Feedback

Been getting the first handful of replies to queries for representation. All have been passes, which is no great surprise. I did not expect to have floods of people attacking my gate to get a piece of my work. I remain an unknown and unproven quantity. My only other published work, despite a handful of kind reviews, is essentially a failure to launch.

That said, it remains difficult to receive pass after pass. It is not the mere act of passing my work over, but the boilerplate nature of most declines. This is no way a dig at the agencies sending those replies. It's a busy trade, and the fact that they reply at all is a kindness. The lack of critical feedback is what wears at the nerves.

In searching for representation for Shikaree, I stumbled across a quote that has helped deal with the constant rejection. Something that explains the headspace of agents in the field more than the simple statement that a work is not the right fit. It goes:

"We say no for many reasons—because of changing trends in the market; because we already have something similar on our list; because we know of similar published or forthcoming titles; because something isn't right for us; because although something may be strong, well-written, and even publishable, we didn't fall in love with it."

That is from the Andrea Brown Literary Agency submissions page. It flavors the act of rejection in a way that few other agencies (in my experience) manage. Whether it's the agency as a whole, or the replies of individual agents. Imposter syndrome is a real bitch, and seeing words like these printed clearly does a lot keep me going.

Toodles.