Form vs Personalised?

[Heather B]

So I've heard this spoken about quite a bit in the query process and my question is; how do you tell the difference? I have no experience to go by but I'd kind of like to know when an agent has sent a form and just tacked my name on the beginning.

Also, how did you feel when you received your first form? Or even better, have you never had one?

[Nick]

Well, sometimes things are very obviously form. Like this old thing:

Thank you for querying Browne & Miller Literary Associates about your book project.

We have carefully evaluated your materials and regrettably, your project is not a right fit for our agency. We currently have a very full clientele and must be highly selective about the new projects we pursue.

Thank you again for thinking of us. Please know that we wish you much success in all of your writing and publishing endeavors.


Sincerely yours,

Browne & Miller Literary Associates

or like Nathan's form letter. In fact, all of the forms sitting in that old account are like that. Vague, I don't really want to use the phrase "put down" but in my current half-asleep-ness all I've got is "put down very gently", and, aside from Nathan's, they read like they were pulled out of a stack of company paper. All the form rejections follow a same basic format as well: Thank you for your submission, sorry we don't think we're the right person/agency, hopefully you have better luck elsewhere.

Personalised rejections...I ain't never been there so I can't speak for that, but one would imagine the three components of a form would still be in there, somehow.

And actually, I was happy when my first form came. Sent three queries out and spent the next five days angsting over it, and then when the first reply rolled in, I couldn't bring myself to open it for another few days. When I finally did open it my response was, basically, "Okay, that's one gone, time to send out more". Because I am a Failure Hydra. If I screw up at something, or get a rejection, or whatever, I have a tendency to try again in greater number. Generally it doesn't end well.

[knight_tour]

For me it isn't personalized unless it offers some sort of advice or hint at what didn't work for that agent.

[polymath]

Back when publishers generally still accepted unsolicited manuscripts, I sent out a dozen queries for a nonfiction project. I got back three SASE stuffed with unrelated junk mail and postage due, no form rejection or rejection comment of any kind. The other nine disappeared into thin air. For other queries I've gotten slips, patently form, actually torn strips of paper with one typewritten line, no salutation, no nothing of any consequence other than, Thank you, no. I"ve gotten some personalized rejections, but they were as impersonal as the form rejections. E-mail rejection, mail rejection, impersonal personal in-person rejection, auto responder form rejection.

Web query and manuscript submission applications on the market offer auto responder form reject features. One software I've scrutinized allows up to a dozen precomposed rejection response selections. Web submission came into its own this year. Last year, a few digests accepted Web form submissions, and one or two novel publishers accepted Web submission book queries and sample chapters and synopses. This year about half the digests I surveyed started accepting and preferring Web submission, some accepting only Web submission, digital digests. I haven't seen too many more book publishers or agents getting onboard with Web submission yet. But it's just too efficient to be overlooked.

Apocryphal rejection letter purportedly from a Chinese economic journal;

"We have read your manuscript with boundless delight. If we were to publish your paper, it would be impossible for us to publish any work of lower standard. And as it is unthinkable that in the next thousand years we shall see its equal, we are, to our regret, compelled to return your divine composition, and to beg you a thousand times to overlook our short sight and timidity." *

Rejection is an art form. Screening readers who despise the work are some of the more creatively inspired naysayers. What they don't realize is they're not the first to come up with a particularly cruel rejection, in fact, they're as predictably droll and unoriginal as what they reject. A simple and courteous No Thank You is sufficient to deliver the bad news.

* http://www.umich.edu/~psycours/360/lec_10/tsld006.htm

[Down the well]

You know it's a form rejection if it is generalized and could apply to anyone's submission. If it is personal it usually says something specific about your ms. I've had agents comment on things like writing style, plot issues, use of imagery, and character underdevelopment. And the best personals are the ones written by hand, even if it's just a note tacked on to the bottom of the form rejection. I like those.

It's a little ironic, though. The form rejections are the ones we sometimes take the most personally: They didn't even like it enough to comment on it. I must suck. Been there. :(

*Edit

I want to add that form rejections, like Mira said, are just part of the deal. Even though I obsess and read all sorts of meaning into them, there's just no way to know the true reason for an agent sending a form rejection. Sometimes it really is a matter of the wrong story at the wrong time, which is why you should query widely. And if you think you are getting too many form rejections to your queries, revise the query. It's very important to adjust as you go. Good luck!!

[Mira]

Personalized varies. A form rejection with a name attached IS considered personalized. For example, if Nathan addresses your rejection to you and thanks you for coming to his blog (if you mentioned that in the letter), that's personalized. His form rejection doesn't have a name included.

Some agents, especially those with the smaller agencies will include a note saying why they weren't interested. I had a friend who received a couple of those, so they aren't completely rare, but for the most part, you get the personalized with a partial or query.

If you aren't getting personalized rejections, no biggie. That's par for the course.

[knight_tour]

Personalized varies. A form rejection with a name attached IS considered personalized. For example, if Nathan addresses your rejection to you and thanks you for coming to his blog (if you mentioned that in the letter), that's personalized. His form rejection doesn't have a name included.

Some agents, especially those with the smaller agencies will include a note saying why they weren't interested. I had a friend who received a couple of those, so they aren't completely rare, but for the most part, you get the personalized with a partial or query.

If you aren't getting personalized rejections, no biggie. That's par for the course.

I suppose you could say this, but to me this makes the issue of personalized or form unimportant. What is important to me is whether the rejection offers me any clues as to what I may be doing wrong. No matter how polite the rejection, if it offers me nothing then it is not helping me. Note that I do understand how busy agents are, so I am not expecting them to be helpful. It's just that this is how I view the rejection letters -- they are either helpful or not. So far I have had only a single helpful rejection letter, though even that one I have to admit I didn't understand.

[Quill]

Am I alone in thinking it is not part of any agent's job to critique in any way for an author the viability of that author's writing or current project after reading a query letter or synopsis or partial? (I would expect a personal word or two for a requested full).

As I see it the average agent is overworked. Besides being under a constant torrent of submissions, often maintaining a blog and conference schedule, the agent is trying to do the best job for signed clients, and is under no obligation -- social, moral, or otherwise -- to give any extra energy to any one submission, at the query stage.

Up to the query stage that's the job of me, my beta, my critique group, my freelance editor, and my mother.

I also subscribe to the idea that a "no, this isn't for us" isn't a rejection. It is a pass. No matter how it feels, there's a big difference. If all the salespeople in the world thought of every potential customer who walked without buying as a rejection, there'd be a constant Zoloft and suicide party going. There's no reason for us writers to be so sensitive.

[Heather B]

That's very true, Quill. And it's a good way of looking at it.
Okay, so I just received a 'pass'. It said something along the lines of 'we received your submission and unfortunately it wasn't the best fit for us. I'm sure your material will find representation elsewhere and I wish you the best of luck.' Then there was a random line that I assume is on the bottom of all of them. So this is pretty much the kind of thing I was thinking of when I started this thread. It says the normal 'form' part and then a little extra. So my question, is this form or personalized?

[AnimaDictio]

Am I alone in thinking it is not part of any agent's job to critique in any way ... There's no reason for us writers to be so sensitive.

You're not alone Quill. This is my attitude precisely. I also have the attitude that it is my job to be the best client ever for my agent, whoever that will be. I want an agent who will work hard for me so I plan to work even harder for him or her. I plan to run my query letter under so many noses that by the time an agent sees it, I will have no doubt as to its appeal to a wide range of readers. Then I can be more certain that any rejection/pass is more about "fit" than about the quality of my work.

Of course, I'm at least 9 months away from writing a query letter so it is really easy for me to have this attitude right now.

[Down the well]

Just to clarify...

Personal rejections are usually in response to requested material, not queries. Queries typically generate two responses: a form rejection or a request to see pages. And in this instance it is better for a writer to think of the rejection as a pass.

And I agree, it isn't the agent's job to critique work he/she doesn't represent, but that's exactly why personal rejections are so appreciated. It's why writers see it as a form of encouragement, even if the work is rejected, because they know how busy agents are. And it is a little maddening to wait three months or more to hear back on a full only to get a form rejection with absolutely no clue as to why the agent is rejecting. I bow down to anyone who doesn't feel a little frustrated when that happens more than once.

[Mira]

You know Nathan wrote a post on this recently that alluded to this.... Like everyone else I want feedback on my queries!! But looking at this from a distance - maybe sometimes it's better sometimes not to get it.....?

Personalized rejections are nice, but they can also be alittle dangerous. What if the agent or editor tells you something that may be true for them, but isn't true for the work itself?

Lots of people rejected books that became bestsellers. Those people said things that were completely off the mark - maybe not for them, but for everyone else.

I think it's good to take a critical look at feedback. I've heard of people who made changes to their MS and later regretted it. I know this is terrible to say, but even positive feedback can be off the mark. So, not giving feedback when the agent hasn't seen the work could be seen as responsible. It's a subjective thing all around.

Just a thought to add to the discussion....

[sarahdee]

I had 5 form rejections so far, and I knew they were form as they said nothing personal just that they didn't feel able to represent me. I got my first personal rejection which I knew must have been personlised to some extent as it has some feedback (they prefer at least 80,00 words and mine is a little short). Of course its prob just a sentence they add in but its nice to know someone actually read my letter at least :)

I think its different in UK though as agents request letter, synopsis and first 10 pages or so with initial query so its like sending a partial....

[Down the well]

Of course its prob just a sentence they add in but its nice to know someone actually read my letter at least :)

I know what you mean. Sometimes it feels like you've jettisoned the query into outer space never to be heard from again.

I think its different in UK though as agents request letter, synopsis and first 10 pages or so with initial query so its like sending a partial....

Several agents in the US do that too, but I consider that an upfront request for pages. Of course, when an agent requests pages from everyone it probably reduces the chances of getting personal feedback. I'm hoping to start querying again this fall, but reading everyone's rejection stats and stories is already bringing me down. Time to start growing that tough skin, I suppose.