An update on my agent hunt

I sent out 8 agent query letters on January 9th. I received on rejection and submitted to another agent, who in turn, rejected me as well. Both of these rejections were based just on the query letter. So I'm remaining positive for the other 7 query letters as they all include chapter samples. I can console myself in that the two rejections had nothing to do with my actual writing.

I'm resisting the temptation to spend any time tweaking the query letter. I compare my novel, Spirit Quest, to Jim Butcher's Dresden Files and Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles. They're both urban fantasy series that are very similar, although I feel that my story and hopefully series will be a bit more rural fantasy.

At first I had compared my story to F. Paul Wilson's Repairman Jack as my protagonist would be going around and helping people with his spirit magic. Although we both wrote our stories in the 3rd person point-of-view, Spirit Quest, is also a kind of coming of age novel. That 3rd person point-of-view was important, especially with my strong supporting cast. Tara could easily be the story's co-protagonist, but I'm saving that for the sequel.

Everyone Deals With Rejection...

Rejection Letter for U2's tape in 1979. The band would sign in 1980 with Island Records and the rest is history...

Rejection-ville: Population Me

Received another rejection for a short story I submitted to the Urban Occult anthology by Anachron Press. I'm used to rejections, I have a thick skin, but what I do find discourteous is that lack of a reason why the story was rejected. As I've stated before, it's easy to slap on a simple "Due to time constraints, we regret we're unable to give specifics on our reasons for the rejection".

But I feel that's a cop out, especially for themed anthologies that necessitate a unique story rather than recycling a story in your portfolio. And don't get me wrong, I'm not expecting a three-page write-up or a line by line copy edit. But, I do feel that a simple sentence stating what the basic justification for the rejection would be the professional thing to do. Something simple like "Your opening just didn't grab me", "I lost interest by page two", or "The ending was too predictable". I'm sure the slush pile reader has to explain why a story has been rejected, even if it's something as simple as not following guidelines.

That's enough of a clue for the writer to revisit their piece. Writers need feedback to improve and if the writer takes the time to submit a story and a slush pile reader reads it, there should be some feedback generated.

Thoughts?

Duotrope

If you don't know what Duotrope is, stop right now and head over there (http://duotrope.com/index.aspx) and register. It's a great webpage that advertises writing markets. Sign up for their weekly email as well, I find it a great source of inspiration, even if I just read through the broad variety of markets and themes. Duotrope also has a handy feature that track publisher's response time which can be quite handy when you're sending out your stories.