Rejection Letters, The Good and the Bad

Erica here with you today. We're going back to basics and talking about...

Rejection Letters.

If you're not familiar (you lucky duck) a rejection letter is a missive received from an agent or editor that declines your submission. This letter can arrive just about any time in the process. After your query letter, after your proposal, after the full manuscript is submitted, after your novel goes to the publication board.

But did you know that a rejection letter, or as I like to think of it, a professional decline, isn't always an automatic slam of a door in your face. There are actually several different kinds of rejection letters, and they often follow the progression of a writer's career. You can evaluate your growth and refinement as a writer by the type of rejection letter you're getting.

So, what are some of the types of Rejection Letters, and how can we evaluate them?

1. The "Void of Silence."
2. The "No Thank You."
3. The "Not For Me."
4. The "Not This One, But..."
5. The "Revise And Resubmit"

The first is The Void of Silence. You submit your query letter (Ruthy covered the ins and outs of query letters in her blog post from Wednesday, June 10th, 2020.) and you wait, and wait, and wait. But Mr. Agent or Ms. Editor does not reply. 

You can assume that after a period of time (It varies depending upon who you submitted to, but most agencies will list their response time on their website.) that the answer to your query is no. 

Agents receive dozens of submissions every day, and they don't have time to answer each one. If they tried, they would never get anything else done. So no news is most likely just 'no.'

*Some authors will send a polite email after the response time has lapsed, just to check in. It's up to you, but for a simple query letter, I would move on to another agent. If it's after you've submitted a requested full manuscript, I would check in because the agent showed interest initially, and perhaps they haven't had a chance to read your ms just yet.

Some Agencies have a form letter that goes out that says "No, Thank You." It's polite, formal, and generic. The letter goes something like, "Thank you for submitting your query. I will not be pursuing representing this work. All the best." 

Not exactly words to warm your heart, but better than nothing. :)

The third type of Rejection Letter is the "Not For Me." This one, while still not giving you warm fuzzies, feels better to receive because it's personalized. The agent or editor takes the time to tell you that your work isn't bad, it just isn't a good fit. 

"Dear Writer, thank you so much for contacting me about your project. While I love the premise, I don't feel this story is a good fit for my agency at this time. I wish you all the best placing this book, and I hope I get a chance to read it once it's published."

Better, right? There could be a variety of reasons why your story isn't a good fit for the agent. It might be a bit of oversight on your part, not researching thoroughly and subsequently submitting a project to an agent who doesn't represent that genre. Or it might be that the agent does represent your genre, but she has several authors signed that also write your type of book. Rather than sign another one who will compete with her established clients, she will pass. It might also be that she doesn't have the contacts in the industry that she would need in order to sell your project. Agents build relationships with editors and publishing houses, and if you've written a niche novel, he or she may not have the specific relationships that your story will need. An agent might also have a full list, or a list that is fairly full of debut novelists that he's trying to place. Debut novelists require a lot of work, and if an agent has too many on their list, they can't devote enough time that each one will need. 

Another type of Rejection Letter is the "Not this one, but..." This is an exciting one to receive. It means the agent really likes your writing voice or style, he's just not enamored of this particular story. He's asking you what else have you written? Perhaps you might have something that is a better fit in your files. 

Reason to celebrate! And a very good reason not to fixate upon one story/book and keep writing new things. You want to have several projects, just in case an agent or editor asks for them.

The last type of Rejection Letter we'll talk about today is: "Revise and Resubmit." This one should have you nearly giddy. This means the story caught the agent's attention, and she would like you to revise the story (the agent will provide you with the information on where she thinks the story went wrong, needs strengthening, or needs an adjustment to be suitable for your target publishers/readers/the market.) and to send the story back once you've made the changes.

While and agent would not ask you to rewrite something she didn't feel really needed a rewrite, this is also a bit of a test on the part of the agent. Will you be open to critiques and editing, and will you follow through. Will you be a good client to work with?

I can't tell you how many authors I've spoken with who get an invitation to revise and resubmit, and they NEVER DO IT! What??? 

Don't let this be you. If you've made it all the way to the stage of being asked to revise and resubmit, then for the love of rugby (Which I LOVE a lot!) do it.

Now, I'm not saying that every author follows the path of these rejection letters perfectly. You may skip a level, or two, or three. You may, like P.D. James, never get a rejection letter. If that's the case, many blessings upon you, this post isn't written for you. But, if you're like most authors, you'll garner your fair share of rejections along the way before you land that elusive and joy-inducing YES from an agent or editor.

I've received plenty of rejection letters over the years. Even after I was a published author. 

1. I have waited on the edge of the abyss, where nothing but heartbreaking silence greeted me.

2. I got a rejection once that said, "I hate romances, and prairie romances are the worst." (From an editor at a publishing house that put out lots of romances and prairie romances at that!) That's all the rejection said. OUCH! 

3. I got a rejection once from an agent who chided me for not including a SASE with my submission. (Back when we sent everything snail mail printed out on precious paper and included a self-addressed-stamped-envelope in which the agent could slip a form letter or an "I wanna see more" note.) A week later, I got--in the SASE I HAD provided--a request from that same agency for the full manuscript. (Which was subsequently rejected with a polite No Thank You.)

4. I've gotten Revise and Resubmit requests, have done the work, only to have the publishing house reject the work at pub board. 

5. I've gotten the "This isn't right for us, but what else can you come up with" rejection that led to signing a contract for a new book.

I guess the moral of the story here is, don't give up, but don't fail to pay attention. You can gauge where you are in your writing journey by the types of feedback you're getting. Consider rejection letters as feedback, evaluate it, learn from it, get better because of it, and write some more!

How do you handle rejection letters? 

 

Best-selling, award-winning author Erica Vetsch loves Jesus, history, romance, and sports. She’s a transplanted Kansan now living in Minnesota, and she is married to her total opposite and soul mate! When she’s not writing fiction, she’s planning her next trip to a history museum and cheering on her Kansas Jayhawks and New Zealand All Blacks. You can connect with her at her website, www.ericavetsch.com where you can read about her books and sign up for her newsletter, and you can find her online at https://www.facebook.com/EricaVetschAuthor/ where she spends way too much time!

You can Order The Lost Lieutenant at: https://amzn.to/32NYANi and pre-order The Gentleman Spy at https://amzn.to/2qOjkHD

About The Lost Lieutenant:


He's doing what he can to save the Prince Regent's life . . . but can he save his new marriage as well?


Evan Eldridge never meant to be a war hero--he just wanted to fight Napoleon for the future of his country. And he certainly didn't think that saving the life of a peer would mean being made the Earl of Whitelock. But when the life you save is dear to the Prince Regent, things can change in a hurry.

Now Evan has a new title, a manor house in shambles, and a stranger for a bride, all thrust upon him by a grateful ruler. What he doesn't have are all his memories. Traumatized as a result of his wounds and bravery on the battlefield, Evan knows there's something he can't quite remember. It's important, dangerous--and if he doesn't recall it in time, will jeopardize not only his marriage but someone's very life.

*I may be a bit slow to respond to comments today. I beg your indulgence. I'm getting new carpet installed and the house is at sixes and sevens at the moment. I'll jump in when I can, so don't let that stop you from joining in on the conversation!