I Love Your Premise, But...

There are a lot of times when I find myself writing essentially the same response to authors. I love your premise, but I am going to pass on the project. They may have also received a comment that says, "You have a fantastic writing style, but I am going to pass on this story." I know that authors are now sitting back totally confused. "But you said you liked it? I don't understand?" Authors need to understand that this is not that bad of a comment. Yes, it is rejection, but there is a lot of positive here.

First of all, let's try to examine editors and agents mean by this comment. 

In the case of someone saying the loved the premise of the story but... this is going to be one of those cases where it might be the writing. This is really the worst-case scenario, but let's get this one out of the way first. This means that you have an ability to come up with great ideas, but it was the execution of the story. Yes, this does mean your writing is not up to par. But (I know I am going to use a lot of this word today. There is a reason), this does mean that it is something that can be improved on. It probably means that you are still in the beginning stages of your writing. Keep working at it. Things will improve. At least you can come up with great ideas!

In other cases of the premise is good but they still pass, it is possibly an issue of the story is with the wrong person or the wrong house. Again, you have the right idea, and the writing may be great, BUT... it is one of those subjective cases. How many times have you read a book others have raved about, but the writing is just not for you? You need to understand that as editors and agents, we have to truly fall in love with the idea. It might simply be that the writing voice is not connecting with me. No problem! It just has to get to the right person. 

Now, on the other side of the rejection letter, what if they loved your writing but passed? Weren't we all told over and over again by editors and agents that if you write a really good story, someone will buy it? Well, that is not entirely the case. Let me first say, if you do write a "blow it out of the water, OMG this is the best book ever" story, then there is a pretty good chance someone will buy it. But the story has to be beyond amazing. Most authors (don't take this personally) are not going to be at that level. So what does this mean. Yes, your writing was great BUT... the premise might not be all that hot. It might also be an issue with your marketing or getting it to the right person at the right time. There are many times when I see a great story, and yet, the market is not buying a story like this at the moment. As an agent, I also find myself saying this because I personally am not sure how I would market it. Again, this is not an issue of anything on your end, BUT an issue of finding the right place or person. 

I want you to understand that not all rejections require you to fix something in your story. It is a matter of you just taking more time to learn the craft to better finesse the writing. or a matter of just finding the right person. 

Don't panic. Rejections come with this business.