It’s not every day that I can say I received a really nice
rejection. I’ve found that the literary
agents that I contact in the Midwest or west coast are typically polite and sympathetic
in their rejections. Many of the big New
York agencies are quite terse and blunt.
I tend to cringe a lot when I read those, but at least they send a
reply, which I do appreciate. There are
many agencies that simply don’t send a reply.
I do realize that they are swamped with thousands of queries and
replying to all of them would be an impossible task. But while I do understand the problem, it’s
still frustrating.
So this reply came as a surprise since I’d sent in the query last
winter. Not only was I surprised to
actually get a reply, but it was amazingly nice and compassionately written,
even though it was a rejection:
“My name is XXXXXX,
and I'm XXXX’s assistant at Talcott Notch. Thank you very much for your query
and patience--we sincerely apologize for not responding sooner, but due to the
sheer volume of queries we receive, we find it difficult to get to all of them
in a timely manner.
We just reviewed your submission, and after conferring with senior
members of the agency, I regret to inform you we are going to have to pass on ‘Pink's
Dragon Rescue’. We read your query with interest, and despite its many merits,
we're afraid we just do not feel strongly enough about your project to request
more, especially given the tough conditions of the current marketplace. Please do not despair--we are
confident that with your talents and some perseverance, your book will find a
home with the right agent.
Of course, our opinions are entirely subjective and other agencies
may feel differently. I encourage you to query widely, as you never know who
will feel that ‘spark’ for your book as it currently stands. We appreciate the
opportunity to consider your work and wish you the best of luck finding
representation.”
And with that warm and fuzzy rejection, today is Query Day in my
office, which means that I’ll be banging my head on the desk – er, I mean, I’ll
be sending out 10 new queries and hoping for replies as nice as this one. Better yet, I’ll hope for an enthusiastic
acceptance! Wish me luck. :)
