Rejection Stats

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

Post by ryanznock » July 23rd, 2010, 2:51 pm

I started querying in April, did a batch of five, got a partial request, and then finally in early July I got a rejection for that. So now I've just started batch 2.

Genre: Um . . . urban fantasy? (Two people who play the same online video game fall in love, and the narrative magically crosses between the real world and the game.)
Queries sent: 10
1st stage rejections: 5
Partial request: 1
2nd stage rejections: 1 (which was personalized)
Pending: 4

WilliamMJones
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by WilliamMJones » August 18th, 2010, 3:34 pm

Finally able to add my stats.

Queries sent: 1
Rejections: 1

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shadow
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by shadow » August 19th, 2010, 3:01 pm

Hey there guys! I got my stats for Overcast Shadows/The Coming!

2 Queries sent, and 1 full manuscript request from a press not an agent. Wish me luck :)
All things writing, visit my blog http://arielemerald.blogspot.com/

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otherside89girl
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by otherside89girl » August 19th, 2010, 3:29 pm

Well, I'm adding my rejection stats. Because I'm starting to get frustrated. Why are agents so busy??? Give me a new agent who would jump for joy at a query email. Please.

Genre: Contemporary YA
Queries sent: 8
Rejections: 5
Pending: 3
Partial requests: 0!
Full requests: HA!

:(
Last edited by otherside89girl on September 8th, 2010, 2:02 am, edited 2 times in total.

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shadow
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by shadow » August 19th, 2010, 4:14 pm

otherside89girl wrote:Well, I'm adding my rejection stats. Because I'm starting to get frustrated. Why are agents so busy??? Give me a new agent who would jump for joy at a query email. Please.

Genre: Contemporary YA
Queries sent: 8
Rejections: 5
Pending: 3
Partial requests: 0!
Full requests: HA!

:(

Keep trying! I know you will get there eventually :) I have experienced so much more rejections (with other novels) and this one request is my very first ever since a year of querying so stay persistant!

Shadow
All things writing, visit my blog http://arielemerald.blogspot.com/

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otherside89girl
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by otherside89girl » August 20th, 2010, 5:22 pm

Aw, thanks, shadow!

Molly
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Molly » August 25th, 2010, 1:51 pm

Hello,

I've been reading these and thought I'd post my own stats. I'm querying in literary fiction.

Queries sent: 17
Rejections on query: 5
Rejection via non-response: 3
Partial requests: 1 (she later passed on the project)
Full requests: 8
Rejections on the full: 3
Rewrite requests: 3
Pending: 2

Worth mentioning: all of my requests came from agents who had seen part of my manuscript (I pasted the opening pages into a few of the queries). I think all but one rejection came from people who only got the letter. I think it's a lot easier to pass on a letter. My novel is solidly literary fiction but has a big hook; I think including a small sample allowed folks to see how I intended to navigate that. I hope that's helpful.

Best of luck, everyone!

otherside89girl
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by otherside89girl » September 8th, 2010, 2:01 am

Genre: Contemporary YA
Queries sent: 17
Rejections: 11
Pending: 6
Partial requests: 0
Full requests: 1.... rejected



Just got a rejection on my first full. Ouch. :/ Sigh. Try, try again.

Claudie
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Claudie » September 9th, 2010, 1:35 pm

Aah, you guys are so courageous. I'm nowhere near the query stage but the simple thought of doing what you are doing now scares me! Keep at it! You are all a special kind of awesome.
"I do not think there is any thrill [...] like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success... Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything." -- Nikola Tesla

lachrymal
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by lachrymal » September 10th, 2010, 7:28 pm

post deleted.
Last edited by lachrymal on November 21st, 2010, 6:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

wonderactivist
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by wonderactivist » September 13th, 2010, 4:42 pm

Genre: Mystery
Queries: 5
Form Rejections: 2
Personalized rejections: 1, then add the two below
Requests for partials: 1, then personalized rejection
Requests for fulls: 1, then personalized rejection
Contest entries: 1
Contests outstanding: 1
Frazzled nerves: 20,000
Redoing my query: By all means, constantly

I sent one a week for a while, but stopped at 5. Now I'm completely revising my query, looking at my opening scene, and moving forward.
Last edited by wonderactivist on September 14th, 2010, 8:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

WilliamMJones
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by WilliamMJones » September 13th, 2010, 7:33 pm

New stats now that I've queried more than once.

Genre: YA Fantasy
Queries sent: 11
personal rejections: 1
Form rejections: 3
Still out: 7
Partial requests: 0
Full requests: 0
Nerves: Already failing

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Quill
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Quill » September 13th, 2010, 9:03 pm

I'm kind of surprised how generally few queries have been sent by those reporting in this thread. I'm used to seeing stories about writers who found their agent after 75 attempts. I hope you guys putting your stats up are keeping on sending those queries out!

Continued best of luck to all!

Netti
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Netti » September 14th, 2010, 12:42 pm

Genre: YA/Fantasy
Total Queries Sent to Date: 17
Queries awaiting response: 11
Rejections: 6
Form Rejections: 4
Personalized Rejections: 2
Request for Pages: 0
Request for Full: 0

But it hasn't even been a month since I sent the first letters so I still have hope.
"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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d minus
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by d minus » September 15th, 2010, 12:45 pm

Quill wrote:I'm kind of surprised how generally few queries have been sent by those reporting in this thread. I'm used to seeing stories about writers who found their agent after 75 attempts. I hope you guys putting your stats up are keeping on sending those queries out!

Continued best of luck to all!
I was one of the early posters on this thread (back in those glory days of last February), back when I had a low query count and a cushy request rate. Now my query count is embarrassing, and my request rate is becoming a sliver in a very dorky pie chart I keep. Of course, the two gluttons of that pie are No and No Word.

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