So, I received my rejection number 12 (of 12) of the agents I submitted my supernatural YA novel to back at the beginning of the year. I got the email a few days ago and was like "Oh, totally forgot about you." I suppose those are better than the ones where you were really hoping for great news. But, it's been six months--I kinda assumed it was no like five months ago. Still, I was slightly irritated by the rejection because they asked for a lot of information for the submission (a survey, a synopsis, and 30 pages)... I don't know why I expected at least a few words from a real person. Maybe a "Hey, interesting premise but I can't jive with your main character." But no, it was a basic form letter. Here, I'll share it:Hmmm... "greatly appreciate"? Is that hyperbole? I think it is. I do hope to find an "enthusiastic agent" at some point. I definitely expected SOMETHING more than a form letter, especially when they touted about how much time and effort they put into reading submissions. But at least they sent me something. Another one I submitted to was like "if you haven't heard from us in 6 weeks, it's a no." That's just lazy.Thank you for submitting to Prospect Agency. We greatly appreciate your submission, and have given The Spirit Keeper our careful consideration. Unfortunately, your project is not a good fit for us at this time. We wish you the best of luck in finding an enthusiastic agent and in your writing career. Again, thank you for thinking of Prospect Agency. With best wishes, Prospect Agency
Oh well....
I'm tired of rejections to be honest. That's something that e-publishing takes out of the equation. Well, except any negative reviews, of course. Negative reviews are a new kind of beast.
2 comments:
Time to get back on the horse and try again. Maybe even some of the same agencies. It's amazing how many rejections people go through before success comes along. I think until I read "Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul" (cliche, I know), I had no clue... while they sort of give everything their "careful consideration," sometimes they really don't. And sometimes they just already hit their quota. An agent that says no today, says yes a year later.
Anyway, since it's been six months, I think it'd be good to send out to a new round. If you know of books like, or kind of like yours, check out the acknowledgements and figure out who their agents are. And, depending on if you've even looked at it or not in the last six months, maybe editing your synopsis and proposal/query letter some more. Maybe look at that first chapter. Ultimately agents are just readers, and consider how many books WE have passed up in the bookstore because of the blurb or first chapter.
12 rejections is nothing compared to Dr. Seuss' :-)
You think it's time to try again? I could take a look at the submission materials and make them better. I do think that the novel is too long overall. I wish I knew how to cut like 150 pages out. All YA novels are pretty short.
I look at acknowledgments sections ALL the time! I like to read about how authors made it (and it helps seeing who they thanked). I need to do more agent research... in some ways, I feel like I need to finish up the three novels.
What did Seuss have? 37 or something like that... I ripped out a magazine page about his rejections once and had it on my bulletin board. I guess I have like 24 more to go (for my novel anyway). But I'm counting the 70 short story rejections under my belt too. :/
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