HUGE mistake no chance for R&R?

quianaa2001 said:

I'm trying not to make duplicate post as I don't want to get in trouble again, but I come with a question.

Here's the background info:
I did the BIG rookie mistake of querying too soon & with a 2 versions of bad query on a MS that wasn't ready yet. Out of the 45 queries sent I got a measly amount of PR's. One was from an agency from someone who is totally my DREAM AGENT. I have no idea but they saw through the shit & requested the first 50. Over the flippin' moon & without thinking I sent it along. They confirmed receipt, and I sat.
BUT
I sent them an early (not very edited) draft!!! After FREAKING OUT MAJORLY, I finally built up the courage to send them an email admitting my mistake, also including the latest draft. They were nonplussed and again confirmed receipt. Time passed & it was silent NO. I was disappointed but I kept at it. I have revised like crazy town, also using feedback from another agent.

The thing is I am totally in love with the agent I MAJORLY messed up with. I REALLY, REALLY want to send them the revised draft, but I'm sitting here wondering have I forever burned that bridge? I really don't know & would love some input.

Thanks guys.

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You'll find versions of this question in various other threads if you search around. In general, don't send unsolicited work; don't send the same work that's been rejected.

However, something else in your post concerns me - you say a revised 'draft.' Is your ms. finished, revised, polished, through betas, revised again, polished again, etc., and you're happy with it as as finished a product as you can make it? If that's not the case - stop even considering sending any of it anywhere.

quianaa2001 said:

I'm trying not to make duplicate post as I don't want to get in trouble again, but I come with a question.

Here's the background info:
I did the BIG rookie mistake of querying too soon & with a 2 versions of bad query on a MS that wasn't ready yet. Out of the 45 queries sent I got a measly amount of PR's. One was from an agency from someone who is totally my DREAM AGENT. I have no idea but they saw through the shit & requested the first 50. Over the flippin' moon & without thinking I sent it along. They confirmed receipt, and I sat.
BUT
I sent them an early (not very edited) draft!!! After FREAKING OUT MAJORLY, I finally built up the courage to send them an email admitting my mistake, also including the latest draft. They were nonplussed and again confirmed receipt. Time passed & it was silent NO. I was disappointed but I kept at it. I have revised like crazy town, also using feedback from another agent.

The thing is I am totally in love with the agent I MAJORLY messed up with. I REALLY, REALLY want to send them the revised draft, but I'm sitting here wondering have I forever burned that bridge? I really don't know & would love some input.

Thanks guys.

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I say this kindly: Get over it and move on.

Sage said:

Why would you shelve the novel?

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I'm wondering that too, Dr. Horrible.

Wait two years...

During that time, polish that sucker until it shines and retitle it. Then start querying again and do not mention the previous versions.

quianaa2001 said:

Just feeling down about the whole thing. Said agent was wonderful & quick, couldn't have wished for anything more. Not at nearly 50 queries I've basically burned through the good agents.

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First, stop thinking about "dream agents." You really don't know who your dream agent is until you work with them. Chances are, if this agent didn't want your book, they were not your "dream agent."

Second, unless you write in a small market, fifty is not that many. Read around. Some members have over a hundred rejections before they signed with their agents (someone has nearly 300, IIRC).

Third, as I said above, get over it and move on. Rejections are a part of publishing. You're going to get them. A lot.

Fourth, good luck.

quianaa2001 said:

Yes I know rejections are just a part of the process. Doesn't stop it from hurting or bothering you anyless.
But thinking realistically, after a certain amount of queries sent to agents. You've more than likely burned through the ones who will actually even take the time to respond.

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My agent was one of the last 5 I queried. In total I sent out 179 queries. There are a lot more great agents out there than you probably realize.

That being said, if you don't have confidence in this particular novel it might be time to write a different one.

Ohhh, it pains me to see this post because really, this is exactly how I've felt at several points during this querying process.

So, first of all, the agent has NOT actually rejected your partial yet, right? I wouldn't send a second revision, but wait for the response. They may like it after all (and then you can tell them you've made a few revisions in your cover letter with the full), or they may reject it for exactly the reasons you already (in which case you could probably ask if they'd be interested in seeing revisions? Depending on the tone of the rejection, I guess) Or they may reject for totally different reasons, and you'll know they just weren't the right one for you and it'll be fine. Really. It'll be fine!

I had also hit a point where I felt like I had burned through all the agents that would be interested... and then I went to Query Tracker and just brought up the full list of agents, from Aaron Aaronson to Zoe Zimmerman (neither of whom are actually agents, but you know what I mean), and started clicking names at random. And, guess what? Turns out there are a LOT of agents who don't have much of a web presence, who aren't terribly active on Twitter and who don't participate in contests.... and who have some great sales and a bio that indicates they may be interested.

Good luck!!!!!!! I know this process can be frustrating and demoralizing and agonizing... I hope you find an agent that makes it all worth it.

You can't let yourself get hung up on one agent.

One of the agents who has my full is someone I'm particularly keen on. She reps many of my favorite authors, she's one of the top dealmakers in my genre, and she's got a great reputation. But she only requests (according to QT) less than 3% of the work she's sent, and only offers on something like 5% of those projects. I hope she wants to sign me, I really do, but honestly, I'm more likely to be eaten by bears. It also makes me nuts that I've tweaked the manuscript since I sent it (some current events made me change my mind about a minor plot point)... I don't think the change is enough to make much difference one way or the other, but I'm not going to bother sending it unless I get an offer from someone else, even though I really wish she had the newer version.

The chances of any one agent falling head-over-heels for your project are just too small to pin all your hopes on just one.

My uncle Giles did a writing course at the University of Maine in the early 90s, and as part of it produced a thriller that his tutor recommended he send to agents. He sent it out in a rather scattershot way - these were essentially pre-internet times, so researching them was much harder.

He only got one bite, about six months later, a phone call from an agent in New York who invited him down for a meeting. Giles was juggling a new career and a young family, and couldn't really afford the trip down; he politely declined and didn't think of it for a bit.

Another few months go pass and he happens to mention it to his tutor. The tutor blanches. "You know who that was? That was Jay Garon, you chump. He's John Grisham's agent. He takes on new clients once in a blue moon."

Giles bolts for the telephone, rings up the Garon Agency. "Hi there," he says to the receptionist. "It's Giles [name]. I sent my novel in a whi--"

"Yes, Mr [name]," says the receptionist, in glacial tones. "We remember you quite well. You are the only person ever to have turned down Mr Garon's offer of representation." *click* *dial tone*

DO NOT GIVE UP!

I know it's hard, and I have been there, trust me! You get excited because you finished and you query too soon. It's not the end of the world. Stop sending out queries for a while and just polish the hell out of your MS. If you're sick of that one for the moment, move on to something else and go back to it later.

Don't give up on writing. Everyone does something stupid. It doesn't mean it's the end of the world. ((HUGS))

Torgo, !!!!!!!!! I don't even know how you get past something like that.

Torgo said:

My uncle Giles did a writing course at the University of Maine in the early 90s, and as part of it produced a thriller that his tutor recommended he send to agents. He sent it out in a rather scattershot way - these were essentially pre-internet times, so researching them was much harder.

He only got one bite, about six months later, a phone call from an agent in New York who invited him down for a meeting. Giles was juggling a new career and a young family, and couldn't really afford the trip down; he politely declined and didn't think of it for a bit.

Another few months go pass and he happens to mention it to his tutor. The tutor blanches. "You know who that was? That was Jay Garon, you chump. He's John Grisham's agent. He takes on new clients once in a blue moon."

Giles bolts for the telephone, rings up the Garon Agency. "Hi there," he says to the receptionist. "It's Giles [name]. I sent my novel in a whi--"

"Yes, Mr [name]," says the receptionist, in glacial tones. "We remember you quite well. You are the only person ever to have turned down Mr Garon's offer of representation." *click* *dial tone*

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Jesus Christ, just reading this practically gave me an anxiety attack.

I think I may be the only one feeling differently from Torgo's story. Personally, I would have been relieved. That doesn't sound like someone that I would like to work with.

Pardon me for saying this, but Torgo's story doesn't make me shiver in fear. It makes me angry. First, because even in the early 90s there was internet, and other options besides a physical trip to NY. I know because I had a California agent from '91 to' 99, and never once went to them. Torgo's uncle Giles, being new, wouldn't have known this, but Garon could have made allowances. Especially if Giles had mentioned the reasons why travel was impractical at the time.

The fact that Garon didn't, to the point that the receptionist remembered the case, only points to some profound possible negatives in dealing with him. Grisham's agent or not, Garon does not come across as thoroughly professional and rational in this story.

I get it, agents are people, too. It's best to know early on which ones actually merit their reputation and the trouble of working with them.

To go back to the OT: don't give up, and don't send out anything but your most polished work. I queried too early in 2009 and burned through some 25 'dream agents'. By 2012, I had a contract offer and an agent so exclusive she wasn't on the regular query circuit.

Edited To Add: looking into it, Garon is long dead (as I'd thought) though an agency continues under his name. And there was some hinky lawsuit stuff between Grisham and Garon's heirs in the mid-90's. Just goes to show: research agencies and publishers before you even query them.

The receptionist remembered?

wow, poor Jay must have been distraught, big time.



fun story. if true, very fun. if really true, Giles must be published?

C'mon Torgo, April Fool's is dead n gone, 'tis with O'Leary - in the grave.

Heh heh, I'm nowhere near NY, but through the convention grapevine and private loops I have heard some glorious tales about agent and editor incompetence, iniquity, and all around diva behavior. I'm sworn to secrecy, but I know a few Names I'd politely back away from if offered the chance to work with them.