Form rejection on full. Is it okay to ask for feedback?

Girlsgottawrite

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I just received a rejection on a requested full. It was a form letter which is disappointing because I was really hoping I'd at least get some critique. Anyway, would it be in bad taste to write him back and just ask if he has any feedback to give, or should I just let it go?
 

Maggie Maxwell

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Just let it go. If it's a form, then the agent just wasn't sold. They don't owe us an explanation, as much as we all wish they did. Critique is more work for them, and if the agent didn't have the time or inclination to give it, then it's not our place to ask for it. I'm sorry for the form R.
 

Aggy B.

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In general, you don't respond to rejections to ask questions. (Even if you're polite, the folks most likely to do that tend to be stalkery/obsessive/abusive types, and you don't want to suggest to an agent that you might be on the verge of mailing a box of cat turds to his office because he didn't think your book was marvelous.) It's really not about what you do or say in asking for feedback, as it is about what they might be afraid you'll do or say based on the small percentage of bad ones out there.

Also, form rejections are always disappointing and it's easy to think the agent was being careless or lazy by not saying anything detailed. (Not that you are saying that, but I see that attitude fairly frequently from folks who are querying. "They took a month to read my full, the least they could do is give me notes on my MS." or the like.) But, if they aren't giving you anything other than a form there is a possibility that there isn't anything they can say that would be constructive. Some manuscripts are just fine, but they just don't grip an agent in a way that makes them think they could represent it enthusiastically. And trying to come up with a "reason" could cause you to change something that really doesn't need changing. Or that might have made that one agent a little happier to see, but isn't a flaw, just a personal preference.

Best of luck as you continue querying. It can be a slog sometimes, but be patient and hopefully you will find that agent who really loves your book as much as you do AND can put it in front of the right editors.
 

Girlsgottawrite

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Thanks! That's what I thought you'd say. I'm just upset. I just worry that the form means he didn't think it was good enough to warrant feedback, and/ or he didn't get far into the MS. I'm finding this process to be very hard on my already crappy self-esteem.
 

Maggie Maxwell

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:Hug2: It's something everyone faces eventually. Yes, it hurts, but ultimately, reading queries and fulls aren't the top things on an agent's to-do list. Unless the full is for a client, it's all pretty near the bottom. Adding comments and critique is even more work that's not on the top of their list and between them and their higher projects. Like Aggy said, too, for some, adding critique is leaving them open for abuse from people who aren't as level-headed as us. She's not exaggerating about the stalking/obsessive/box of cat turds. That happens far more often than it ever should. Saying "I liked it, but this, this, and that didn't work for me." opens the agent up to "Well, if I change it, will you read it again? Please make this an R&R! I'll come to your office if I have to!" "That's it? Why didn't you just accept it then and tell me to fix it after?! You're an idiot!" and "How dare they criticize my perfection. Come here, Mister Fluffy, time for a high fiber diet." It's easier and sometimes safer just to send a form rejection. Blame the people like that for the form, accept that the agent has their reasons for sending a form, and keep trying with other agents. You clearly have something if you managed to get a full request. :)
 

Fuchsia Groan

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Thanks! That's what I thought you'd say. I'm just upset. I just worry that the form means he didn't think it was good enough to warrant feedback, and/ or he didn't get far into the MS. I'm finding this process to be very hard on my already crappy self-esteem.

It is hard! But don't take this personally or assume dire things about your ms. until you have more data points. Many years ago, I got a form rejection on a full after the agent had requested (and I had granted) an exclusive. I had to nudge even for the R. After that, I learned to care less about each full I sent out. If the agent connected, great. If they never even sent a form R, too bad, and I moved on.

Maybe the agent clicked with your query and concept, but not with your voice. Maybe the agent's assistant loved your pages but the agent didn't. Maybe the agent changed her mind about the concept. If this keeps happening, I'd suggest seeking feedback from someone who knows the market and your genre, but don't panic over one form full rejection.

ETA: And what Aggy and Maggie say is so true: Feedback takes time and could open the agent to unwelcome further correspondence. Their strategy for dealing with an overflowing inbox doesn't say anything about you in particular. I queried a lot of agents on three different books and sent a fair number of fulls, but only once did I get a rejection with substantial, personalized feedback before I found my current agent.
 
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Cyia

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Thanks! That's what I thought you'd say. I'm just upset. I just worry that the form means he didn't think it was good enough to warrant feedback, and/ or he didn't get far into the MS.

It's easy to assume this, but there's not legit reason to. The "full / form" response is a direct casualty of the people who have insulted, cursed at, belittled, harassed, and threatened violence upon agents who have rejected them. Curating feedback is an intense process, and there's no sense in an agent using their free time and energy for that purpose if there's a high chance that they'll be abused in return. This is one case where you can honestly know "It's not me, it's them," with the "them" being the ones who throw tantrums.

(There was an incident a few years ago where one would-be client showed up at the rejecting-agent's child's school during parent-pick-up time. Another, where a woman and her boyfriend padlocked an agent into a bathroom at a convention so the woman could pitch her book "personally," and yet another where the author's pitch was to remind the agent/publisher (can't remember which) that if someone kidnapped their kid and ransomed them with publication, they'd publish the book. We're not talking basic name-calling here.)
 

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The thing about form rejections is that there's nothing to read into them. It might mean anything from, "This agent always gives forms" to "This agent thought it was good but not amazingsauce and doesn't have a reason behind it" to "It turned out not to be this agent's cup of tea, but it might be someone else's" to "This agent couldn't get past page 11, so they had nothing to say." You don't know which it is, so there's no reason to stress about the fact that it's a form.
 

Girlsgottawrite

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(There was an incident a few years ago where one would-be client showed up at the rejecting-agent's child's school during parent-pick-up time. Another, where a woman and her boyfriend padlocked an agent into a bathroom at a convention so the woman could pitch her book "personally," and yet another where the author's pitch was to remind the agent/publisher (can't remember which) that if someone kidnapped their kid and ransomed them with publication, they'd publish the book. We're not talking basic name-calling here.)

Holy Cow! That is insane!

Thank you so much! You all made me feel a lot better. This whole process is sooooo stressful! I constantly vacillate between: I am an awesome writer, and I suck. Often in the same breath. This forum is a life-saver! :)
 

Shoeless

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(There was an incident a few years ago where one would-be client showed up at the rejecting-agent's child's school during parent-pick-up time. Another, where a woman and her boyfriend padlocked an agent into a bathroom at a convention so the woman could pitch her book "personally," and yet another where the author's pitch was to remind the agent/publisher (can't remember which) that if someone kidnapped their kid and ransomed them with publication, they'd publish the book. We're not talking basic name-calling here.)

This... is absolutely terrifying. I can't believe people have gone to these lengths over their own book.
 

Siri Kirpal

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What everyone said.

Also, some agents simply don't respond at all if they aren't going to offer on the full. So...hard as it is, you can chalk this one up to an agent that's too polite to leave you on tenderhooks.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

Filigree

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You finished a manuscript and polished it, that makes you awesomesauce.

Beyond that, a 'no' is a 'no' regardless of how it's dressed up in critique or form language. Does it suck that a requesting agent didn't offer feedback? Sure...but think of it like this: if they don't fall in *total luuurve* with your book, they won't fight for it. A meh agent can hurt your career.
 

Thedrellum

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Agreeing with everyone else, and also chiming in to say that one of my ways to deal with rejection was to immediately send another query or two out. Doing that gave me something else to set my mind to (other than writing the next book).

Also: You got a full request! That means an agent liked your query and/or sample pages enough to dive into the whole thing! That's a major step (and one you can hold up in triumph whenever you start thinking badly about yourself as a writer)! Now you just need to keep going until you find the agent who can't put your full manuscript down, locks themselves in their office, and cancels all appointments in order to finish what you've sent.
 

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What everyone said.

Also, some agents simply don't respond at all if they aren't going to offer on the full. So...hard as it is, you can chalk this one up to an agent that's too polite to leave you on tenderhooks.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

This is so true. I had requests for fulls after I advised I'd had an offer-including several 'I'll read this straight away/over the weekend/tonight' requests, but then did not receive a response from several of these agents. Zilcho. It was odd, the utter silence after such enthusiastic e-mails. Could it be because I tried to kidnap them in the toilet?

The 'no response on fulls' can continue after you have an agent, alas, though it seems less likely. I think it depends on your agent's relationship with editors. My former agent had several non-responders on fulls, leaving us annoyed but resigned. I think the best thing to do is move forward with querying somebody else. HTH