Rejection Stats

Submission protocol, query etiquette, and strategies that work
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lyndoncr
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by lyndoncr » December 5th, 2010, 12:23 am

Not sure of the exact numbers but I just had a quick look at my "Query responses" folder in hotmail and there are 21 "no"s in there. It's for a quirky fantasy novel. Had one request for a partial which ended in a no. These are just the replies too, I'm not certain how many I simply haven't heard from.

Netti
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Netti » December 5th, 2010, 9:28 am

Genre: Religious Dystopia
Queries Sent to Agents: 62
- Pending: 3
- Requests for Full: 1 (rejected)
- Rejections: 59
Queries sent to Indies: 6
- Pending: 6
Last edited by Netti on December 5th, 2010, 10:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
"It's kind of shocking to hear Toby called a babe; sort of like calling God a studmuffin."
- Margaret Atwood, Year of the Flood

http://myscientificattempt.blogspot.com/

Down the well
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Down the well » December 5th, 2010, 9:57 am

Rejections just plain suck, Netti. Hang in there. Start again in the new year.

I've only sent seven queries so far. I have a requested full (from a contest) and a requested partial still out there. I've had three rejections and still waiting to hear back on three partials that were submitted along with the query. I've decided to stop querying until after the holidays. It's just too easy for an agent to sweep the query off their desk in the rush to get out the door for the long break. Also hoping I'll get some feedback in the next week or two so I can adjust if necessary. Good luck to everyone still in the trenches.

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HillaryJ
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by HillaryJ » December 5th, 2010, 1:11 pm

I just looked back at my submission spreadsheet from when I queried my first manuscript. 10% of agents who said they always respond did not. The queries or the responses were e-sidetracked.

So, just a bit of advice to anyone who thinks they've received a non-response rejection from someone who responds: Do Follow Up. One of my writer buddies just signed with an agent who didn't receive his first query. So, it's worth the time to resend.

Good luck to all!
Blog http://www.hillaryjacques.blogspot.com
Twitter http://www.twitter.com/hillaryjacques
CARNIEPUNK - http://books.simonandschuster.com/Carni ... 1476714158
as Regan Summers - The Night Runner series from Carina Press

Netti
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Netti » December 5th, 2010, 3:14 pm

HillaryJ wrote:I just looked back at my submission spreadsheet from when I queried my first manuscript. 10% of agents who said they always respond did not. The queries or the responses were e-sidetracked.

So, just a bit of advice to anyone who thinks they've received a non-response rejection from someone who responds: Do Follow Up. One of my writer buddies just signed with an agent who didn't receive his first query. So, it's worth the time to resend.

Good luck to all!
Dude, so in love with you right now! I didn't even think of that. I went back through my rejections and found 7 I can requery. So excited! That's 7 more to send out after the holidays.
"It's kind of shocking to hear Toby called a babe; sort of like calling God a studmuffin."
- Margaret Atwood, Year of the Flood

http://myscientificattempt.blogspot.com/

CariZ
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by CariZ » December 6th, 2010, 2:39 pm

So, Hillary, (and anyone else with advice) when you resend a query to an agent who normally responds but didn't respond to you, do you mention that when you re-query or just send it out as if it's a brand-spanking new query?

Thanks!

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HillaryJ
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by HillaryJ » December 6th, 2010, 3:14 pm

I just sent as though it was a first query.
Blog http://www.hillaryjacques.blogspot.com
Twitter http://www.twitter.com/hillaryjacques
CARNIEPUNK - http://books.simonandschuster.com/Carni ... 1476714158
as Regan Summers - The Night Runner series from Carina Press

Bron
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Bron » December 26th, 2010, 8:46 am

Comps entered: 1
Partial requests: 1

The contest was my first toe in the water for this whole process. I'm about to start sending out query letters for the MS so no doubt my stats will go downhill from here. I'm going to send out a batch in the next week so we'll see what happens.

notw
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by notw » January 6th, 2011, 8:08 pm

Okay, so I was wondering how many rejections it took before you guys started working on your query again? Since I started, I have fixed up my query twice and my stats so far are:
Sent: 19
Form Rejection: 17
Silence: 1
Pending: 1

arielswan
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by arielswan » January 8th, 2011, 9:10 am

Okay, so I was wondering how many rejections it took before you guys started working on your query again?
I sent 4 or 5 queries in the first run - got a few rejections and some silence - and I revised - sent two more queries - got rejections and tweaked the query again - this third time - a full request and a partial request. I stuck with that query. That 3rd revision has garnered 5 Full requests and 2 partials (in 33 queries total). As I went along I continued tweaking just a little - either to suit the agent or just because I noticed something that could be better. However, I will say that from the initial batch two eventually turned into requests (1 full/ 1 partial) a month/and two months later (respectively) - so you never know. In the end though, that first query (which was already in its fourth revision before I even started querying) didn't really reflect what I wanted to show about my book - and those two requests turned into rejections. Revise until it starts working. At 19 I think some tweaking might be in order. Good Luck!

arielswan.blogspot.com

notw
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by notw » January 8th, 2011, 4:18 pm

Ariel,

Thanks for the input. :)

CafeCliche
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by CafeCliche » January 12th, 2011, 9:04 pm

You know what's awesome? Starting over. Everything's so shiny and new again!

Queries sent: 0
Number of dream agents at the top of the list: 16
Trunked manuscripts: 2
Excitement: Rising!
Chapters left to write: 8
Querypalooza 2.0: Impending

All right, back to work with me.

Sleeping Beauty
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Sleeping Beauty » January 27th, 2011, 2:17 am

Queries sent: 1
Rejections: 1

Not bad odds, really. It was my dream agent, and they requested exclusivity along with a partial. But I'm glad to finally get an answer, even if it was a no - twelve weeks was a long time to wait. And the rejection was personalised, and very complimentary! Ah well, on to Round 2 - and I'll be querying in batches this time!

Zoe
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Zoe » January 29th, 2011, 11:54 am

Just gathering up a courage to send out the first one :-)

Netti
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Netti » February 28th, 2011, 4:41 pm

Last week I got a rejection letter. To add insult to injury they addressed the letter to "Mr" instead of "Ms."
"It's kind of shocking to hear Toby called a babe; sort of like calling God a studmuffin."
- Margaret Atwood, Year of the Flood

http://myscientificattempt.blogspot.com/

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