Great comments, no bites?!

Kali90 said:

Hey everyone,

So I wrote a novel almost 2 years ago and sent out query letters. All the responses I got (if they weren't automated rejections) were that the synopsis, sample and/or beginning (if they requested the first 50 pages of the novel) were intriguing or really good but not the right fit for X agency. Anyone else had this problem when searching for an agent? Any suggestions? I think the fact that it's a work of fiction on race relations may also make it slightly unattractive, but since I haven't had a chance to send out the MS in its entirety, I feel like I can't do the MS much justice.

Thanks in advance for any good advice

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Those sound like form rejections.

It's hard to know with this little information.

How many queries did you send out? If you got no requests off a decent number of queries, there's a problem with the query.

Had the same experience then at 120 rejections I rewrote the query letter and sent out another 40. Letters changed to more personal and out of that stack I received three contract offers. IOW, query letter is critical.

Kali90 said:

I sent out about 20 but it's been over a period of 2 years (I began to lose motivation after the first few rejections :-( and so it takes a bit of courage for me to send them out). Granted, it has been hard to find agents with specific interests in race relations, so I'm not sure if maybe that's a problem as well, perhaps i'm not targeting the right ones?

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Since you posted in novels, I'm assuming this is a novel, and thus no, you're not targeting the right ones. Nor does it sound like you were querying judiciously (20 over two years?).

Zero for 20 still indicates a problem with the query, at the least. There could be other issues, but, frankly, give the squirrels here a chance and we could get people requesting the phone book. They wouldn't offer to rep it, but...

You are targeting the wrong agents though. It's like if S.Meyers only went after agents who said they enjoyed dysfunctional, creepy relationships. Not the point. I'm guessing she just went after agents who repped YA. See what I'm saying?

If you haven't been in the Share Your Work and Query Letter Hell (QLH) sections, get thee there. The password is vista. There are tons of stickied threads with information aplenty, and lots of ongoing threads to read. There's also information in Ask The Agent you might find helpful.

You can't post your own query for critique until you've got more than 50 posts under your belt, but you can participate and critique others, and ask questions, to build up to that level.

Querying is a harrowing process. I know, because I'm just starting it. I feel your pain, as rejection makes me want to construct a blanket fort and cuddle in it with my pups.

20 is actually not that large of a stack. Many people suggest you send out in stacks of 5-6, and if you get to ten or so with no nibbles, you should consider tweaking your query letter and look at your opening pages carefully to make sure they're likely to pull a reader in.

Or consider where you're sending your queries. Are the agents sending to ones who have been requesting partials or fulls at all in recent months (you can join query tracker and get this information). Also, how often do they pick up stuff in your genre. For instance, an agent may say he/she does fantasy, but if they have no fantasy writers at all on their client list, or they only have UF, and you write traditional or something, then your particular type of story may be a much harder sell for them than for another agent.

But you never know. Sometimes they just haven't found the right book of your genre yet.

Consider having your query raked over the coals on QLH. It's painful and sometimes frustrating (because you will get contradictory feedback), but consider that agents won't all agree either. I just got some feedback from an agent who told me I have a strong query letter and opening pages (and I credit being raked over the coals in QLH for whatever strengths my query has), but I've still gotten some insta rejections from different agents also

They're not a hive mind, any more than the rest of us.

Just chiming in to say the QLH subforum is a great idea, but put on your armor, because it is a pretty painful process. At least it was for me.

I did some letters without help and got around 20 form rejections. I came here, got annihilated, rewrote the letter and within the first ten I sent out I got two asking for partials, which was totally awesome. I never did get offers, but the point is the people here will help you craft a better letter.