Favorite rejection quotes

dgiharris · Jul 18, 2008

My favorite rejection.

"I liked the story, but it was too short, I needed more."

***Their guidelines were to submit a 100 word story***

o.k. so you want me to write you a longer story though you state stories can't exceed 100 words?

Mel...

circlexranch · Aug 4, 2008

This fits into this topic, it is my favorite rejection ever because I got to reap a tiny bit of vindication and revenge.

This most cherished rejection came from a well-respected e-zine. They said that my tale was 'insufficiently literary and their publication had grown beyond that type of story.'

Sigh . . . mild chagrin and disappointment. Oh well, package it up and submit it again.

This time the story was accepted and published with the correction of a couple of typos. And, it was published right next to a story written by the same editor that had penned the above-quoted rejection note.

Gotta love it! Terri

Woodsie · Aug 14, 2008

I got this one today. It is written exactly like this:

'pass but god bless'

Um....thanks?

James M M Baldwin · Sep 23, 2008

Here is an exerpt from my blog

Top ten actual rejections to my queries:

Honorable Mention. We wish you the best of luck with your marketing efforts
#10 I wish you every success in finding the best representative for your work
#9 I wish you the best of luck with the project
#8 We wish you the best of luck in your search for the right agent
#7 Good luck in finding a home for your book
#6 Good luck in your quest for publication
#5 We wish you all the best in finding other representation
#4 We urge you to submit your work to other agencies
#3 We hope you will soon find an agent with whom you can establish a productive relationship
#2 Our team appreciated the chance to hear about your project
And the #1 actual rejection to my queries
Thanks so much, this looks very interesting, but...

Hot off the press. A new #1 actual query rejection has just come in,
Thank you for thinking of Blankity Blank Publishing, but the story line is too close to something we are already considering.

Zellie · Oct 19, 2008

My favorite so far was a rejection to an e-query. I got the rejection maybe 10 minutes after I sent it: "I greatly apologize for delay in my response to your query...."

James M M Baldwin · Oct 20, 2008

Zellie said:
My favorite so far was a rejection to an e-query. I got the rejection maybe 10 minutes after I sent it: "I greatly apologize for delay in my response to your query...."

Ha Ha Ha

Vandal · Oct 25, 2008

This one puzzled me:

Dear Robin Parks,

Thank you for sending me your chapters from FAMISHED. I enjoyed reading...(he goes on to decline).

Problem: I'm not Robin and that ain't my book.

Red-Green · Oct 25, 2008

Gee, Vandal, think of how awkward this must be for Robin...finding out she's been rejected via your post on AW.

big_ugly_hairy_scary · Nov 18, 2008

After 10k words submitted...

...I received 2... "No thanks"

SusanH · Dec 1, 2008

Well, I think I hit the jackpot. From an agent that "loves" working with new authors and "loves" memoirs.....

Literally 10 seconds after I hit the sent button
"Thank you ,but I do not feel I am the right agent for your work."
I also got the "Very intresting." also today....

Am I being pathetic about loving to get home from work just to see how many rejections I got?

Wayne K · Dec 17, 2008

Vandal said:
This one puzzled me:

Dear Robin Parks,

Thank you for sending me your chapters from FAMISHED. I enjoyed reading...(he goes on to decline).

Problem: I'm not Robin and that ain't my book.

Imagine if he was accepting it.

SusanH · Dec 23, 2008

Well, I just got the best one yet. Has anyone gotten this rejection.

Susan:
Thank you for your query. We appreciate you sharing your work with our agency. We did review your proposal,[ :Shrug:

I sent a query, not a proposal] and unfortunately we are going to pass on representing it. The premise just didn't resonate with us as much as we would have liked. Your writing does show promise and we wish you the best in your search for representation. Your book deserves an agent who can put the requisite enthusiasm behind it.[ :Shrug:

Are the saying they aren't good agents and they don't have what it takes to get me published???]
We appreciate the hard work and diligence needed to get in the door, and since this is a highly subjective business, you may well find success elsewhere. We wish you all the best with your writing.
Regards,

yeswecan · Dec 26, 2008

Got a recent rejection from the Liza Dawon agency and for some reason it really irritated me. I deleted it but it went something like this:
"Sorry for the impersonal reply but we wanted to get back to you as quickly as possible..."

Gee, how considerate of you to reject my e-query so quickly, right before the holidays!
Let's rub it in our faces next time...Ho, ho, ho to you too!

blacbird · Dec 26, 2008

Emerita said:
Thank you for your query. We appreciate you sharing your work with our agency. We did review your proposal,[I sent a query, not a proposal] and unfortunately we are going to pass on representing it. The premise just didn't resonate with us as much as we would have liked. Your writing does show promise and we wish you the best in your search for representation. Your book deserves an agent who can put the requisite enthusiasm behind it.[ Are the saying they aren't good agents and they don't have what it takes to get me published???]
We appreciate the hard work and diligence needed to get in the door, and since this is a highly subjective business, you may well find success elsewhere. We wish you all the best with your writing.
Regards,

Boilerplate, I'm afraid. I've received numerous incarnations of this rejection, in nearly exact, perhaps even verbatim, words. Your first signal should be your own observation that you sent a query and not a proposal. Their quote "We did review your proposal" translates into actual English as "We ain't got time to look at the dam thing". Bin it, ignore it, and move on.

caw

SusanH · Dec 27, 2008

Yeah, that caught my eye too. I figure many of them have the same rejection letter. I thought about writing back and telling them I didn't send a proposal and their agency must suck if they can't be honest in their words, but I know they would just delete it. They don't care...... In my case, I hope they eat those words soon....

Wayne K · Feb 7, 2009

"Not my cup of tea" I got the other day. If I may vent for a F-ing second. I sat down and wrote a 106,000 word manuscript and spent a half an hour writing her a query letter, to get this glib little note from someone who would be nothing without writers. They ask for this and that and excellence and all that BS and then she doesn't even have the decency to at least send a standard rejection form. I would love to score an agent, but I pray it isn't some aloof C like her.

RBSHoo · Feb 11, 2009

Right there with you.

I just got this exact rejection email.

Emerita said:
Well, I just got the best one yet. Has anyone gotten this rejection.

Susan:
Thank you for your query. We appreciate you sharing your work with our agency. We did review your proposal,[I sent a query, not a proposal] and unfortunately we are going to pass on representing it. The premise just didn't resonate with us as much as we would have liked. Your writing does show promise and we wish you the best in your search for representation. Your book deserves an agent who can put the requisite enthusiasm behind it.[ Are the saying they aren't good agents and they don't have what it takes to get me published???]
We appreciate the hard work and diligence needed to get in the door, and since this is a highly subjective business, you may well find success elsewhere. We wish you all the best with your writing.
Regards,

KTC · Feb 11, 2009

This for a short story submission rejected:

"It's not you. Somebody shit in my corn flakes this morning."

SusanH · Feb 12, 2009

I am so tired of hearing "I'm not the right agent for this". I wish someone would tell me why they don't like my MS....sigh....

ladyvincenza · Feb 23, 2009

GJB said:
Big time West Coast agent wrote, "I really like your writing, the story held my interest all the way to the end, but I've learned that when I haven't followed my instinct I always regret it later, and my instinct tells me to pass."

My immediate reaction: Give me a flying break! Thanks for the useful comment. Now, several years later, I realize that might have been one of the most honest, really saying, "I don't know why the hay I'm passing, but I am."

If a story that holds the agent's interest that much and that the agent likes doesn't convince her, than what the heck *would*?
?!?!?

Katrina S. Forest · Feb 24, 2009

A few of my favorites from form letters:

"I do not feel that I can be the champion of your manuscript."
Gotta love an agent who considers themselves a champion of their clients' work.

"Your work may have been rejected for any or none of the following reasons..." then going on to list lack of understanding the English language as a possible reason. Makes me worry about what kinds of stories they've gotten that they felt the need to add that.

Hillgate · Feb 24, 2009

Rejection doth not a reject make.

I think that's from Hamlet, the part where William Morris blew our protagonist's latest screenplay out the water.

Miss Plum · Apr 1, 2009

I'm saving all my rejections. When I get my book published, I'm going to send it to everyone who rejected it along with a copy of their rejections. I'll be nice about it, I promise.

joeythesquash · Apr 26, 2009

just got this one

"I only add a handful of new writers to my client roster each year, so I search for a unique voice, finely-honed writing skills, stellar world building talent, characters that jump off the page and a story that pulls me in from the first word and doesn't let go."

I guess my story doesn't do that, ha-ha.

If she were offering me feedback, maybe I'd consider this constructive - but this was part of a FORM REJECTION letter.

A simple "not interested" would probably be better, you know?

SusanH · May 4, 2009

I got a personalized rejection yesterday which told me I had a good query and an intresting concept but that memoirs are hard to market right now and she was concentrating on her clients at this time. It was stated very nicely and I hope she just wasn't yanking my chain although she did not say submit later when the memoir market was better. If she was just trying to spare my feelings, I would rather have her say it didn't work and why. I guess I do feel good she sent a personalized one and not a form....

Favorite rejection quotes

dgiharris

Disgruntled Scientist

circlexranch

Terri Coop has been known to write

Woodsie

I have tendencies.

James M M Baldwin

Caught Somewhere in Time

Zellie

Rock like an elk!

James M M Baldwin

Caught Somewhere in Time

Vandal

In the Center of things

Red-Green

KoalaKoalaKoala!

big_ugly_hairy_scary

SusanH

Wayne K

SusanH

yeswecan

blacbird

SusanH

Wayne K

RBSHoo

One of those quiet-but-smart guys...

KTC

Stand in the Place Where You Live

SusanH

ladyvincenza

user-set title

Katrina S. Forest

Hillgate

On location

Miss Plum

joeythesquash

hey ho, let's go

SusanH