Rejections Don't Always Mean A Rewrite Is Needed

How many times has a friend told you about this amazing book. They gush all over it and tell you it is better than chocolate ice cream on a hot day (that one would be hard to beat). In any case, the convince you to read the book and see exactly why they believe the book is amazing.

So you buy it.

So you read it.

And you never finish it. You dive into the book thinking your friend just cannot be wrong, and yet this book does not scream amazing. In fact, you might openly think the book is the biggest piece of garbage ever. For authors, they often read these stories and scream "How on Earth did this person get a contract for this piece of #^&%^%&^%$$^&!"

This, unfortunately, is the subjective piece of the publishing world. Your manuscript can simply land in the hands of someone who it would have never been right for. Their minds just did not connect to the story like you did. 

As an agent, I always look to see which of the editors a project would be best with. Some like stories hot. Some don't. Some like more research. Some like summer reads. Again, it is all subjective. 

I remind people of this because there are a lot of times I pass on a project simply because I personally did not connect with the story. For authors, you want an agent to completely fall head over heels for your project. You want us to love the thing so much that we cannot stop talking about it. But, when you get a rejection like this, does it mean you have to fix something? The answer is no.

Now, with that said, if you get 3 rejections all saying the same thing about your story, then it might mean you have to change things. The key is to read those rejection letters (if the editor or agent even bothers to send one) carefully. If all of the comments come back saying they just did not connect with it, this means you probably need to take some more time researching and figuring out who the best editor or agent is out there for your project. 

Enjoy your Monday!