Just bummed out today

A.P.M. · Mar 4, 2013

I've been querying various books for a long time, and I've gotten probably over a dozen or so rejections on fulls.

Most of the time, the rejections are straight up form rejects-"it's not for me," type dealies, very obviously form.

Biting your fingernails for weeks waiting for a response, and then getting a form reject, really hurts. I got one today after four months of waiting, and finally nudged, only to get the form reject. I usually write back a quick thank you with a polite request, if they have time, to give me any feedback, but I've only gotten that coveted feedback twice. Usually nothing comes of it, which I understand given how busy agents are, but...I don't know, after a full I expect more than a form.

I'm just tired of those. I also see people posting that the same agents who form rejected me gave them very nice feedback, and it makes me wonder if I'm doing something wrong in my correspondence and pissing them off, or if my writing is just so terrible that they never want to leave the door open for me again.

I know I should stay positive, and I have gotten positive feedback on my writing from agents before, but...man, it sucks to be so close and yet so far.

Anyway, that was my sad rant for the day. I feel marginally better now.

quicklime · Mar 5, 2013

APM, everyone finds their own things that work for them, but I can honestly say I've learned more about both queries and just plain writing from spending a shit-ton of time in QLH than I have anyplace, or EVERYPLACE else. Maybe try critting three queries a day for three weeks, see if you feel like it has helped? Your queries are obviously doing ok if you have a dozen fulls rejected, but it might help you with whatever is giving you grief in the long-form writing, if there's something you can fix on your end. IT could also be bad luck/fit/whatever, but hey, might be worth a shot.

Araenvo · Mar 6, 2013

The pits are the pits, and it sucks - all you can do is force yourself to remember that most writers here who have agents were through this exact thing, and when the moment comes, you can look back. Experiences grows and knowledge is gained whatever you do.

Fuchsia Groan · Mar 6, 2013

I agree with quicklime that critiquing queries (or even just reading other people's crits) is super-helpful. So is critting in the SYW for your genre, and posting there, if you haven't already. It really helps you see what does and doesn't work in the first few pages of a book. And it can pay to keep polishing that first chapter, or first several chapters, to make sure they entice agents to read on.

That said, a dozen full requests is more than I ever got querying two books, so keep sending them out, and don't let form letters get you down!

Chris P · Mar 6, 2013

Yeah, that sucks. And yeah, I wish I had gotten a dozen fulls, but then I'd just have a higher class of problems with a dozen rejections on fulls!

I need to spend more time reading and critting in QLH. Just when I think I know what works and what doesn't, I hit another low and wonder if I've learned anything at all. The good news is, I'm not breaking any of the "XX Things Not to Do when Querying" anymore. I used to think some of those were good ideas! So I must be improving, and I'm sure you are too.

Just bummed out today

A.P.M.

quicklime

all out of fucks to give

Araenvo

Author

Fuchsia Groan

Becoming a laptop-human hybrid

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred