A Bouquet Of Rejection Letters – Road to Publication

I sent out about 30 query letters and received, so far, fifteen ‘HELL NO!’ responses. Okay, not exactly those words, but they felt like it to me. Oh well.

Some day, I’ll write a story about the journey to publishing my first novel. For now, just enjoy some of the heart breaks I’ve experienced along the way:

 

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Dear Author,

Well, it’s finally happened: after over thirty years of answering every query letter that has ever come my way, I’ve been forced to finally acknowledge that a new era is upon us all.  Before the arrival of e-mail submissions, I used to receive perhaps one hundred queries a week.  That was a lot of queries but it wasn’t frankly unmanageable.  The Friedrich Agency now receives more than twice that on a daily basis and it’s becoming impossible to attend to much of anything else!  I’m so sorry for the impersonal response, I hate to do this.  Writing a good book or a good proposal is among the hardest things in the world to do; I promise, we’re not unsympathetic!  You have our word that we are reading every single query letter that comes our way, but from now on, we’re only responding personally if we’re sufficiently curious and would like to read further. Please don’t take offense at this Draconian measure– there is undoubtedly a wonderful agent out there for whom your book might just be the perfect match. Toward that end, we wish you all the best!

Take care.

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Thanks. I read the attached with great interest. It’s well written, and promises a substantial, serious work. Unfortunately I don’t think it’s something which we could represent successfully to our own editorial contacts at the big commercial publishers, given how tough the market is right now. However, I wish you the best of luck elsewhere.

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I have received your query. After careful evaluation, I have decided that I am not the right agent to represent your work. I’m sure another agent will feel quite differently about your material though.

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Thank you for considering our agency. I wish you the best of luck finding representation. Due to the volume of queries and submissions I receive, I’m unable to provide a personal evaluation and/or further explanation of my decision.

 

Best.

 

 

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Thanks for letting me take a look. I’m afraid this doesn’t seem like the right project for me, but I’m sure other agents will feel differently. Best of luck placing your work.

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Hi Florida . I’m afraid this isn’t connecting wholeheartedly with me, so I’ll step aside, but thank you for the look.

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Florida,

There’s something here but I’m really not the right agent for you, as I represent mostly genre fiction and don’t feel I have the right contacts to sell a book like yours.  I have to pass but want you to know this is a business based rejection and not an editorial one.

Best of luck elsewhere.

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Not for us, thanks.

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Dear Writer:

Thank you for your inquiry. We are sorry that we cannot invite you to submit your work or offer to represent you. Moreover, we apologize that we cannot respond in a more personal manner.

We wish you the best of luck elsewhere.

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Thank you for thinking of me with your query.  While this sounds like a strong project, I’m afraid it doesn’t strike me as a likely fit with me and my particular editorial contacts.  I wish you well in finding the right agent for your work.

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Thank you for your recent query but this does not seem right for me so I’m going to respectfully pass on looking at more material. Best of success with the project.

 

Yours sincerely.

 

 

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Like I said, some day I shall write a story about this process. In the mean time, you can read an excerpt of the book I was shopping around here and here

Ciao

Filed under: Literary Presence, Shotmusinz