No one likes rejection, but as a writer, you’re bound to get some rejection letters. Don’t be alarmed if you get a whole lot of them. It’s a rite of passage in the publishing industry these days.

Use Rejection to Your Advantage

How many rejection letters should you expect to get? Let’s say that the odds of landing an agent in 10 submissions are not in your favor. Consider sending as many as 100 query letters to agents before calling it a day and moving on to another project. While chasing after 100 “no” sounds a bit masochistic, remember that the goal is to find a yes in a sea of no.

The trick is to turn every rejection into an advantage. That’s right. Even something as demoralizing as rejection can be put to good use. All you need to do is find the lesson in it. When you look closer, those rejection letters tell you more than you realize.

The Rejection Letter That Never Comes

You’ve got a leg up if you’ve gotten a rejection letter. Seriously. Some people send out query letters and get zip-a-dee-doo-da in reply.

Was the query letter so terrible the agent couldn’t read past the first paragraph? Did they toss it in the trash or even open it? Did they read it at all? Was it lost in the mail? A writer’s knee-jerk response may be to assume the latter to soothe their ego. Don’t make that mistake. Look for the lesson.

Lesson:
If multiple agents do not reply to your work, it may be lost in translation. If you do not get any responses, there is something turning them off. You need to take action. Start by rewriting your query letter.

The Rejection Form Letter

A rejection letter, believe it or not, is actually a step in the right direction. It’s better than getting nothing at all. The type of rejection letter you receive, however, says something about the quality of your work.

Form rejections are not exactly reassuring. They mean someone did, in fact, open the envelope and read your letter, i.e., you can put the whole lost-in-the-mail excuse to bed. Unfortunately, the content was not enough to win over the agent. Worse, by sending a form letter, they were not moved enough to either encourage or discourage you.

Lesson: 
If most of your queries get hit with a form letter, take a step back. It may take more than rewriting your query letter to get an agent’s attention. The content of your submission could be to blame. Find a beta reader or consult with a content editor. Make sure your hook is enough to actually grab someone.

The Personalized Rejection Letter

If you get a personalized rejection letter, you’re going places, kid! By that, of course, I mean that the letter has more than your name typed on it. A handwritten letter is an extra bonus.

An agent has taken the time to comment on your work. That kind of personalized feedback is a win in itself. Hopefully, the feedback is not “this is the worst thing I’ve ever read” but a more constructive “although your writing style intrigues me, the story comes off as a bit too familiar”. No matter how you look at it, someone in the publishing industry is taking you seriously. Their feedback could point you down the right path.

Lesson:
Do any necessary revisions and resubmit your work. You are getting closer.

The Request for a Manuscript

Ah, the request for a manuscript! This is the letter all writers dream about. Your query letter did everything it was supposed to do. Now it’s time for your actual manuscript to stand on its own two feet. Let the agent read it in all its glory.

There is no magic number, of course, but some people say your work is on track if 15% to 20% of your queries return with a request for a partial or full manuscript request. A request for a manuscript deserves congratulations. Keep pushing and keep submitting.

Getting Published

Of course, there is no guarantee agents are going to represent you after they read your manuscript. If they do represent you, it does not mean they will be able to sell your book to a publisher. You are still further along than most though. Grab the validation by the horns and ride it as far as it will take you.

Writing is a journey. It won’t take long before you get where you are looking to go.

I was lucky enough to have an offer of representation without having to show a single word to my agent. Granted, I wrote a nonfiction title and introduced myself to her as an expert on the subject. Still, that offer meant everything to me. It was both surreal and poignant. I wish the same success for you in all your endeavors.