Rejection in the publishing world is the equivalent of the dating brush off - and every bit as hurtful and unhelpful. I finally heard today from an agent I had queried on Feburary 14th. The submission guidelines said they responded to all queries in 2-3 weeks. They got the first part right; they responded. It was the standard rejection: Thanks for your submission, but it's not right for our agency. In other words, it's not you, it's me.
While I'm happy to have closure, it would have been nice to have something to work with. I know that rejection with comments is not the industry standard and these are busy folks, but would it have taken so much longer to add a line or two about why it wasn't right? Why am I not their type? Is it something I can work on or is it a fatal flaw? Was our timing just off or (gasp) did they meet someone else? If they actually read the submission then they must have some opinion, helpful or otherwise. Please share. Writing is, at its core, a tough industry for your self esteem and most writers I know are harder on themselves than they should be. Why compound the problem by making us wonder about what might be the problem? We're sure to assume the worst.
There is a stereotype out there that authors are often a bit eccentric. You can argue the chicken and egg theories, but I would assert that they probably weren't that way before they tried to become published. I'm just sayin'...
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Glad to here the wait is over, sorry about the result. But never fear, the conference is almost here! All our worries should be over soon as most of the Lula bunch take over the MI writers. They will all sit back and wonder just what is going on over there in South Bend!!!
ReplyDeleteBummer! I know just what you mean, about wishing they gave SOME hint as to why they passed. Sometimes the whole process is so frustrating. Nathan Brandsford recently posted about his own mounting troubles with the queries in his in box. The more successful the agents are, the more inundated they are with slush queries. The ones I hate are the ones that never reply. I appreciate the quick form response, even if it comes minutes after I send the query. At least then I have closure. Chin up! When you get a rejection, send out the next query. Remember, it just takes ONE person to say yes.
ReplyDeleteI love the dating analogy but I'm sorry about the response. I had never thought about this before, but it reminds me of the rejection that models and, I can only assume, actors also face. So from personal experience I can say, don't take it personally and keep plugging away because SOMEONE will like it.
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