Form Rejections vs. Personalized Rejections

benacrow

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 22, 2019
Messages
59
Reaction score
0
Location
Seattle
I've been sending queries out to agents for the past several months and have received numerous rejections thus far (30+, many more pending). While actually hearing a response is a welcome respite from the job market (lucky to hear 1 response out of hundreds of applications), I'm not sure if the responses I'm receiving are actually tailored responses, or just flattering form rejections.

I've done some research on form rejections, but couldn't quite seem to find the generic response, so I figured I'd share the gist of what I've been hearing and see if others have had similar responses.

The majority of agent responses to my queries (YA fantasy) have been one of these two: 'Unfortunately, this is not the best fit for my list at this time' and 'I don't feel I'm the right agent for this project'.

At first, these responses didn't seem to be as generic as I was thinking, but after multiples of similar responses, I'm beginning to think otherwise.
 

Maggie Maxwell

Making Einstein cry since 1994
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 21, 2013
Messages
11,681
Reaction score
10,337
Location
In my head
Website
thewanderingquille.blogspot.com
Those sound like forms to me. Personalized should say things specifically related to your story, such as "While I like Carol's characterization and the drama between her and Steve, the overall plot isn't grabbing me." or "The beginning spends too much time talking about Carol's history to push me to read further." They'll be, well, personalized to your story.
 

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman
Super Moderator
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 12, 2005
Messages
22,454
Reaction score
4,956
Location
In chaos
They are form rejections. Personalised ones mention specific things about your work.
 

benacrow

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 22, 2019
Messages
59
Reaction score
0
Location
Seattle
Those sound like forms to me. Personalized should say things specifically related to your story, such as "While I like Carol's characterization and the drama between her and Steve, the overall plot isn't grabbing me." or "The beginning spends too much time talking about Carol's history to push me to read further." They'll be, well, personalized to your story.

They are form rejections. Personalised ones mention specific things about your work.

Ah, thank you for the clarification. Then yes, still waiting on some personalized rejections...
 

ShouldBeWriting

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 14, 2018
Messages
245
Reaction score
22
If it helps, I got only form rejections or requests... no personalized rejections. Good luck!
 

Introversion

Pie aren't squared, pie are round!
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Messages
10,642
Reaction score
14,865
Location
Massachusetts
I've gotten three personalized rejections for short story submissions, all of them pretty short.

1. "Your opening scenes were beguiling, but you lost me when you switched viewpoints." (It was a framed story. The opening viewpoint was just there to introduce the main viewpoint. There was no way the opening viewpoint character was going to tell the story, as it wasn't his story.)

2. "Your world-building was excellent and vivid, but the story felt too detached for our publication." (In what ways, detached? Didn't say.)

3. One that included comments from four readers that really liked it, but "competition is tight and there were others we liked better." (I guess that was nice, but "no" is still "no" and there weren't any suggestions for making it more salable.)

I suppose those kinds of rejections beat a Dear Writer rejection, but they didn't really inform what to do next, yanno?
 

Katrina S. Forest

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 24, 2009
Messages
2,053
Reaction score
280
Website
katrinasforest.com
I've sometimes suspected that certain agents have two different form rejections--the one where they want to encourage the author to send future works, and the one where they just need to say no politely.

Either that, or some forms rejections are just straight-up false.

I'm thinking of the ones that say, "While I found your premise intriguing..." or "Your opening was good, but..."

There is no way everything that crosses an agent's desk has a good opening and/or intriguing premise. ^_^
 

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman
Super Moderator
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 12, 2005
Messages
22,454
Reaction score
4,956
Location
In chaos
Most agents I've asked have a few form rejections, which they use in rotation. They try to say something positive and encouraging in them, as they are so used to receiving abuse from rejected writers.

They will often say that writers are free to submit subsequent works to them, as that helps soften the blow.