In honor of The Rejectionist's first anniversary in the blogosphere, she is hosting an uncontest where five random people will be selected to receive prizes. (I hope it's whiskey.) So, without further ado, here is what form rejection means to me.
Form rejection is wonderful. Really. No, seriously, I'm not joking.
Now, I'm not saying that it's as wonderful as a personalized rejection. And it certainly holds no candle to a request for a partial or full. It's not even in the same league with an offer of representation. But it's nice.
It's a nice way of showing you that someone out there has actually taken the time (even if it's just 30 seconds) to read your pathetic attempt at a query and cares enough to say, in the politest of terms, that you really shouldn't quit your day job your project sucks is not a good fit for them at this time.
I appreciate that. I appreciate seeing that acknowledgment. Even if it does make me turn to the ice cream later.
Because in the lowest circle of query hell is silence. Nothing. No reply. Sometimes not even an acknowledgment that they received your query. And you gnaw your fingernails until they bleed, hoping that your query got through to Mr. Fantastic Agent. Days pass. Weeks. Months. And you fret and you worry. What if they didn't receive it at all? What if they are really the Right Agent for you but they will never know because they didn't receive your query? Should you query about your query? It says on their website that they only respond if they're interested, but WHAT IF THEY DIDN'T GET YOUR QUERY???
But you're not one of those psycho writers (or at least you don't want to come across that way) so you wait and wait some more. And fret. You check twitter and the agent's website for updates. But all you have is silence.
Next to that not-knowing...I'd take a form rejection any day.
Not a fan of the "no response means we're not interested" policy either. That topic is coming up a lot today. Great post!
ReplyDeleteProblem: the link to your actual post is broken somehow. I had to click on your regular blog address to see it.
Okay, never mind, it seems to be working now. ergh.
ReplyDeleteAgreed!
ReplyDeleteSo true! That no response stuff must be done away with. :D Great post!
ReplyDeleteGot to agree with you there. I hate waiting without knowing what's going on... and then, after so long, I start to worry. And, like you said, the ice-cream starts to look really good. :) I would take a form rejection over that, even though I would prefer a personal rejection, or even better "we love your story so much and just know it's gonna be a big success, and we want to publish you right now... no, not next year. Right Now!" That would be the best. But... *le-sigh* that just doesn't usually happen.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good way to be. I've always looked upon form rejections with gratitude, because like you said, at least you know they took the time to consider you.
ReplyDeleteHUZZAH!
ReplyDelete