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Monday, May 24, 2010

Read It A Hundred Times? Make it 101.

Dear Author,
    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)

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

This isn't the agent who was excited to get the re-write, is it?

Writer, Rejected said...

No, this is just random. The agent who expects and will get the rewrite today better write a more personalized rejection than this!

The Rejection Queen said...

She's given me the same rejetion for each of my novels.

Chazz said...

I 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.)

Maybe 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.

Nikki said...

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.

Anonymous said...

Great 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.

Ha ha. Our future published selves are laughing at their appalling lack of discernment. DD

Writer, Rejected said...

I love our future published selves.

Anonymous said...

Our 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.

Anonymous said...

I 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?

Love 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

Mz M. said...

"This industry is incredibly subjective" -- just says it all.