I responded to a query rejection. Did I make a mistake?

Hey. I got rejected by an agent I greatly admire. Just getting that simple rejection from her was an honor. I'm a legit fan of many members of the publishing community, and I fanboyed over the rejection letter lol.

I wrote her a thank you note within an hour of getting the rejection because I was so excited to hear from her.

But now, I'm worrying I made a fatal mistake. This is what I sent:

I'm new to querying, so I hope I'm not breaking protocol.

I just felt compelled to say thank you for this sweet, straight forward rejection. Little things like this mean the world. Thank you for caring about writers, and thank you for caring about the LGBTQIA+ community. I've admired your career from afar, and you're such a good person. Your clients are lucky to have you!

Again, thank you,

-- *****

Click to expand...

After I sent it, my Mom said, "She probably gets annoyed by thousands of thank you notes, and now, she's going to put you on a ban list."

To the people who know this business far better than I do: Did I make a mistake?

Thank you for this. I don't know what I was thinking.

I won't send anymore thank yous.

How do literary agents feel about people they've rejected following them on twitter or continuing to follow them even after being rejected? Or do they think that's stalkerish?

Again, thank you. And I regret sending it, now. I would hate to cause this agent any more stress. She really has been a good advocate for the LGBTQ community.

Thank you!

When I was a kid and just a fanfic writer, I did this in response to a review on a fanfic I wrote. I re-read it years and years later and was so embarrassed to have typed those words. Do I agree with the things the person who sent the anonymous email said? No. It seemed shady to randomly send some kid an anonymous email telling him how awful his work is without any constructive feedback, but I shouldn't have replied to defend my work either.

I will remember this advice. If you have any more advice, please feel free to impart it. I've written five books, but this is the first time I've ever queried anything.

Just an update:

She sent a reply back thanking me! OMG. I didn't reply to that one because of what you guys said. Now, I know better. But, I guess you're right that she didn't ban me. She actually said, thanks! What a nice person!

In a couple of years, when my next book is ready, I'm definitely querying her again. Who knows, maybe that book will be the one!

MythMonger said:

Not an agent and don't have one, but I'd say it would be okay to follow them on Twitter. I've done this with several agents that rejected me the last go-round. I'd be surprised if they even knew who I was.

Replying to their posts is another matter. A good rule of thumb is that if they only like your posts and don't reply back, then maybe give it a rest.

Click to expand...

I'm too shy to reply to their posts most likely.

I just did a lot of research on a lot of agents before sending anything, and I really enjoyed the twitter feeds of three of them, lol. I'd just be a lurker most likely. Though, one of them I'd love to talk to because we both have the same favorite book (and it isn't a well-known book) but I would never have the guts to message him.

frimble3 said:

And, remember, on-line no-one can see how old you are! Even if you were to use Shirley Temple as your avatar, it's assumed to be just an image - some people use dragons, or inanimate objects. The default assumption is 'adult'. (Unless you are looking for 'adult' stuff, in which case there is a posted age limit.)

When you get to the point of wanting feedback or critique, if you haven't been critiqued before, the general suggestion is to put 'Please be gentle' or similar, at the top, to remind others that you don't want to be critted too hard, until you get used to the people and exactly what it's like. (Which is also why the suggestion is to practice first: read other crits, and try giving some yourself to get a feel for the process.)

Click to expand...

Well, I'm not a child anymore, though I am new to this. I've never queried before or sent out work. I have a bunch of early books I've written that will sit in my closet, and I hope no one ever reads them. They are that bad, lol.

Not sure my current books are that great, but my Mom was pushing me to go ahead and take the plunge. See if anyone liked it. My fanfics got popular. One got over 70,000 readers, and I saved a lot of the fan letters and fan art people made for them. When I'm HATING my work, I go back and read those to motivate me again.

I hate my work often. I'll think, "Oh, I wrote something genius!" and then I re-read a book like The Vast Fields of Ordinary and remember, "Oh, no, no. THAT's what genius sounds like. My bad." lol

I have been doing Synopsis critiques, but I've only posted a couple. Most aren't good enough to post. I just did them as an exercise. I have a fear of giving someone bad advice. I would hate to give someone advice, have them take it, and then their career is ruined because of me lol