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You know what doesn’t get easier? Sending out rejections.
Please, writers, know that when you get a rejection it’s not YOU that an agent is passing on, it’s the manuscript. And this is such a subjective business. What’s not right for an agent can depend upon so many things.
Please, writers, know that when you get a rejection it’s not YOU that an agent is passing on, it’s the manuscript. And this is such a subjective business. What’s not right for an agent can depend upon so many things.
I just passed on some manuscripts that I might have taken more interest in at another time in my life. But in a year when I’ve lost multiple family members I don’t want to read stories with dead parents in them. 
That doesn’t mean it’s not a good, sellable story though.
That doesn’t mean it’s not a good, sellable story though.
When I’m reading queries I also look at the clients I already represent & I try to keep my list balanced. I represent a number of very talented and prolific PB writers so I’m reluctant to take on another. It would have to be SO different than what I have that I couldn’t say no.
I also know how much time I have. Right now I have so many commitments; I don’t have the bandwidth to take on a new client’s manuscript that might need a lot of work to get it to a submittable state. But another time I might have.
The bottom line is that if you get a pass from an agent, all it means is that it wasn’t right for them. You probably won’t ever really know why it wasn’t right. It doesn’t matter and in a way it doesn’t mean anything. Just keep going.
I’m not sure if this thread is just to make myself feel better, or if it’s for the queriers I just rejected. I do hope it’s useful. I really don’t love being on the rejecting side of this equation. And please, keep at it!
