Why It’s Hard to Tell the Whole Truth
As I mentioned on Friday, I’m getting an awful lot of queries these days, and most of my agent colleagues are experiencing the same thing. It’s a lot of work going through them, but there’s nothing more exciting than finding a gem buried in the inbox.
I know many of you get frustrated with agent responses that don’t tell you anything about why your project was rejected. I’ve blogged about this before, but today I wanted to highlight specifically why it’s so hard to tell people the whole truth, i.e. exactly what I think, in response to queries.
The first and most important reason is because I could be wrong. I would hate to make some kind of pronouncement about your manuscript being unsalable and get you all dejected, only to have my opinion proven wrong by the next agent who comes along and recognizes your brilliance.
The second reason is a completely practical one: there’s simply not enough time. It might take only a moment to recognize that a project isn’t right for me to represent, but it could take quite awhile to put into words (in a way that someone would understand) exactly why.
The third reason is that all rejection sounds harsh just by its nature (thanks Nixy Valentine for that wise observation), and the more detailed I get about the rejection, the more personal that rejection becomes. I don’t like to hurt people’s feelings and seem unnecessarily harsh especially if I may be wrong (see #1 above).
If people get their feelings hurt by the rejection, they tend to write me back, which is exactly what I don’t need. They might argue with my assessment or lash out a bit. One of the more common responses I get to pass letters is something like: I thought you were a Christian! How can you say no to me and call yourself a Christian? Well, there’s nothing I can say to that, is there? Because that person probably wouldn’t understand anything I tried to tell them.
This week someone responded to my pass letter by saying he was glad I’d rejected his work, because he didn’t like MY work either. It made me feel bad that the writer felt so personally insulted he needed to insult me back.
I know many of you wish you knew “why” your work is being rejected. But take my word for it, you’re better off paying for a professional manuscript evaluation or working with a critique group. You don’t need to know the reason for every rejection. It might only hurt your feelings unnecessarily.
Here are a couple of posts from a year ago on why agents often don’t send personalized rejections:
Rejection Without a Reason
Frustrated With Your Rejections?
Got any good rejections stories for us? We’d love to hear them.
Rachelle Gardner, Christian literary agent, WordServe Literary Group, Colorado.
I just want to mention I am new to blogs and certainly loved this blog site. Most likely Iām planning to bookmark your blog post . You really have good writings. Thanks a lot for sharing your web-site.
>I got an agent query reject today (from an agent working with general market houses). It was gracious and clear as to why she rejected, without turning into a critique. In other words, I knew what she saw though I haven’t figured out yet what I should do as a result.
Still, it felt … kind. She actually came across like she was hoping she could say yes.
Becky
>Ooops…. I take that back. I’ve just had a stinging email from an author showing an equal lack of maturity!
>Gosh Rachelle,
I can’t believe people treat you like that when you are so servant-hearted! I’m afraid that this kind of stinging reply only serves to further illustrate that these folk don’t have the necessary Godly character, or maturity to be published.
>I write YA fantasy. It’s a hard market to break into. But I typically get form rejections. However, the most interesting rejection I’ve ever received for anything is this: I queried an agent and was told his granddaughter loves fairies and he couldn’t represent a book where the antagonist kills and eats them. It would devestate his granddaughter.
Hmmmmm.
I can only wonder if the agent runs everything he represents by his granddaughter.
>I can top some of these (I think). I once opened an e-mail from an agent I’d never heard of and had never queried. It was several paragraphs long, stating that she could not offer me representation for “my books” but wishing me luck in finding an agent, etc., etc.
After scratching my head for awhile, I responded with an e that went something like this: “Dear Agent: inasmuch as I have had a very bad week, I regret to inform you that I am not accepting unsolicited agent rejections at this time. Therefore please consider yourself my agent of record and send me your standard contract.”
Obviously that agent, whom I never heard of thereafter, had no sense of humor, because I got the original e-mail “rejecting” me, back a second time!
Just one more from Kinnard’s funny-rejection file…
>I waited over a year to hear back on a requested full. In that time, the assistant changed at least a couple of times, so when I received “we’ll get to you soon” emails to my follow up queries I was frustrated but understood. Mostly : ) Eventually I received a form rejection from someone I’d never heard of. It stinks to get a form R on a full, but hey, them’s the breaks. Then almost a month later, I received another rejection from them, even though I hadn’t sent anything else!
I couldn’t resisit. Tongue in cheek, I emailed the assistant, asking if I was on some kind of pre-emptive strike list. (I made it clear I was kidding with her.) She responded with an apology, saying they were sorting out files and the unsolicited rejection somehow got sent. We both got a chuckle out of the exchange.
A thick skin is an advantage in this business, but a sense of humor is essential.
>Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction š
It wasn’t funny at the time but, now, even I have to laugh at myself.
>It has been a while since I came over to just “read”….and in a nut shell…I guess my biggest fear is the “rejection letter”.
I suppose that is the reason I cannot follow the urging completely to “just do it!”.
I get the best concrete information here—thank you, Rachel, for your willingness to share with us!
>I think the worst rejection letter I’ve ever gotten was from a well-known Christian women’s magazine. They liked my query and asked me to snail-mail the article and sign various forms.
5 weeks later I received an excited e-mail from the assistant editor asking me to expand the article, as the mag was very interested. After accomodating her, I was asked two more times to make specific changes (always increasing the word count).
Then nothing. For a year. (Yes, I politely inquired – twice.) About 16 months after that, I received a form rejection letter in the mail from the editor’s assistant. Unsigned.
This month, the article was published, in its original form, by a completely different magazine.
Go figure!
But here’s the thing – we can grow thick skin and learn to CHOOSE not to take it personally.
Oh, and LOL on Kim’s story and Tim’s goofy bounce-back e-mail. Hilarious!
>I attended a writer’s conference last June and met with four publishers. All four asked for my proposal. Two of the four waited the obligatory 3 months to reject, only to send their form letters with the wrong name (not mine) on the letter, along with inaccurate titles to my work.
The other two took a more serious look at my work and were more gracious in their responses. Still and yet, it bugged me for a season, and then I decided that I had expended too much emotional energy on the entire thing and finally decided to get over myself.
peace~elaine
>Too bad you don’t represent Fantasy, Rachelle. I’d email you my query in a second. š
>I can understand why you wouldn’t explain a pass. YOu probably don’t have enough time.
Its just so frustrating as a writer. I just want to know if its good enough or am I wasting my time.
>Thanks for the great post, Rachelle.
Kim, Your story is one for the hall of fame.
Janna, Your friend’s story is a great one, too
Ellen, Your comment is the one that really got me thinking. We really are doing the oddest type of work, where we work and work and work for the hope that someday we will earn money for it. It was hard for my husband to wrap his mind around the fact that even though I’m not bringing in a second paycheck yet, I am working two jobs.
>I can’t imagine it’s possible to sift through all these growing numbers of inqueries and consistently make an intelligent assesment of what might actually sell once it gets out into the marketplace. A classic recent example is The Shack which is a really badly written book full of theology that’s somewhere between new age and Islam but has managed to sell zillions of copies. Agents must occasionaly lose sleep wondering if perhaps they have missed the next one.
>Great post, Rachelle. YOU and THIS POST are the subject of my blog post today:)
I truly appreciate your generosity on this blog. Thanks:)
>I once got two rejection letters in the same day…from the same publisher. One was for a book I’d pitched a couple of weeks before, and one I’d pitched eight MONTHS before.
But my crit partner beats that. She got a rejection letter when she sent in a request to a publisher for GUIDELINES.
I really would love to get a rejection letter for a book I hadn’t written, though. What a great timesaver that is…I won’t have to bother even writing the thing, because it won’t sell anyway!
(ducking)
Janny
>(and, Kim, your story is going to make me laugh for a few weeks, too.)
>I once got a rejection for a book I didn’t write! So even though it’s not terribly kosher to respond to rejections, I felt I needed to write back: “Sorry, but I can’t accept this. I only accept rejections for books I’ve actually authored…” The mix up made me laugh for WEEKS.
>I’ve only read Kim’s comment so far, but I just had to say. Okay, I don’t know what to say. I’m at a loss. That is funny.
Now onto topic. To me, a rejection means to try to improve. Nothing more. There is always something to learn, and we don’t always have to rely on others to find something that can be improved.
When I think I have a good query, I post it, and find out, it can still be improved upon. And now I’m almost ready to start querying again, after taking a break to actually learn the business. š And really tighten up my ms. Thanks Jamie, Michael, Melissa, and Liz for helping me!
>I don’t take rejections personally except that it’s a sign that I didn’t pitch my story correctly.
Enough rejections and I get the message and revise.
>I haven’t sent out queries yet, but I’m already preparing for rejection, not because I think my book is bad or anything, but because I know it will take time before the right agent finds it.
Rejection is hard and it can be difficult not to take personally BUT it’s something that we all have to overcome and realize that it’s not an insult at us.
I’m sure I’ll have plenty of my own “rejection stories” soon enough š
>Kim, your story had me cracking up. I mix up “to” and “do” quite a bit, but oh, that pesky W and S…
Great advice as usual, Mary. Email gaffes are not pretty in any industry, and once you send…yikes.
>I appreciate it when a literary agent is able to take the time out and offer a personal rejection because I understand them taking the time out to do so is nothing short of a miracle. I’ve learn the most from those rejections, although they are few in comparison to the form rejections. I understand the need for some agents to offer rejections through a non response. although it makes me wonder if they read my query and I’m more apt to query them twice.
Alas, Timothy’s self generated rejections are brilliant. I may have to implement my own system, personalizing them, of course.
>I don’t know if a rejection can be favorable but I have had an editor personally call me about a novel I submitted and asked me to re-write parts of it and then re-submit it. I did not long ago and have yet to hear back. But to have an editor CALL and say “No, not yet…” gave me some hope that my writing has promise. I also had an editor send me a rejection but informed me that he had forwarded my book on to another publisher that would be better suited for my work. That was another opportunity to realize that with a little work at my writing, I could very well be published some day. I believe in sending thank you letters or emails to editors because you just never know what will happen when you bow out gracefully.
>Ms. Gardner,
No, no stories (I was lucky enough to be shown the amount of growth my manuscript still needed after sending out only 16 query letters), but I did want to give you a little *thumbs up*. Should we ever cross paths in the real wold I’ll tell you just what I thought while I read this post. Don’t worry; I’m pretty sure you’ll smile.
In the meantime, take care and be well.
Amethyst
>This was early in your agenting career, but you wrote me the best rejection letter I ever received: the fastest, the most personal, and the least offensive–it simply wasn’t your type of story. Thank you for that.
>Kim — oh my…my face turned red for you. That story is hilarious.
>the 411: This is a SMALL industry. You may not think so right now when it feels so large and looming. Do not hit send! If you’re angry with a rejection, send your angst to a friend, but do not send it to Rachelle or an editor. Those types of responses are remembered, and not in the way you hope.
>Rejections, gotta love ’em! Okay maybe not.
I guess I chose to view it as the first step towards acceptance. Very few people get a request their first time asking. So, if I have to get rejected, then bring it on! Itās just one step closer to my goal. (To a point. I’m sure it will get old someday!)
My first rejection was on paper, and said ālike the idea, need to work on the craft.ā I have, and my WIP is SO much better for it. My second rejection was at a conference, where the agent was quite rude, but I smiled and thanked her, then went on my way. My BEST experience was an editor appointment. The lady was SUPER nice, actually took my onesheet (I could have cried), gave me a few pointers, but said that her house usually didn’t consider projects without an agent, but that she liked my idea. Talk about confidence booster!
I think you had a really good point about giving feedback. I donāt mind NO feedback. An āIāll passā is fine. I know everyone is busy. I LOVE constructive feedback, even if itās accompanied by an āIāll pass.ā I do have an issue with destructive feedback and rudeness, but, well, the world is full of rudeness and we better get used to it now:-)
>Your points today are really good, and I appreciate the extra time you took to explain the issue, because it does make more sense now.
I had an article rejected 3 times by non-paying entities, before it was finally accepted – by a paying entity! So in the end, I made money where I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t had the 3 prior rejections.
All part of the process! My most amazing writing story is that my first article submitted was ACCEPTED for publication! Since then everyone has told me that never happens. But that little bit of encouragement was thing that has kept me plugging along.
>There had gotta be a way to cash in on these rejections.
>Ha ha! I’ve been rejected, oh, probably hundreds — if not thousands — of times. The first time was directly out of college, when I called National Geographic and offered to write for them. I had a brand-new journalism degree and I’d never written a single word for any magazine. I managed to get an editor on the phone because I’m persistent like that. When she heard what I wanted, she laughed and said, “We’re National Geographic. Go get ten years of experience and then call us back.”
I did, and I did. And they rejected me again.
But that was just a warm-up for the Big Show. I’m really not being trite about it, but at some point, if the object is to be professional writer, you get used to these things. Like Michael Jordan says, I’ve missed ten thousand jumpers, but it’s the ones I hit that are the ones that count.
So if you want to read the biggest whiff of my career and what I learned from it (and trust me, it’s a doozy), follow the link below …
http://1-millionmonkeys.blogspot.com/2009/02/say-die.html
>Timothy,
Tried your special email address to see what happened. The email bounced back. Another rejection!
>Tim you crack me up. You must be a humor writer.
>After sending out query letter after query letter and receiving almost no response, I decided there had to be a better way. I gave it some thought and I set up an e-mail address, submissions@timothyfish.net, which will automatically send a rejection letter when I send it a query. Rather than waste agentsā time, I send my query letters this e-mail address and I get the kind of response I want. Occasionally, Iāll send a request for a full, just to boost my ego. It hasnāt happened yet, but Iām confident that Iāll eventually offer myself representation. Itās good to remain optimistic about these sorts of things.
>I’m learning! I love Kim’s story, too. Oh my goodness…made me laugh.
>My rejection story comes from magazine writing. I sent a piece in to a Christian teen periodical (many years ago) and received a form letter that had a list of reasons for rejection with boxes to check the appropriateness. Most of the reasons were “cleverly written” and trust me, they were more than snarky. The box checked was “Nothing wrong with your ms. Just got up on the wrong side of the bed.”
After my initial shock, I decided it must mean there was something good about it and sold it to someone else.
Still doesn’t beat Kim’s. She deserves a prize! ROFL
>http://www.writersservices.com/mag/m_rejection.htm
Check out this site with quotes from famous rejection letters from the book “Rotten Rejections”. Funny stuff. It’s all very inspirational as well!
>Having been on both sides of the equation (reject-er and regect-ee), I don’t mind not knowing the reason why something was rejectedāas long as I hear something back.
The first book proposal I submitted was fraught with work and frustration. I spent a great deal of time researching exactly how to make it “sell.” And then, I tailored it specifically to the first agent I wanted to take a crack at. After triple checking all the requirements and getting feedback from others, I finally sent it in. And waited . . . and waited.
In the end, I heard nothing. I don’t mind rejectionāsince there are a number of reasons for that, but silence is a bit worseāsimply because I didn’t know when I could resubmit it elsewhere. Of course, an agent has a right not to respond, but I think it’s a courtesy thing to at least send out the standard email.
This wasn’t you, by the wayāit was an agent I won’t name from my home state of TN. I’m just ranting a bit.
Thanks for the post.
>Ellen, thanks for the story! It perfectly illustrates a couple of my points. First, the editor took the time to write a response but in your mind she was “wrong” (because she misinterpreted your piece) so her time in writing that letter was utterly wasted. Like I said, I don’t like giving feedback at the query stage because I, too, could be wrong.
Second, your story underscores the fact that the agent’s job isn’t to critique your book, it’s to say “yes” or “no.” Most agents and editors DO give personalized feedback when they’ve requested a partial or a full manuscript, then decided to pass. In that case, there was obviously initial interest, and more time has been invested, so they usually want to give a reason for passing after all that effort.
>That is so true. If the agent, editor, critique partner does not “get” the story, the writer has not done the job.
It is nice to know, though, if it just isn’t a good fit, or if, as Ron Benery says, “It’s not soup yet.”
>I do find the lack of any feedback the hardest part of rejections (just wrote about this on my own blog this week, in fact). Because right now, I’m spending several hours a day working. As a mother of three young children, that means trying to help my kids understand why, sometimes, it’s okay to interrupt mom at the computer (because I’m just updating my Facebook status) and sometimes it’s not (because I’m writing). But every time I get a rejection, I’m reminded that even though Mom is “working,” Mom is not actually earning any money. So I’d kinda like to know if my work is rejected because, you know, it stinks and I should go train to be a Starbucks barista, or if it just wasn’t the right fit.
That said, I once got a really detailed critique of an article that was rejected. And my knee-jerk reaction was to write back to that editor, because she had completely misread the piece and some of her critique made no sense. But then I realized that my job is to write so well that an editor, or any other reader, won’t completely miss the point. Maybe that editor wasn’t paying enough attention, maybe she was reading my piece while her own children were at her elbow asking for snacks and a trip to the pool, or maybe I needed to revise the piece so it couldn’t be so badly misinterpreted.
Bottom line: As writers, we have to keep believing that if what we’re writing is any good, eventually someone will want it.
>Great post. I’ve had several rejections, but one really illustrated just how busy agents are.
The agent clicked reply and said, “Not for me.”
That’s it, nothing else.
>Rejection stories? I have a few. (Sounds like a line from a Sinatra song). Of course, all these were BR (Before Rachelle).
There’s the well-known publisher who asked for a full manuscript before rejecting my first novel. Two days later, another editor there asked for a full after reading a query posted on the Writer’s Edge, only to reject it–again. Reminds me of the agent (Steve Laube, I think) who said one of his client’s novels was rejected by FedEx, apparently because they really meant it.
Then there was the day I got two letters from one publisher. The first was from an editor, saying they were going to present my novel to the pub board that week. The second was from an administrative assistant, rejecting the work. PS–they did present it, and it was rejected. I just think that administrative assistant was prescient.
>As Sharon said, it is a learning process. Based on what I’ve learned through some rejections and through the wealth of information on Rachelle’s blog, I’m ready for the next challenge.
Elevator speech (now refined and ready to go after Rachelle tutored us). Check!
One sheet (from Rachelle’s link to Mary DeMuth’s blog last year). Check!
Proposal. Check!
Sample chapter. Check!
Patience (since I still have an agent saying my manuscript is under consideration–SINCE LAST AUGUST in Philly!!). Check! …never give up, right?
Perhaps I’ll see some of you at the Christian Writers Guild “Writing for the Soul” conference here in Colorado Springs this week, as we seek to learn more about where God is leading us.
God Bless,
Jim
>Hmmm, my last sentence sounds funny but…whatever. LOL
Kim, your story cracked me up!
>My experience has been good.I have only received one bad rejection. But it came at a time when I could see it for what it was. And I have moved on.
Based on my experience rejections are a learning process as I work to find a fit.
Chip MacGregor says to get to know an agent before pitching. So why would you pitch to an agent when you knew you didn’t like their work?
It’s like a job application. So many hungry people and just a few openings.
Don’t give up, just keep honing your skills and get back in the race.
>I’ve only had one editor rejection (’cause only one editor has seen my work, lol) but it was very kind. She let me know that it didn’t fit right now, as well as some other issues with the story. Then the editor actually said “I’m sorry not to have better news for you…”
I can’t tell you how much that one part of the rejection soothed the hurt. Wow. She was sorry, like she knew that the rejection would be painful and was sympathetic. If I ever get to work with that editor, I’ll be honored because of her kind rejection.
>P.S. DID anybody make your day last night with an awesome query?
>Somebody gave me the funniest book called “Rotten Rejections” (ed. Andre Bernard), which is a compilations of rejection letters to authors that went on to become famous. Super funny, and really underscores how subjective the process can be.
You are very nice to even SEND pass letters. I’m sorry somebody “zinged” you in their disappointment.
>HI Rachelle
enjoy your blog
just to say I recently got my first rejection letter for my first novel — and, thanks to all the reading I had done on the blogs written by agents, I SMILED when I read it
actually it was written quite nicely and left me with the impression it said “sorry but we dont’feel we can give your book the support it deserves “
and wished me good luck in my future writing
there wa snothing I could really get upset about and I thought it was a very polite letter…
but I think all the agent blogs I have read really helped me — and the other advice I was given which was START the next book before sending off the first one — because now I am fully emotionally attached to the curent WIP and not so bothered about what other poeple think of the first one!
CJ
sorry — came up anonymous because have forgotten my google id
>First of all, many thanks to you Rachelle for all your advice and help in this blog. It is definitely one of the better blogs around for writers.
For all those who have been rejected, let me restate what has been stated a million times before – DO NOT TAKE IT PERSONALLY! You do not know Rachelle personally so the rejection is not personal. It is based upon a query, many times read fast based upon economic reasons ie. can this book sell well? can I sell this book and make some money?
Having said that, of course, rejections still bring disappointments. If you have tried several agents, been rejected by all, but still have faith in your book, try self publishing.
A book costs about $3 to print (400pages standard paperback size in an order quantity of 2000). Add in $500 transport costs to ship to your house. Total cost:$6500.
Sell your book for $20 each. You need to sell 325 books to break even. If you can sell another 500 books, you can make a profit of $10000 which many new authors receive as their advance.
So instead of insulting agents, especially Rachelle, the question is whether you really believe in your book. Put your money where your mouth is. If you believe in your book, invest in it – even if others don’t. You may be pleasantly surprised as to the results.
>I am just here to laugh at Kim’s story hahahahahahahahahaha that’s the best rejection ever š
>Not a Good rejection story – but true.
Years ago, I wrote a magazine query letter to one āMs. Whitheadā.
I immediately got back a not-too-kind rejection. That had a few insults and then it said something like, āYou need to proof read your letters and at the very least get my name correct!!!ā
I went back to my query letter to see what I had done wrong.
Have you ever noticed how close the āWā is to the āSā?
Not a pretty story. But a lesson learned.