Need Cheering Up :(

Only your fifth? You can't wallpaper a toilet with five rejections. Get back sending them out. You've probably had a break from the ms for a while too, so go back and look at it with fresh eyes and, imagining you've never been introduced to these characters before, see if you could fall in love with them. If not see if you can add a little more.

On the other hand, she could just be the wrong agent for you so keep sending it out there. Don't know any agents names sorry, but don't give up. At least double figures before you even think of throwing in the towel. And not even then.

Sorry to hear about your latest rejection!!

Have you looked at Agentquery.com?

Do the full search and it will help you research agents, who represent YA.

Good luck!

Hey Maddy - sorry to hear that, but cheer up. 5 rejections is nothing - keep sending it out!

Hey Maddy cheer up. Don't let a few rejections get you down. If you have faith in your work, are a decent writer, then you'll find an agent who will fall in love with you and your writing.

Best of luck and be happy!

Spooky

Five? Heck, you're still a virgin! I know it hurts. They always hurt, whether it's your first or your seven-thousand, five hundred and ninety second. But check agentquery.com for more agents, and submit, submit, submit !

And write more of them, lather, rinse, repeat

Hey, Maddie,
Here's virtual chocolate. Always helps me. Anyway, agentquery.com is great because you can do a search for agents who rep YA.

Also, Stephen Barbara of the Donald Maass Literary Agency just mentioned on another writer's web site that he'll consider YA fantasy.

There are many, many, great reputable agents out there. Go for it!

That stinks! And I truly do feel your pain

I wrote a long thought out thread about how well I am adjusting to the rejection I got from an agent today, but I am a fraud! And you are worthy of a full blown pity party for fessing up to how much rejection sucks.



In truth, I think the only recourse we have for making it suck less, is to assess the damage and get back in the game. I'm game if your game

I am joining you in the pity department. It sucks.
We must keep writing though, so they tell me. For now-- it's pity party time!!!!

Rejection does suck, but as far as rejection goes, this one seemed pretty good. Saying it was well written is a huge compliment. That means you get a big ole' "GOOD WRITER" award. Just because this particular agent doesn't fall in love with the character doesn't mean a thing. I believe love of a character is more subjective than the quality of writing.

Keep on hanging in there. Start sending out more queries. Remember, five is not a lot. I've been rejected by over 20 agents, but there are still more out there, who I'm eagerly awaiting replies from. One of these may be right for me, and the other agents you send queries to might be right for you.

Maddy,


I think the fact the agent said it was well-written should be a boost to your self-esteem. Agents, in my experience, do not give half-hearted praise.

I know the feeling of rejection is hard, but try to remember what the agent said about the work and about how she felt about it. Publishing is a very subjective business....or so several agents have told me....and much of it depends on personal taste.

In other words, I hope you'll continue to submit the work. You must be a good writer, or the agent would never have told you you were. Now what matters is finding the right agent for your work.


A good place I've found which gives information on agents and agencies, and their practices, as well as their preferences, is AgentQuery.com. It looks up agents by the genre you're working in, if I remember correctly, and it gives detailed information about an agent's preferences, if they hold to certain standards of ethics, etc. I have found it to be a good resource.


I hope this helps, and good luck to you.

It's three weeks until your 14th birthday and an agent praised the first bit of your novel??? No pity for you - Congratulations! You're well on your way. I'm saving my pity for the older folks who are running out of time. Cheer up and get back to work! I'm sure you're going to find representation. Happy Birthday!

Yeah, congrats! I wish I had something that well praised by my 14th. Anyway, I keep my rejects (into the high 20s now) in an envelope marked "Agents Who Are Out of Their F&@king Mind!" My wife won't let me wallpaper the bathroom with them.

Also, take note, I read on another message board - one poster there was rejected by 117 agents before she found representation. I don't know if I should cheer or cry.

Begbie said:

It's three weeks until your 14th birthday and an agent praised the first bit of your novel??? No pity for you - Congratulations! You're well on your way. I'm saving my pity for the older folks who are running out of time. Cheer up and get back to work! I'm sure you're going to find representation. Happy Birthday!

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Wow, just noticed your ticker, maddie! I'm impressed. You're already far ahead of many others who are older than you. You've not only finished a novel (hard to do), you must have written a compelling query (very hard to do), and enticed an agent with the first part of the book (extremely hard to do). Congratulations on what you have accomplished!

Five rejections? Keep sending out those queries. And keep writing!

She liked the first part and she said the book was well-written, so congratulations on a good start.

Good advice from the other posters, so i won't repeat. But I think Stormie mentioned chocolate. A cup of coffee goes very well with choc.

I think you're doing an excellent job, far better than most people I know your age. Keep up the good work and don't let these be stumbling blocks . . . let them pave the path toward your eventual goal.

You're doing a whole lot better than some of us out here, so take heart. I've been rejected more times than I care to share. And to top it off, I find out now that my query was awful, so somehow I've got to start from scratch.

It sounds like to me, you're in pretty good shape. She liked it and that's a great start.

Keep the faith!!

Erika

Maddy, I think I stopped requiring kleenex to read my rejections after the tenth one. Do keep sending queries out-- my kids are in desperate need of good YA novels to read!