When is a reject not a reject?

Oh totally! Make everything a good omen, I mean why not?

Maybe all publishers/agents should do what those people did and wait for so long that we've forgotten all about ever querying them in the first place. Clever ploy I think!

I have a few queries out there, going on four or five months now. I just know tomorrow the phone will ring with an incredible offer. Gotta be!

Love your spirit!

I've gotten those non-reject rejects. Sometimes I didn't even remember I'd submitted to them. I actually got a couple after I got my galleys -- that was how long it took them to reply.

callalily61 said:

What's that current book/movie--The Secret? Isn't it one of those "visualize it as yours and poof! It's yours" thingys?

Everybody--grasp mental hands and VISUALIZE those acceptances. One--two--three--THINK!

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Double pepperoni and extra cheese... double pepperoni and extra cheese... Damn, nothing.

I like to think that the bad news often comes before the really good news to make it really GREAT news. That, and the Toothfairy packs a crowbar for those stubborn incisors.

Don't despair, I believe that you'll find a home for your work. You've got a spot-on eye for detail that won't allow for weak work, and a razor wit. Those translate to talent. The problem now is finding a publisher that appreciates your talent - and doesn't take forever to tell you about it.

Pike

I once got a rejection a whole year after I'd submitted. I'd actually forgotten I'd even submitted to the publication. In the reject, it said they probably wouldn't use my submission. I had to chuckle.

Actually, I'm going on 6 months now with an editor I've talked to a few times. I know she likes me. It's just she is way busy. Editors and Agents get backed up. It can be a very slow business.

Then again, there have been times when my publishers say, "oh we need the final version of your book next week."

They give us the money so they get to make the rules.

johnzakour said:

Then again, there have been times when my publishers say, "oh we need the final version of your book next week."

They give us the money so they get to make the rules.

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Let me guess--then you knock yourself out to do it and they sit on the revisions for 6 more months!

Right after I was offered representation by my agent I was waiting for my contract to arrive and you know what kept arriving instead? Six to ten month old SASE's!!! What the . . .????!!

It was really weird.

I gotta tell you though, it didn't make me feel bad at all.

I once got a rejection after the agent had died. The executor had gone through her mail and sent out the SASEs. That was nice in a way, but to think that agents were rejecting me from the grave was disheartening.

On a related (but less fun) note, when is silence on a partial a rejection? I'm on the 8-10 week mark with a few and I don't know whether to status query, sit still, or write them off. I'm still querying, of course, but still . . .

Pisarz said:

On a related (but less fun) note, when is silence on a partial a rejection? I'm on the 8-10 week mark with a few and I don't know whether to status query, sit still, or write them off. I'm still querying, of course, but still . . .

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Don't do anything yet. I've received both rejections and requests for material as much as a year later. After six months, however, I'd be tempted to rework the query (you probably will anyway, several times!), retitle it, and send it out to those who didn't respond.

I received a request for a partial literally two hours after I sold my book at auction.

True story.

When I wrote the agent back to tell her that the book was sold, she replied with, "Congratulations. I'm surprised your agent could sell anything in this impenetrable fiction market."

Impenetrable. She actually used that word.

Glad I didn't get that request five months earlier.

Pisarz said:

On a related (but less fun) note, when is silence on a partial a rejection? I'm on the 8-10 week mark with a few and I don't know whether to status query, sit still, or write them off. I'm still querying, of course, but still . . .

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Have you researched the agency's normal turn-around time or did they tell you how long it would take?

Birol said:

Have you researched the agency's normal turn-around time or did they tell you how long it would take?

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No info available through research on their agency sites and no "this is my turnaround time" info in the requests from any of the agents in question. I'm guessing it's "no" all-around.

Pisarz said:

No info available through research on their agency sites and no "this is my turnaround time" info in the requests from any of the agents in question. I'm guessing it's "no" all-around.

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There's some turnaround data on some agents here, but it's rather sketchy.

If you research the agent, there are multiple sites where writers list how long responses took from different agencies. Unless you were told "it's only going to take 4-6 weeks," 8-10 weeks sounds too soon to write it off as a non-responder to me, especially on a requested partial, and if they did tell you, "it will only take 4-6 weeks," I still wouldn't write it off as a non-response, but would send a polite follow-up.

Thank you, Julie and Birol!

Yes, give them some extra lag time. They're busy trying to cram all of us into their response loops. I once got a request from Prime for the whole manuscript because they loved what they had. The editor wrote glowing comments and said the book fit right into their lineup. Problem is, the book was sold a week prior to a smaller house. My lack of patience in this instance cost me a bigger deal, I'm sure.

Tri

janetbellinger said:

I once got a rejection a whole year after I'd submitted. I'd actually forgotten I'd even submitted to the publication. In the reject, it said they probably wouldn't use my submission. I had to chuckle.

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Wow. What if they sent out letters saying they probably would use the ones they were interested in?

I got one of these about a week ago. Not so coincidentally, it was sent the last day 39 cent stamps would still be accepted.