Reader Question: Why Don’t Literary Agents Like Me?
Posted by: Lisa in Literary Agents, The Book BusinessMelody in Cleveland is frustrated:
I have sent countless queries to literary agents who specialize in the genre my book is in but I keep on getting rejections after rejections. I do have one literary agent interested in me but I haven’t heard from her yet. I’m hopeful but since I’ve been rejected so much it’s hard to really hope. I have changed my query letter and followed the 10 steps in writing a query letter but still I get rejections. I’ve had friends and family read it and even co-workers who don’t know me very well and they like it. It gets to the point of my story and it’s interesting. When I send it to agents that take romance, in the rejection it will state it isn’t right for their agency. Every time I get rejected I send out another query to a different agent and again get rejected. Do you have any suggestions?
You’re in good company, Melody. Don’t lose hope!
I know it’s discouraging to get multiple rejection letters, but if that didn’t happen to you, your case would be highly unusual. Writers know that agents are busy and get a lot of submissions, but they often don’t stop to think about how that affects the submission process and causes many good writers to slip through the cracks. If you saw the volume of query letters that flood into every agency, not every week but every day, you would be amazed that agents have time to read half of them.
They don’t, in fact. Unfortunately, queries are often read first by interns, who may or may not have good taste or market instincts. Sometimes interns—and if not interns, then the agents’ assistants—read most of the manuscripts that are requested as well. Agents are too busy making deals, taking phone calls, and reading new work from their already established clients, who must be their first priority. The only manuscript an agent will take home to read before anyone else is one that’s submitted or referred by someone they already know.
There are exceptions to this, of course, especially among young agents who are just starting out and are hungrily looking to build a client list. Look for these people. But you should generally assume the above scenario to be the case. It may make you feel better or it may make you feel worse, but know that rejections often come from inexperienced readers rather than the agents themselves. Given that, you shouldn’t take them too personally or as a judgment of your work. If your query is good, rejection letters simply mean the right person hasn’t read it at the right moment.
It’s always about luck and timing just as much as quality. I assume your novel is a romance, since you mention romance agents… It could be that many already have clients who write similar stories to yours. Or they may not feel that your subgenre of romance is the “hot” trend right now. I haven’t seen your query, and I’m not an expert in that genre, so I can’t answer that for you. But think about whether your query, however well-written it may be, would stand out to an agent who gets twenty other romance queries every single day.
It’s great that one agent has expressed interest—by that do you mean she’s requested your manuscript? If so, and if it’s been more than six weeks or so, it wouldn’t hurt to send a friendly follow-up e-mail. Try to refrain from calling; that sometimes annoys agents or whoever has to pick up the phone and then try to determine the status of your manuscript while you’re on hold. You might even try a little fibbing in your e-mail: say that another agent has expressed interest in the manuscript. Don’t name names, of course, and be vague, but a little white lie might prod them to read your novel sooner rather than later.
A few things to look for in your query, if you haven’t already:
- Grammar/spelling/punctuation. It sounds like you’ve taken care of this already, but it bears repeating. If just one comma is out of place, that’s a reason for them to move on to the next query. Don’t give them any reason. Even if everything is technically correct, read every sentence out loud, and if any are awkward or at all unclear, smooth things out. Your letter should make them think, “Wow, this woman can write.”
- The “hook.” Such an overused word, but so important. It goes back to the question I asked about standing out in the crowd of romance writers. What about your novel makes it different from any other novel they’ll read a query about this month? There should be something, and it should be the first thing mentioned in your query.
- Stuff besides the synopsis. If you have any sort of potential self-promotion platform, even if it’s just a MySpace page (and if you don’t, create one), mention it. If you know anyone or have a way to contact anyone who’s a published author and who might write you a blurb, ask them. Writers have to be shameless self-promoters these days.
If anyone else has ideas or words of encouragement for Melody, bring them on. We’re all in the same boat that’s drifting in a sea of rejection letters. Keep them all, Melody, so you can look back on them and laugh someday when you sign that first agency contract! Good luck.
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June 9th, 2007 at 9:36 am
Melody, I certainly know how you feel. My first five queries went south too. The second group of five have had two requests for partials. One of those two wrote “What a great query.” So what was the difference? Well, I took Noah Lukeman’s advice. Tell the story of your novel in three sentences - no more, and make those sentences fly off the page. Two, personalize the query. In one sentence, explain why you chose the agent. He/she is a person. Let the agent know in that one sentance that your query isn’t a mass mailing. Third, if you have any writing credits, state them with pride. I know a highly published individual in scientific journals, trying to sell a spy novel. In his query he practically apologizes for his non fiction writing credits. That’s rediculous. Finally remember, every rejection brings you one step closer to the acceptance. Good Luck.
July 15th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
Melody,
I am in the same boat that you are. My editor, who is an acclaimed author, and has published several books, went above and beyond his call of duty and practically wrote my query letter and synopsis for me. I submitted my query letter and the synopsis via email to 65 agents. So far I’ve received 25 rejects stating that my work was not right, or that it was not the right agency. I’ve even had 1 scammer! But the most discouraging reject was from a big agency (Writers House), who requested my entire manuscript and then simply said that my writing was not striking any magic. But don’t give up. I have around 40 more agencies to query by snail mail. If all else fails after 105 queries, I have one more option as a last resort: contact published authors and ask for a mansucript review, and ask if they will submit my manuscript to their agent. Good Luck.