Your First Ever Rejection for Novel?

It was a paper form rejection saying they weren't currently accepting new clients (their website said otherwise--they changed it a few weeks after I queried). I was annoyed that they couldn't be bothered to change their website immediately so people didn't waste their time, but it didn't really hurt my feelings.

Rejection doesn't really bother me, though. I think my arrogance protects me. Deep down I really *do* believe I'll succeed, and that all the people who rejected me early on will kick themselves for it.

First reject for me was a personal rejection. The first paragraph of my synopsis was crossed out and an arrow pointed to my second paragraph with the words, "Your story starts here." (Don't worry, this was followed by plenty of form rejections. Oh, who am I kidding, it's still being followed by plenty of form rejections.)

For whatever it's worth, rejection letters tend to be way wordier than requests. Get enough of them and you'll start getting a good laugh because sometimes they're written as if every author receiving them was teetering on the edge of sanity: "It's not you, it's totally me. Your book has lots of good things in it, so definitely submit elsewhere and please don't come knocking on my door in revenge." (Okay, none of them actually said that, but some spent so much space telling me how subjective the business is that it made me worry what kinds of crazy responses the agents must've gotten from authors in the past to write a form rejection like that.)

Welcome to the club and may you feel the joy of an editor scribbling notes on your submission in the very near future.

Katrina S. Forest said:

Get enough of them and you'll start getting a good laugh because sometimes they're written as if every author receiving them was teetering on the edge of sanity: "It's not you, it's totally me. Your book has lots of good things in it, so definitely submit elsewhere and please don't come knocking on my door in revenge." (Okay, none of them actually said that, but some spent so much space telling me how subjective the business is that it made me worry what kinds of crazy responses the agents must've gotten from authors in the past to write a form rejection like that.)

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I know! I've already had a few good laughs at forms which were longer than my query.

They seem to have gotten much more elaborate over the last six years.

And yeah, the requests are one short sentence.

Just had a look through the dregs of my email inbox, and my first rejection was from Diane Banks almost exactly 3 years ago. I think I found the experience fairly traumatic at the time, but the fact I had to look it up means I have since developed a nicely thickened hide. I framed my first paper rejection too, it was too much of an excitement to throw away. I was like 'they took me seriously enough to fold up a bit of paper and put it in my postage paid envelope. WOOOOO!'

See it as a badge of honour – you’re a real writer now. A surprisingly small proportion of wannabe writers make it this far and are brave enough to put their work out there for consideration. With time, it gets easier in the way that waxing your legs gets easier. Still hurts like a bitch but I can do it without crying now.

Although, looking up my old queries has sent me scuttling for the wine – did I really write ‘I am a real-life mad scientist, but I can promise I rarely experiment on living people like the characters in my book!’ No wonder they rejected me!

My first book rejection was--1983? Somewhere in there. Back when Baen was just starting out and Jim still had the time to respond to people personally.

My Fantasy was rejected because it had "cutesy dragons and elves that lived in trees". (Still remember that verbatim.)

My favorite rejection was when I sent in a Romance novel in 2005, saying in the cover letter that it was inspired by Weber's Phantom of the Opera. The letter rejected the story I'd submitted but asked me to send the full ms of the inspired story.

I still giggle over that one.

My first rejection was personalized. If I'd known any better, I would have been pleased and surprised. Instead I was sad but hopeful. Then I discovered the fine art of the revenge query.

Rejections are wordier than requests for more materials. Some of them make me smile in their bent-over-backwards attempts to sound as much like a gentle break-up as possible.

Ten years ago, I wanted the best agent available, so I went after was Donald Maass. I was rejected. And I can honestly say, I don't blame him because at the time I was not ready for even a newbie agent with no credentials...

I don't remember if my first rejection was a form or not but I was EXCITED. Getting a rejection meant I was putting myself out there and I was one more "no" closer to acceptance (or so I like to tell myself). To me it was a sign I was getting closer to my dream, that my ms was no longer for my/my betas' eyes only.

With the above poster; I saw getting a rejection as proof of my very mature adultness. Lawlz.

But after the first, it was all pretty much boring. I mean, all the rejections themselves have been boring, so as soon as I see the first few words of the email, I sort of pass over it. Sad for a moment, yes, but eh. Only personalized one I've ever gotten was for a short story, and that one went something like "I couldn't reconcile the dissonance between fart fairies and torture" or whatever. Which I guess I understand.

Once I get several dozen more rejections, I spect it will start to gouge at me, though...

It was 26 years ago--typed up and sent. It was called Cave Island, and I'm pretty sure it went to Zebra. I think.

tri

sarahctt said:

Just received mine (Btw, I'm new to the boards and new to this whole querying process so hello)!

I knew it was coming and from reading all these posts, I was trying to build up a thick wall but man - I still felt all the breath rush out of me. It hurt. I kept re-reading it too, as if I expected it to magically change into a "yes! we'd love to see your manuscript!" lol. Kind of completely pathetic, I know.

Just wondering if y'all could share your "first" rejection experience too, take a trip down memory lane, haha. How'd y'all get to be such pros at this?

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Welcome. Sorry. Congratulations.

Welcome to AW! Sorry you received a rejection! Congratulations for putting yourself out there!


My first was from a small Canadian press. It was SO promising. I had an editor take the manuscript to an acquisitions meeting with other editors. Mine made it to the top 2 for the last spot in their next year's line-up. The vote didn't go my way. )-:

It was later published by another small Canadian publisher. (-:

My first ever query letter actually netted me a partial request. The agent never got back to me and only officially rejected after four months and several nudges. By then I'd seen enough rejections to fill my first digital nail (bonus points if you know what the hell I'm talking about).

mayqueen said:

My first rejection was personalized. If I'd known any better, I would have been pleased and surprised. Instead I was sad but hopeful. Then I discovered the fine art of the revenge query.

Rejections are wordier than requests for more materials. Some of them make me smile in their bent-over-backwards attempts to sound as much like a gentle break-up as possible.

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I haven't sent anything out to be rejected yet but I was wondering what a revenge query is lol

My first rejection was 6 years ago. I had only sent out one. Lol! It was a "dear author" form, four sentences long, and signed by multiple agents. I cried and didn't send out another one for a year! And to this day, I still feel sick at the notion of sending that agency a query. Lol!

Mine was the typical "Unfortunately we are not taking any new clients at this time..." form letter. Ah well lol.

My first rejection was back in the day when ACTUAL PAPER QUERIES were the only game in town. One afternoon my self-addressed stamped envelope appeared in the mailbox. Did it hold a personal response? No. Did it hold a form rejection? No. Did it hold my own query letter with a big red NO dashed across the top. Yes. Yes, it did.

I probably sniffled. Now I laugh.

Hendo said:

I haven't sent anything out to be rejected yet but I was wondering what a revenge query is lol

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It's when you immediately send out a new query to someone else on your list. It's revenge because you're like, "Hey, if you don't like it, maybe this agent will!" So, it isn't really revenge. It's just getting back on the horse.

My first one was brutal. It said something along the lines of: 'women won't read this, and men won't buy this. Could be wrong, could be a bestseller.'

Ouch.

I wish I had more rejections, but I took a long break from writing - 14 years - and now I'm just getting back into it. I'm looking forward to a lot more rejections in my future. (As it means I'm actually submitting things.)

gothicangel said:

My first one was brutal. It said something along the lines of: 'women won't read this, and men won't buy this. Could be wrong, could be a bestseller.'

Ouch.

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Yes, ouch. I guess I should feel less bad about the nearly-identical form letters from two separate agencies...

Mine I can't say hurt, but it was because I wasn't expecting to get accepted. However, I wonder if that factors into my query-writing, even if it's unconscious. There's a chance I'm sabotaging myself or something...

However, as others have said, keep trying. Everyone likes different things and agents are people too, with their own preferences and peeves... There's nothing out there that every single person likes...

My first rejection came from Liz Dawson a day or two ago. It was a one-line rejection of my query only -- her agency doesn't request that you include pages.

It was the first literary agent rejection that I have received, but not my first agent rejection overall. Nope, I have received many, many rejections from agents and managers who represent television writers, to the point where I am surprised to receive any interest at all.

A rejection can be disheartening, but to me, stony silence is even worse.