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Old 09-24-2008, 09:07 AM   #51
James M M Baldwin
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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.
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Old 10-19-2008, 09:45 PM   #52
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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...."
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Old 10-20-2008, 08:59 PM   #53
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zellie View Post
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
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Old 10-26-2008, 07:06 AM   #54
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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.
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Old 10-26-2008, 08:20 AM   #55
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Gee, Vandal, think of how awkward this must be for Robin...finding out she's been rejected via your post on AW.
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Old 11-18-2008, 07:40 PM   #56
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After 10k words submitted...
...I received 2... "No thanks"
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Old 12-02-2008, 04:33 AM   #57
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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?
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Old 12-17-2008, 05:59 PM   #58
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vandal View Post
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.
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Old 12-24-2008, 06:16 AM   #59
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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,
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Old 12-27-2008, 10:07 AM   #60
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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!
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Old 12-27-2008, 10:19 AM   #61
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Emerita View Post
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
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Old 12-27-2008, 07:14 PM   #62
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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....
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Old 02-08-2009, 03:41 AM   #63
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"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.
Last edited by Wayne K; 02-08-2009 at 04:03 AM. Reason: I took out the word douche. It's not strong enough.
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Old 02-11-2009, 09:18 PM   #64
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Right there with you.
I just got this exact rejection email.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Emerita View Post
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,
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Old 02-11-2009, 09:25 PM   #65
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This for a short story submission rejected:

"It's not you. Somebody shit in my corn flakes this morning."
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Old 02-13-2009, 05:32 AM   #66
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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....
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Old 02-23-2009, 07:07 PM   #67
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GJB View Post
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*?
?!?!?
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Old 02-24-2009, 07:58 PM   #68
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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.
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Old 02-25-2009, 02:12 AM   #69
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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.
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Old 04-02-2009, 08:59 AM   #70
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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.
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Old 04-26-2009, 07:41 PM   #71
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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?
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Old 05-05-2009, 03:58 AM   #72
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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....
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Old 05-05-2009, 04:00 AM   #73
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katrina S. Forest View Post
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.
ack. I have gotten the champion one but not the list.
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Old 05-06-2009, 02:59 AM   #74
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My latest:

"While this sounds like a strong project, I'm afraid it doesn't strike me as a likely fit with me and my particular editorial contacts. I wish you well in finding the right agent for your work." -great agent

Honest or just being nice? If it were really a strong project, wouldn't any agent want it?
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Old 05-06-2009, 03:14 AM   #75
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Sounds like a form rejection to me.
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