Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to read your submission. I appreciate you considering me for representation of your project.
Unfortunately, after careful review, I have decided that I might not be the right agent for your work. This industry is incredibly subjective, and there are many agencies out there with many different tastes. It is for this reason that I strongly encourage you to keep submitting elsewhere, in the hopes of finding an agent who will be an enthusiastic champion for you and your work.
I apologize for the form letter reply, but the volume of submissions I receive has finally made it impossible for me to personalize responses as I have for many years. I hope you will understand and forgive me this necessary efficiency. In addition, I do not feel it is appropriate for me to provide detailed editorial feedback on projects I have decided not to represent.
I wish you all the very best of luck and success with your writing.
Sincerely, Laura Bradford
Bradford Literary Agency
(D- for originality)
This isn't the agent who was excited to get the re-write, is it?
ReplyDeleteNo, this is just random. The agent who expects and will get the rewrite today better write a more personalized rejection than this!
ReplyDeleteShe's given me the same rejetion for each of my novels.
ReplyDeleteI like that she states her policy of not providing editorial feedback on stuff she wouldn't touch anyway. (Maybe that's contrarian, but such feedback can be presumptuous.)
ReplyDeleteMaybe thjis rejection is not original, but it's not an unkind form letter. Kind is good. I like kind.
What do you want from a rejection? Me? I prefer balloon-o-grams for short stories, strip-o-grams for book-length manuscripts. And, when turned down for a date, quick dirty sex in the back seat of a Chevy at noon in a Wal-Mart parking lot. In sad clown costumes.
Great to stumble on your blog on the very morning I too got a "rejection" email from a publisher (and not the first)I've asked my agent to please stop putting "rejection" in the subject heading of his emails to me LOL. He now uses the less biting "turndown" "another pass" to update me. Oh well, fellow authors and aspiring authors.... let's commiserate.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog. It took the sting out of the miserable rejection I received today. I know - all rejections are miserable. Among the worst, though, are those who say that due to the highly competitive publishing market, they must be highly selective in what they choose to represent. Translation: We think you're mediocre, and we want only the best.
ReplyDeleteHa ha. Our future published selves are laughing at their appalling lack of discernment. DD
I love our future published selves.
ReplyDeleteOur future published selves will still be getting rejected, only then we'll wonder: "Hey, I'm published. Why do I keep getting rejected?" The thought may lead us to start a blog about rejection.
ReplyDeleteI am a future published self. I'm still getting rejected, with the lovely additional sting of bad reviews. Oh the joy of writing, will it never end?
ReplyDeleteLove this site! Has anyone ever seen Bernard's Letter on Utube? It's gotten me through some tough days.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLlsN6UwhgE
"This industry is incredibly subjective" -- just says it all.
ReplyDelete