Rejection
As the first few rejections trickled in, my husband looked at me with worry, knowing my sensitive ways. He repeated J. K. Rowling's story each time I told him I got another no and paired it up with a pep talk. I had prepared myself for rejection and promised myself that I wouldn't get discouraged until a certain number. So I smiled at my well meaning husband and told him I was fine.
And you'll be fine too. I've passed the number of rejections I promised I would take well, but I've had so much practice that now I shrug my shoulders and move on. Every no is a signal that maybe I could be doing something better...or...my work really, wasn't for them. This is one of the reasons I joined a workshop. The positive feedback and constructive criticism helped build my confidence, and trust in my ability to tell a good story.
Query Letter
...is so important. Put time and effort into it. Even get someone to look over it. Your letter is the first impression and if you're not getting requests for fulls or partials, your query letter is to blame. It really is. Here's an example. One of the agencies I was submitting to didn't want a query letter sent in, but a form to be filled out. I did copy and paste a lot of the answers with parts of my query letter, but they asked for more. What morals are taught, if any. Lessons learned. And more. I filled out the form, answering the questions with passion because I really believe in my story and the main character. That agency asked for my manuscript. Now I know, I could improve my query letter's content.
Read Agents' Blogs
During this process, agents may seem like cold, heartless gatekeepers, when really they're not. I follow countless agents on Twitter and read their blogs. A lot of them explain that when they say no, it could be for many different reasons YOU DON'T HAVE CONTROL OVER. Yes, this sucks because now it seems it's really all a game of chance, but it's reality. An agent's mood can affect his/her decision. I know, bummer, right. But think of yourself when you're scanning possible titles to read. A book that didn't catch your attention on day may catch it the next. Just like food. Understanding the delicate nature of an agent's decision making process, helps to handle the sting of a no a lot better.
Besides that, they offer tons of great advice and updates on what's happening in the market.
Start Building Your Platform Now!
Don't wait for your book to get published...DO IT NOW! Get into the online writing community and build your platform now. Don't sit on your hands and wait for responses. You need to actively work on your career as a writer. Put your name out there and keep writing.
Appreciate the Personal Rejections
Even though it sucks that yet another agent said no, appreciate it when it's a personal response. A lot of agents are busy and don't have the time to outline why they don't want to represent your work. So when they do, it's a huge bonus (silver lining people...silver lining). Even if it's one short sentence, you get an idea of what's just not doing it for them and it helps a lot. It could be small comments about the concept or writing...anything.
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I mentioned this in the last post. When I sent out my first round of queries, I checked my inbox at least ten times an hour (okay, maybe more) for the first few days. It's not healthy and a waste of emotional energy and time. I have gotten responses in the same day, but more often than not, I get responses within two to four weeks...sometimes more. So don't stalk. Forget about it and do something constructive...like maybe work on your next project.
Research Agents
I don't need to elaborate on this because I already mentioned it in the previous post. I'm mentioning it again because it's something that needs to be done before, and during the querying process.
That's all I can think of to share for now. Until then, happy querying!
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