If you've started your publishing career by submitting to agents in hopes that they'll work with you to sell your novel, you're probably wondering what to do with all those damned rejection letters and if they contain any value at all. In Saturi Scriptor's The Big Book of Rejections, he tells you to ignore the vast majority of them because they are form letters that the agent either copies and pastes into the body of an email or uses a bulk email program to send. Their junk other than words to the affect of - I don't want your novel, they're junk.
Some of Them Are Going to Sound Real Though, so Watch Out!
Some of the rejection letters you receive will sound like they are real and contain actionable advice to help you improve your query materials and/or your manuscript. If you think it's real, STOP! Don't touch your submission materials, and don't touch your novel until you read this next section.
If You Think It's Real, Ask These Questions
1. Did the agent address me by name?
If that query letter says, Dear Author, there's no actionable advice. This is a form letter! Don't touch anything.
2. Is the name of my novel located somewhere within the letter?
If it isn't stop, even if they addressed you by name, this is a form letter.
3. Does it match one of the letters in Saturi Scriptor new rejection letter guide?
If it does, it's a form letter. Remember, Saturi took out all the identifying information, but the form letters themselves are word for word. If your rejection latter matches any of those, it's "fake" other than the fact that that agent is not agreeing to work with you.
4. Does the letter seem to suggest edits you can make to your novel to improve its strength?
Some rejection letters will seem to contain advice on how to make your novel stronger so that it will attract other agents (not the one you just got the rejection letter from). STOP. Did you send your novel? Do you think there is any possible way the agent read beyond the first page? If you did not include your novel or even the first chapter with your submission, don't change anything. If you did, think very hard before doing any edits. Most agents didn't read your manuscript or even your sample pages. This is especially true if the letter does not contain your name or the name of your novel.
If You Think It's Real, Ask These Questions
1. Did the agent address me by name?
If that query letter says, Dear Author, there's no actionable advice. This is a form letter! Don't touch anything.
2. Is the name of my novel located somewhere within the letter?
If it isn't stop, even if they addressed you by name, this is a form letter.
3. Does it match one of the letters in Saturi Scriptor new rejection letter guide?
If it does, it's a form letter. Remember, Saturi took out all the identifying information, but the form letters themselves are word for word. If your rejection latter matches any of those, it's "fake" other than the fact that that agent is not agreeing to work with you.
4. Does the letter seem to suggest edits you can make to your novel to improve its strength?
Some rejection letters will seem to contain advice on how to make your novel stronger so that it will attract other agents (not the one you just got the rejection letter from). STOP. Did you send your novel? Do you think there is any possible way the agent read beyond the first page? If you did not include your novel or even the first chapter with your submission, don't change anything. If you did, think very hard before doing any edits. Most agents didn't read your manuscript or even your sample pages. This is especially true if the letter does not contain your name or the name of your novel.
Keep Your Chin Up
Just remember that the vast majority of agents didn't read anything. They receive hundreds of emails every week. If they even opened your email, they probably only read the first line. They also reject pretty close to 100% of what they receive. The rejection rate is like 99.999999%, and I know what the statistics say. They rejection 97%. I do believe the true number is that they accept .00001%. I don't know how they stay in business either! But keep your chin up. Even if you run out of agents, there's still self-publishing.
