a word on rejections — RANT WARNING

On one of my email loops, there is a discussion raging about whether or not an agent should reject something that isn’t her cup of tea. One bestselling author who was formerly an editor said she found the practice unprofessional.

What I find unprofessional is someone willing to be an advocate merely for the money. My own agent, for instance, has said that she won’t take on a client simply because one comes up with a deal in hand. She will definitely give the project her full and immediate attention, but she needs to believe in it. There are a ton of agents out there, and others might love it. Isn’t that only fair to the author, the agent, and any potential agent who might truly love the work? Aren’t we always arguing for passion,a nd not the bottom ine? Not to get all Jerry Maguire about it, but seriously!

There is so much more to agenting than simply making sure the royalty rate is fair and cashing the checks. An agent should truly be an author advocate, should be willing to go to the mat with you if the publisher wants to take the book in a bad direction. And how can you fight if you don’t believe int eh cause. Yes, sure, the agent may miss out on some publishing phenom because it’s not his or her cup of tea, but isn’t everyone better off if they don’t just advocate you because they think you are going to sell, but because they think you are going to sell because the work is so damn great?

Granted, it’s impossible to expect your agent to absolutely adore every work you have them sell. Some they like better than others. Some they like an aspect of it that others don’t readily see. Sometimes they like you and your past work and maybe this isn’t their favorite of your projects but they fight for you and your history and how every book you sell makes that backlist they love so much more valuable.

But for an agent to take you on that very first time, especially when they know they’ve got an uphill battle before them to sell the work, to submit for you and fight for you and try to convince a skeptical market that THIS is the voice they’ve been looking for? Yeah, don’t you want someone who loves it?

Otherwise, I can’t imagine how those sales calls would go.

Editor: Why should I read this story?
Agent: Beats me. I think there’s probably a market for it though. To be honest, I wasn’t a big fan myself. Not really my thing. But other people might get totally into it. I guess.
Editor: Yeah, I wasn’t into it either, but it will probably sell. Some people might like this kind of thing. I’m going to go trudge to the sales conference now and put aside other projects that I’m really excited about for this one which doesn’t thrill me so much but could be decent if it’s read by someone who likes that kind of thing. Do you have anything else on your list?
Agent: Oh lordie, yes. I have this project that I’m so so so thrilled about, it’s a gorgeous story, heartwarming and heartbreaking. I couldn’t put it down, I really think it’s going to be huge. It was so funny, and sad, and true. But let’s talk about this other one that neither of us are crazy about but probably has a halfway decent market somewhere.

Nielsen Hayden calls that the “someone might buy this, but why should it be us?” level of rejection. It’s a good level, but what it means is, find soemone else who *loves* it.

And of course, we’ve skipped over the part where we don’t know if the project was simply not the agent’s cup of tea or if, even aside from her personal take, she objectively didn’t think it was all that great. The original poster seemed to take the most umbrage at the fact that the agent cited her personal reasons for not being passionate about the project.

Well, that’s one argument for form rejections. 😉 If they don’t explain themselves, you can’t find fault with the reasoning. I’ve had plenty of rejections. Some said the writing wasn’t strong enough. Others said the story idea wasn’t marketable. A lot were simply form letters. Some said they didn’t have the passion to pursue this project in its uphill climb towards publication. And to all of those, you say THANK YOU. Thank you for being honest, and for leaving me free to find an agent who truly truly truly wants this work to become a book and be available for other readers to enjoy. Yes, in all likelihood, they might have felt differently about the next book I sent them, and yes, there are some agents who think, “no, this isn’t the breakout, but I’m going to snatch this author up now, because whatever she writes next is going to be IT,” but that’s the same thing. Either way, it’s passion. And passion is always personal. It can be professional as well, but it’s also personal.

I understand venting your frustration. I do it; in fact, I’m doing it now. And its obvious that the writer was VERY annoyed by the agent’s response. She found it biased. And guess what? It was. That’s the point. But it was not unprofessional. It was VERY professional. It was the agent’s professional opinion that her lack of passion for the project would not allow her to do it justice on the marketplace. Good agent! It was the agent’s professional opinion that another agent would do better by the writer. Great agent! She wasn’t making a value judgment on the story, she wasn’t saying it was crap, or a bad idea. She was saying it wasn’t her cup of tea, and if she had her choice (which she does, being a literary agent and not a court-appointed lawyer) she wouldn’t take ont eh project. It’s the mark of a consummate professional.

Less professional is venting your frustration on the agent’s other clients by ridiculing their pick of agents and the storyline that was obviously a better fit with that agent.

I’m just sayin’.

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