The Daily Rejection

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ScottleeSV

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I personally don't think that quote is that bad. Maybe if I got it myself I'd feel different. I've seen worse though in various threads here and there. By missed on so many levels, just as likely he simply wasn't grabbed early on, especially if he's not going to explain what the levels actually are. Next agent might enjoy it more.

Just done query numbers 10 and 11 for my novel. As a first timer on this, I don't understand how people manage to get through 100 or 200 queries (not without carpet bombing anyway). It's just taken me an hour and a half to tweak two queries.
 

Nova Odyssey

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Thanks for the hugs. And the treats. And the wine.

To quote the offending agent: "I greatly admire your determination but your novel misses on many levels."

And now you know why I needed the treats and wine and hugs.
icon12.gif

That's awful to hear. The worst I got from an agent was : "this sounds so boring and I'm ( insert ethnic group), so that says a lot." Something like that. And it was an author referral so you would think... I'm down myself so easier said... But I hope you can walk it off.
 

noranne

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More wine, Carleree, and many hugs!

I got my first beta comments on the new shiny today. Pointed out a few things I was worried were going to be an issue (most worryingly that the MC isn't relatable :() and also a couple new things to think about. Waiting on another reader and then gonna dive right in!!
 

angeliz2k

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Ugh, Carleree, not a nice rejection. Look on the bright side: it could have been worse. It could always be worse. Still, not the best way for an agent to communicate a rejection. Just because agents see hundreds of queries every week doesn't mean each of us writers aren't individuals. A little more care in crafting rejection messages is needed.
 

Lonegungrrly

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Yey the end of crickets! Got one of my full's back... And it's an R&R. She has gone through it so deeply I'm amazed. It is a very big R&R though, like the whole latter half of the book going in a completely different direction kind of big... But... Her ideas are really inspiring. I'm going to have some thinking time then get back to her with my ideas. It is so weird; this time last year i got an R&R, just as extensive, from the same agency! I'm in some kind of loop
 

WendyN

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Well, now 3yo is sick, too, so it's been an eventful morning. Counting on my super mommy white blood cells to keep me healthy. So far I'm just really, REALLY tired.
 

Hathor

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Yey the end of crickets! Got one of my full's back... And it's an R&R. She has gone through it so deeply I'm amazed. It is a very big R&R though, like the whole latter half of the book going in a completely different direction kind of big... But... Her ideas are really inspiring. I'm going to have some thinking time then get back to her with my ideas. It is so weird; this time last year i got an R&R, just as extensive, from the same agency! I'm in some kind of loop

Yay for an R&R! :hooray:

Well, now 3yo is sick, too, so it's been an eventful morning. Counting on my super mommy white blood cells to keep me healthy. So far I'm just really, REALLY tired.

Hope they get feeling better soon... and you stay healthy :Hug2:
 

ChocolateChipCookie

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Yay lonegungrrly! That's quite an R & R request. I've never had one of those. This sounds very promising.

With the holidays, my writing has gone out the window. All I do now is bake, shop, decorate and wrap. And eat.
 

Netz

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:Hug2: to Carleree (and ouch! that was harsh).

Yey the end of crickets! Got one of my full's back... And it's an R&R. She has gone through it so deeply I'm amazed. It is a very big R&R though, like the whole latter half of the book going in a completely different direction kind of big... But... Her ideas are really inspiring. I'm going to have some thinking time then get back to her with my ideas. It is so weird; this time last year i got an R&R, just as extensive, from the same agency! I'm in some kind of loop

Ooh, congrats! Which agency? (You can rep me if you don't want to announce it publically.) If you decide to do the R&R and want a beta for it afterwards then let me know (I'm usually very quick!). :)
 

Nova Odyssey

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Yey the end of crickets! Got one of my full's back... And it's an R&R. She has gone through it so deeply I'm amazed. It is a very big R&R though, like the whole latter half of the book going in a completely different direction kind of big... But... Her ideas are really inspiring. I'm going to have some thinking time then get back to her with my ideas. It is so weird; this time last year i got an R&R, just as extensive, from the same agency! I'm in some kind of loop
hey that's great (not the loop part!). good luck with the rewrites if you choose to go that route.
Well, now 3yo is sick, too, so it's been an eventful morning. Counting on my super mommy white blood cells to keep me healthy. So far I'm just really, REALLY tired.
stay healthy, mommy isn't allowed to be sick.
 

Antonin

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:hi:

Well, now 3yo is sick, too, so it's been an eventful morning. Counting on my super mommy white blood cells to keep me healthy. So far I'm just really, REALLY tired.

Hope he gets better soon. Doctors and nurses are talking about how the flu shot might've missed the mark this year. :(

Yey the end of crickets! Got one of my full's back... And it's an R&R. She has gone through it so deeply I'm amazed. It is a very big R&R though, like the whole latter half of the book going in a completely different direction kind of big... But... Her ideas are really inspiring. I'm going to have some thinking time then get back to her with my ideas. It is so weird; this time last year i got an R&R, just as extensive, from the same agency! I'm in some kind of loop

Congrats on the R&R!

To quote the offending agent: "I greatly admire your determination but your novel misses on many levels."

And now you know why I needed the treats and wine and hugs.
icon12.gif

:Hug2:


Feel free to avert your eyes, Antonin, for a sports comment is coming for my Vancouver friends. Yes, I watched the end of the Caps/Panthers game decided by the record-setting, 20-round shoot-off. Which DC lost, of course--to Luongo, in goal.

tumblr_lkgvd4tqIQ1qeegbeo1_500_zpsp3u2ouwv.gif


----

With the image of krampus at the top of the page every so often this month, I figure I'll share a bit of a story with you guys.

So, in certain parts of Europe, they celebrate the Feast Day of St. Nicholas. On this day St Nicholas comes to good girls and boys and gives them some candy (and perhaps a toy) if they have been good. If the children have been bad, they get a visit from the devil (or Krampus in certain parts).

This day is also my birthday.

When I was a younger child (I think about 5 or 6), I apparently was a terror who took apart TVs and never gave up my pacifier. My mother kept telling me that I had better behave or the "devil would come and take me away."

On the day of my birthday, I was in my basement in the process of using my brand new TMNT pizza launcher toy to shoot my cousin with tiny plastic pizzas when the lights turned off. I stopped. I heard a deep "ho ho ho" and smiled.

But then I heard a loud banging of chains at the top of the stairs. I stood frozen as I watched to see who would come down. First came St. Nick, dawned in a flowing white robe with a beard that matched. In his hands he held a cane of silver. I thought I was safe.

But then from behind him came a man dressed in black and red with horns on his head and a dark pointy beard. Huge chains rested on his shoulders.

And he stared directly at me.

I ran behind my mother, shaking with fear behind her. But she pushed me in front of her. She had warned me after all.

So I sucked up my courage and did the best thing I knew how to do.

I started talking smack. "This is dumb, you're not real, those CHAINS aren't real!"

To which the devil placed the chains on my shoulders; they weighed me down. I felt them pulling me to the depths of hell itself.

"So," the devil said, his plastic face showing me no pity, "think you might want to be a good boy now?"

I nodded.

"Gonna give up your pacifier?"

I took the thing out of my pocket and placed it in his hands.

Then he turned and walked away, taking St. Nicholas with him.


I had been a good boy ever since. Well, I mean, until high school, but those were different reasons entirely.
 

JJ Litke

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On personalization—on Twitter just now, an agency (that used to be foreword and is now explosive) did an ask hashtag. Someone asked how important personalization is, and the response was, "I want writers who want me specifically, not just any agent. Just like I want them specifically, not just any writer."

So some agents still want personalization.
 

WendyN

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Well, the kiddos slept in, but seem to be doing better today -- no fevers, at least. I'm still tired and have a scratchy throat, but I think I'll live.


Antonin - You need to post that story for this contest. I was going to post something later today, too, once I go over it again once or twice. Heads up, bc the posts are in comments and not behind a password, it is considered "published" then, but I figure there's not really a huge market for "dinner with Santa & Krampus" stories anyway, right? I figure I'll post mine on my blog afterward if it doesn't win.
 

Antonin

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Well, the kiddos slept in, but seem to be doing better today -- no fevers, at least. I'm still tired and have a scratchy throat, but I think I'll live.


Antonin - You need to post that story for this contest. I was going to post something later today, too, once I go over it again once or twice. Heads up, bc the posts are in comments and not behind a password, it is considered "published" then, but I figure there's not really a huge market for "dinner with Santa & Krampus" stories anyway, right? I figure I'll post mine on my blog afterward if it doesn't win.

Oh! That's kinda cool. I should probably tweak it to make it more story-like though, right?
 

Fuchsia Groan

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On personalization—on Twitter just now, an agency (that used to be foreword and is now explosive) did an ask hashtag. Someone asked how important personalization is, and the response was, "I want writers who want me specifically, not just any agent. Just like I want them specifically, not just any writer."

So some agents still want personalization.

I have to say, I agree with Janet Reid's recent rant on this.

I mean, of course you should know what/who the agent represents, and preferably what he or she is seeking to represent in future.

But I seldom bothered to mention those things in my queries, much less stuff like "You and I both appreciate the verbal wit of Joss Whedon, so I totally want you and especially you representing my book." It just felt wrong somehow, even when I'd taken the time to gather the info (which, tbh, I seldom did).

If a particular agent strongly prefers an ultra-personal approach, maybe it's worth your while. But, as someone who gets lots of book pitches (for review), I tend to dismiss personalization. The proof is in the pudding: the book description and opening pages. If they make me want to read on (and if you fit our criteria), I really won't care whether you think I'm special and have read all my other reviews. I won't even care if your pitch is basically a form letter.

True, a reviewer is not an agent. Agents need to know they can work with you. But there's plenty of time to research them while they're reading your full, so you can say, "Hey, I also love Joss Whedon!" or "It's so cool that you like 18th-century literature!" during The Call.

Maybe I would have had better stats with more personalization, I dunno. But I never noticed a difference one way or the other.
 

JJ Litke

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Fuchsia, JR's post had already come up. I added that bit today because it was agency-specific, i.e., if you're querying at that agency, you probably should personalize.
 

gckatz

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Janet Reid obviously feels strongly that way, but I'm not sure she's in the majority. If you had a particular reason you queried someone, why not mention it? Particularly if it's not mentioned, or not mentioned prominently, in your normal query.

Eg, normally the fact that my novel is epistolary is buried at the end with the word count, but if someone said specifically that they were looking for epistolaries, I'd want to mention it up front. (Whether tailoring your query without mentioning that you'd done so counts as personalization is, I suppose, another discussion altogether.)
 

JJ Litke

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Eg, normally the fact that my novel is epistolary is buried at the end with the word count, but if someone said specifically that they were looking for epistolaries, I'd want to mention it up front. (Whether tailoring your query without mentioning that you'd done so counts as personalization is, I suppose, another discussion altogether.)

I guess opinions about what counts as personalization varies a lot, and that might be a factor in differing opinions on the overall value of personalization. I did see a couple of paragraph-long examples on an agent's site (held up as good examples). I don't think I've ever written more than a sentence or two, and it'll be something like your example: You said you want X, so here's X.
 

Whimsigirl

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On personalization—on Twitter just now, an agency (that used to be foreword and is now explosive) did an ask hashtag. Someone asked how important personalization is, and the response was, "I want writers who want me specifically, not just any agent. Just like I want them specifically, not just any writer."

So some agents still want personalization.

Makes sense. I try to research every agent I query, and a couple have stated outright that they prefer to have personalization. Doesn't mean they'll return with a personalized rejection though...
 

noranne

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Have some ideas on fixes for MS5, dying to get started but still want to hear back from my other reader. Unfortunately still kind of stuck on the problem of my MC. (Basically he is--intentionally--whiny and childish, but by the end he grows and is able to make hard decisions not solely based on himself, but it seems that I was a little too good at making him unlikable in the beginning and his growth may not be apparent enough. Argh. Kinda need that character arc for the book to work!)

Also I got braces yesterday, so I'm dealing with a low-grade constant headache and teeth soreness. It's not particularly bad pain (they didn't even hook all my teeth into the wire, and it's only on my upper teeth), but it is a bit grinding in that there is no escape from it. These things are literally cemented onto my teeth, can't just pop them off for an hour of blissful eating! On the bright side, should help me avoid Christmas overeating...plus straight teeth eventually...I actually already had braces, in high school, but my retainer cracked in college and I never got it fixed, and then once I noticed my teeth were moving a lot, I was in the Navy and couldn't get braces put on. So it's been a goal to get this done as soon as I got out and before they could move more. Unfortunately, they've done quite a lot of shifting, particularly on the bottom, and I'm likely looking at a year or more of adult braces. Awesome. :(
 

Drachen Jager

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If I ever make it big as a writer, I'm going to run a limited edition of each of my books through these guys.

Somebody has to support them, the craft is just too beautiful to let it die. And it would be really awesome to have a shelf of them with my own words inside.

http://videosift.com/video/The-Art-of-Making-a-Book
 
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