I've had that one . . .

Same here! I think, "oh, that's such-and-such agency." Given that the form rejections are all variations on the same theme, it is kind of weird when you realize that you can identify them by name . . .

I actually got insulted by a publisher once in a rejection (via my agent) he said he found my Man's Guide to Pregnancy, "repulse and insulting to women". This was a case where a simple form “no thanks” really would have worked better.

It kind of hurt my feelings as that certainly wasn't the intent of the book -- it's meant to be insulting (in a nice way) to men. The book went on to sell over 10,000 copies (with another publisher) so I guess it wasn't that bad.

johnzakour said:

I actually got insulted by a publisher once in a rejection (via my agent) he said he found my Man's Guide to Pregnancy, "repulse and insulting to women". This was a case where a simple form “no thanks” really would have worked better.

It kind of hurt my feelings as that certainly wasn't the intent of the book -- it's meant to be insulting (in a nice way) to men. The book went on to sell over 10,000 copies (with another publisher) so I guess it wasn't that bad.

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Ouch, that sucks. Glad you showed him, though. One of my favorite authors, Shannon Hale, said in an interview that an editor once told her that her work was "stiff, unimaginative, and clichéd" (or something along those lines.) But now she's a very successful author with a wide fan base.

I've received a few rejections in the last weeks that are nearly identical, all from different agencies.

Yeah, the NY Times reviewed a video game I wrote and called me a "writer of slight ability", but I kind of expected that after all I write "humorous pulp sf." Getting dissed on by a publisher, that's something completely different. Oh well, that's water under the bridge.

Like I said before, I don't mind being rejected, everybody gets rejected, it's part of the deal.

I would have preferred a simple "No thanks". There was no need to get personal. Obviously the book had some market. I've met a lot of women who have read the book they all seemed to enjoy it.

Oh well, that was a couple of years ago and I'm over it now. Really I am. Really. He was probably just having a bad day.

I often wonder if there's some agency who's job it is to write form letters and send them out to publishers. They're all worded the same!!!

The form rejections I'm getting lately are all kind of deferential. They're careful not to say anything derogatory about the writing. The agents almost blame themselves for being too limited in their imaginations to take me on.

"Not right for my list."
"Just didn't fall in love with it."
"Just don't think I could sell this."
"I'm not taking on anyone new right now."


I've had a few very specific rejections (though nobody has asked me yet to rewrite and resubmit, which is another level), although in time most of these wound up cancelling each other out; ie: "Didn't like the main character." "Loved the main character." "The writing is very strong." "I found the writing too dense."

That's why they say to just keep submitting and try not to pay attention to anything but an offer (or an offer to see a specific rewrite).