Double the Fun
I mentioned my favorite rejection letter in a post below. Well, good thing it was my favorite, because I got it AGAIN! Yep, same letter, same agent, same email.
Dude, I got it the first time. You don't want to represent the book. Do you have to keep telling me?
This whole process is whacked.
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re.ject.ion.
I got another rejection email yesterday. At least the letter makes it sound like they actually considered my pitch. And, I get to pitch again should I decide to put myself through this another time. :)
Thank you for your recent query. Although your project sounds interesting, we unfortunately do not feel it is right for us at this time. The Chick-lit market has become very bogged down and I feel that your project would be a difficult sell. However it is a great idea. You definitely have the creative “higher concept” mode of thinking which we thrive off of here at The Knight Agency. While we encourage you to query other agencies, and we wish you all the best in finding representation, we also request that you keep us in mind for future projects. Thank you again for thinking of The Knight Agency.
Best regards,
Agent E
It comes back to my worry. Ok, what if it's a good book, but a hard sell. I read chick-lit. I know others that read it. Someone take a chance on me?!
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Oh, How I Love Rejection
So I took all these snail mail queries to the post office to get postage put on the envelopes. I'm standing in line and looking at all the new stamp books. CRAP! Stamps are now 39 cents. All my SASEs are posted with 37 cent stamps, and they are all in the SEALED envelopes. Crap, crap, crap. Well, I had to buy 2 cent stamps, and then open all the envelopes and put the extra postage on. I guess I should be thankful that I caught the mistake. Geesh.
I got three more rejections today. So out of 12 email queries, I now have 1 "send more" and 5 "um, no"s. That leaves 6 more to hear from. I know rejection is a part of the game, and I remember reading on Janet Evanovich's Web site that she has boxes of rejections (and she's gotten hoardes of books published.) But geesh, it's hard not to take it personally.
Thank you for your query and for thinking of this agency. However, on this occasion we are going to pass.
Good luck in your endeavours.
Sincerely,
Agent P
Then there's my favorite so far.
Carmen, thanks for getting in touch, but I'm afraid the sample isn't striking magic with me... I'll stand aside.
Best,
Agent D
And lastly
Hi Carmen – This sounds fun and clever but the market for this type of fiction is very difficult right now, and I’m not really taking on many new clients in this specific area. But if you’re still looking for representation in the future, please feel free to query me again.
Best,
Agent S
Well, at least she says it sounds fun and clever. Leave it to me to write a book that is hard to sell at the moment.
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Learning to Take Rejection
Well, I got another rejection email today. But again, it was very nice. They even inserted the title of my book in the letter.
Thank you for submitting your query for My Title for our consideration. The story sounds very interesting. I have decided to pass, however, as it is not the right fit for us. Please note that this is a subjective decision and someone else may feel and respond differently.
I wish you success in finding a suitable home for My Title. Again, thank you for considering us.
Best regards,
Agent S
Two "no"s now, one "let's see more."
Mailing 11 queries today, and my synopsis and chapters to the agent that asked to see more.
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Query This
After getting engergized at the book festival, I spent several hours this evening preparing query letters. Writing the letters took about 4 hours, and getting the other parts of the submissions together is still happening as I write. Hurry up printer!
I sent 10 email submissions (after seeing that the agents would accept them). I made sure to turn off my signature and put QUERY in the subject line so hopefully I wouldn't get spaminated. Believe it or not, only minutes after sending one query, I got a response! An agent (I'm not using any names to protect my career) emailed me back a very nice letter asking to see a synopsis and the first three chapters! I was very encouraged by this turn of events. At least my query letter was panning out.
I also received my first rejection - yet suprised that it again was only minutes after I emailed the query. I'm sure it's some form of form letter response, but I print it here because it was so consoling.
Thank you very much for your query. I truly respect the time and effort that you have put into your project, which is why I regret to tell you that it just doesn't feel right for my list. I read every query that is sent to me via e-mail and consider each one carefully, and because the volume of these queries is just so huge I am forced to be extremely selective about what I ask to see.
Thank you so much for thinking of me and very best wishes to you as you continue your writing career.
All best wishes,
Agent J
Now that's a good rejection letter!
I'm going to the Post Office tomorrow to mail about 14 other submissions to agents who prefer snail mail. I'll keep you informed.
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Virginia Book Festival,
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Off to See the Wizard
I drove two hours south to Charlottesville, VA this past weekend to attend the Virginia Festival of the Book Publishing Day.
There were three seminars I attended. The first was called "From Manuscript to Cash Register" and the panel consisted of an agent, two editors and a bookseller. It was pretty interesting to find out what happens when a manuscript leaves my hands. I spoke to the agent after the event, and he gave me some good advice. "Don't use schtick in your query letter, and don't write it from the perspective of your main character. You laugh, but I get that a lot." I'd done research on him before the trip, and knew he didn't represent women's fiction or chick-lit, but got his card anyway. It came in handly, more on that later.
The second seminar was a wash, called Plotting Your Career. It was basically listening to three authors tout their books. They were entertaining, but had nothing to do with plotting my career.
The third seminar was by far the most educational and entertaining, as it was an Agent Roundtable. Four agents answered audience questions for nearly an hour, and they were all surprisingly witty. I got cards from all of them (one was the agent previously mentioned), and invitations from two to submit to them. One was a female agent who was interested in women's fiction, and the other was a male agent who didn't represent that genre, but volunteered to guide me to the right agent within his new agency.
All in all, it was a good thing to attend, and I learned a lot.
novel,
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Publishing
