First three rejections on my novel

writerjordan

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Hello,

I'm new here but I've been stalking for years. I've received my first three rejections. Two came this morning.

For one, I had only submitted five pages and the agent told me they weren't as invested as they would've liked to be.

The other two were form rejections about not being a good match. For both, I had submitted three chapters.

Does anyone have positive thoughts for me? I'm extremely stubborn and won't give up so easily - I have an excel spreadsheet. My novel is meticulously edited.

But I haven't been published in eons and many agents don't seem to consider fantasy.
 

lizmonster

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Positive thought: Three means nothing. (The first R was also likely a form rejection, unless it included specific notes on the text.) It's common to submit dozens or even hundreds of queries before finding an agent.

I can't speak to your specific situation, but fantasy is a pretty big market and there are a lot of agents (Query Tracker lists 293) who rep it. The fact that you say "many agents don't seem to consider fantasy" makes me wonder how you've been doing your research.

My suggestion: Rummage around the boards, do some crits in Share Your Work, and when you hit 50 substantive posts, post your query. We have some excellent critters here at AW, many of whom are well-versed in fantasy.
 

writerjordan

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Positive thought: Three means nothing. (The first R was also likely a form rejection, unless it included specific notes on the text.) It's common to submit dozens or even hundreds of queries before finding an agent.

I can't speak to your specific situation, but fantasy is a pretty big market and there are a lot of agents (Query Tracker lists 293) who rep it. The fact that you say "many agents don't seem to consider fantasy" makes me wonder how you've been doing your research.

My suggestion: Rummage around the boards, do some crits in Share Your Work, and when you hit 50 substantive posts, post your query. We have some excellent critters here at AW, many of whom are well-versed in fantasy.

I've been using AgentQuery which has 160. Wow - I didn't know about Query Tracker. I've read a bunch of your replies over the past few months - you're always so kind and helpful.

Do you bother with agencies that only accept snail mail queries? I've been considering mailing some but I don't know if it's a waste of time.

I've only queried about 15 agents so far (beginning on 11/23), and I've only had those 3 rejections (no requests. I'm wondering if I should wait before sending more.)
 

Woollybear

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I've actually heard that response rate is higher on snail mail queries and somewhere someone in the industry commented how odd it was that a physical copy was more likely to get their interest than an e-copy.

For what it's worth, but I didn't snail mail any agents.

What I found helpful during my 140 submissions (with about 70 Rs and about 60 CNRs; the furthest I made it was to a shortlist at a small press--the AE there was great but in the end her timing was a deal-breaker for me) was to see what else was out there--keeping an eye on the competition--it made me feel enormously better because the competition is so high.

So, a rejection doesn't mean 'your work stinks.' (It might, but it doesn't necessarily.) It means everyone and all their cousins and aunts and uncles are writing.

Your work doesn't stink. Stubborn can be a good quality.
 

lizmonster

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Thank you for the kind words! :)

You'll get conflicting advice on how many queries to have out at a time. For various reasons I'd suggest having 5 or 6 in flight at once, either waiting on an initial reply or waiting for feedback on requested materials. That allows you the opportunity to tweak your letter and pages without blasting through your whole list.

In your shoes I'd probably sit on those 15 until I got at least 10 responses one way or another. If you get no requests for further material, I'd revisit your query letter and any initial pages you've been sending out. (And really, I'd suggest Share Your Work even if you are getting responses - I have always received good advice there.)

As for snail mail - I didn't, but there's no reason not to. I suspect they receive comparatively fewer queries, but they probably know they're missing out by not taking email.

But it's important to remember that agents are individuals, and statistics are meaningless when it comes to individuals. It's possible to get dozens or even hundreds of rejections on perfectly good work. The process can be intensely discouraging, but your job, as a writer, is always to keep writing. Funnily enough, that will remain your job once you get an agent. :)

I'd also add: do your research on both the agent and the agency, and make sure you have your subgenre sorted - it's not critical for every genre, but fantasy is a big tent, and knowing your niche will only help you.
 

litdawg

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If you've ranked your agents, three rejections is nothing to worry about. Top agents aren't interested in manuscripts that are merely well written, meticulously edited, and interesting. They want their eyeballs dragged out of their skull and for visions of monster advances to make their heart race. Practically no one will hit that mark, especially in a debut. But that doesn't mean your work is bad or that it won't ever be published.

By all means, keep working on your query. I revised mine after every fifteen or so rejections or CNRs. I'm still revising it. Moreover, I've found critting work by others both sharpens my eyes and gives me a feeling of solidarity with other queriers. That second point isn't to be overlooked given what a long slog it can be to find an agent.

Join us on Daily Rejection and Query Letter Hell.
 

writerjordan

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If you've ranked your agents, three rejections is nothing to worry about. Top agents aren't interested in manuscripts that are merely well written, meticulously edited, and interesting. They want their eyeballs dragged out of their skull and for visions of monster advances to make their heart race. Practically no one will hit that mark, especially in a debut. But that doesn't mean your work is bad or that it won't ever be published.

By all means, keep working on your query. I revised mine after every fifteen or so rejections or CNRs. I'm still revising it. Moreover, I've found critting work by others both sharpens my eyes and gives me a feeling of solidarity with other queriers. That second point isn't to be overlooked given what a long slog it can be to find an agent.

Join us on Daily Rejection and Query Letter Hell.

Thank you for your response.

Back in 2016, I had completed a manuscript and submitted it to two or three agents, at most. One agent told me that though my writing was good, I was showing instead of telling. She was completely correct. I shelved the novel immediately and polished my writing style over the years. It is hard for me to process form rejections - I'm not sure what the agent did or did not like. I will stare at my query letter for a while longer. I spent an hour on Twitter looking at the complaints agents have about query letters and have revised mine accordingly.
 

mafiaking1936

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Fifteen responses is a good batch size to wait for before rejiggering your query. But keep in mind that there seems to be about a 40% non-response rate across the board. If you haven't yet you might post your query on the Query Tracker forum for a crit. It's a smaller group of people but you don't need any minimum number of posts.
 

writerjordan

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Fifteen responses is a good batch size to wait for before rejiggering your query. But keep in mind that there seems to be about a 40% non-response rate across the board. If you haven't yet you might post your query on the Query Tracker forum for a crit. It's a smaller group of people but you don't need any minimum number of posts.

Thank you very much. I will go over and take a look.

Edit: I can't seem to find it.
 
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lizmonster

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One other thing - have you really only been querying since 11/23? As in a week ago? As a general rule, a query isn't a non-response until 90 days have passed (although some agencies will specify timeframes on their web site). So put your feet up. :)
 

polishmuse

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Best of luck! It's a game of patience as much as anything. I sent 100 queries for my last project and landed a great agent somewhere in that batch :) If you've polished heavily, then it's time to query for sure (and best advice is write the next thing while you do-- it was my second project that got me my first agent, the one I wrote while I was querying project one).
 

writerjordan

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One other thing - have you really only been querying since 11/23? As in a week ago? As a general rule, a query isn't a non-response until 90 days have passed (although some agencies will specify timeframes on their web site). So put your feet up. :)

Yes it has only been a week or so...so I guess those few agents did reject quickly. Sad. Maybe I can work on my synopsis also. It's not the best.
 

lizmonster

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Yes it has only been a week or so...so I guess those few agents did reject quickly. Sad. Maybe I can work on my synopsis also. It's not the best.

Don't read anything into the speed! Although some agents apparently have a "maybe" pile, most of the time they'll decide to reject or request as soon as they read the query. So again, it doesn't give you any useful data.

Once you hit 50 posts you can put your synopsis up as well, if you want.