The reasons for rejection letters are as many and numerous as the number of agents and publishers you could potentially get rejected by!
(Wrap your head around that, why don’t you?!?)
While it’s easy to take such rejection personally, the fact is there are at least seven perfectly good, non-YOU reasons why your query letter, synopsis and/or sample chapters might have gotten a rejection letter:
1.) Out of date submission guidelines: Hey, it happens, and even if you’re the most conscientious researcher in the world, if an agent or editor doesn’t update them, how are you to know that you’re submitting when they’re not accepting?
2.) Timing: When it comes to rejection, timing really IS everything. Maybe the editor is having a bad day, or got a flat tire on the way to work, or is working late and yours is the 5,000th query they’ve read that day.
3.) Too many of what you’re selling: Even if an agent or editor is in a great mood when they read your query, if it’s the 5,000th vampire, zombie, werewolf or faerie query they’ve read that day, even if it is the BEST vampire, zombie or faerie query they’ve read that day, they might not exactly be “receptive” to it.
4.) Internal problems: Maybe the company’s not doing so well and the agent or editor rejecting you has just come from a meeting where the CEO said, “Reject everything today!”
5.) Style wars: I realize my style isn’t for everybody, and even when you work really hard to try to target how and what you write for the “right” agent or editor, it still might not be the style they’re looking for.
6.) Changing market trends: Maybe just because you just noticed an uptick in vampire-zombie mash-ups in the bookstores or on Amazon.com, that trend may have already come and gone in New York publishing circles.
7.) Personal reasons: Maybe the agent is getting ready to go on a pregnancy leave, or just got married, or divorced, or is for some reason not exactly making your query letter her mission in life at the moment, even though it might normally have appealed to her.
As you can plainly see, none of the reasons for rejection above – not a single one – have anything to do with the quality, merit or actual content of your manuscript. So take heart, not every rejection requires a mourning period!
Yours in publishing,
Rusty
(Wrap your head around that, why don’t you?!?)
While it’s easy to take such rejection personally, the fact is there are at least seven perfectly good, non-YOU reasons why your query letter, synopsis and/or sample chapters might have gotten a rejection letter:
1.) Out of date submission guidelines: Hey, it happens, and even if you’re the most conscientious researcher in the world, if an agent or editor doesn’t update them, how are you to know that you’re submitting when they’re not accepting?
2.) Timing: When it comes to rejection, timing really IS everything. Maybe the editor is having a bad day, or got a flat tire on the way to work, or is working late and yours is the 5,000th query they’ve read that day.
3.) Too many of what you’re selling: Even if an agent or editor is in a great mood when they read your query, if it’s the 5,000th vampire, zombie, werewolf or faerie query they’ve read that day, even if it is the BEST vampire, zombie or faerie query they’ve read that day, they might not exactly be “receptive” to it.
4.) Internal problems: Maybe the company’s not doing so well and the agent or editor rejecting you has just come from a meeting where the CEO said, “Reject everything today!”
5.) Style wars: I realize my style isn’t for everybody, and even when you work really hard to try to target how and what you write for the “right” agent or editor, it still might not be the style they’re looking for.
6.) Changing market trends: Maybe just because you just noticed an uptick in vampire-zombie mash-ups in the bookstores or on Amazon.com, that trend may have already come and gone in New York publishing circles.
7.) Personal reasons: Maybe the agent is getting ready to go on a pregnancy leave, or just got married, or divorced, or is for some reason not exactly making your query letter her mission in life at the moment, even though it might normally have appealed to her.
As you can plainly see, none of the reasons for rejection above – not a single one – have anything to do with the quality, merit or actual content of your manuscript. So take heart, not every rejection requires a mourning period!
Yours in publishing,
Rusty
1 comments:
Great post - form rejection letters could be for any reason under the sun. It's impossible to discern what made the agent/editor say no unless they give specific feedback, so I've learned not to take form rejections personally. (It's the personal ones that hurt! lol)
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