I am expecting the remaining query letters I sent out to be rejected and they should reject them. In fact, I received three yesterday. A new record for me. Here’s why.
I’m a voracious reader and a fast one. In three hours, I can devour a four hundred page book, even with interruptions. So, when I sat down to write my mystery novel, I knew all of the elements to include. After all, I had read hundreds of them.
After I finished writing and editing it, I started researching what it took to write a query letter and one of the repeating themes was know your genre. In my head, I put a three-foot check mark next to that easy step. So, imagine my surprise when I received my first agent feedback and the agent told me I had a high-octane thriller. Great, I thought and made a few changes to my characters before sending out another batch of letters but this time with a thriller label.
Rejection after rejection arrived and I wondered what I was doing wrong. Finally, I got feedback stating that the stakes weren’t clearly stated. I pondered on this and made more changes…and thought I FINALLY got it right. I sent out another ten queries.
But to my utter astonishment, the rejections from these agents started rolling in and some of them were quick responses. At this point I was flummoxed and worried that I’d never “get it”. I debated shelving my book. But as the days passed, I realized I wasn’t mentally at that point. Not yet. Unsure what to do I went back to the beginning. I researched what elements were needed in a thriller and “saw” for the first time that I was missing them. Why? Because I’d written it as a mystery and they have different rules. I’d been falsely advertising my book.
Where does that leave me? In the process of one more revision. I’m already a third of the way through it. And now that I understand why I am getting rejected it doesn’t sting as much. Unfortunately, I’ve wasted all of those opportunities, but I still have more agents remaining and hopefully, one of them will love my thriller.
Update: Today I received three rejections, but another agent provided me with suggestions on how to make it better and then said that if I made them, I could resend it to her. I jumped for joy and felt extremely blessed. She even touched upon something that was different than the other agents. Yes, she passed…for now.
A revise and resubmit! That’s fantastic. I’m glad you’re powering through and moving forward. That’s the right way to approach it.
I just got my first rejection after a request for 30 pages. Not sure what to do with feedback like, “I just didn’t fall in love with the story,” but it’s heartening to hear that you’ve had more specific feedback from some of the agents. Now back to the waiting part…!
Oh Natalie, I’m so sorry. Is it the one you really wanted? I hope not, but the good news is that they asked to see 30 pgs. That’s great, but you’re right the feedback is hard because they aren’t specifically saying why they didn’t fall in love with it, but that doesn’t mean another agent won’t love it. Ahh the querying game is like gambling, you never know when or if you’ll hit the jackpot. Sometimes it down right sucks!