 |
   
    |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
You write a query letter. You revise, revise
and revise. You have your friends, family and anyone willing to read
the damn thing take a look at this little letter that so much seems to
depend on. You find out it sucks and start the process again and
revise until you think you can't revise it. Then comes the moment.
You seal the envelope and put the return address on it and then you put
the stamp on it and slowly walk to the mail box and leave a load of envelopes
for the Mailman. He's supposed to be your friend, but sometimes he
could be your enemy. More often than not he's the enemy. He's
the one that brings the bad news, on occassion he'll deliver something
good. Here are a few of the rejections I have received in response
to query letters sent out for my novel.
Support:
"...an agent must be a 100% commited to
a project..... We think you would do better with another agent
who can give you the support you are seeking."
Encouraging:
"While I found much to admire in your writing,I'm sorry..."
Simple:
"Sorry not interested."
"Sorry, I don't think this is for us."
"...this is just not for me."
"...but it doesn't meet our present needs."
Enthusiasm:
"I do not feel enthusiastic enough about
the project to be able to pursue it futher."
This seems to be the most common, of
course there are variations of this rejection
"..and I'm afraid it's not something we
feel we can represent with the right about of enthusiasm."
The Cake!:
"Sorry, Civil War plot lines are not favored by the romace readership. Other storylines to avoid are the Revolutionary War, The war of 1812 & the French Revolution."
Civil War not favored? Perhaps
the Revolutionary War or the War of 1812, what was the War of 1812 about
anyway? But the American Civil War? Where has this agent been?
Good Luck:
"Best Wishes, however...."
This is exactly how this line was typed
right before they signed their name.
"...the best of luck in your continuing search..."
"...we wish you every success with it elsewhere"
"...and I wish you the best of luck with other agents"
"Please accept my best wishes for success
with your writing."
I really liked this one (honestly)
it arrived on letterhead with the letter addressed to me and signed by
the agent. It wasn't a cheesy photocopy or a stamp.
About form letters:
"...regret having to resort to this impersonal.... But the sheer volume of unsolicited material...."
"...apology for this form response, but the volume of mail receieved...."
"...regret the necessity of a form letter, but are swamped with inquiries and must use this method if we are to take care of our clients and keep the door open..."
"...wish I could send you a more presonal
resonse, but in this business efficiency vanquishes humanity every time.
Wow, sounds a bit Sociological there....
Statistics:
16 queries sent out
2 I rejected-bad agents
2 yes-send more (haven't heard back from
them yet)
but from the remaining 12 letters sent
3 were actual letters they wrote or had some secretary write and actually had my name on there and signed their name in ink, no stamps or form letters.
3 were full page form letters: photo copied and "Dear Author..."
2 were 3x5 pieces of paper attached to my query, also a form letter.
3 were my own query letter returned with
some scribble on top that somewhere in the writing
the only word easily read is "No."
and..... drumroll....
1 was a stamp that had a short two line statement, containing "regret" and "sorry"
Wow, huh.... But on the brighter
side....
After I wrote my final final query letter,
I sent it out and the first two responses were "yes's." I thought
I had a winner then, but of course 3 more 'no's" followed that.
These were the responses I recieved:
"Many thanks for your query" it got scary here, then... "Thank you for thinking of us." uh oh... "Please excuse this impersonal form letter..." goodness another rejection? where's the no... and how are they going to say it?.... "...but I'd be interested in seeing the first 3 chapters and an author's bio." What? reread, and reread. The words didn't change......
So that's what I went through with my first "send more" response. The other response was a form letter and on the back of it had a few options and they checked off send more stuff and then checked off another box of what they wanted. My husband said he didn't think I should get back to them because that was a very impersonal yes and if they did represent me would they send form letters to everyone else and be impersonal to publishers. I will send them what they ask for, 50% chance I'll get a yes and then I could decide from there.
Now the yes responses don't mean I have secured an agent... That means they just want to read more and torture me more. This waiting is worse than waiting for the query letters to come back. In fact, I believe it is time again to check the mailbox. Perhaps the mailman will be nice today.....