Rejection Stats

Submission protocol, query etiquette, and strategies that work
priya g.
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by priya g. » October 13th, 2010, 4:43 pm

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Queries sent: 9
Rejections: 3
No reply: 5
Requests for partials: 0
Requests for full: 0

Funny, how whenever i got my non-personalized rejections i was happy. a part of my brain said- phew, this isnt just a story sitting in my laptop anymore. another said- one less agent that aint right for me off my list.

I guess both are coping mechanisms

bcomet
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by bcomet » October 18th, 2010, 5:15 pm

genre: horror/fantasy

queries sent on current WiP: 28
rejections: 18 (varying from form to personal)
partial requests: 4
fulls: 1
still pending: 10

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cheekychook
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by cheekychook » October 21st, 2010, 7:41 pm

Queries sent: 51
Form rejections: 32
Personalized rejections: 4
Passed to another agent in the agency: 1
Partial requests: 2
Full request: 1
Partial rejections: 2 (one form, one personalized and complimentary)
Full rejection: 1 (form---how rude)
Carpal tunnel: flaring
Nerves: frayed
Hope: dwindling
Sanity---oh crap, we were supposed to start with that?

Compelled to add that all 3 requests occurred in my first batch of queries....which was a random sampling of agents (they've all been a random sampling of agents---I'm too scared to query my top choices). I guess that means query letters either have an expiration date or only have a certain amount of magical power before they run out---had I known that I'd have queried my top agents in that first round! Gah!

Oh, and I'm querying as commercial fiction or commercial women's fiction depending on each agents definition of the term "women's fiction" and whether or not that definition precludes having part of the story told through the male pov---which means I've researched the agents as much as one can without bordering on stalking and have personalized every query---which makes the "Dear Author" responses that much more endearing.
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Quill
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Quill » October 21st, 2010, 8:48 pm

Carpal tunnel: flaring
Nerves: frayed
Hope: dwindling
Sanity---oh crap, we were supposed to start with that?
At least you still have your sense of humor!

Netti
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Netti » October 28th, 2010, 4:07 pm

Genre: Religious Dystopia
Queries Sent: 57
Rejections: 16
Rejections that actually had my name in the salutation: 5 (How long does it take to add the author's name at the top of an email?)
Requests for partials: 0
Requests for fulls: 0
Pending: 41
"It's kind of shocking to hear Toby called a babe; sort of like calling God a studmuffin."
- Margaret Atwood, Year of the Flood

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Melissa LR Handa
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Melissa LR Handa » November 1st, 2010, 12:12 pm

Genre: Women's Fiction (literary)

Queries: 51
Requests for Partial: 1 (just happened on 11/01--yay!)
Requests for Full: 0
Rejections: 15
Pending: 35

Breakdown of Rejections--
Personalized: 6
Form: 7
Agency Closed due to Health Crisis: 1
No Response: 1

The bulk of my queries were sent out in the past two weeks, so I'm still feeling hopeful. After the 4th rejection, I quit feeling like I was being stabbed in the heart by the cruel, faceless string of agents. Whenever I receive a personalized rejection, I am absolutely ecstatic!

For those who have received requests (either full or partial), after how much time did they come to you? Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

I've been working diligently on my second novel and have redirected my genre, just in case novel #1's dream of publication is never realized.
Last edited by Melissa LR Handa on November 2nd, 2010, 7:09 am, edited 2 times in total.

Down the well
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Down the well » November 1st, 2010, 1:18 pm

Melissa LR Handa wrote:For those who have received requests (either full or partial), after how much time did they come to you? Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?
I'm just getting ready to query a new project so this is from a couple of years ago, but I've had requests come on the same day I e-mailed the query to a few days or weeks later. And once (I think the agent was cleaning her office and found my query under the trash can) I got a request for a full nine months after I sent my letter -- and the request came from a different agent in the office than the one I originally sent it to. So in answer to your question, uh, that's how long or short it can take. I'm a real help, aren't I?

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Melissa LR Handa
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Melissa LR Handa » November 1st, 2010, 1:20 pm

Down the well wrote:
Melissa LR Handa wrote:For those who have received requests (either full or partial), after how much time did they come to you? Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?
I'm just getting ready to query a new project so this is from a couple of years ago, but I've had requests come on the same day I e-mailed the query to a few days or weeks later. And once (I think the agent was cleaning her office and found my query under the trash can) I got a request for a full nine months after I sent my letter -- and the request came from a different agent in the office than the one I originally sent it to. So in answer to your question, uh, that's how long or short it can take. I'm a real help, aren't I?
Did you ever get that project published, Downy?

Down the well
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Down the well » November 1st, 2010, 1:29 pm

Melissa LR Handa wrote:Did you ever get that project published, Downy?

Hahahahahahaha!!!

Now my sides hurt from laughing so hard.

No.

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Melissa LR Handa
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Melissa LR Handa » November 1st, 2010, 1:39 pm

:-(

Best of luck with your new project. I'm barely into the querying process and already beginning to move my eggs to this next basket, aka novel #2. I think literary fiction is a tough sale (oops). Maybe the agents will be kinder when my YA novel comes along...

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Melissa LR Handa
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Melissa LR Handa » November 2nd, 2010, 7:05 am

Yay, I just got my first partial request! I'm updating my stats on this thread right now :-D

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HillaryJ
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by HillaryJ » November 2nd, 2010, 3:10 pm

Melissa LR Handa wrote:Yay, I just got my first partial request! I'm updating my stats on this thread right now :-D
Yay! Congratulations!
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Netti
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Netti » November 11th, 2010, 5:06 pm

Genre: Religious Dystopia
Queries Sent: 58
Rejections: 31
Partial Requests: 0
Full Requests: 1(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Yeah, there's a happy dance going on right now!
"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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Evelyn
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Evelyn » November 23rd, 2010, 9:41 pm

Genre: Feminist Science Fiction
Queries sent: 17
Rejections: 5
No response means rejection: 3
Retired as an agent: 1 (you know who you are)
Took 15 pages home for the weekend and never got back to me: 1
Partial requests: 2 (just sent)
Pending queries: 5

Jessica Peter
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Re: Rejection Stats

Post by Jessica Peter » November 26th, 2010, 11:31 pm

I just found this thread and I love it. It's nice to see the real numbers of people going through the same process I am! I've been querying off and on since the end of May, and here's my progress:

Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy (no vamps, fairies, angels....)
Queries Sent: 30
Requests for Partials: 3 (2 eventually rejected, 1 still with the agent)
Requests for Fulls: 2 (both still with the agents)
Rejected/Answering Period Expired: All of the Rest

I'm at the point where I suddenly feel the need to edit my manuscript again. I've dropped my querying so that if these three agents reject me, I'll do a full rewrite and then start querying with more agents. Though I am getting a bit nervous - 1 of the fulls has been out since May 25. Both the other full and the partial (50 pages) were sent August 20.
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Currently querying HUNT, YA Urban Fantasy & writing a post-apocalyptic romance

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