Agent rejections - what to do next

[Maritimemum]

Hello,

I would be grateful for some advice. I have written a psychological thriller. I've paid for a full manuscript assessment/report, plus have had a synopsis and cover letter assessment, and have implemented changes as suggested. The person who did it said my novel had a lot of potential.

But I have sent it off to 27 agents, and have had only one request for a full manuscript (then subsequently rejected) and the rest either no's or silence.

I just don't know where to go from here! The number of rejections suggests there is something wrong with my 3 chapters/idea etc. So do I rewrite the first 3 chapters or change the plot or just keep plugging away with what I have? I have an idea for a plot change which I think is more interesting but not sure whether to go ahead with it now, or wait a bit. The other thought I had was do I pay for another editorial assessment of my first three chapters (I made the changes suggested for my full manuscript assessment, but have not had my first three chapters assessed since I made these changes), or is that just throwing money away since I've already spent quite a lot on an assessment already?

Or do I accept that this just isn't going to make the mark and start on something new? I have an idea but do not have the time to start writing something new while writing submission queries with a full time job and young children.

I would be really grateful for any thoughts or advice, thank you!

[Itsjustbeach]

I would join 20booksto50K group on facebook, on there you can read a lot about self-publishing and marketing. Then self-publish it.

[BecauseOfIndia]

@Maritimemum I wouldn't give up just yet, I've heard of plenty of people who have secured representation after sending to 40+ agents!

Rather than spending money on another assessment could you try beta readers instead? I don't mean family / friends, but try and find someone who has distance from you, but likes to read in the genre you are writing. I approached a local book club and one of the ladies agreed to read mine. Her feedback almost mirrored exactly the feedback I got from my first full ms request.

I've since made huge edits and she's now suggested that the whole bookclub read my manuscript and discuss it in front of me, which is daunting but I think it will be invaluable. Perhaps try something like that? Most agents give very little feedback, even on full ms requests unfortunately, so it's incredibly hard to know where you're going wrong, but I do feel quite passionately that none of us should feel compelled to spend large sums of money just to get find out!

[Ratsoffasinkingsauage]

I’d do a bit of both. Start a new book- always good to keep writing. And start looking at another tranch of agents to query. Are you on Jericho Writers? They have a good forum for people looking for beta readers.

You have my sympathy. It is tough. I’ve just started querying a middle grade novel and the wall of silence is so disheartening.

[Peasnbeans]

It does sound like someone new reading it 'cold' would be useful.
But then it is a numbers game - keep sending it out.
Also, enter it into competitions - if you can say in your letter it was longlisted you've much more change of a full request, ime .

[LouisaMayAlcott]

Have you thought about submitting it to publishers who don't require you to be agented? Storm and Bookouture come to mind, also Avon, Hera and Boldwood open to submissions for periods during the year. If you follow them on X/Twitter they usually announce when they're opening a submissions window. You could do that whilst subbing to agents, it would make the agents sit up if you get interest from a publisher. I know that Storm say they'll get back with an answer in two weeks.

[BetsyBobbins]

Wasn't JK Rowling rejected by some 23 agents?

Don't lose hope, good luck!

[Maritimemum]

Thanks so much for your messages, really appreciate all the useful advice. Didn’t know about beta readers – will investigate local book clubs/Jericho Writers, great idea. Also, approaching publishers that don't require agents, I haven’t done that. Appreciate the names, thank you, I will definitely do so. I will see if there are any competitions I can enter as well. And thanks for giving me some hope! I'll keep going with my book!

[Newgirls]

I think editors will try and be encouraging - you are paying them after all. It’s tricky as editors will absolutely make your book better but they are not likely to say anything really negative. Storm, boldwood books etc as mentioned above seem to be doing very well for genre fiction eg thrillers and Roms, are very selective and seem to making lots of money - well worth trying.

[ChaoticCrumble]

The hardest point of the journey for me is when you get all excited about submitting to agents and then receive... silence

This is where I am right now - have submitted to about 15, only a couple of form rejections so far.

If I don't get anywhere, I'm going to have to assume that the voice on this book isn't strong enough and rethink. Probably start a new project. It's depressing!

But there are a lot of agents to test out first...

[istara]

Regardless of what you end up doing with your first book, you need to start writing your second. Series are everything these days, particularly in genres including crime, thriller, romance, fantasy.

As you write your second book, start setting up your author profile - figure out your pen name (you can use your real name but it may not be advisable privacy-wise or the best for SEO and branding). Get an author website (buy a URL) and a couple of appropriate social media profiles. Start networking with other authors if you can and also readership for your genre.

You will need to do a lot of your own social marketing even if you get a traditional publishing contract. Many publishers are increasingly looking for authors with an established social following. Obviously that's hard if you don't even have a book out yet, but you could consider publishing a short story on Kindle (like 5k words - maybe a spin-off or backgrounder to your current book) just to get your foot in the door, so you can get an Amazon Author Profile and Goodreads Profile.

Then if you're still having no luck the traditional route, self-publish your first book, then the second, then get writing the third etc.

[Ratsoffasinkingsauage]

I do agree with start a second but maybe a second in a different series or a stand alone if you can. It is often tricky to get representation for a series as a debut author (or so I’ve heard). Your first completed novel doesn’t have to be your debut. If it isn’t getting traction them
perhaps try something else for a bit. You can always come back to it when you have representation.