Rejection

   Today I wanted to talk about rejection. You should always expect it. Don't get your hopes up on one specific agent. If you do and a rejection comes back your heart will sink with disappointment. I would know.
   I actually got a rejection today from Sara Crowe with Harvey Klinger, inc. It was probably the most brief response I've ever gotten.


Thank you for thinking of me, but I am not a good fit for this.  All my best,

Sara


   The last rejection I got was from a publishing house. Entanlged Publishing. This publishing house accepts queries and sample chapters at this time, if you are interested. The books they have published for YA (young adult) are actually good ones. Usually the publishing houses that accept queries and sample chapters don't have good books that sell well, you can always tell by looking at a cover. I always check the books that agents have sold you publishing houses, and when I look at publishing houses I look at the books they sell to bookstores.
   I recommend you do the same. Look at the books that a certain agency has sold and if you recognize any of them from your nearest bookstore, then have a go at it. Send them your query letter.

   Anyway, I want to show you the response I got from the Entangled publishing house.


   Dear, Ashley

   Thank you so much for thinking of me for your novel, (the name of my novel), and my apologies for taking so long to get back to you about it. This is an interesting premise and one that I think would fit well on Entangled's current roster, but I'm afraid the sample pages just didn't draw me in as much as I'd have liked. I'm sorry this one won't be fit for me, but thank you again for sending it my way, and best wishes in finding it a home.

   Sincerely,
   Stacy

   and then at the bottom of the page is a advertisement for one of their new novels. How ridiculous is that??? I was so excited about what she was saying until I got to the but, and then it faltered when I reached it.  I know better now, I don't let myself get excited no matter how good the things that someone types. I always wait to see if there's a 'but' and there usually is.
   I've had 16 rejections from literary agents, and one from a publishing house.
   Don't give up after only a few rejections. They get millions of submissions a month, but don't worry, they read yours just as carefully as the rest of the submissions they get.

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                                                        Ashley