Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Make that 5 rejections (4 form). Does one get used to it?

Maybe if we called 'it' something different then it wouldn't feel so bad. Here's the synonym list from Thesaurus.com. I personally like no go.

REJECTION!!!!!
bounce, brush-off, cold shoulder, disallowance, dismissal, elimination, exclusion, hard time, kick in teeth, nix, no dice, no go, no way, nothing doing, pass*, rebuff, renunciation, repudiation, slap in the face, thumbs down, turndown, veto

Sent off a few more today and am pulling Jedi mind tricks on a few people in NYC.

"You like my project. You will request my proposal and manuscript now...."

I've also started making Bruce Lee sounds when hitting SEND.

Ha, no go is nice - sounds less rejection like. But personally I like slap in the face, cuz that's what it feels like sometimes ;-)

~JD

Genre: literary fiction
Total queries sent to date: 10
Queries still awaiting a response: 3
Rejections to date: 5
Form rejections: 3
Personalized rejections: 2 (1 extremely nice / 1 very, very mean)
Requests for pages: 3 (1 pending)
Requests for manuscript: 1 (pending)

I like that thesaurus list. I think the very, very mean personalized rejection falls under "kick in the teeth."

d minus, you have me extremely curious about this mean personalized rejection. I'm going to go out on a limb here and ask if you would share it with us (sans any identifying information, of course). Sorry if I'm being forward, but I'm just too curious. That definintely sounds like a kick in the teeth.

Congratulations on the manuscript request. That's excellent, especially after 10 queries. And good luck querying in the vague non-genre of literary fiction. I'm right there with you.

Ryan – Ouch! Those definitions are painful to read. No wonder every rejection letter actually feels like a slap in the face ... That’s part of the definition. I like your idea of doing Jedi mind tricks. Excellent!

d minus – Someone actually sent you a very, very mean rejection letter? That’s terrible! Don’t feel too badly ... An agent did the same to Stephenie Meyer, and look how things turned out for her after an assistant at a literary agency liked her novel, TWILIGHT. She writes about it here, in the section entitled "Getting Published": http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight.html

My newly revised query has gone 3 for 3.

3 Form Rejections.

On one of them, all the agent had to do was address me before the form rejection, which means he typed out less than 10 characters, and he still managed to make two typos! I really wanted to respond, but you know, you got to take the high road... right?!

Alright, NEW! and IMPROVED! rejection stats....

Queries Sent: 35
Rejections: 17
Partial Requests: 3
Full Requests: 1
No Response (Yet): 14

Two of the partial requests & one of the rejections was with my newly-revised query that many of you (and most importantly my sister) helped me get right.

Is seventeen rejections a lot? It seems like it.

jordynface wrote:

Nick wrote:

christi wrote: no response: 28

Just curious, but how long ago did you send out those 28? Personally if they're fairly recent I would count them as "No response (yet):". If they've been sitting for a while...

How recent would you say is recent enough to count queries as "no response YET"?

Well number one it depends upon if an agent names a response time. One agency which springs to mind says allow 6-8 weeks for a response. So I'd say if you've heard nothing after the end of week 9 or 10, it's fair to say it's a no-response. Always allow at least a week of spillover, just in case. If they don't name a response time...eh, it's kind of whatever I feel has been too long, I guess.

paravil wrote:d minus, you have me extremely curious about this mean personalized rejection. I'm going to go out on a limb here and ask if you would share it with us (sans any identifying information, of course). Sorry if I'm being forward, but I'm just too curious. That definintely sounds like a kick in the teeth.

Congratulations on the manuscript request. That's excellent, especially after 10 queries. And good luck querying in the vague non-genre of literary fiction. I'm right there with you.

It was so short that I'm going to post it verbatim: We suggest you learn to write before seeking representation, but good luck anyways.
This was a rejection, sent from an assistant, on a partial request. It hurt especially because I have two degrees and I teach writing.
I suppose I'm able to shrug it off now that I've licked my wounds (err.. missing teeth), but even with the very nice personalized rejection, and the full request, it's still hard to be optimistic. Literary fiction is definitely a tough fight; you never know what you're going to be hit with.

And thanks, Marilyn, for the link. It's encouraging to read other people's experiences.

d minus wrote: It was so short that I'm going to post it verbatim: We suggest you learn to write before seeking representation, but good luck anyways.
This was a rejection, sent from an assistant, on a partial request. It hurt especially because I have two degrees and I teach writing.

You know what, d minus? That assistant was a bitch.

Agreed. That's just bad form on their part. And it's obviously not true. Look at those requests your racking up. :)

Thanks, guys. I don't hold any grudges. I just figure it was a rough day at the office.
Maybe the assistant took some grief for requesting pages, I don't know.

I think one of my queries falls in the Assumed Rejection category now. It's been 30 days, and he's a notorious non-responder.

d minus,

Sounded like the assistant was on a bit of an ego trip. You can't let people pull you into their own little psychological tizzies. That's between them and their psychiatrist. Gotta trust yourself and your writing.

Best of luck,
Ink

Regarding that rejection: Dang.

And: Unprofessional.

And: Ridiculous.

Tack it to your wall and when you get the book published mail that assistant a signed personalized copy.