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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

LMQ Rejection in 30 Minutes

Here's a note I received from one of you anonymices:

It took me seven years to write my novel and some additional time consulting people and researching agents but a mere half-hour for the literary agency to generate send me this generic-ass response. I guess we know who's more efficient.
Thank you for your recent query regarding representation. Having considered this, we've concluded that LMQ is not going to be the right fit for your project but of course wish you all the best with it. Sincerely, Lippincott Massie McQuilkin, 27 West 20th Street, Suite 305,New York, NY 10011
     "Of course" seems gratuitous. I mean, considering how much time they spent with my "project", they obviously put a lot of thought into their decision and quite naturally such an investment of time would produce a level of investment in the "project" and in my ultimate success as a writer.
     BTW, though I followed the agency's website's instructions and specified the agent I would like to read my work, the response email wasn't from her. Curious. It's almost as if she didn't read it. And nobody else did, either.
     So, in return, LMQ, thanks so much for your speedy response. Of course I appreciate it.

4 comments:

Native Ink said...

Yeh, they should probably have a different form letter for very quick responses. A letter that leaves out words like considered, concluded, wish, and we. Those words suggest actual mental effort and collaboration with one's peers. Obviously none of that happened.

crantz said...

A lot of agencies just auto-reject queries if you aren't a celebrity or the celebutard of the hour. ok great, good for them. but why can't they be honest about who they want to represent? Just state up front on their website: "only accepting queries from public figures or people whose 15 minutes of fame is not yet up."

if you only want to publish hilary duff's crime thriller or octomom's origami book, just say so. don't make us plebes waste our time contacting you.

Dumbo said...

Sorry they didn't read it; that sucks. At the same time, be glad they only took half an hour. Your manuscript could have floundered in the slush pile for months before they summarily rejected it.

But honestly: if you've put this much of your life into the book, years and years, then you must obviously believe in its value. Someone else will too. Eventually. Until then, this is exactly the kind of crap we all wade through in life. Be glad you found the hours to write at all.

Jennifer said...

Just because they rejected it fast doesn't mean it went unread. I am not a public figure or famous, but I got a partial request from this agency off an unsolicited email query. The partial was rejected within 48 hours with two paragraphs of constructive criticism from the agent (making it clear they read all 50 pages). Above and beyond in this age of the form reply, and appreciate the expediency and efficiency.

I just wanted to point out that nearly 40% of my queries have gone unanswered entirely. So, don't knock a fast response, even if it isn't the answer you wanted, because nowadays you are lucky to even be rejected by agents.

Keep querying and don't take it personally or assume they query hasn't been read. I'm sure you will find an agent that connects with your work.