10.22.2006

Miss Rejecter! We adore her!

I adore this blog.
Particularly this post.
Posted by at

9 comments:

Kimber An said...

Yep, that was a good one! So nice to have another source of enlightenment on the Web.

10/22/2006
McKoala said...

I'm liking Miss Rejector. Thank you for the links.

10/23/2006
Tattieheid said...

Already found her site, sounds like she should be working for you. Maybe she is. :)

Am I missing something? I thought the whole purpose of querying was to put your most polished and professional effort forward. Surely this means you do all the critique and associated revisions before submission. Granted you may have to reappraise your work if you get nothing but rejection but that's a separate issue that should relate to topic, style, saleability not to whether your grammer is crap or or you don't know how to write a letter.

10/23/2006
writtenwyrdd said...

Seems to me that most folks really never get over the desire to have someone fix all their woes for them, never mind the need for hard work, patience, or time to achieve any goal. They want a guru with all the answers, and they want those answers now, dammit. Agents fit nicely into the potential guru niche (lucky them).

Now, I want a guru too, and a sugar daddy and a rich uncle. Too bad I'm not going to get even one of those.

10/23/2006
Ryan Field said...

Aren't comments like assholes? Everbody has one. Why writers don't LEARN (and it must be learned)to toughen their skin amazes me.

Subjective doesn't mean agent x or editor y is correct when they reject you. It just means they prefer boxers over briefs.

10/23/2006
Betsy Dornbusch said...

I've found personal rejections tend to encourage unwanted dialogue. One thing writers loooove to talk about is their writing.

However, editors aren't the people to discuss writing with unless they're paying you, and agents aren't unless you've got a contract for representation in the works.

Talk to your critique group. There's no excuse for not having one, what with all the internet groups: http://crapometer.blogspot.com, to name one). Also check your local library, books stores, continuing ed classrd at your local college, or do a web search on writing organizations in your area. Don't stop searching until you find someone who tells you what they think, and don't ever stop writing.

10/23/2006
Anonymous said...

Yep, it's hysterically funny to trash someone who'd like some feedback from an agent who admits that she doesn't want to give real reasons why she rejects material. Yeah, that sure is helpful. Isn't it great to be so superior to that poor benighted soul? Let's just all show how cool and snarkish we are by laughing at somebody.

10/23/2006
Miss Snark said...

Wait,wait. You WANT to hear "this writing sux" on your query letter?

Let's give you a test: your comment sux.


Feeling better?
Feeling helped?

To quote my role model in slush pile management, Avon Barksdale, "ya feel me?"

10/23/2006
tinkerbell said...

> Yep, it's hysterically funny to trash someone who'd like some feedback from an agent who admits that she doesn't want to give real reasons why she rejects material.


I don't like to see people get trashed or sneered at either, anonymous, but the point here is a valid one. You have to put yourself in the agent's shoes (like when you're at a restaurant, you put yourself in the waiter's shoes, same thing) - if the agent says exactly what they think about every single query letter they won't have time to get their job done properly and they will be encouraging dialogue. So form rejections are a good idea, imho.

I agree with La Reine Snark when she advises writers to obsess about their writing. The writing matters a million times more than the process of getting your foot through the door. As long as you write well enough to be published, are courteous, considerate, and follow the guidelines, you will get published.

It ain't rocket science.

10/25/2006

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