What to do if your novel keeps getting rejected, but those that read it love it?

[hnorwood]

Thanks! I will

 

[The Dark One]

It's kinda been asked above, but why are you even bothering with agents? I slaved for years to get an agent, finally landed one of the biggest in my country (after landing a one book deal with a small publisher by myself) and she was a complete waste of time. Sent my latest book out to only two publishers in two years! Both publishers had nothing but praise for the book but she refused to follow up with them to see whether they wanted any issues addressed with a view to taking a second look. So I sacked her, started sending it out myself, and have now got another small publisher working with me on the book (hasn't quite agreed to publish it yet but is giving me heaps of his time and energy to get it right) and I've sold an option on the film rights to a major film studio. I've had screenplays optioned before so I have no illusions about whether the book will be turned into a film, but the news of the option will only reflect well on the book when announced. I haven't told the publisher yet, but hoping that's my ace in the hole.

My point is - make sure you've got a good product and then get active and creative yourself to create interest in your work. Agents are (IMHO) going the way of the dodo.

 

[Devor]

I am at a complete stand still with my novel. Those who have read it "all" told me they could not put it down. Even those who bought it off of Amazon.com for their kindles. Yet, I am continually rejected by agents. I have re-written my cover letter and synopsis and followed the guide lines according to writers market. Any suggestions?

If everyone who has read it loved it, then I think you need to find a wider range of readers, or else a more honest one.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Here's a little something to lift your spirits...

If You're Feeling Down and Out About a Rejection Letter

"Rejection’s not easy. I mean, it’s like somebody, every day of your life, saying, ‘You know, you’re a real loser.’ And you wonder if he has a point. But the truth is that you don’t care. And I never did. I was never bothered by letters of rejection. I never believed one of them. And I received them by the hundreds, over many years.

“You do it a day at a time. You just put your rejection slips in a shoebox and tell yourself one day you’re going to autograph them and sell them at auction.”

 

[hnorwood]

Thank you for sharing I think you are right.

 

[hnorwood]

True. I also had people who were my worst critics read it, who even don't like that genre. Here is what I got, "I did not like some of the characters and hate that they are vampires, but I will say I could not put the book down." So, the same theme at least by all the readers is they could not put it down.

 

[SeverinR]

I think 80% of most submissions never get out of the mail room. (I think even higher, I think maybe even 90)
Rejects most often are not following the requirements set forth for submission, even the smallest thing will get it tossed. The people in the mailroom are paid to make the stack disappear. Pass a stack of manuscripts to large and the next group will get upset, because they have to handle that stack. Make people upset and you might lose your job.
If you can get your script out of the mailroom, you have passed many submitters already. So if you get a letter that talks about your book, you know someone read at least some of it. If you get a chain letter, you never know.

You can have a triple best seller, but if you make even one mistake, it will be tossed.

I should have mentioned the above information was from a Literary Agent who did a free seminar. His genre was romance, so other then general info, it wasn't a step in the door. lol.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Here is a blog with some nice general info about shopping for agents...

/4-things-to-consider-when-researching-literary-agents

 

[BWFoster78]

Thank you everyone for such great advice! It's all been very helpful and appreciated. A lot of great information as well. I will say that I was told by both publishers and agents that having your novel self published does not effect whether or not they will accept it.

The name is "War of the Pretenders" it has sample pages on amazon.com if anyone wants to take a peak and add further advice. Greatly appreciated.

You seem to be sincere in asking for an honest opinion of the book, so I'll give you one. Understand, however, that technique issues bother me far more than it does the average reader. You have to be pretty darn good to hold my interest.

After reading the first half page of your sample, my opinion is that the writing is extremely amateurish. I would not wish to read past the portion that I did, much less purchase it.

Specifically:

On the plus side, the descriptions are vivid.

Negatives -

Nothing happens in the first two paragraphs. They're a mixtrue of backstory and a description of what just happened. Better to throw the reader into the events that are happening.

Lot of telling in the first two paragraphs. I'm not a proponent of always show, never tell, but your use at the beginning does not draw in the reader. I think that, from the small sample that I read, you probably need to show a lot more than you currently do.

Small issue, but you shouldn't have one character act in the same paragraph while another character speaks.

You use too many adverbs. Choose better words instead.

A phrase like "Then character reminded him" is being used as a speech tag. Putting aside the opinion that a lot of editors advocate that it's best to use only "said," you punctuated it incorrectly. Since it is being used as a speech tag, you need a comma after him instead of a period.

"He asked as more of a statement then an actual question." First, you meant "than," not "then." Second, put a period at the end of the quote in question and delete this sentence entirely.

I could go on (really, I found many more issues that I could mention), but, basically, the piece is full of errors. If you've had it edited, it's not apparent. In my opinion, it needs a lot of work before I'd be willing to read it, much less advocate publishing it if I were an agent.

As I read back over this, I feel like I'm trashing you, and I hate sounding like that. I truly am trying to help. What elevated my writing is going to a writing group and having them completely destroy me. If I hadn't gone through that, I wouldn't be where I am now (not to say that my writing is there yet by any stretch).

I do hope this helped you some. If it didn't, please disregard; as I said, I'm a lot more nitpicky about technique than the average reader.

Thanks.

Brian

EDIT: Also, please keep in mind that the best of the best get published. I don't particularly love Sanderson, but read his stuff versus the vast majority of self-published works. It's simply much better, especially from a point of being polished and the use of sound technique. It takes a lot of time above and beyond simply getting a book to a "complete" stage for it to be good enough for a publisher.

 

[Addison]

....Most of the advice I wanted to give has already been given.

But what I can tell you is that, if you really want an agent, you REALLY need to do your homework. Writers Digest gives updates on new agents or known agents looking for new material. And don't just look at the agent but also their agency. Read the fine print. You gotta bust your butt to get an agent as hard as you had to bust your butt to pass your worst/least favorite class.

When you do the research you don't have to query one agent at a time. You can do several simultaneously, just be sure to put that in your query or cover letter. If any rejection letters come, read them carefully as they can tell you if you're getting close to the right agent.

If no agent I believe that DAW or PYR publishing takes un-agented manuscripts. Just follow their submission guidelines.

Hope this helped.
Good luck!

 

[Addison]

Here's a link to Writers Digest that may be useful.

4 Things to Consider When Researching Literary Agents | WritersDigest.com

 

[hnorwood]

Thank you Brian for taking the time out to look it over. I spent year writing it and then another trying to make it better. Apparently I need a new editor to look it over. However, I will also be looking it over and taking your advice, thank you. It really is a great story. It is my first book so I expected this. I will go at it again. I did look it over and have not found as many errors as you seemed to have found (grammar errors), but I will have someone else look it over as well. Thanks again for taking the time to look at it.
Heather

 

[hnorwood]

Thank you!

 

[hnorwood]

Brian, I forgot to ask, in reading only half a page how can you possibly be able to have that many errors found? I am curious as I am new at this. Thank you

 

[hnorwood]

Thanks Addison, Thank you for your help it is greatly appreciated. I am a member of the writers market and it is very helpful too.

Heather

 

[BWFoster78]

Brian, I forgot to ask, in reading only half a page how can you possibly be able to have that many errors found? I am curious as I am new at this. Thank you

Heather,

Please understand that I'm defining "error" as "you did something differently than I believe is proper." You'd get varying degrees of acceptance of everything that I term an error if you polled this forum.

I tend to believe that there are a fairly rigid set of standards to which a majority of editors adhere and, for writing to be considered professional quality, it needs to follow those criteria pretty closely.

Using this standard, I consider the overuse of adverbs an "error." Others would disagree.

Using this standard, it's also pretty easy to find errors in your work, even in a half page.

I am pretty firm in stating that it behooves any aspiring author to understand what these standards are and make an informed decision about their validity.

Hope this helps!

Brian

EDIT: I will also say, however, that the work did not read well to me. It didn't flow well or engage me. You can have all the "errors" you want as long as you're able to engage the reader. When I start reading something and it fails to pull me in, that's when I start looking to try to find reasons for the failure. My belief is that you'll stand a much better chance of drawing in the reader if you don't have the "errors."

 

[hnorwood]

Brian,

Thank you very much that was greatly helpful.

Heather

 

[Rise of the Tiger]

I'm a late-comer to this party, but I heartily side with those who point out that it is NOT game-over for a book if it's been published. Agents and publishers pick up self-published stuff all the time. The real catch is: Is it going to SELL? If they think they can make money off of it, it doesn't matter where it is.

If you're still looking for to get your work out there, I would highly recommend publishing it as a serial on a blog. You'll get great feedback and exposure for your work while you work on another book to release in a more traditional way. I did mine by working with local artists to share a sketch. It turned out to be a great situation for everyone, and I learned a lot.

Have fun!

 

[hnorwood]

Rise of the Tiger- Thank you. I am going to try that. Lately I have forgotten to that I do enjoy writing. LOL.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Honey, I'm going to ask a fairly sensitive question, considering all the work you've put into this... but where is your second book? Not being familiar with your current work, I know first books can often be deeply personal and end up lovingly placed in shelves for some very good reasons. Not saying these are any of yours, but this may be worth a read...

4 Tips When Writing from Experience | WritersDigest.com

Keep strong and write on. Most writers first books never see print, and if they do, it's long after they have made a name for themselves. Don't give up.