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denlm — The Rejected Writer
Published: 2019-06-20 15:46:26 +0000 UTC; Views: 246; Favourites: 7; Downloads: 0
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A literary agent sent me a long, lovely email recently. It began by saying, “It isn’t easy saying no.” I can attest to the fact that hearing it is no warm and comfy hug either. But it’s part of the game. If we are going to pitch our work to traditional agents and publishers, we have to be prepared for rejection. It is a rare and lucky novelist whose work is picked up on the first pitch.
Stephen King’s Carrie was rejected 30 times. J.K. Rowling suffered through 12 rejections of Harry Potter. Dr. Seuss took a hit on his first children’s book 27 times. Even Herman Melville's masterpiece, Moby-Dick, was turned down by multiple publishers. Bentley & Son wrote to him: "First, we must ask, does it have to be a whale? …could not the Captain be struggling with a depravity towards young, perhaps voluptuous, maidens?” Selling books wasn’t much easier back then, it seems… and one way to make the book more appealing to younger audiences, they thought, was to sex it up. Some things never change.
Still, Herman could count himself among the fortunate authors who receive even a token comment proving their manuscript was read. Most of us languish for months, listening in vain for anything more than the sound of crickets. Agents are swamped with queries, and the majority state quite frankly that they will only respond if your project interests them. After two months of hearing nothing but wind howling through the canyon, you can pretty much accept you’ve been rejected.
I pitched my first query for Are You Listening? to Joy Harris on May 27, and have eleven additional letters floating around out there. So far, I have received one short “I will decline”; one “Sorry, I am not taking on any new clients at this time”; and the lengthy response I mentioned above that apologized for saying no—and added an explanation. “I just didn’t fall in love with the project.” She went on to say it had nothing to do with the quality of my writing or the story; but if she didn’t feel passionate about a manuscript, she reluctantly turned it down. She softened the blow by concluding: “I’ll be pulling for you!”
Nice. But no is still no.
So how do we deal with these rejections? Do we throw up our hands in despair? Turn our backs on our babies and surrender the fight? Collapse in tears, certain we are the worst writers to ever sit down to a keyboard?
Oh, hell no. When your rejections begin rolling in (or sit gathering mothballs in an agent’s closet), remind yourself of the following:
- Your pitch may have reached this agent on a day when their head was somewhere else. (No, not there… though it may seem like it.)
- You may have picked the wrong agent for your particular project.
- They may be overwhelmed with clients at the moment and cannot even consider your masterpiece. (And who wants an agent so harried they cannot give your project the attention it deserves?)
- The problem may not lie with your book but your query letter. If you are rejected ten times, my rule of thumb is to try a different approach with the next ten agents.
- You might be aiming for the wrong agent type. Consider a new target hit list that is slightly outside the box. For example, I have begun to compile a new list for Are You Listening? that takes aim at agents who specialize in paranormal romance or fictional ghost stories, as opposed to creative nonfiction.
The most important things to remember are: You are a talented writer with a strong manuscript you’ve labored over in every detail. (If you doubt your labors, go back and take another look. We are none of us so perfect we can’t improve on a good thing.) And, yes, rejection hurts, but success will ease the pain. Keep your eye on the horizon.
If an agent rejects you and insists your character needs to cavort with voluptuous maidens, laugh it off. Unless they can promise you a three book deal with Simon & Schuster. Then maybe…
Nah. Not even then. Maybe.
For me, I took heart in the fact that the chatty but misguided agent who turned me down most recently admitted she didn’t fall in love with my book. So in the end she was right. We are not meant to work together.
I want an agent who feels as passionately about AYL as I do. I deserve that. We all do.
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CSS and fractal by LunaticStar - Eyes by quickreaver - Novel Fellowship of Psys by denlm
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Comments: 16
But apparently it's a whole lot easier than saying yes!
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It’s tough to have a measured response when someone does not align with your particular vision. Even tougher to stick with your guns and keep in the fight.
Here’s to hoping it comes together. Onwards and upwards😀
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True. Which is why I chose this as the topic for this week's blog. Wanted to give people a few ways of looking at their rejections without losing heart.
Thanks! More upwards, if you please, Gods of Publishing. LOL.
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Thank you, ma'am! I'm not discouraged yet. 😊
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This is the best attitude to rejection ever. We have to remember it isn't personal, it's business. I agree, you want an agent who believes in your novel as much as you do. It is very rare to get a personal rejection. Most use form rejections just to save time and effort. The right agent is out there, waiting for your query.
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Thanks. I'm sure hers was a form letter, but I appreciated the effort. Most don't do even that much to soften the blow... which, imo, is disrespectful of the time and thought authors put into the queries we send out into the void.
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It is, but I suppose if you receive 400 queries a day, you have to cut corners somewhere. It sure beat "Your submission does not meet our needs at this time. We wish you good fortune in your future endeavors." which is what my last try got me.
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Argh. How lame. As writers themselves they should be able to come up with something better. A couple of somethings, so they can at least pretend to have spent time on us. Sheesh.
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Unless they offer some crumb of advice, I just toss the rejection slips and keep doing my thing. One day, they will regret passing me up.
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That’s funny. I think that all the time. One day they are going to say, wow! How did I miss that one? 🤣
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Years ago, I was nearly strong-armed into submitting an illustrated poem to a specific agent at a specific publishing house. The friend who was urging me on, is still an excellent artist, and equally qualified to act as an agent. She really knows her stuff.
This is what I submitted, pitched for Young Adults. The original hand calligraphy was done by the man who became my husband.
The rejection letter was lovely, and explained that, while it was gorgeous and she loved it, it could not be printed economically because they couldn't use process inks. Each color required a separate run through the press, which meant about 20 passes instead of 5. Add to that, it was a couple of pages too short, even allowing for the usual publishing info. It would have to work as an adult "coffee table" book. She did add that if I could add another couple of poems/stories that would work with this, she could/would definitely reconsider the project. Unfortunately, I was never able to find anything that fit all my parameters.
I still think it was the most wonderful rejection letter ever.
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When they take time to comment, it makes the rejection go down so much easier. Yeah, four color process and printer issues have sunk more than a few creative projects in my field of advertising, too. Lovely work, dear.
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Thank you. I thought this might add a bit to why projects might be passed over. With text, extra blank pages might not be a problem; but with art it can be a killer.
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