Collection of my rejection letters - Writers Forum

big_league · 07-22-2006, 02:28 PM

I'm going to keep a collection here of my rejection letters for my current novel. I'll add as/if I receive more (seeing as my novel is a bit edgy and the number of agents I'm writing to, I'm sure I'll get more).

* I put ___ for last names, just to cover my ass if anyone would actually care.

1st one:

Thanks, Ben, but this doesn't seem right for me.

Best,
Dan

(short and to the point. at least he took the time to write my name.)

2nd one:

Thanks for your query. Unfortunately, I do not feel that I could be
the best advocate for your work. Please keep in mind that mine is a
subjective business, and an idea or story to which one agent does not
respond may well be met with great enthusiasm by another, and I
encourage you to continue writing to agents. Hopefully you will find
someone who will get behind you and your work with the conviction
necessary in this very tight market.

Sincerely,

William ____
WM ____ ASSOCIATES

(obviously a copy and paste, but at least it's a polite one.)

3rd one:

Dear Author,
Thank you very much for giving us the opportunity to read your submission. We appreciate your considering us for representation of your project.
Unfortunately, after careful review, we have decided that we might not be the right agents for your work. However, we hope that you are not disheartened. This industry is incredibly subjective, and there are many agencies out there with many different tastes. We strongly encourage you to keep submitting elsewhere, as you might already have a bestseller in your hands.
We apologize for the form letter reply, but the volume of submissions we receive has finally made it impossible for us to hand-write responses as we have for so many years. We hope you will understand and forgive us this necessary efficiency. In addition, we do not feel it is proper for us to provide editorial feedback on projects we have decided not to represent.
We wish you the very best of luck and success with your work, and urge you to keep on writing!
Sincerely,
____ & Associates Literary Agency

(I wonder if the apology makes up for the "dear author" ?).

4th:

Thanks very much for this query, but I'm afraid I am taking on so few new clients right now that I'll have to step aside on representing this. I wish you the best in finding a match.

____

(Hmm)

5th:

Thank you for the query, although I do not think that I would be the right agent for the novel.

Sincerely,

Diana ___

(Very informative

)

6th:

Dear Ben K___,

Thank you for your query. Unfortunately, this is not something that seems right for me and so I will pass. I wish you the best.

Sincerely,
Bill ___

(I thought addressing me by my first and last name was kind of classy)

7th:

thanks for thinking of me, ben, but this is not quite right for me at the present time.

with good wishes,
rosemary ___

(at least it sounds like she took the time to read it)

More to come later.

crash · 07-22-2006, 08:02 PM

Why not just keep a file of them at home? Why are we reading them?

mwd · 07-22-2006, 08:48 PM

Maybe he felt like sharing them in the hopes that other people who are doing or have done the whole query/agent process would take some small reassurance that it's not easy and that there are others going through the same things.

Good luck big_league, and keep trucking. How many queries have you sent out so far? What's your response ratio like?

big_league · 07-22-2006, 10:49 PM

Why share?

Why not. It gives me something to do with them instead of just let them sit there and stare at me. It's not out of anger or even frustration really, just something I'm doing for my own (and possibly other's) amusement.

When all's said and done, I will have mailed a query letter to well over 200 (yep, 200) agents. I found a great resource for agents who accept query letters via e-mail (if anyone wants it, let me know).

The ratio is surprisingly not bad at all, as I haven't sent all of them yet but a decent amount and I've got 7 replies, and this has all been in the past 3 days. Of course the silent rejection is the most common, so I have no idea how many agents have actually read my letter or even opened it, but we'll see. It is the weekend.

Avarice · 07-23-2006, 07:27 AM

have you posted your work on this site? Maybe if you show us we could tell you whats lacking.

big_league · 07-23-2006, 11:28 AM

I've posted tiny bits of my work, I've rewritten it a lot and I'm pretty pleased with it. I just think because it's edgy and of course I'm a new author, it's going to take a lot of time and persistance to find an agent willing to take a chance on me. Not that I don't think there's room for improvement, but I also don't think there's necisarily anything wrong with my work.

Okay, onto the good stuff.

Good news: One agent so far seemed a bit interested and said she'll be in touch shortly (unsure why she didn't just ask for chapters, but we'll see).

Other news: More rejection letters (by the way, to who asked why I don't just keep a file, -this- is my file):

8th one:

Not for me-thanks anyway.

Paul ___

(shortest one yet)

9th:

Dear Mr. Kunze:

Thanks so much for sending your query, and for offering me the chance to consider your material. Unfortunately, your project does not seem right for me. Since it's crucial that you find an agent who will represent you to the best of his or her ability, I'm going to have to step aside from asking to represent your manuscript.

You should know that my decision reflects my present work-load, and the type and amount of material which I'm presently representing. It does not reflect on your material, and I certainly encourage you to continue to seek representation, especially since this is such a subjective business -- what works for one agent or publisher may not work as well for another (I'm afraid, though, that I cannot recommend someone for it).

Best of luck!

Jeff ____

(another copy and paste job, but the last name was a touch of class)

10th:

Thanks for sharing, but this does not seem to be something I would be interested in. Good luck with finding an agent and future publication.

11th:

Thanks, but I'm afraid this doesn't come across as something that would work for us commercially. Good luck, though, in finding the appropriate agent and publisher.

Sincerely,

Bob ___

--

Well, starting to get a little disheartened, 12 replies only 1 encouraging and the rest rejections. But I read somewhere the average author has to go through 50 agents before they find someone interested in there work. So on the optomistic side, only 38 to go.

Stewart · 07-23-2006, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by big_league

(seeing as my novel is a bit edgy

May I suggest you get out of the frame of mind that has you thinking your novel is different? At the very least, don't convine yourself that the reason for your rejections is that it's 'edgy'.

vandolewriter · 07-23-2006, 02:30 PM

big_league,
i think posting your rejection letters on here for everyone to see is a great idea. lets me know i'm not alone in being rejected. you said you found a great resource for agents? would you mind sending it to me? that would be great! you can send it through email if you want. its amymay1091@hotmail.com
thanks,
vandolewriter

big_league · 07-24-2006, 06:59 PM

van - check your email, the link and explanation is emailed.

Anyways, more letters.

Bad news: quite a few more rejection letters.

Good news: three people asked to see some pages!!!!

12th:

Dear Mr. Kunze:

Thank you for thinking of the Imprint Agency with
your query. Unfortunately, as a small agency, we must
stick to what we feel we do best and even then there
are many worthy projects that we must decline. Of
course this bears no reflection on the quality of the
submission. We wish you the best of success with your
work.

Sincerely,
Gary ____

13th:

Thanks so much for your query. Unfortunately, though, I don't believe I'd be the right agent for your work.

I wish you much success.

Sincerely,
Laura ____

14th:

Dear Author:

Thanks so much for letting us take a look at your materials and please forgive us for responding with a form letter. The volume of submissions we receive, however, makes it impossible to correspond with everyone personally.

Unfortunately, the project you describe does not suit our list at this time. We wish you the best of luck in finding an agent and publisher for your work and we thank you, once again, for letting us consider your materials.

Sincerely,
Michael _____

15th:

Dear Ben:

Many thanks for thinking of me for your novel, but I am afraid I don't feel it is right for my list.

I wish you all the best,

Sara

16th (PAGE REQUEST!!!!):

Dear Ben,

I’d be happy to take a look at the first 50 pages of CHASING NOWHERE. Kindly send them along for my prompt review.

Best,

Jim ____

17th (back to rejection):

Thanks for your interest in my agency but I've got so much on my plate that I can't offer to take a closer look at your work. You'll be better served by an agent who can give it the time and attention that it deserves.

Sincerely,
Rich ____

18th:

Dear Ben ____,

Thank you for thinking of me with your query for CHASING NOWHERE. While this sounds like a strong project, I'm afraid it doesn't strike me as a likely fit with me and my particular editorial contacts. I wish you well in finding the right agent for your work.

Very truly yours,

Anne Hawkins

19th:

Thanks for your query, but I’m sorry to say it’s not right for us. –BJ ____

20th:

Dear Author:

Based on your email query we have decided that we would not be interested in pursuing representation. We thank you for contacting us and we wish you success in finding a publisher for your work.

Cordially,
____ Literary Agency, Inc.

21st (Full story request!!):

dear ben,

thanks for your query. i'd love to take a look at your material.
please send a Word attachment, and i'll get back to you as
soon as i can.

best,
_____

22nd (100 page request):

Please send hardcopy of the first 100 pages or so, according to the submissions guidelines at ____.comThanks.

_____

23rd:

Thank you for your query. Unfortunately, your project is not right for the agency at this time.

Best of luck to you for a successful writing career.

Sincerely,

___ Literary

24th:

Dear Ben ____:

Thank you for offering our agency the opportunity to review your work. We must respectfully pass, but wish you the very best in your search and thank you for thinking of us.

___

vandolewriter · 07-24-2006, 09:12 PM

big_league
sounds like some promising leads on agents. good luck to ya! thanks for the link it looks promising!
vandolewriter

edf · 07-24-2006, 09:29 PM

big_league- Congradulations on the ones who asked ya for more! That's great news! I am no where as near to even thinking about contacting these kinds of people, but it was nice to read what rejection letters are like- I was fearing of really harsh ones- like 'this sucks' or some stupid line like that. LOL

Good luck to you! You must be very excited

edf

Mike C · 07-25-2006, 05:19 AM

Nice thread, Big League. Anc congratulations on the requests for partials - itt means you're doing something right!

Might I suggest you post your original query letter here also? At this stage in the game, your query is more important than the mss itself!

big_league · 07-26-2006, 05:40 PM

I have more to post, but have been super busy lately and am on the run right now. Just keeping you guys updated, I have some I'll post tomorrow or Friday (including some good and some bad, and a reply from someone who read my manuscript).