One down; how many to go?

Today I got my first rejection, from Donald Maass. he was the first agent I queried, as he specialises in people in my situation: already published, and reinventing themselves. He had a 50-page partial, no synopsis (as he didn't ask for one) which is a pity as the outcome may not be quite what he thinks. Oh well. I have a second choice of agent whom I find very exciting; she's less high-profiled but sounds perfect for me, and I've only been waiting for this rejection to send off my next query. And I've been revising furiously since writing those pages, so this time it's far better.
Here's what Maass wrote:

Thank you for sending the first 50 pages of White Night. I appreciate your patience while I’ve considered your project.

You write with practiced ease. These pages are not work to read. At the same time neither did they inspire in me great care in Zena or her journey. With the outcome of her story and the White Night historically know, I think I’d need to be more riveted from page one. Unfortunately, I’d better pass.

Thanks again, however, for thinking of me. Please accept my best wishes for your project’s success.

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arkady said:

Like the others who've already responded, all I've ever gotten from Maass is the standard form rejections. If I'd gotten a detailed response like yours, I'd be singing hosannas for the rest of the day.

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hmmm... yes. yet that remark about "the known outcome" has kinda made me think it was a stoopid idea to begin with.

Thanks for all the encouragement; and yes, if "known outcome" were the criteria lots of books based on history wouldn't have been written.
My next submission is to the opposite of Maass: a tiny boutique agency, but sounds perfect for me. I just need to get that ms perfect...

Jamesaritchie said:

But I don't think many people saw the end of "Titantic" coming. It did not end with the ship sinking. It wasn't even really about the ship sinking. The story was about the people in the ship, not about the ship itself.

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And that's exactly the same with my story. It's actually not "about" the historical event itself; it's about the character, her story, how the event affects her life and changes her and the people around her. The event is only the background; it's about her.