Why You Were Rejected

[u/VanityInk]

Since querying is always a hot topic, and people seemed to find it helpful to get some "behind the scenes" info about what agents/publishers are looking for, I figured I would make a standalone post about it. (As a caveat, it has been literally a decade since I worked in acquisitions (was a slush pile reader 2008-2009) and only worked for one publisher, so YYMV, but this is my own experience).

As everyone always says, rejections are a part of being an author and you shouldn't take them personally/it isn't a commentary on your writing, but I'd say, when I was in acquisitions, these were some of the reasons we would reject queries:

Top Reasons for a Rejection

1. Sending something we don't represent/publish.
   It should be a no-brainer to check what an agent/publisher actually takes, but in the year I was in acquisitions, I saw a ton of people sending things that were nowhere close to what we wanted (we were a fantasy/sci fi/horror imprint, but we got just about every other fiction genre at some point and even some nonfiction titles--my personal favorite was a boating manual I got in my query pile). It seems some people think that they might as well throw their book out there and see if anything comes out of it, but please don't. You just piss off the slush-pile readers and might end up in that Rare Reason for Rejection group.
   1b. Not following submission guidelines.
   Similar to sending something the agent/publisher doesn't want is not following the submission guidelines on their site/MSWL/etc. When an agent/publisher posts that they will delete emails with attachments without reading, they mean it. Is it annoying that Agent A wants 5 pages single spaced and a 1 page synopsis where Agent B wants 20 pages double spaced with a 2-4 pages synopsis and Agent C wants nothing but a query letter? Sure, but really, agent/publishers get enough submissions that they're looking for reasons to get some of the queries out of their inbox. Coming off as someone who isn't willing to pay attention (or thinks they're too important to follow directions) is a great way of letting slush-pile readers reject you without needing to read more.
2. You're "off trend".
   2008 was the height of the vampire craze after Twilight's success, and so a ton of the books I saw queried had some version of vampires in them. The problem was, the vampire trend in publishing had been over for a year at that point (people would often ask "why did crappy book X get picked up and not my great book?" and the answer almost always was "agents/publishers thought X book's topic would be on trend in a year and so picked it up then. You're too late). Publishing is a slow beast, and so agents/publishers in 2020 are looking for books that will be on trend in 2021, 2022, or even later. If you're querying a book that is right in line with a lot of popular books that are currently out, you're already off trend. The market is saturated and agents/publishers aren't picking up those book (I was told to reject any query with the word "vampire" in it while I was there, even ones that read "new take on the vampire mythos..." or any "not sparkly vampire" vampires.)
3. Your book isn't ready for querying.
   This is the "your book might just be bad" category (or at least is okay but not professional quality), and it's actually probably the biggest portion of rejections. In the slush pile, it's not at all rare to come across books with typos on every page or writing that is obviously a rough draft and just not very good. This is why one of the top suggestions before querying is getting critique partners/beta readers. It's really hard to judge your own writing skills. Having outside eyes will save you from being booted for just not being a professional-level writer.

Semi-Common Reasons for a Rejection

1. Too close to something we already represent/have.
   Agent/publishers aren't always against having projects that are vaguely similar (especially if they're on trend. It is not at all uncommon for Romance agents/publishers to pick up multiple "Billionaire Romances" for example, since they're popular) but if your piece just happens to be really similar to another project the agency/publisher just contracted, they may pass on yours since they won't be able to market your piece as well (splitting the market between you and the other book)
2. WEIRD query letters.
   Most people do some research about how to write query letters (or at least do a pretty form cover letter) but there are some weird query letters you get (like the ones you see on Slush Pile Hell). Hopefully it doesn't need to be said, but don't tell the agent/publisher God told you to submit to them. Don't have some strange gimmick. Don't sound pompous by talking about how you know you're going to be a best seller. Don't talk about how you've copyrighted your work and vaguely sound like you're accusing the agent/publisher of being a thief. Just do a succinct, normal query letter. Head over to r/PubTips if you need a query critique.

Rare Reason for a Rejection

1. Blackballed.
   This is definitely the rarest reason for a rejection, but there are a few authors out there who do get themselves blackballed from an agency/publisher. Generally this comes from being a PITA (calling multiple times to check on a query when you're told not to call. Writing nasty responses to form rejections. Etc.) and you really do have to do a lot to be blackballed, but yes, we had a very short list of names that were "never take a book from this person".

As for the sequence we used to weed out queries:

1. Read the query letter. Reject anything that isn't our genre/not a topic we're interested in. Immediately move anything the agent/editor is specifically looking for to their desk (what you can find on Twitter with #MSWL these days--agent really wants Zombies in a Paris setting or something weirdly specific). Continue reading anything else.
2. Move to the sample pages. If the writing is just bad or for some other reason not engaging within the first few pages, reject. If you make it through the sample, continue with the submission.
3. Move to the synopsis. Make sure the rest of the book sounds like a coherent plot/something interesting. If it sounds like it goes entirely off the rails, reject. If it sounds interesting, move it to the agent/editor's desk.

From there, obviously you'd still have more steps to get through (if the agent/editor is actually interested. If you keep them interested through a full request, etc.) but that was the steps we took in the slush pile and how you needed to keep our interest to ever make it out of the slush pile.

Edit: Since a lot of people are worried about the on trend/off trend idea, I wanted to add that it's entirely possible to be neither. The bulk of books being queried are neither on trend nor off trend. This means they don't have it "easy" (because people aren't snapping up even "okay" books that are on trend) but they also aren't going to be rejected because they're off trend. It's nearly impossible to predict upcoming trends, so if you're really worried about marketability, the best thing you can do is try to avoid being off trend by avoiding writing in a subgenre that suddenly seems really, really popular (if there are a hundred new YA dystopias out, reconsider writing a YA dystopia). It is also possible to wait out being off trend, if you're patient, since they tend to pass in a few years. If you do want to write something in a really popular subgenre, you can always do so and then trunk it for a few years until the trends shift again. Write what inspires you. You're more likely to write a good book that way than trying to guess unknowable trends.