WHY YOU GOT THAT REJECTION LETTER
Contributor
Written by
Sunny Frazier
August 2012
Contributor
Written by
Sunny Frazier
August 2012

You've worked hard on your query. You followed all the “rules” you read in writing magazines. You've sweated blood to create a great opening, to get the synopsis down to a page. I'm the acquisitions editor who received this carefully constructed letter.

To be honest, before I read your synopsis, I googled your name. Where is your website? I didn't see a blog. You're on Face Book—I'm not impressed. There was no activity indicating that you read and comment with the writing community. I'm not just evaluating your manuscript, I'm evaluating you. Are your ideas for success realistic? Are you dreaming of a NY Times bestseller listing? Do you hear Hollywood knocking on your door?

I feel marketing and platform building starts the minute a writer decided to write a book. Yes, that early. Anyone aspiring to a career in publishing in the 21st century cannot be blind to all the posts and forums talking about branding. So, where is your voice?

When I write and ask you about this void in your social marketing, you ask, “What am I suppose to market? You haven't published my book yet!” You market what you've got—your name. Name recognition is the first step toward building a platform. You make contacts, commenting on the blogs of others so people can see YOUR NAME. You add a bit about yourself so people can get to know the person behind the name. You blog at websites that give you your own page, like Book Town and Book Blogs. You “friend” others on the site, people who are readers, writers like you, industry people like me. You network and build connections.

I can understand when you tell me you don't know anything about marketing—that can be corrected. It's a learning process. But I tune you out when you tell me it's somebody else's job to market your book. You are the author, the artist, not a person who soils their hands with promotion.

Prima donnas need not apply. In this day of tough competition and stretched budgets, nobody gets to sit on the sidelines and wait for royalty checks. We all get out there and hustle. I would rather contract a good book with a strong marketer than a great book from an author who won't lift a finger to promote.

Don't undercut yourself by adding in your query, “I have macular degeneration, can't drive anymore, get around with a walker, have a phobia about flying and I'm computer illiterate. My dream is to have a book published before I die.” Why anyone would give full disclosure so early in the game is beyond me. What can I do except send a rejection?

And finally, please don't try to sway me with a list of university accomplishments, lofty credits and literary aspirations. You read the guidelines on our website, right? We're looking for genre fiction. You know, the stuff average people want to read: a good mystery with a dead body on the second page; a romance where the boy always gets the girl; a Western where the good guys wear white hats and ultimately win the gunfight. Not highbrow, but immensely entertaining. Something we can sell.

So, all I can do is write, “Thank you for your query letter, but I'm sorry we cannot publish your book at this time.”



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Comments
  • Thank you for your advice.  I simply do not have the monetary resources to self-publish and shoulder the entire marketing venture.  I see no alternative but to continue my litearary agent search except for this fantastic exposure to other women delving into a similiar search here online.  Anne

  • Georgeann Swiger

    Sunny, I'm not sure where to start promoting my blog. I'm guessing that mentioning it on Facebook and in the occasional tweet is a good beginning.  By the way my new blog at rippledglass.wordpress.com.  It's out there in a cyber galazy far far away:)

  • Sunny Frazier

    Be sure and build sites to promote your blog! A good blog does no good if you don't let folks know it's out there.

    Our career paths are similar, Georgeann. I was a newspaper reporter and prize-winning short story writer before publishing my first mystery. Good training. 

     

  • Georgeann Swiger

    I like your advice, Sunny.  I recently started tweeting and set up a blog.  I do believe getting your name out there is as important as writing a good book.   

  • Sunny Frazier

    Danyelle, yours is the attitude I look for in a new writer. And yes, I'm still trying to finish my third novel. But, I know this time around I have a huge fan base. That's what all the "wasted time" in marketing created. Chin up!

  • Sunny Frazier

    Grace, I like to think there are many of us in the publishing industry who enjoy bringing authors into publication and fulfilling dreams. I had so many terrific people help me that it's a joy to pay it forward.

  • Sunny Frazier

    Jagoda, I would love to help you in your career! 

  • Jagoda Perich-Anderson

    I'll certainly look for you, Sunny, and meanwhile will enjoy getting to know you on-line and through your writing.

  • Grace Peterson

    That's wonderful Sunny. I bet your insider advice is very much appreciated. I wish there were more people like you out there. Great post and I look forward to your future posts. 

  • Danyelle C. Overbo

    Thank you for this great post.  I know we all really appreciate your candor and expertise.  As for myself, I am comforted to know that the time I spend working on my own website, making comments on other sites and works, and working in sales and marketing at my day job, is not a waste but could someday be an asset.  Now, if I could only finish my novel...  Seriously, thanks for sharing!  

  • Sunny Frazier

    Jagoda, 

    I mention the conferences because I'm a CA mystery writer and my publisher may be attending those conferences. If you haven't got representation and want to talk to us, that would be terrific. 

  • Sunny Frazier

    Actually, Grace, I write extensive explanations to authors, give them advice, second chances. I'm often thanked for my rejections. But, for this article, that's simply not something I felt should be included in the discussion. Maybe it's an idea for a future blog. 

  • Jagoda Perich-Anderson

    Wow, Sunny, I haven't thought about 2014 yet, but chances are good we'll meet at one of these. I'll have a blog up well before then, though. Before year's end, in fact. I just downloaded "Fools Rush In." Look forward to reading it!

  • Grace Peterson

    I think one of the ways writers are frustrated is by your last sentence, Sunny where you say "all I can do is write, 'Thank you...we can't...'" I understand you're busy and don't want to waste a moment longer than needed on rejection letters but perhaps you could have more than one stock rejection at the ready. One that says, "Sorry, your platform is too weak." so at least writers know that it's not their writing that sucks. Many times writers are left in the dark, not knowing why we're being rejected.

  • Laura Irrgang

    Thanks for this informative article, Sunny.  I think more authors need to hear the tough truth.  It can be intimidating to start a blog, a website, a Twitter account, learn to navigate book sites/blogs, etc.  However-it can be done, and it does matter to agents.  I think I'll go work on my platform right this very minute!

  • Sunny Frazier

    Jagoda, I see you're a mystery writer. Will I be meeting you at LCC Monterey or Bcon Long Beach in 2014?

  • Sunny Frazier

    Really, Kelly? Because if that were true, I'd be rejecting a lot more queries. I never demand perfection, certainly not in myself. Good thing you aren't an acquisitions editor. . . . 

  • Jagoda Perich-Anderson

    I really appreciate your straight-forward, no-nonsense advice, Sunny. Besides building the-oh-so-important platform, added benefits of joining the social media community for me include meeting interesting people virtually, gaining insights about not just writing, but life,and laughing at humorous posts. Given the huge amount of time it takes, these extra bennies count for a lot. 

  • Kelly Kittel

    And when you write, "When I write and ask you about this void in your social marketing, you ask, “What am I 'suppose' to market?" I stop reading right there, because your query letter is "supposed" to be perfect. 

  • Sunny Frazier

    Anne, 

    Narrative non-fiction can be a hard sell. Agents are tougher to attract. The option is to spend years going that route or dive into Kindle self-publishing, a totally respectable alternative. You will have to have even greater skills at attracting a readership, but you don't have to split the profits with anyone but Amazon. 

  • Julie Luek

    Sunny, I really appreciate this post.  It's very timely for me.  I just posted an article in my own blog and on She Writes pondering the true purpose of writing a blog whose sole audience seems to be other writers.  Your article helped clarify a broader purpose of being known and branding.  

    You're so right; it's a lot of hustle.  Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and great sites like She Writes--the pieces make a wonderful networking whole.  Slowly but surely it carves a niche.  

    Thanks for the confirmation that it's not all for naught.  

  • You tell it as it is -- for you and those you represent.  However I found no words of wisdom or help for me as I do not write in the every-day wonderful reads you speak of but rather in the area of narative nonfiction.   Surely you must have some words of wisdom which could stretch into a realm you chose not to service.  I am doggedly seeking a literary agent.  I am aware my age will be a 'NO' in the minds of many I contact, yet there is no other person living better qualified and knowledgable in the field of which I write of.  Anne Thurston-Brandly