Thoughts on Rejections from Literary Agents

Last week, I posted five Rejections from Literary Agents. I did this because the rejections, which I'd received over the months previous, were depressing. As you can see by the posts, they were also varied, ranging from this proposal is a pile of stinking shit to you are a great writer but I'm not a fit for this to form letter to I can't bother to respond so here is an email from my assistant. Most of the agents I submitted to didn't even respond. Nowadays, most editors in publishing are like that, it seems. I believe it used to be less like this, but email is so easy to ignore, you know? I'm not sure what the conclusion is here. I've written before that I do not particularly care for agents. And I seem to have them and then it doesn't work out in the long run. I've done better by myself, I suppose. I think that is the point. No more intermediaries for me, maybe. We'll see.

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Rejections from Literary Agents: #5

Dear Susannah,

i read your proposal over the long weekend and have some thoughts about it.  My first question to you is what is this book about in your view?  Is it a [redacted] and if so, hasn't that already been done?  It's not clear what your point of view is on the whole issue nor what the point of the book is.  I understand that [redacted] but why should we care?  Why is this a bad thing?  These are not people we care about as characters so I'm not sure we should care that [redacted].

You write about the [redacted] but it's not clear whether you think this is ridiculous or not.  It is interesting that [redacted] but not sure where that takes us.

In reading [redacted] I'm not sure I understand why you [redacted] is a good thing.  What is the point ofthat?  And what is the reason to not condemn [redacted] and the [redacted] and then [redacted] in the beginning of the story?

I guess my response to this is that i don't see the book in this.  I get that you are [redacted] but unless there are reasons to care about this world and make it interesting, I don't see what the purpose of the book is.  Or what your thesis is for writing the book.  So perhaps I am simply not the right agent for you on this topic. Or perhaps I need a clearer and more articulate answer to what this book is meant to be. 

With all best wishes,

[redacted]

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Rejections from Literary Agents: #4

Dear Author,

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to consider your work.  We've read your material, and I'm sorry to say that we don't think it is right for [redacted] at this time.

Publishing is a tough business, and the response of any individual agent—or indeed dozens of agents—is not necessarily a comment on the inherent value of the project. Every agent has individual tastes and individual business requirements. We wish you the best of luck in finding the right path to publication.

Sincerely,

[redacted], assistant to [redacted]

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Rejections from Literary Agents: #3

Hello Susannah,

I very much appreciate the chance to consider your proposal.  I’m sorry that  I’m not the right agent to represent the book but I wish you great luck with it.

Best, [redacted]

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Rejections from Literary Agents: #2

Susannah,

I enjoyed reading [redacted]. The opening section of the proposal is quite compelling. I had thought the book would then be sort of an investigation/memoir of your experience as a [redacted]. I think the wider angle you’ve taken, though—[redacted], [redacted], [redacted], etc---struck me as too diffuse. I’m sure I’m missing something and another agent will jump at the chance to work with you---you are a fine writer---but I think I had better step aside.

Thanks so much for the chance.

[redacted]

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Rejections from Literary Agents: #1

Dear Susannah,

Thank you for all of this and for your patience.

This summer [redacted] has been traveling and so have I.

We have now had a chance to consider and we deeply regret that the demands on our time are such that we are unable to represent your project.

We wish you every success.

Best wishes,

[redacted]

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