I sent multiple query letters over a year ago now and not even one rejection letter. I'm so bad I'm automatically ghosted.
Rejection. -sigh- i already knew the outcome of this one.... The next 2 i sent out, i personalized. The others i've done were generalized. These two.... One of them is the agent of my favorite author and has been her agent since the 90s. The other, included "fun facts" about herself and those fun facts combined with same educational interest allowed me to personalize it. If generalized "robotic" sounding queries havent been working, ill try putting personality into it
Yeah, everyone who has advised me about writing cover letters for stories (different from queries but basically the same "genre") has said to keep them as generic as possible. However, I seem to get more acceptances and personal replies when I add a line or two with some personalization. I might compliment a recent issue or mention I heard the editor speak at a conference. Something like that. I have a small sample size to be sure, but I'm leaning toward the idea that a little personalization is appreciated (as it is in life in general). On the other hand, there was a case recently where I knew the editor fairly well and mentioned that in the cover letter. I got a form rejection and felt a bit slighted. As usual, I was being too sensitive but got over it quickly. One thing I avoid is adding a bunch of cute, irrelevant info. I'm pretty sure most editors would roll their eyes if I started talking about how much love cats, hiking, and beer, fwiw.
In the past week I’ve had a rejection after a longlisting, from Northern Gravy, and an acceptance from a romance anthology!
Also, I’ve been accepted to a mental illness non-fiction anthology, but there is a Kickstarter campaign to pay for it and if it doesn’t reach its target it won’t go ahead. It’s not looking hopeful at the moment. In case anyone can spare anything, here’s the link:
Yay, rejection. Strange but it feels good. Thanked me for the query, said their reader liked my style but that as an agency they are better with fantasy rather than SF so said I’d be better elsewhere
It's always nice when that no comes with a bit of encouragement, too. Congratulations! You've got something good - now you just need to find the right elsewhere for it
I currently have 7 submissions "active" on Submittable. 5 are currently just marked received. One, more recently posted, has been marked "in progress" for 8 days, the other has been "in Progress" for 18 days. Each time I check in, I anticipate their absence from active, moved to declined and that little stilling feeling. Sometimes I wish they'd just pull the plaster and get it over, but maybe a delay is a good sign... A while back, someone here asked about sourcing locations for submissions. I'm terrible at organising this, frequently miss deadlines and I'm reasonably certain I've submitted to publications long after they ceased to exist. I don't think I'm breaking rules by mentioning an email subscription (free) that sends regular "heads up" on publications and publishing houses that are seeking submissions. It's called Authors Publish, I've no connection to it and have no problem if a mod wants to remove this detail. Unlike other free subscriptions, it doesn't push content for purchase but does list various magazines, publishing houses, etc that are looking for content. I imagine many here are already familiar with it and similar but, like me, some may be lost in the overload of internet search results.
I wouldn't put too much stock in that. All the advice I've seen online says to ignore the Submittable status completely because you don't know anything about the publication's internal process. In Progress could just mean that some intern assigned it to a particular first reader, who will get to it once they've finished the 47 other pieces ahead of it. Of course, I know it's still hard to resist. My weakness is checking the recent responses on Duotrope and the Submission Grinder. "Ooh! Strange Horizons rejected something that was sent a day after mine! Maybe I made the next round!"
A 180-day rejection from Poetry Magazine. Gotta aim high, right? It was a higher-tier form, at least, which makes my antennae feel a little bit tingly EDIT: And now I've just made my first submission of 2022. Gotta send things out if I want to rack up the rejections!
Well after a champagne rejection on a full, I was about ready to shelf this book. I decided to update all agents with my full/partial with the latest version because, well, why not. Well, one of them replied saying she's already 50% into the MS but would be happy to switch to reading the new one. And now I'm torn between thinking: She's still reading at the 50% mark - could this mean she likes it!? IS THERE HOPE!? and then thinking: Oh fuck fuckety fuck, I've fucked it up now because the reading is gonna be slightly disjointed for her and I've royally screwed up my chances fuck. Someone please calm me down. And of course, the pressing question: if she's already at the 50% mark, does this mean she'll have a decision soon!? How soon? (it was submitted back in Oct) WHY DO THEY KEEP YOU WAITING LIKE THIS?
Today I learned I didn’t make the shortlists for two competitions, which is as expected but still disappointing.
Just a reminder to check your junk folders! Found a form letter rejection from Baen on February 14, Valentine's Day itself, from a submission made back in the fall.
The agent I mentioned earlier who's read 50% of the MS rejected with a personalised rejection, inviting me warmly to query her again when I have a new book. (I believe she probably finished reading the whole thing in the end) Since then, I've implemented her feedback along with a beta's who agreed with the agent's feedback. And I've had 3 more full requests. To date, I've had 17 full requests. Of those, 6 have rejected, 1 R&R. I have 10 requests still out: 2 of these from Sep. 1 as of yesterday. The rest from Feb and Jan I think. I'm losing track these days lol.
