Form Rejections

If you've just started the query process, more than likely you've received your first few "form rejections."
Depressing, I know.  The first few I got were so sad--so simple and...empty. All that effort to re-word my query 500 times until it sounded PERFECT....all that effort to find a good, solid agency, read all the bios of the agents, carefully choose the "right" agent for my kind of work, study the submission guidelines and format my materials accordingly, re-read and re-read and re-read my final package before clicking "send"........then WAIT (i.e. check my email 100 times a day) for that. That little, utterly empty response.

It stinks--any way you look at it.

But let's not get off on the fact that form rejections are impersonal, therefore we hate them. (I see this on a lot of other blogs.) It's true--they ARE impersonal. But let's be honest...what really hurts is the fact that we have to go back to the drawing board:  re-read our query (that we probably have memorized by now), take another look at our sample pages (also practically memorized by now), and try to figure out what was missing. This is something that's VERY tough to do when you've been working on a manuscript/concept/pitch for a very long time--on average, I would say a year--and honestly, by this point you're so close to it you can't see the flaws.

Sound familiar? You start to think how you've poured your heart and soul into this, analyzed it to death, taken a break, then analyzed it to death some more. It was supposed to be perfect. It was supposed to work. All may be true...but don't get discouraged.

You've got passion. That's what drove you to write the darn thing to begin with. And that is what will help you persevere through receiving these form rejections. Eventually--if it's true that your query letter and materials are in tip top shape--you should begin to receive some requests for partials or fulls. If you don't receive those requests, I recommend visiting http://www.queryshark.blogspot.com/ or http://www.pubrants.blogspot.com/ for some tips on query letters and submissions. Oh, and a glass of wine. Or two.  : )