hey, to each their own.

I know the mods will snip this away but I don't know exactly where to put this. I think it's a great inspirational story for everyone and teaches us to never give up. It's about the woman who wrote The Help, which is now the number 1 movie in America.

http://www.more.com/kathryn-stockett-help-best-seller