Dealing with Rejection
One of the hardest parts of being an agent is the number of times I have to say no. It would not be possible for me to represent my clients successfully if I took on as many authors as I get perfectly publishable submissions from.
But I know that it’s worse for every writer receiving that no. Give yourself a moment. This is hard. It’s a bruising business and that doesn’t stop when you get your agent (I don’t know what the answer is here…I don’t think the solution is to tell authors to toughen up, but I don’t know that I have the answer yet).
Once you’ve given yourself time to process the disappointment of that latest pass – it’s time to get back to making your ambition a reality…
The first thing to remember when you get a rejection is that it doesn’t always mean your book is bad or unpublishable, just that it’s not right for that agent right now – there is a lot of luck involved here. But consider the type of rejections you’re getting.
If you’re getting personalised responses, possibly with some pointers for changes you might want to make then you’re probably very close. Agents don’t have a lot of time to work through the vast number of submissions they get so if they’ve taken the time to personalise then that is significant. Think about any advice you get and work out what feels right to you and make those edits before your next round of submissions.
However, if you are getting multiple form rejections (a polite note that other than your name, could have been copy and pasted to any submission) it might be time to think about what else you could do to help yourself.
Take another look at your submission package and opening chapters to make sure that you’re giving yourself the best chance you can. See here for some pointers for what I like to see in a submission.
Possibly consider getting a professional assessment to find out why your submission isn’t working, or some more specific editorial help. There’s a list of places offering various services here.
It’s worth remembering that no draft of a novel is ever wasted – every published novel you read has gone through multiple drafts. You’ll learn so much from every edit and every new idea and your skills will improve with everything you write. I know it can feel dispiriting to have to put a novel that isn’t working to one side, but the best advice I can give when you start submitting, is to start work on something new.
And finally, putting your work out there is a huge thing and you might find it reassuring to read this essay on aiming for 100 rejections a year.