Are you getting ready to query agents? Want to know some of the reasons agents give out rejection slips? Every agent has pet peeves, but there are definite reasons why most of them will reject a query letter.

Let’s take a look at seventeen reasons agents reject queries.

-Your book isn’t written. A query letter the way to ask an agent’s advice on an idea you have. Sorry, but you have to do the work and write the book, then see if the idea was great or not. Besides, sometimes a great idea won’t be properly executed, so the book will flop. Or the idea isn’t very good, but the way the story is written will win over any agent. You just never know until the story is on paper… or monitor. Non-fiction is a little different. You need to have a complete proposal written but not the book.

-Lack of confidence. If you start your query out by saying, “You’re probably going to hate this”, why should an agent waste her time reading it? And why did you waste her time by sending the query if it’s not ready?

-Overconfidence. This can be anything from claiming you’re the next Stephen King to saying, “My query doesn’t do the story justice. You really need to read the novel. It’s to die for.” Or you might say, “Query letters are beneath me. I don’t have time to write one up. I’m too busy working on my next book. I know you’ll understand and appreciate my dedication to this new creation. I guarantee you’ll love my novel. I’ve attached the first three chapters so we can skip this unnecessary step.” Confidence is one thing, but overconfidence can scare agents away because they might feel you’ll be difficult to work with.

-An attempt at being funny. Addressing the query to the agent’s dog, cat, child, or anything other than the agent herself isn’t funny or cute. It’s unprofessional. Don’t do it.

-Not the sender. The query is sent through a query service or by your friend, husband, wife, neighbor, dentist, or anyone other than you. This is the beginning of a relationship between you and the agent. Why wouldn’t you approach her yourself?

-Amateurish appearance. This is when you say something like, “This is my first book ever. I took twelve years to write this book and it’s in its first draft. I’ll need help editing this thing because I’m not that good with grammar.” There are a few problems with this example. You don’t need or want to tell the agent that this is the first book you’ve written because the odds are very good you’ll never sell your first novel. If you do, it’ll be after major revisions. Don’t make the agent nervous that she’ll be wasting her time by telling her this. Don’t mention how long it took you to write the book, especially if it took over a year. Your writing speed should increase as you learn the craft and become more comfortable with novel writing. In this market, publishers often require their authors to produce 2-3 novels a year. Some will permit one novel a year if you add short stories to anthologies or write a novella or two. They want you to keep your name in the public eye and one novel a year isn’t cutting it anymore. There are exceptions, so don’t let this frighten you, but don’t tell an agent it took you years to write this novel or she’ll be afraid you can’t produce enough material to satisfy a publisher.

-Poor attitude. This is similar to overconfidence, but it’s on a whole new level. This is when a writer says he doesn’t believe he needs an agent or he thinks agents rip people off. This can be a romance writer who trashes romance novels because most of them “suck”. Or an erotica author who says most novels in her genre are nothing more than smut. Agents don’t want to work with negative people, so if this sounds like you, don’t waste anyone’s time. You can expect a rejection. Many of them, actually.

-Jealousy or entitlement. This is when a writer complains that every member in her critique group has an agent or is published but her. Or she states in her query letter that she expects to receive an advance as big as a New York best seller and if the agent can’t get that for her, she’ll go somewhere else.

-Too friendly. This is when a writer acts as though she’s the agent’s friend. She might say something like, “Hey, Rachel. How’s it going? Just thought I’d send you a little something about my book.” Maybe they’ve met before, maybe not. Regardless, this is still a business proposition and should be treated as such.

– Not following guidelines. Most agents want you to paste the query into the email instead of sending it as an attachment. They’re trying to save time by not having to open every attachment and preventing a virus from entering their system. Please respect this. Also, if an agent says she doesn’t want sample pages, just the query, don’t send her anything more. However, if she doesn’t specifically state “no sample pages” or anything along those lines, it’s usually okay to send the first 3-5 pages. Make sure to end on a hook though. If the agent doesn’t want to read the pages, she won’t, but they’ll be there for those who want to read more after the query. If you don’t think your first few pages showcase your story, don’t send them. In that case, it’ll be better to wait for a request for more pages. Although, you really should hook your reader from the very beginning. Just saying…

– Multiple recipients. This is when you have the names of all the agents you’re contacting in the “to” section of your email. Agents know you’re sending queries to other agents, but they don’t like to be reminded of this. Keep it professional and take the time to send out individual emails. If you can show why you specifically chose this agent, even better. Another possible problem with multiple recipients may occur if you send the same email to more than one agent in the agency. Some agencies are okay with this and others aren’t. However, if you name all three agents in the address section, you risk not having your query read at all. Why? Julie might assume Kate is going to read the query, so Julie won’t bother. Kate might think Lisa will read it, and Lisa thinks Julie will take it. In the end, none of them have read the query, and you’re stuck waiting for a rejection that will never come.

– Poor English language skills. Don’t worry. I’m not talking about typos or a few grammar issues. Most agents will overlook a few errors. The rejection would come because of something that’s so poorly written, it’s hard to read. If it takes too much effort to read the query, imagine how much time and energy it would require to read the full manuscript.

– Lack of focus. If the agent can’t tell what your story is about, she won’t want to read it. Be specific and focus on your protagonist’s GMCs (goals, motivations, conflicts). But don’t give away the ending. Instead, end with a hook. Make them ask for more.

– Seen it before. If you can’t show the agent, through your query letter, how your story is different from others like it, she’ll pass.

– No conflict. You need to show what’s keeping the main character from achieving his goal or it’ll seem like he just walks around and exists until the story is over. Not exactly interesting.

– Too short or too long. Agents expect a query letter to be one page single-spaced, including addresses, salutation, hook, blurb, bio, and closing. ONE PAGE. Too short and you haven’t done yourself or your story justice. Too long and you’ll look unprofessional.

– Too much focus on the bio and not enough focus on the book. While you might find it interesting that you’ve won ten contests, even if they aren’t commonly known contests, or that you’ve juggled all kinds of jobs in your life, which lead up to your book, that’s not going to sell your novel. The only thing that will sell your novel is the novel. Make sure you use as much space as you can in that one page to showcase your characters and their story. Add voice to your query so the agent can get a feel for how you write.

Bottom line? Know the craft or technique for writing queries. Understand what each agent expects by reading her guidelines and follow them. Write the best query you can so you can hook the agent of your dreams.

 

by Lynnette Labelle