How do you stay sane while querying agents?

[CakeRage]

I finished my first book earlier this year (after saying for years I was going to write it), and started submitting to agents 3 weeks ago.

I’ve had a couple of replies, both really encouraging, but ultimately both rejections, and I feel like I’m losing my marbles. How do you keep it together while waiting? Not sure I can take the emotional rollercoaster

The first agent replied within hours to ask for the full manuscript, emailed again the following day to say she was halfway through and absolutely blown away by it, then a few days later to say she did love it, but thought it needed a few changes making. I revised the whole thing (10,000 extra words of work), then she replied just to say it wasn’t working, and she wouldn’t be taking it further.

To be honest I’ve been pretty gutted by it. How do you stop the little judgy voice in your head which tells you you were an idiot for getting your hopes up?

The second agent replied to say she was really impressed by my writing, but didn’t feel I was a good fit for her list at the moment, and recommended another agent (different agency) who she thought would like it. I handled that one much better, even though I guess it was more of an abrupt no.

Please tell me how you cope with this stage - or come commiserate with me at its horribleness!

(Sorry for my crazed rambling - feeling all my feelings this week!)

Yes, you're right preparing, I think my novel does blur genre divisions which means it is likely to be difficult to place with any particular agent. I have a couple of books in mind though, one more well known than the other and there is one agent in particular who stands out to me as this might be her cup of tea, so to speak. Obviously, I will send it out to a number of agents but I have always accepted that if I wanted a wide reading audience, self publishing would be the way to go. Having written it, I would be interested in hearing any feedback from agents (I know this doesn't always happen) and apart from all the rejection, I don't see any harm in sending it off. I wrote my book more for myself really, writing is a hobby above everything else but obviously it would be lovely if someone recognised the value of it.

If there are one or two agents you feel strongly about, and a wider pool of possibles, I would suggest sending out to a few 'possibles' first almost as a trial run - it's likely you will gradually think of improvements to your submission package as you go; and if you do get interest (a full request) from a 'possible' it will boost your confidence before you go for the agents you're really invested in.

How many agents has everyone sent their work to?

Current tally is 11.

I would suggest sending out to a few 'possibles' first almost as a trial run - it's likely you will gradually think of improvements to your submission package as you go; and if you do get interest (a full request) from a 'possible' it will boost your confidence before you go for the agents you're really invested in.

That’s a really good idea, actually. I’ve definitely made improvements along the way.

In terms of placing yourself, I struggled with it too, at first. It helped me to think of the query letter as being like a job interview. I wouldn’t lie in an interview, but I would gloss over any perceived weaknesses and put as positive a spin as possible on my abilities. The agents aren’t looking to laugh at how grandiose you are, they just want to know how they would sell you to a publisher.

I got round some of my cringe by phrasing it like ‘my novel would appeal to readers who enjoyed xxxxxxx’ so I didn’t have to make a direct comparison - I’m actually still not sure I could make a direct comparison!

I’m up to 19 submissions now. I’ve been doing them in batches of 5 or 6. I have 6 left on my list to contact, but waiting for some replies first.

5 rejections, 1 full still out, 13 yet to reply.

Cake, that's a really good way of phrasing it 'my novel would appeal to readers who enjoyed xxxxx' Can I ask in which genre, you have written as you say you've had difficulty placing yourself?

I definitely need to find more agents - only have about 6 so far that I've identified who might be interested, there is probably more...back to the artists and writers yearbook this evening, I think but I also might include a couple of U.S agents.

My breakdown is -

1 full request which was rejected
2 form rejections
8 still pending

19 researched potentials

I've been submitting for nearly a month now.

I’m writing women’s fiction which is part love story, part family saga and part voyage of discovery, so it’ll definitely be like something, I’m just not sure what that something is!

6 sent
1 outright rejection based on pitch
1 full out.

hmm, need to send out another batch this week I think!

This thread is so helpful!

Mine's upmarket women's fiction that is set in 20th century but not quite historical as such.

Feeling fed up with it all today. Another day of silence. I feel like my success rate is dwindling with each batch.

From the first batch of six I had two fulls, one still out (but it’s been 3 weeks now, so not holding out much hope), one rejected after R&R, two personalised rejections, one form rejection and one silence.

Second batch one form rejection and the rest silence.

Third and fourth batch silence all round, although to be fair these were all within the last couple of weeks so should give them time.

I just feel like I was quite encouraged by the first lot, even though it came to nothing, and now I just feel demoralised.

Anyone else having any better luck than me?

I'm joining you in the silence club, Cake.

I'm starting to think my Full request was a fluke.

It annoys me that many agents don't respond at all unless they're interested - it would take seconds to C&P a 'thanks but no thanks' before deleting the email. I think I have eight submissions still out, but some of them might already have been deleted.

I don’t mind so much if they specifically say ‘if you haven’t heard from us in x weeks, it’s a no’. I get that they’re busy. Just sucks for us

Quite agree, any kind of response is better than none - I didn't realise how much was involved in sending work off until I looked at doing so. Hope you get some good news soon.

I am gathering courage to send my work to various agents but I have also spotted a local competition that I would be interested in entering...can you submit your work to an agent and a competition or are there rules about these sorts of things? Sorry, it might be a daft question but I am a bit of a novice where all this submission malarkey is concerned!

It depends on the rules of the competition, Daphne - most I have seen for novels state that you mustn't currently have representation from an agent - which would just mean that if you were offered representation (yay!) you'd have to withdraw your entry.

On the other hand, if you were long- or short-listed for a prize that could be a useful addition to your writing CV, even if you didn't win.

I have heard of people getting picked up by agents as a result of competition entries, so if any agents are involved in the judging, that's another reason to put an entry in.

Ah, thanks Preparing...so it doesn't affect potential publishing, just entering competitions. The competition is running at the same time as I plan to send out my submissions, and it will be judged before, I am likely to hear back from any of the agents. I don't usually enter competitions but just fancied entering this one because it is sponsored by a local, fairly well known author and is a competition for people living in the local area (my book is also set in my local area).

Daphnesmate as Preparing says, it depends on the rules of the individual contest so should be fine unless they specifically say otherwise. Agents don't mind your submitting to contests and would be delighted to hear that you'd been longlisted or placed. Good luck!

No news for me last week, but one of the agencies with the full rejected it yesterday. No feedback, just a standard "not for us" rejection.

2 other agencies still have the full and I'm waiting to hear back from another 12.

Keep checking your spam folders everyone as sometimes emails from agents find their way there!

Wishing you all the best with your too, Norma.

Can I just ask, what constitutes mainstream fiction?

I'd think of mainstream fiction as commercial/genre, like crime, romcoms, thrillers, as opposed to literary fiction. But could be wrong about that.

Okay, thanks Norma, I'll start another thread about this.

I would define 'mainstream' fiction as anything aimed at a popular audience and of a standard length (80 - 100k). I don't think it rules out literary fiction as long as it isn't something aimed at a niche audience or written in a non-standard format.

My rule for this sort of thing is, if in doubt that your novel fits the definition, you will lose nothing by sending it anyway.

Sorry to hear your full came back, Norma and how annoying that they didn't feed back on it! My Bank Holiday rejection landed in my spam folder too!

All quiet here .

Sorry about your full, NJ. Hoping you get better news from one of the others

Hope you get some positive news soon Norma.