With what you are building here at Flowers, your book can only be a huge success

Let that email be a reminder for that agent to one day remember what he / she turned down!

I hate these kind of soulless and useless rejections, which provide no feedback and no guidance on what is to be done next. In my world, the Internet, which is filled with VCs, I keep coming across entrepreneurs who receive this kind of soulless rejection, which typically goes as follows:

I am sorry I took so long to get back to you (this is normally after 72 hrs) and I would like to thank you for your patience (sorry and thank you in same opening sentence). We find that your project is currently differently aligned with our business objectives (notice the lack of negative words) and we encourage you to meet with other groups (not firms, but groups) who would like to explore this venture.

Regards,
so and so VC, Wharton & Harvard

after that if anyone writes to them they just don’t reply !

this is extremely detrimental to the entire ecosystem where budding entrepreneurs need feedback and guidance on what to do next, what to fix, etc etc.

what I find even more disappointing about this is that even the highest caliber individuals with track record of success are meted out this standard reply.

No worries Jim n Em, Google was rejected for FIVE YEARS before someone hit the “I believe” button. Your book will be published, it just a question of running through the morons till you get to the right people.

Sorry about your news Jem. Must have been a big disappointment, but hey, as the great Corneille says, “A vaincre sans peril, on triomphe sans gloire”. Success is more satisfying when you have to struggle to achieve it. So upwards and onwards!

Oh, btw, I beg to disagree with RYK when he qualifies the rejection letter you received as being soulless and useless, without feedback and guidance.

I think the London Agency has provided a certain amount of feedback and guidance.

What they found good: “your writing style is clear and honest and readable”, “appealing title”
Suggestions for improvement: ” although it would benefit from a tagline”
Guidance: “would appeal to a US market I think”

A bit of a difference from the typical rejection letter RYK quotes methinks! I would certainly not qualify Agencies that five feedback as morons. Whatever happened to being open to constructive criticism? :))

Well…back to the old drawing board I suppose. But keep in mind that the more you push forward through the “No’s” the closer you will be getting to the person that will say “Yes”. I have complete confidence and faith in what you do and when the time is right….opportunity with greet circumstance with a warm handshake and the book deal!

Mighty Morgan’s last blog post..Merry Go Round

Chin up, Flowers! There are plenty more literary agents out there looking for quality work. you believe in your project so you need to find someone to believe in what you do. perseverance is the key. I have not given up, and I will not give up. In fact, every time I write I strive for the best performance possible (except when commenting on blog posts, then I get sloppy, lol). You will get published as so much of what is done in publishing is arbitrary and capricious. Someone will recognize your excellent work and your huge, loyal audience. Chin up, friends!
-Mike (M2)

Mr. Grudge’s last blog post..A ?Now? Fangled Story

Hi Guys! Keep the Flower’s faith - we smell success around the corner.

As Spock said “There are always possibilities”

and a personal favourite (often quoted) - “Clouds come from time to time and bring to men a chance to rest from looking at the moon”

We’re seriously ready to wop some publisher ass (as our american cousins would say)

Jonathan.

Jonathan’s last blog post..Call Centre Bloopers

Commiserations, Jim and Em. Coincidentally my last post was on the very subject of rejection slips, and there’s an old Peanuts cartoon there that might lighten the dismay and give you a chuckle. Jon Haylett (who was recently published with ‘Cry of the Justice Bird’) copped 242 rejection slips before getting published, but then Gary Davison (’Fat Tuesday’) got lucky very early on. I still believe that, even if the writing is superb and the proposal marketable, that a large part of the process comes down to timing: the MS arriving on the right desk at the right time. All a matter of serendipity. Which means aspiring writers have to bounce back, print off another copy and send it out to someone else. I wish you both the very best of luck with this.

Paul Burman’s last blog post..In The Wilderness

Guys perspective required ….

Most people get a standard rejection letter, which most of the letter to you is ,in that they are using standard phrases etc that they would say to everyone.

However …

When they say, your style is clear etc - all that bit is personal feedback, that the agent would not bother with most of the time, but is put in if an agent thinks your book merits a personal response.

So, I know it doesn’t sound like much a few lines, but believe me that little bit is an indication that the book has impressed him enough to comment.

Be encouraged and keep going!

Getting published is always a chore and for some reason it seems to take both luck and persistence to hit the right combination of agent publisher, editor and market timing. Many the stars all have to line up just right or something unique in the universe. There are so many stories of authors struggling to get a work published, then it becoming a huge hit, that one must wonder exactly what criteria by which manuscripts are evaluated. One must wonder if the readers used by publishers don’t have such a narrow focus or specific bias that they can’t often see the forest for the trees. Good luck with your future submissions

Marvin’s last blog post..Read What I wrote on Helium

{{{HUGS}}} for the R but WOOT for the submission.

I’ve had a few R’s but will submit a new ms shortly. I’ve heard you should write a million words before you submit because it takes that long to iron out the kinks.

Some score sooner.

But most of us love to write and can’t help ourselves. So we dig in until we make it.

GOOOOOO Smell the Flowers!!!

You can do it!!!

Hugs, JJ

Hi guys and yep disappointment all round

However i hope this makes you feel better…
JK Rowling was rejected as you until Bloomsbury said hmmmm this could be interesting Imagine how those Publishers are feeling Now..
The Beatles had rejection from record Companies
So I reckon you guys are in pretty good company… there are loads of others who’s work was rejected intially by people with little vision and a lack of inspiration …..
Just keep putting it out there and it will come … after one rejection is just one less step to the one who will publish it….

aussiecynic’s last blog post..Dogs got to love them

Christ almighty. Shall I go and spark up REM or the Carpenters, grab the rope and a chair and really finish the job off.

How many job applications do people write on average before getting a job? Generally more than one. Perspective.

In the words of Winston Churchill — “Never Never Never Quit”.

Rufus’s last blog post..FFI & This is not the Bucket List

Many thanks guys (and gals of course) your support is uplifting and very motivating. It is tempting (for about 30 seconds) to say ‘oh well I tried” but with your belief and comments we will be pulling the agent’s book off the shelf and contact the next one we have got ear marked. We know we will get published, that is not in question. We also know that it is a numbers game until we find ‘our’ agent of publisher.

Interesting point RYK about giving feedback. They have turned that into a business now and if you want any feedback or critique of the manuscript, you have to pay for it!

We will never give up on getting this published, in fact this has made us widen our scope to include finding a publisher in America too (let’s just hope they find ‘the’ America map funny!!!

Clearly you didn’t take on board the comments i made in my valuable review of the draft

Hang in there. This is just a small bump in the road of life.
I appreciate your positive attitude. I’m sure there is a literary agent out there for you.
Onward and upward!
Regards,
albert grande

Albert Grande’s last blog post..Rob Toth and The 2-Tier Traffic Affiliate Program

Bollocks to um.

Their loss.

Well we wouldn’t it quite like that as Brand has to fit brand and anyway we’re busy getting remotivated today…

LETS HAVE IT.

Don’t worry about that rejection. I know how it is…before I wrote online I was rejected all the time. I was told to hang them up to prove that you did something. You actually sent in a manuscript…that is a big thing. !!!! You’ll get it…Stephen King was rejected hundreds and hundreds of times and look at him!

Taylor Blue’s last blog post..Ellen Degeneres Has A New Animal Project!

I think you did well to get so far:

you got out of the slush pile
you were read by a real agent not just a reader
they asked for a complete MSS
you actually spoke to them
you received a personal rejection letter

that is WAY better than many get who:
stay in the slush pile
are read by a GAP year student, who doesn’t know a thing about your topic so never passes on your idea
who get a standard rejection letter
never speak to anyone

I say, well done, and in the words of Tony Blair (prefer Winston Churchil, but someone said that already) Things Can Only Get Better

Be proud

unlucky

not everyone can write stuff

I’d give up now- as realistically its over 2 years old and nobody is that bothered. no shame in that. just move on.

Did the agent also say that he/she had already read a very similar manuscript submitted 8 months ago by a brilliant new writer based in the northwest of England.
I think you’ll find that you get a similar response from over 150 UK based agents available in the Yellow Pages
The manuscript was entitled Go! Pick the flowers - Many journeys, one discovery