Anyones opinion re rejection after request for full?

Welcome to the forum!

I'd suggest having several beta readers taking a look at it, to see if they think the end dies away from the rest of the book. If this has happened several times, my inclination is to think that they're seeing something you're not. We're all a bit blind sometimes when it comes to our babies.

Assuming you have already examined your story, and also, perhaps have run it past several beta readers, and you have submitted a product that you are satisfied with, I am going to suggest that the reason for your rejection is beyond your control.

I was dealt ten full manuscript rejections before getting an offer- and though I did get more than a stock "no thanks", I found the reasons to be vague and varied, but they all boiled down to the same thing - the agent did not feel as though he/she could SELL it.

You don't say what your book is about, but in my experience, if you are getting full requests after partial readings, more than likely your rejections have more to do with marketability than your writing ability, or storytelling ability. And if that is the case, you just have to keep at it until you bump into the agent who has the vision, and the connections to sell the book.

I think, when faced with a book that does not fit in any given or specific niche in the publishing world, it is easier for an agent to say "no thanks", than to take a chance.

You have to find that one agent. It's hard.

I seriously doubt an agent would request it and then never read it. Most agents request far more partials than they do fulls and far more fulls than they sign. I would seriously consider finding some good beta readers, because with multiple rejections on the full, well, something's not working.

Some things are beyond your control, but the manuscript isn't. I find that attitude self defeating.

Hearing that an agent wants to read the full manuscript is exciting. I know. Hearing that, well "[he/she] isn't entusiastic enough about the project," well, that's like swallowing an anchor. Been there. Done that. The fact that any agent requests a full bodes well. I go along with the others here who suggest you find several good beta readers and let them have at it. Maybe your dialogue is a little stale. Maybe one of your MC's could use a little fleshing out. Whatever the cause, something's prompting the agents to look and say, "No thanks." You're obviously good at whatever you're doing, but it always helps to have someone -- not your best friend or your sister --take a good look at what you've written.

I was really pumped when I finished my first novel and heard my best friend gush over the characters' relationships and the texture of the piece. THEN...I made some contacts here and one of them offered to BETA. She did, she let me have it, and I cried, but I now have a far more commercial piece of work and received four requests for full manuscript within two weeks. Whether all four agents will reject the full, I have no way of knowing, but one has already called to feel me out, so I have great hopes. Just hang in there. You'll find the right one at the right time. Fingers crossed.

The key is to remember that agents and editors read a bijillion manuscripts everyday. If yours doesn't fly off the page and grab them by the throat then they pass it on to the next. They don't necessarily have the time or luxury of commenting on the "way's and why not's" which sucks for us, but is a reality.

But, if you're getting full requests then it's only a matter of time before you get some positive feedback and/ or a sale. The beta advice from above is great. Get as many opinions as you can about your work until you get a rounded idea as to what's happening in the reader's eyes.

Good luck (but it sounds like you don't need it )

Pike

humor me said:

It's a mystery and a love story, written in a humorous tone. Regarding the sellability, I assumed an agent would determine that at the beginning of the review process - from the query, synopsis, and initial chapters - perhaps they found it intriguing but - well, who knows.

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My agent told me she can usually tell if she is interested within the first twenty or so pages, but she can never know whether or not she wants to sell it until she reads the entire manuscript. She tells me she rejects the majority (99.9%) of the fulls that she requests due to either a "sagging" middle, or an unsatisfactory or unmarketable ending.

You should really run your manuscript by a few beta readers.

Frustrated by agents

This thread resonates with me because I find myself in the same frustrating boat as several of you. I finished my 105,000 women's novel more than a year ago. Since January '07 I've had requests for 11 partials and 8 fulls! The rejections I've received have a common theme: I'm talented, gifted, etc. and the plot's captivating, the premise interesting, characters well-drawn and sympathetic, settings diverse and dialogue believable. There's always a however, however. One agent thought it was too "romancy" for her taste yet she admitted that she read every word despite that. Another loved it but didn't see it as a breakout novel. I've done the partial and full request dance so many times I could win Dancing With the Stars! But I'm increasingly frustrated. My novel's been read by two writers and a copy editor and I've happily made revisions based on their comments and those of some agents. I know I have what one agent assistant described as "a hell of a read," but how can I sell it if no one offers representation? I'm absolutely convinced that I don't want to do this unagented. Help!

If it isn't your breakout novel, write another one. I don't mean that in a bad way, but while you're stressing over this one you could be taking everything you've learned and write a stronger novel, or one with a better hook. Then the other one could be your second book.

harriet47 said:

This thread resonates with me because I find myself in the same frustrating boat as several of you. I finished my 105,000 women's novel more than a year ago. Since January '07 I've had requests for 11 partials and 8 fulls! Another loved it but didn't see it as a breakout novel. Help!

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I'm just quoting--and bolding--what I find interesting here. And this goes for Humor Me, the OP, too. I wouldn't scrap it and start another one. You've had more requests for partials and fulls than a lot of people. (I can just guess who didn't see it as a breakout novel.) Anyway, my two cents: Step back. Let the novel rest for awhile. A month, two months. Write other things. Poems, short stories, essays, another book. Then go back and reread it. Out loud even. You might see where you can make it more of an eye-catcher or seller. As for agents and beta readers and editors: they all have their own opinions on what works, what doesn't, what they like, what they don't. Ultimately, it's your writing, your gift for writing, and that's what makes it your novel.

I didn't say scrap it. I said use all the stuff you learned writing it and getting advice from agents and revising, and write another one. In the two months while it's resting they could've finished another manuscript.

Oops, sorry, bethany, wasn't meaning you said to scrap it.

I sympathize with you all. I've just started the process in January - got a request for 2 fulls and a partial. I'm bracing for the inevitable: 'I just don't think this is for me, but my opinion is subjective so I encourage you to submit to others' or something a long those lines.

My advice: start writing something else. Take up painting. Do photography. Get your mind off it for a while.

I have no idea how much research you've already done, but researching more agents couldn't hurt. I've been in a 6-month research mode of reading books to find more like mine and then researching the agents who sold them. Don't know yet if it's paid off, but I hope it will.