Brace yourself, because you’re gonna get rejection letters. Even when a project ends up finding a literary agent and a publisher, the no’s almost always arrive before the yes’s.
Aside from making great wallpaper, kindling, and kitty litter, believe it or not rejection letters do serve a purpose. You can make yourself a better and more successful writer if you analyze them properly.
I also offer online classes with exclusive resources about finding literary agents that you can take at your leisure. They will help you every step of the way, and I talk more about deciphering rejection letters.
And if you need personalized help, I can help edit your query letter or you can book a consultation to ask questions.
UPDATED 12/20/22
Deciphering rejection letters
Here’s the problem with rejection letters: it’s practically impossible to make sense of a form letter that maybe includes one little teensy tiny bit of individualized advice. Plus, they can be completely contradictory. One rejection letter could say “needs more monkeys” (probably came from me back when I was an agent) and the other letter could say “too many monkeys” (some lesser agent).
What’s a writer to do?
Well, first let me tackle this from the other side so you have a sense of what’s happening here.
What rejections are like from an agent’s perspective
I’m going to be totally honest with you. When I was a literary agent, my rejection letters were not usually very helpful. They tended to be vague, formulaic, and brief. But polite!
In my defense, I had a very good reason for this. I didn’t want to lead anyone astray.
When a manuscript or proposal was a “pass” for me, chances are it was because I just wasn’t feeling that zing that I felt whenever I was reading something I wanted to take on. But I wasn’t always able to articulate precisely why exactly that was the case, and oftentimes I hadn’t read enough to be able to provide a particularly insightful critique.
If I was able to put my finger on the reason for the lack of zing I would absolutely tell the writer. But most times? I said enough to show the author I really read it, but not enough that my response would actually be all that helpful.
What’s a writer to do?
Now that I’ve lowered your expectations, I’m going to tell you a few scenarios in which rejection letters can actually be helpful.
Here’s the secret to understanding these maddening missives:
Rejection letters are usually pretty worthless by themselves.
Unless a rejection letter happens to be incredibly detailed and the feedback resonates with you on a gut level (sort of like the holy grail of rejections), you’re probably not going to learn too much. And you’re going to learn even less if you analyze a rejection letter for hidden meaning (you’re also going to rack up the psychiatry bills).
One letter by itself usually isn’t much help. BUT. When you start accumulating rejections you can start to make more sense of them by analyzing the trends.
Are you receiving manuscript requests?
Let’s say you received twenty-five rejections from agents on the query to your new novel. If you didn’t get a single manuscript request and you received only form rejection letters (i.e. a rejection that didn’t specifically mention an aspect of your work), something’s wrong.
It could be that your project isn’t marketable, your query letter wasn’t good, you queried the wrong agents… something is preventing you from getting in the door. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a bad writer, it just means that you’re in for a reevaluation of your project and your approach.
If, however, you’re getting requests for partials (hooray for you!) and fulls (even better!), but you’re not getting an agent to bite and offer you representation, it may mean that you’re close but that something isn’t quite right, and maybe you can make some changes to the manuscript that will make your project better.
This is where an accumulation of a some personalized rejection letters can actually be helpful in gauging how well things are going.
Listen to personalized feedback
Once you’ve accumulated some personalized rejection letters, spread those bad boys out on the table. Avoid the temptation to set fire to said table. And start to analyze the common threads.
Don’t go nuts with this, you aren’t looking to crack some secret code here, just see if there are a few common threads that you can pick out. Maybe a few people said that your project isn’t marketable. Or maybe a few had similar problems with certain characters or plot lines.
Here’s the next most important step: if you are hearing the same thing more than once: listen. Don’t say, “Oh, well, my work is what it is, they’re just STUPID.” Agents are not stupid. Most of the time. Consider making that change. Try again.
You ultimately have to write the book you want to write and you shouldn’t bend past your comfort level. But don’t overthink a rejection letter that leaves you saying, “Huh?”
Focus on the rejection letters that:
- Resonate with your gut
- Repeat feedback that you’ve heard before
If you do that, you’ll learn as much as possible from your rejection letters without going crazy.
Need help with your book? I’m available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!
For my best advice, check out my online classes, my guide to writing a novel and my guide to publishing a book.
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Art: Jove decadent by Ramon Casas
Simon Haynes says
All good advice – thanks for an excellent blog.
It’s also an illustration of why you should approach agents instead of publishers. Aside from the big difference in response times (agents usually being much quicker) you can also make simultaneous submissions.
When I started out I queried four publishers, one after another, and the average response time was 6-8 months. I soon realised I could be at it for decades. (Australia isn’t exactly brimming with agents, which is why I went direct.)
I still see the occasional whinge from authors who don’t want an agent because they don’t want to pay a commission on ‘their’ money. Maybe they should try and get published first, and then worry about divvying up the proceeds.
Mel says
Mr. Bransford,
I’m glad I found your blog! Thanks for taking the time to try and help out the struggling authors!!
I find rejecting letters both impossibly hard to take and exciting, as they renew my vigor in resending out queries (wierd, huh!).
My question to you, as an agent, is this: My manuscript was requested by a very well respected agency. I called a few weeks later when I had done a revision (requested by another agent) to ask if the agent might want a copy of the revision – the answer was yes, and I was surprised to hear that the agent would be reading my manuscript personally because she had “received a very good read on it” already.
Today I recieved a form rejection letter from that agent. I know agents are incredibly busy, but what should I make of this? What does it typically mean if an agent has received “a good read”? Do agents use beta readers? Also, I assume then that my manuscript wasn’t even worthy of a personal response of where it was lacking – What should new writers take away from such an event?
Any advice is much appreciated! And again – thaks for the great blog!
Melissa
Nathan Bransford says
Melissa-
Thanks for the great question. This is a case where you can’t read too much into the form letter. Agents are busy and they don’t always have time to write a personalized note. That’s a great sign that they requested the revised MS again, but I wouldn’t feel extra bad that you didn’t get a more personalized note afterwards.
Ozal says
Do people really send you vengeful “moron, you’ll be sorry when I’m rich” letters? Seriously? There are multiple people who do this? I thought it was an urban myth…
I have on occassion weighed up the pros of being a Good Citizen against the cons of annoying a busy agent, and sent a brief thank-you email in response to email rejections. Here is what surprises me even more than agents receiving Up Yours notes: I got replies. Brief and simple, but jaw-dropping in their very existence.
I have a strong suspicion that agents are actually human, and not undead agents of satan after all.
Cheers!
Mel says
Can I ask you a question about starting points? I know it’s off base of rejection letters, but it appears they are all tied in together – if your story doesn’t start well then you are asking for a rejection letter.
Agents seem to differ a bit on where to start a story. What is the “majority rule” on this? Does one start at the turning point or is a brief intro to the setting or character better?
Sorry to get off base, but it seems like I should strike while the irons hot!
Thanks again!
SurfGrape says
Hey, Nathan, now that you are getting groupies, what should we call ourselves? Miss Snark has her Snarklings…so, what would that make us? Brannies? Naters? Brownies (since you work for Curtis Brown)?
Nathan Bransford says
Ozal-
Ohhhhhh yes. I’ve received many a “you’ll be sorry when I’m a rich bestseller” e-mail. I’m always surprised when I get them, but I do.
Melissa-
It’s impossible for me to say where to start. Only you can know that for sure. You are definitely right though, however it starts it needs to be good right away.
sex scenes at starbucks says
I have to say, when I got your rejection the other day I wanted to email you back to thank you for your nice reply and professionalism. (There, I did it anyway.) But I know it’s not done. Can’t even imagine writing back something nasty. I wonder why writers think this is something other than a business?
As an editor, even at our small zine, we get our share of replies to rejections. The kiss of death is to write anything personal. Sad, but true. I’ve only gotten one “mean” thing though, and it wasn’t that bad.
While I’m on the subject, I really believe in cutting your teeth on short works. It builds your resume, it gets you accustomed to rejection in manageable bites, and nothing hones your writing skills like short stories.
Dave says
I had an editor say “Sorry, I like your story but it isn’t (pick one – Sci-Fi, horror, romantic, noir, literary) enough for our publication.”
Another said “the editorial board enjoyed your story but it isn’t for our publication.”
I guess those are compliments.
Bernita says
Sounds as if “didn’t connect with” from some outweighs any “excellent”, “fine” and “strong” from others.
~sobs~
Kim Stagliano says
The nicer rejections I got were helpful because they made me, a newbie, realize AGENTS ARE HUMANS. Sometimes very nice humans. We newcomers are trained to fear and loathe you nasty gatekeepers, standing between our oeuvres and the NYT best sellers list. I got some very lovely comments that while were still rejections, encouraged me to continue the process.
Mel says
Hello All,
The people who write those nasty notes are the same people who cut you off on the road and hold up the nasty finger – they have no self control and see criticism as a personal attack rather than helpful advice. Or, they’re just plain loony!
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all agents could take a minute to write a personal note – and since that can’t happen because the slush piles are probably taller than I am, let’s just be thankful that we’re still recieving letters and not the auto-reply email that states, “If I am not interested you will not hear from me.”
M
BernardL says
I’ve been getting rejections for three decades, and I can tell you one thing: it’s sure easier being rejected in an E-mail, than after you’ve sent out a manuscript by snail mail with SASE postage numerous times. 🙂 So, agents don’t mind getting a ‘thanks for taking a look’ E-mail? I had assumed from reading the Snark, it was just another thing to clutter up their E-mail boxes.
The Beautiful Schoolmarm says
So I shouldn’t shred them and let my daughter use them as hamster bedding? Oops.
I finally decided that my current novel was just too long for a first-time author.
Mel says
Hey School Marm –
My first novel (the one that’s currently vying for an agent!) was originally 180,000 words! I fought cutting it down for a long time, but after many requests for it to be 120K, which seems the norm for first timers, I did the dirty and cut it down. While I lost a lot of pretty prose and great backstory, I found it wasn’t necessary and that it now is a swiftly moving story!
Take the cut – it’s worth it in the end. I’ve had three agents request it since the revision – though I just got a fat rejection from one I was very excited about!
Good luck!
M
Nathan Bransford says
I don’t mind when people send back short “thanks for considering” e-mails — unfortunately I don’t change my mind once I’ve made a decision, and I can’t usually write back with more recommendations, but it’s not like I get mad when people thank me for considering their work.
Mel says
You’ll probably notice, if you remember your queries (which, I can’t imagine that you remember them all because you must get tons!), that I requeried you (the first was 12/06). I did so because another agent suggested that when you do a significant rewrite you should write a new query and try again. Probably a pain to some agents (sorry!). But it is always worth a try – I did get two requests by requerying. Thanks for the prompt reply, though!
As far as notes back to agents, I send thank you comments back when an agent has sent a non-form letter. Otherwise, I assume they are too busy to read that sort of email.
I’ll probably query you again with my next manuscript (if no agent picks up this one), which is a different genre all together.
Looking forward to your blog! There’s nothing better than hearing about the industry from those who are entrenched in it!
Thanks again!
Melissa
Linda says
One of the things I’ve seen is that though many writers try to summarize their novel for the query letter, they have utterly no clue what the story is about–and that comes through in the query leter. They talk about events happening or backstory or describe things, but never get to anything that ties the whole book together.
If you’re getting tons of rejections and no bites, it might not be the query letter–it might be the book itself. If you can’t define the story, it may be that the book doesn’t have one. It is entirely possible to write a book without a story, just a collection of a events. I know. I did that.
Jen says
I’ve had a few rejections. One of them “form” letter.
The agent was the one that confused me the most. I was ready to let my first ms die a dignified death in some hard to find file on my computer when my scintillating query letter caught an agent. Per request I sent the first 10 Pages. Got an R with a “Rewrite this and send it back”. Okay. Did that. Got another rejection. Both times the note was short but hand written on a form rejection. I considered that generous.
I’m planning on resubmitting to them, but I want it to be a single title they can get behind. Soooooo, I’m still writing away.
Everyone I’ve submitted to has been more than human. I haven’t gotten one ugly rejection.
Though I’ve seen some rejection letters that have perfected the art of the backhanded compliment.
lori fielding says
I’ve had rejections on 2 fulls and 1 partial, I guess that’s not a whole lot yet but Jeff Kleinman says if you get 4 or more fulls rejected, you’re doing something wrong. Trouble is, nobody said anything bad — they all said “the writing’s good, I’m not the right agent.” What can be done then?
Nathan Bransford says
Lori-
I don’t know if you could really put a number on how many rejections is too much. Just keep trying!
Eva Claudia says
Here is my question: I have just started to shop my new novel, and I got three rejections already; all saying it's "too commercial". What on earth does that mean? And how am I supposed to change that, if at all?