Dear Editor…
Ten agents have requested to read my full YA ms. One has rejected it but said, “I loved the voice. I think it’s fantastic. Obviously you are an incredibly talented writer. However, I actually have a client who writes YA with very similar themes.” Wouldn’t she know that from reading my query?
Sincerely,
Losing Hope
Dear Losing Hope…
Back up a step. 10 requests for the full ms? You’ve obviously got an effective query letter and an intriguing concept. Huge! Already, two reasons to hang onto Hope. A third reason: Even if an agent is being nice while rejecting, “loved” and “fantastic” are strong words that are easily avoided, so I’m willing to bet that your narrative voice is, indeed, well crafted. Those are reasons enough to get that chin of yours back up and keep at this. 10 rejections suggest something could be stronger in the ms; you’d do well to get it professionally critiqued or join a critique group to try to identify areas of weakness. But it may just be that you haven’t found the right “chemistry” yet between agent and manuscript. Agents hope for that inexplicable attraction every day, which could be why the agent in question asked to see your full ms despite hints of similarity with a client’s work. If she’s repping something similar, clearly she likes that type of material and you picked your submission target well. Hey, reason-to-be-hopeful #4! You’re on a roll. Don’t stop now.
Happy writing!
The Editor