Friday, January 19, 2007

Whee! I'm for Real!

Because this morning, I received my first real, live rejection letter from an agent:
Dear Author:

Thank you so much for sending your query.

We'd like to apologize in advance for this standard rejection letter. The volume of queries as of late has been too overwhelming to personalize our response anymore. Rest assured, we do read every query letter carefully and although your work sounds intriguing, we're sorry to say that we don't believe we are the right agency for you.

You deserve an enthusiastic representative, so we recommend that you pursue other agents. After all, it just takes one "yes" and with so many different opinions out there, you could easily find the right match.

Good luck with all your publishing endeavors.

Sincerely,
Agent

I know, I'm supposed to be sad that I didn't get a request for a partial. And I am, a little. But I really didn't expect to hit pay dirt on my very first try, so I'm not crushed. Now, I would have preferred to get a more personalized rejection letter that told me a little more about why my story didn't appeal to this agent, but it is what it is.

I'm pleased, though, because I now have proof I've queried an agent and can apply for PRO status through RWA. And since that's one of my major 2007 goals, any response from an agent, even a rejection, is progress.

Still, perhaps you all want to take my advice about query letters with a considerably larger grain of salt. More of which will be dispensed later today in concert with our hook/query queen, Erica Ridley. (Pssst! Trust her!)

3 comments:

lacey kaye said...

Still, perhaps you all want to take my advice about query letters with a considerably larger grain of salt.

Not true. I'm sure if Erica sent TTATF to Avon it'd come straight back. The perfect query letter and the perfect story for that agency can be alternative.

Sarah Palmero said...

Yay RWA Pro! It's a fantastic program. And you know that rejection just means you're one step closer to getting there. People who get no rejections don't exist. ;)

Pam Skochinski said...

Yep -- rejection stinks, but it also means something really important, you're submitting!! Hurraye!