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! 

Think Before You Submit To The Same Agent

A common question many authors have is "Can I submit to an editor or agent if he/she has already rejected a project?" The answer is a yes... but let me explain some of the twists of this.

First of all, I do not personally recommend resubmitting a project that has been rejected UNLESS the editor/agent has given you clear revision notes AND said to feel free to resubmit. Some people will do that. Here at Greyhaus, I make it a policy to not do that simply because your project might work for someone else in the present form. So, in answer to this first part, resubmit, ONLY if requested to.

Now, what if they reject and I have another project I think might work. In this case, definitely do that, HOWEVER, don't just fire off that next project immediately. There are a few things you need to do first.

Take a look at that rejection letter. Read it carefully. If the editor or agent gave you any feedback, then make sure that this next project is not making the same mistakes. Take your time. Look it over. Don't rush it. If you were rejected because you sent something that person does not represent or acquire, go back and re-read their exact guidelines of what they want or don't want. Sending another project that is not a genre they represent is only going to give you a bad reputation.

Let me explain this last one a bit further. I have several authors who just keep submitting to me genres I don't represent. In one case, the person sending the projects is someone who is clearly making money sending out projects for authors. I have passed on every project. I have even reached out to this individual and told her that I hope this is all voluntary work and if not, it is a shame she is ripping off people with these letters. Did this stop her? No. I just got three more over the weekend. At this point, I start blocking the individual. 

Let's get back to those rejections. If you have now sent multiple projects and you are getting the "It's just not right for me personally" letter then this is telling you something. It is not a right fit. Your voice is not what the editor or agent is looking for, so move on. Find someone new. 

I honestly don't know how many other editors or agents keep a spreadsheet like I do, but when I do get a repeat author, I do go back and see what I rejected them on in the past. THAT will be the hurdle the author has to overcome for me to move forward. In other words, did you pay attention to what I said in the past? If not, get ready for the next rejection!

What Do Rejections Mean?

Authors hate receiving rejections. 

Editors and agents hate writing rejections. 

Still, these are part of the business, so get used to the darn things. 

Unfortunately, I think far too many authors really don't understand rejections. They get that the person on the other end said no, but beyond that, they are really clued out. There are actually several reasons why you may be getting those rejection letters, and it may not be all about the quality of your writing. Let's look at some of those beginning with, yes, your writing. 

1. Your writing is terrible. Yes, this indeed a reason and I am sorry to say it, there are a lot of authors who really have no clue how to write. There are a lot of times when someone just sits down and starts writing their "Great American Novel" without a clue of how to write. No, I am not talking about grammar (although yes, this is a problem). The real issue is you may not no or understand why you are doing the things you are doing in the story. Writing, like every other craft out there, takes time to learn how to do it properly. You may still be learning and that is OK. Take the time. Of course, there are a lot of agents and editors out there who will not tell you your writing really sucks. They know there are a lot of authors out there with thin skins and will rant and rave on the internet complaining that the editor or agent is wrong. You might want someone to tell you the truth, but honestly, could you REALLY handle it? 
2. You sent it to the wrong person (market analysis) Here at Greyhaus, I represent traditional romance and women's fiction. There are also a ton of other authors out there represent the same thing. But... we all like different things. When I get ready to send a project out to an editor, I always take the time to figure out who the right editor is at a publishing house. Some like the stories hot, some do not. It is a matter of making sure you reach out to the person who would really get your story. 
3. Your query and the story don't match In this case, you might have pitched us a story that sounds amazing. Unfortunately, you wrote a query letter about a project you thought you wrote and not the one it really is. I had an author pitch me a story once at a conference. She thought it was a straight up contemporary women's fiction. And yet, as she talked, I kept hearing this as really an Inspirational Single Title (at that time I did not acquire those). She was adamant that it was not Inspirational because she did not want to write one. The reality however, was the story was not what she thought. It was 100% inspirational. Literally to the point it would only be found in a Christian bookstore. 
4. The query letter didn't catch us First impressions mean everything. If you cannot showcase your story in that query letter, there is a pretty good chance we will pass on it. I know what you are thinking, "This is why you should read our novels and not just make a decision based on a query letter and synopsis."  Of course, if we did that, you would all complain that we took forever to get to your story. I would also say that in the real world, hiring managers make their decisions on new hires based on the cover letter more than the resume. There is no difference here. 
5. You didn't follow the directions I have said this over and over again here on the blog. We all have submission guidelines for a reason. If one of use says to embed the first three chapters in the query letter, then you should do just that. Not three random chapters. Not the first six because you like those chapters, or you feel like we would want to see more. For me, I am very clear that I only want a query letter and no attachments. I know you might be thinking that this will "save time". Unfortunately, you just demonstrated you cannot follow directions. 
6. It was purely a subjective issue This one sort of goes with item two. There are times when I just didn't connect with it. You as authors should understand this since I am sure you are readers as well. How many times have you heard great things about a particular book. You friends and family raved about it. And yet, you picked it up and really questioned what was so amazing about it. It's the same thing. 

So, what does this all come down to? It simply meant the person you sent it to said no. It's not that the person is a complete idiot. There could be countless reasons why. Just read that rejection letter, learn from it and move on.

Responding To Rejection Letters

This tends to be a perpetual topic for most agents on their social media - the discussion of rejection letters. You hate getting the letters. We hate writing the letters. But I have to add to this. Getting letters back from a writer who clearly did not read the letter you sent them is probably more frustrating. 

Again, as a reminder, a rejection letter simply says the story is not right for the person you sent it to. Those reasons can be anything including: the story is the wrong genre, too long, too short, just not a right fit (the subjective part of the business), and yes, it can also mean the story is poorly written. 

When you get a letter back, first of all, you should be thankful. There are many agents who simply say, "no response means no." But now, take the time to see what that person really said in the letter. If the person truly said your writing was a piece of "you know what" then you know you have a problem with your writing. If, however, the person says something such as the following, then learn:

1. While I was intrigued by the initial premise, the writing itself just did not connect with me personally. 
2. Even though you have some great strengths as an author, this is not a genre we acquire.
3. I liked how this story started, but I found it full of a lot of cliché phrases and settings. 
4. I am going to be passing on this project because I have found that this trope is just not something that I can sell right now.

So, let's talk about these. 

1. This is a subjective case. Your writing has to be right for the person you are sending it to. This has nothing to do with your writing ability, but it just is not that person's "cup of tea." I have talked about this in the past, but you want an agent to do nothing but talk about your story because they totally love it. If we aren't excited, we won't talk about it. Take the time to learn WHO that agent is and what he or she really likes. 
2. I pass on so many manuscripts for this reason. Did you really read ON THEIR WEBSITE what they acquire and don't acquire? 
3. This one does sort of fall into a level of learning as a writer. If you are a beginning writer, you may tend to use a lot of things you "think" are supposed to be used in your story, but you are not sure on the reasons. Just keep working on it, but, you now have something to watch for in your writing. This is a great tip from a rejection letter!
4. In this case, it is one of two things. The first is that the trope is not something that agent has found success in selling. This could mean someone else has done well with it. So research. For example, westerns may sell great for one person but not for another. The second reason is that maybe that trope is just not selling in the market. If you are not finding it in the traditional publishers line ups, then that should be telling you something.

So, how do you respond? 

There really is no need to respond, but if you are someone who likes to follow up, try a quick thank you and move on. Try a thank you for the feedback and if I have something in the future, can I send you something. 

But… do not...

Write back telling us how stupid we were, or that we did not take into account that you have spent the last two years writing this and we don't know our butt from a hot rock. This is the first way to insure you will never get another chance with that person. If we told you the story just did not connect with us then you still had a chance with another story. Now, forget it!

Bad, Bad, Bad, Your Manuscript

It's time for a Captain Obvious statement here: Agents and Editors are human.

Whaaaaaaaaaattttt??????

No seriously, we are! And that also means that we go through the same emotions as you do. We also have good days and bad days. This also means that it might impact the reading of your proposal when you send it in to us to read.

Before I go any further, let me just say that I am sure other editors and agents are aware of this, and, like myself, do try to keep an eye on this behavior as we read your manuscripts.

Have you ever started the morning off on the wrong foot? Things just start out bad. But as the day goes on, things continue to be bad. One thing after another just does not go as you wanted it to. By the end of the day, even if you have a chance to have something go right for you, your brain has to find a way to make that great event just as bad as the rest of the day. For agents and editors we get the same thing.

We often sit down and read manuscripts in a single block of time. We start though that submission pile and read one manuscript after another. The placement of your manuscript in this pile is important. It is nothing you can control, but simply a situation of fate and timing.

If we get a serious of bad manuscripts, one after another, we start to get those negative thoughts. "Is everything out there this bad?" "What has happened to the state of publishing?" We are determined to find those great manuscripts, but today, there is nothing that is right. In fact, everything is awful.

And then we get to your manuscript.

While we might think, "Woo Hoo! We have a great one!" our brain is heading the same way yours did at the end of that really bad day. We just don't see it the way you had wanted, or potentially the reality of the situation.

And you get a rejection.

All I can say is sorry...

I know when I start feeling like this, I step away from reading. Look, those first several bad stories probably were like that cottage cheese in the back of your fridge that you forgot to dump a week ago. But we want to give everyone a fair chance here.

This is not to say people are just sitting down and wanting to reject everyone. This is just to remind you that your rejection may have just come as a situation of bad timing. It isn't you so don't take it personally.

How Many Rejections Does It Take?

I recently saw a post on social media by an author talking about his rejections. Essentially, he had stated that he had been trying for years to sell a particular story to editors and agents but, time and time again, he had received nothing but rejections. This got me wondering, at what point was this author going to catch a clue. The story is simply not going to sell and just sending it out, again and again is not going to fix the problem.

Now, before I go any further, those of you getting ready to start commenting that a particular author received over 200 rejections before selling a book, stop right there. Those authors often sent out a lot of different projects and not just one story. Secondly, most of those authors were sending stories in the age of the "slush pile". And finally, many of those authors were claiming no answer as a rejection. OK, enough of that, and let's get back to the issue at hand.

When you send out a story and get a rejection, take the time to identify what the issue was. There can be numerous reasons for that rejection:

• Sent it to someone not acquiring the genre
• Sent it to someone no acquiring at that time.

These are issues of you not doing your research. So, what about these?

• Felt the writing was not where it needed to be
• Felt the writing was not the appropriate length
• Felt the voice was not right for that genre

These are issues YOU can and should fix.

I can pretty much say that every month, I will get one or two authors who respond back after I reject their stories with saying, "You know, I have had several other editors/agents say the same thing?" Really? Then why aren't you fixing the issue. This is not an issue of just a subjective decision and maybe it will be right for someone else. The problem is your story and you need to fix it.

When I send out projects to different editors for my clients, we always take the time to assess the answers. If we see two responses that say the same thing, we stop submitting and fix the problem. We do not just keep sending things out.

You will get rejections, but please, take the time to always review what you did and why that rejection showed up. With that information, go forth and fix the problem.

100 Rejections, Interesting But Not Ideal

I recently heard of the idea of 100 Rejections on a podcast. This is the idea that promotes "getting you out of your comfort zone and get your creative work out into the world." (Han). The idea is to push you into not just waiting until something is perfect to get the idea out there, but to be aggressive with your creativity.

On the surface, this sounds like a great idea. In fact, as I listened to the idea, I was thinking it sounds pretty good. There is this thought that the "law of averages" will eventually tip in your favor.

But the reality of the situation is that just throwing things out there and keeping your fingers crossed is not the best approach.

In publishing, we always hear of these statistics of how many times a certain author was rejected before being published. Authors like to use this as a motivating force to just keep trying and eventually things will click - very much like the 100 rejection theory. But when we look at these rejections, we see another side of the story that authors are missing.

As I started writing this post, I did a little searching and sure enough, there were a few nuggets out there that we need to consider.

1) Many of these rejections were for projects OTHER than the one that finally got published. In other words, check your facts.
2) Some of the people claiming rejections were for "non-responses." So if you sent something to an agent that is no longer there, that is a non-response, and not a rejection.

But let's look at the bigger picture of why that 100 Rejection things is not something you should be proud of. Let's examine why.

First of all, if you are sending out projects that are really not  ready to be published due to your lack of experience or the lack of prep-work on the story, then you should never have been submitting the project. This is not showing your persistence or your motivation to be published, in pretty harsh words, this shows your lack of education about the business or writing. In many ways, this is similar to getting rejection letters from a hospital to be a chief surgeon when you are still in high school and have not gone to medical school.

Secondly, if you are getting rejection letters because you sent projects to agents or editors who do not acquire your subject, this is not something to be proud of. This shows your lack of doing quality research. Had J.K. Rowling sent me Harry Potter, I would have sent her a rejection. Not that the series is bad, but I do not acquire the genre.

Finally, if you are sending a project to someone but your voice, style or plot is not something we represent, you will get a rejection, but again, this comes down to your lack of research. I have talked about this in the past. Many publishers acquire Contemporary Romance, but each one looks for something completely different. If you did not take the time to do your research, you deserve that rejection, but you should not be proud of it.

Taking risks is one thing and with that part of the 100 Rejection theory, I am fully backing. Taking the approach of just "throwing darts" and hoping something is going to stick is not a way to be successful in publishing, for for that matter, in any business out there.

There Are Not Many Ways We Can Say No

I feel like I have written about this in the past, but it really hit me this last weekend as I was working my way through submissions. As the title suggests, there are just not many ways we can say no to a manuscript. I really wanted to bring this up because I know so many writers out there really had the form letter response.

In this last round of submissions I wrote, I found myself answering these submissions in really a limited number of ways. These came down to the following:

Not a genre represented
Not something I was interested in
Not developed enough

Now, here is the interesting part. There were over 80 submissions I read this weekend and out of all those, I passed on the majority of these projects for those reasons.

As agents and editors, we try our best to not send out form letters but as we write the letters, we find ourselves coming back to the same phrases and the same sentences over and over again.

As agents, we know exactly what we are looking for and stories will either fit that mold not the stories will not fit that mold. As I read stories I will see if the story has the potential of fitting the mold. If so, I request more. If not, the author gets the rejection letter. 

This is pretty simple but that is what it comes down to.

If you are someone who feels you are getting nothing but rejection letters, I encourage you to think through this idea. I would also encourage you to review those letters and see if there is a pattern. If so, that might just be the clue you have been looking for to advance your career. 

Why Do Editors And Agents Use Form Letters

So you have sent out your latest project and cannot wait to hear back from those editors and agents. After weeks or months go by, you start to see responses. Not only are these rejection letters, these are form letters and you start to grumble. Darn them! Why do they use form letters?

Let me first say that the answer is not that they don't care, or that they are not reading your project. The answer is actually two-fold.

First, writing rejection letters takes time. I have been answering submissions this morning and started timing the response from opening the letter, logging it in the database and answering. Each submission takes about 1 1/2 minutes to 3 minutes to respond. Now calculate that by the hundreds editors and agents go through and you can see the time factor.

I do get that some of you will scream that "time should not be a deciding factory!" We understand you took a lot of time writing that query letter. We understand that you poured your blood, sweat and tears into the project. But, it is the second reason why the use of the form letter is standard.

There are only so many ways to say the story is not what we are looking for. A lot of times, rejections come down to either a subjective call, or simply the fact that the story does not fit the guidelines of what we are looking for. How many different ways are there to say that? For example...

Thank you so much for submitting your project. As you know, here at Greyhaus, I only acquire romance and women's fiction. Your New Adult Space Opera is simply not what I am looking for.

Best of luck with your project....

Get the idea?

The thing is that editors and agents know what they are looking for. Your query will either have what we want or it won't. So, coming up with an overly creative way of saying, "Sorry, the story doesn't fit what we want" isn't going to happen. It isn't that we don't care, we just can't say it any other way.

But think of it this way. If you do get that form letter, be thankful. There are a lot of editors and agents out there who believe a no answer is an answer. For me, I think that is unfair to you.

Question from a Writer - Different types of rejections

Scott, are there different levels of form rejection? I have had form rejections that were simple 'no thanks' types, then have had, 'you are a strong writer, please keep submitting, another agent will love your work, but no thanks.' In your opinion, is this merely style on the part of the agent (clean cut rejection vs rejection with a little dollop of encouragement but both solid rejections) or is there a grain of truth in a 'you are a strong writer' rejections and it just wasn't a fit?


Or does each agent have either a basic form rejection for the bulk and a more personalized type of rejection for work you liked but didn't love, and no real in-between?

It is really tough to tell on those form responses. I know that there are times that I feel like I am giving form answers, but in reality, I just find that there are only so many ways to say "the story just didn't have the depth of character or plot development."

Do some agents have standard form answers? The answer is yes. I will admit, I do use some on initial submissions, but for the most part, it is always due to either a request for more material or the fact that someone is just not submitting something I am interested in. The premise is just not going to work. After I have a story that I have requested more material for, I will give a personal response. There might not be much but you will get a personal response. Again, these might be standard answers a lot of people get, but I try my best to answer at least one point for your rejection.

I know though, that many agents try to limit the amount of feedback on a rejection because of the fear of "opening a door for dialogue." That blog flog I had last week is just an example of it. The writer submitted something to me that wasn't what I represent. I sent a rejection. The person wrote back and wanted to argue and foolishly, I answered. My gut told me know but I did it anyway. That opened the door for a barrage of comments.

As for the comment about "the strong writing" I would hope the writer isn't just blowing sunshine. I can't say though. Again, for myself, if there is something about the writing that works well, but the plot or the premise is the issue, I will say that. I don't want you thinking the story is good when it isn't.

You also described the comment of "another agent potentially liking it." This IS the subjective side of things. There are times that I find a project that I just cannot connect with. It has things in it that I just don't like in that particular genre. Does this mean it won't sell? Absolutely not. It just means I wouldn't believe in the project enough to really want to promote it. Purely subjective.

I honestly cannot speak for every agent, because we all do things differently. For me, I feel that if I can give you a bit of advice, you might be able to fix the next project and we can have something worthwhile to work with later.

Hope that helps!

On Personalized Responses From Agents

Yes, I have heard writers complain time and time again about receiving "form letter rejections" from agents. This is a big issue and one that has always bugged me, not just simply with the publishing industry, but also with business in general.

As a consumer, I always respect companies that answer the phone. No answering machines, no form letters - just real people. In fact, that is why I stick with certain airlines and my insurance company. Now, I know I am looking through rose colored glasses here. I know these people have scripted responses and standard answers for all that they do. I know that there are procedures and they follow those procedures perfectly; but the fact that they are personal about it makes the world of difference for me.

When it comes to my work here at Greyhaus, I try to provide a bit of that personal touch. Sure I may be a bit harsh about things. Yes, you may get a rejection from me at a conference, but it is personal and I want you to know that 99% of the time, it is strictly about the writing.

For me, I have heard comments from other agents as to why they use form letters and with all of these ideas, I have tried to take a different approach.

Some agents worry about too many submissions coming in. I have tried to remedy that on my end by being a bit more specific with what I want with my guidelines on the website. I honestly believe if I can be clearer up front, you won't end up having to waste your time and money submitting something. Along the same lines, I know going in what I want. I am not someone that says, "I'll look at everything." I know the criteria in my head of what makes a good story, I try to be clear about it here on the blogs and then make it open knowledge to everyone out there. Hopefully that works.

I also hear people say that they don't give personal rejections because they expect someone to argue with them. Again, this is an area that I have tried to fix. Sure, there are times that I get some people out there that want to argue, but for the most part, that doesn't happen here? Is it because of a curse that one of my Scoutmaster's told me when I was young, "Scott, you are an exception."? No, I don't think so. One of the things we do when writing persuasive and argumentative manuscripts is to consider potential responses and word answers and descriptions in such a way to prevent that arguement. By giving a clearer response to writers, I try to give them the knowledge to improve their future projects.

As for the time issue, I have found that, while it can be a bit too much at times, that issue has been dealt with by first of all, making it clear on what I want; secondly, limiting what I want for in projects; and finally, not accepting everything.

Look, what other agents do is fine and yes, there are times for form responses. I have a form letter I use for writers that submit to me projects that are not what I even represent. I figure, if they didn't take the time to review what I have on the website, then they deserve that letter. I have a form letter when I am closed to submissions. Many of you have received that letter either ignoring, or missing the statement that I am closed to submissions until June 1.

Now, I know my letters might not be full critiques and please be aware, I am never going to go to that level. Still, I do try to give you something to work with in your letter. I guess, in the end, I want to not only help you, but maybe guide a few of you into finding that right project to send to me. I want to find the best!

Scott

Updates on a round of submission reading

This weekend, like many agents, I spent the time reading and getting caught up on submission readings as well as working on my current client's WIP's. I thought today I would give you some insight into my thoughts on many of the projects I read this weekend.

Out of the stack (the pile I did yesterday was 1 1/2 feet tall) I rejected nearly all of the stories. I did find one that I wanted a full for so there was a positive side there. I also found a couple that I wanted to see more just to verify some things. Still, the majority I read were rejections.

Now this should not come as a surprise to authors out there. Agents and editors reject more projects than we sign all of the time. But, what I think I find interesting is that the reasons I give for rejection tend to be the same time and time again.

The list for yesterday...

* Weak Character Development Here is what I see with projects like this. I honestly think the writer had an idea for a character but that was it. They never really sat down to figure out what that character would actually think like and behave like. In these stories, I had external descriptions of the characters and I watched them move on the page from one activity to the next but that was it.

* Lack of depth (my all time favorite) I really wish I didn't have to write this one but it always comes up. The lack of depth issue deals with how much access the writer is giving us to the world they have just created with these characters. If I am left with a ton of questions about the chararacter, setting, plot or theme, then I am missing the depth necessary to draw us in. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying to give us all the answers at the beginning, but if I have no clue where I am, or who these characters are, or why they are out killing someone so soon, then we have problems. Books are to be savored (even fast reads). That happens with depth.

* Forced writing The issue of forced writing often comes from two groups of writers. Beginning writers that have just finished their first novel and are already trying for the NY Times list, or those authors that are writing the "Great American Novel". These writers have wordsmithed the hell out of the manuscript in the attempt to find the right phrase and the right wording to describe the creme brulee. Paragraphs go on and on rambling about something that could be said in a sentence or two. And please, don't let me get started on the use of similes and metaphors. Looks a little is fine but a lot kills us.

* Great writing but same old, same old I have talked about this one. Editors and agents can't simply find stories that are just well written. We have to find something that is unique as well. In this case, I most of the "same old, same old" comments went to historical regency writers and romantic suspense writers. Why? Because according to the loops, they were "hot genres" about a year ago and now that wave is pounding heavily on our shores right now.

* Premise was great but the story fell apart With this one, there were again two different types of stories. The first simply came from writers that spent a ton of time on chapters 1-3 but from 4 on, the editing and thought simply wasn't there. Simply put, the quality of the writing decreased significantly due to the lack of attention on the craft side of things. The other group here fell apart with the from the initial premise through the end. This is where that synopsis came into play. A great idea was pitched but from the material given to me, it was clear the writer realized he or she didn't have enough to write about so they started adding "stuff". Plot lines went in 20 different directions, themes were added, second and third level characters and plot lines were created. Ugh! Stay focused people.

I want you all to know that when you get a rejection, you aren't unique. Unfortuntely, many more of you got that same letter with the same comments. Does this mean it was a form letter? Nope, you just had the same mistakes.

Scott

If You Don't Have Something Good To Say

I am not one of those people that believes in hiding the truth or sugar coating things. I have always found that we can only improve if someone tells us the truth, even if the truth hurts. This goes for critiques I give and for responses to submissions. With that said, writers need to remember that great line from Sense and Sensibility. The youngest girl is told to talk about the weather if she has something negative she wants to say about someone.

I bring this up for those writers that want to reply to responses after being rejected by an author or editor. While rejection letters are always tough to deal with, it is something that "goes with the job" of being a writer. Editors and agents know what they are looking for within their own house and sometimes the story is just not going to work.

Here is the catch though. If you get a rejection, it is not something to be taken personally. The comment is about the writing and how the writing just doesn't fit with that person. But, replying back to the editor or agent with a negative comment, trying to get "the last word" in will not get you anywhere.

I actually had someone a while ago that sent me an email after I had rejected them. The comment said that they were already in consideration by the Oprah Book Club and several "much more established" agencies and wanted to tell me how I was making the biggest mistake of my career. This author went on to say that they would personally drive to my agency and hand deliver an autographed copy of their best seller.

Does this make me want to re-think my decision? Did this person really think that I was going to write back and say, "Oh, I am sorry about the response and you are right, I need to re-think this. In fact, I should just sign you without reading it!" Absolutely not. In fact, this confirms for me I made the right decision. This person is far from ready to be a professional writer.

And by the way, I am still waiting for that book from that author (smile).

Scott

Why Do We Request Then Reject?

I am sure a lot of writers begin to question this. Why do agents request material after hearing a pitch and then reject it? In this case, I am talking about those energetic requests from the agents and editors. You know, the ones that say, "Wow, that sounds like an exciting project, why don't you send me a full." As a writer, you hear this and scream, woo hoo, "I've bagged the elephant" (sorry, another WALL STREET quote). And then, the rejection comes back and it sounds as if it is the complete opposite in tone from what you heard with the pitch.

The submission process is a funny thing. Today, I want to focus only on the written pitches. The face to face pitch process is a completely different matter and really, IMHO opens up a big bag of worms. So, let's start from the beginning and we will deal with my submisison process.

STEP 1 - THE QUERY - If you submit to me, you are asked to send a very small amount of material. For the e-query I only want the pitch. No synopsis, no partial, no nothing. For a snail mail query, I want that 3-5 page synopsis, and the first 3 pages only. In this case, I am simply looking at the basic premise of the story. You get to submit more material via snail mail since the turn around is a bit longer, but the idea is still the same. As I said, I am simply looking for the initial premise of the story. Is the over-all concept something that I think has some potential. For those sending the snail mail, I am also looking at the initial level of writing to see if the voice is heading in the right direction. If that initial premise looks, good, we are off to the next round.

STEP 2 - THE PARTIAL - If your premise looks good, I will often request a partial. In this case, the first three chapters only and the synopsis. It is generally at this point when the truth about the writing comes out and when that rejection occurs. There are several reasons here:

1. The synopsis sends the story in a tail spin completely differet than the initial premise. Here I see writing that suddenly is filled with plot devices, plot lines that have no purpose, endings that never occur.
2. The writing doesn't live up to the expection. There are some of you that can pitch a great story but the writing simply isn't what you pitched it as. You pitch it is epic and it reads like a chick-lit.
3. The writer commits professional errors (all of those we have talked about). In other words, the writing might be fine, but how they send the material demonstrates they are far from ready to move on. This one really is a different issue.

Now, for those sending the snail mail queries, I can often see those mistakes early on with the synopsis and the partial. I have often read the cover letter and thought "Wow, this sounds good" and then read the partial and thought huh? I still went through the same process as above, I just left the writer out of the loop.

Writers need to know that we are not trying to drag you along in the process of things. There is simply a point when the writing has to live up to the standard you set. For this reason, I really recommend taking a lot of time with that query. Make sure you say what you want to say. Make it clear to the reader what you are proposing. The closer you can come to representing truly what you are writing, the better the chance it will move further along the process.

Scott

New Greyhaus Writers? Where are they?

So, I was asked a couple of days ago as to why there haven't been any new writers added to the Greyhaus Literary Agency line up? No, it isn't that there aren't any good writers out there. I have seen a lot of writers that have some great potential. But the problem is that they weren't what I was looking for.

This is a tough market right now. I have said this before, and I frequently say this in rejection letters - the writing can not just be good, or the premise can not just be new. Both elements have to be in place for a piece of writing. I know that many authors feel this is an unfair burden for new writers but that is just the way it is.

When I do think of this, I am frequently reminded of that early Army commercial on TV when the kid is being rejected from one job to the next because he has no experience and he finally exclaims "but where do I get the experience?" Whether we like it or not, that is just the way it is.

One thing to consider is that every agent out there has a specific idea in his or her head as to what they want. Taht is the subjective nature of the business and one of the reasons why I have you do so much research out there on your potential agents. I try to do my best by providing a clear idea of what I want and I do want to let you know, if that is not clear, email me. That is what the blog is for. That is what the email link is for on the website. That is what I am there for when I go to conferences. Ask questions.

Just please keep in mind one thing. A rejection is not necessarily a statement about you as a person. (I do say no necessarily because there have been a few but now is not the time to talk about those writers). A rejection simply means that your story, at that time, was not right.

Have a great weekend. I'm off to take my son and his friend to work out with Megan Jendrick and Peter Vanderkay for a couple of hours in the pool. Not bad for 10 year olds, huh?

Scott

Deciphering Rejection Letters

This is always a tough one for writers but it is crucial. When those rejection letters come in, it is necessary to take the time and determine if the information you received from the editor or agent is something that can be fixed.

First of all, remember what I have said all along. Writing is a purely subjective business. This means that there are times when it doesn't matter about the quality of the writing, if the editor or agent doesn't like the story enough then they won't want to push for it. As an agent, I have to really love the writing and story enough to want to keep pushing editors to buy it. If the story is just mediocre, then I won't push. Editors work the same way. It is for that reason you might simply get the comment, "I just didn't find myself drawn enough to the story to want to pursue it." This doesn't mean the writing is good or bad, it simply means the reader wasn't excited about it. In this case, there is really nothing more that can be done.

Now, let's talk about the other comments that you might see:

"The story was not as strong as the other writing I have been reviewing." Now this one can mean a couple of differen things. Most of the time, it simply means that when the editors sat down at the table to discuss the stories, or when the editor was looking at the manuscripts on his or her desk at the time, your story simply fell in the middle of the pack. There was nothing amazing about the story, it was just a C level story in terms of excitement. Solution? Not a whole heck of a lot. I would recommend going back and researching other stories the publisher and more specifically the editor has put out and see if you can find trends. I think what you will see is that there were specific "quirks" that line was looking for and your story lacked those.

"The story seemed to lack the depth that I was looking for." This one comes down to a showing vs. telling argument. The premise of the story might be great and the editor or agent might have been really excited, but the execution would be rushed. I see this one a lot. The writer simply rushes through the story, shoving dialogue at me really quickly, or the scene building is limited to simply a visual description. In this case, what we really want to see are more three-dimensional characters and situations. The solution is to go back and A) dissect single title authors and see how they incorporate scene building and character description; and B) add that style to your own writing.

"The characters in the story seemed to be reactionary." Too often I see writers that have stories that are plot driven. In other words. they have shoved together characters they really don't understand and throw them in situations to see how they react. The key to this one is to review your GMC of the characters. If any of the situations seem manufactured or superficial, fix those situations.

"I struggled with understanding why the hero/heroine did what he/she did" Again, this is a GMC situation. I have seen a lot of stories that the conflict between the hero and heroine is easily fixed. This means that the situation could have been fixed in chapter 1. For example - the hero and heroine are in grad school, they are in love with each other and the conflict is to marry or not (O.K. I know this is a weak story but you get the idea). The writer then spends the entire book with the characters whining about the situation. The solution? Finish grad school. In other words, all of their actions were pointless and we keep asking, "Why are they obsessing over this?"

Here's another one. The heroine, who has been a successful lawyer, had everything and there was nothing wrong with her life, suddenly wakes up one morning, says she is tired, and moves to some Hickville, USA town to open a catering business. Of course she has never been able to cook in the past and has no experience. WHY???????

Obviously there are many other rejection comments but the key is to see if you can fix what they ask for. If so, please do so before submitting to that same person a second time.

Now, here is the one twist you weren't expecting. In many cases, you will receive a rejection letter that is a form letter or contains these comments simply because they were being nice. Sometimes the editors and agents know the truth hurts, so they keep it to themself. Sorry, nothing I can do there.

Scott

Form Letter or Regular Response - What do you want?

OPTION A

Dear A______,

Thank you for submitting your story for consideration. It is just not right for us.

Best of luck with your writing.

J. Editor

or

OPTION B

Dear A______,

Thank you for submitting your story to us for consideration. I am afraid this story is just not going to work for us. The writing is shallow, the plot line is weak and there is just not much in terms of the narrative to want me to keep reading this story.

Sincerely,

J. Editor

So, which one do you want to receive in the mail?

I hear time and time again how writers hate getting the "form letter" response for their submissions. They have slaved over that manuscript for months (and sometimes years) and they wanted to receive more than a form rejection.

But do they?

I have to say that writing rejections is not a fun task and one that I will frequently try to avoid as long as I can. I understand that writers have a thin skin and hearing that the story is awful is not fun for anyone. With that in mind, I have to say there are times when we get submissions that are really awful. There is no nice way of saying it other than "what was this person thinking?" What's worse are the days when I get more than one of those in my pile of submissions to read and respond to.

I don't want to have a suicide on my hands after a person gets one of my rejection letters so sometimes, we have to resort to the "form" response. We want to save you and our conscience from a fate that we really wouldn't want to see.

Now, I do know that there are agencies and editors that use the form response for all that they get. Why? It's really rather simple. They get so many submissions from people, some good and some awful, that a personal response for everything is humanly impossible.

Of course, in my head, I see an easy solution to this but that is for another day. The point that I do want to bring up though, is to appreciate the response you get from the editors and agents that take the time to give you a response. Send them a quick note and thank them. I did this just yesterday when a project was passed up. I called and told the editor how much I appreciated the time taken on the response. It was a small gesture but you know something, every now and then we want to hear those things.

So, next time you get a form letter, consider the source. Don't blow it off and if you have a thin skin, think that the form letter came because they were swamped and the competition was fierce in that batch of submissions.