Why books get rejected by literary agents (and what to do about it)
It’s a common saying in the publishing industry that writing the book is the easy bit. The hard work begins when, manuscript complete, you start querying agents and publishers.
There’s definitely a lot of truth in this. Agent querying is ruthless. It’s common to receive no reply — or to get a literary agent rejection without any useful feedback. This can be frustrating and demoralising. It can also leave you confused about what to do next.
In this post, I take a look at the reasons why your book could be getting rejected by literary agents. And what to do after literary agent rejection to improve your chances of getting a positive response next time.
Possible reasons your book is getting rejected by literary agents
There are three key reasons why your book is getting rejected by literary agents:
The quality of your query
The suitability of the agent
The quality of your story
Let’s take a closer look at all these issues.
Your query letter, blurb, synopsis and/or sample pages need work
Querying agents isn’t just about showcasing what a good writer you are and what a good book you’ve written. It’s also about selling yourself and your story in a way that attracts agent interest.
The query — which usually consists of a query letter, a blurb, a synopsis and sample pages — is where you do your selling. And these query elements require a completely different set of skills to the ones you put to use writing your novel.
You could be an incredible writer. But if your blurb isn’t engaging and intriguing, if your query letter drags on and if your synopsis doesn’t succinctly convey your story, agents may hit delete before they’ve even set eyes on your manuscript.
Agents are also likely to overlook any queries that don’t match their (sometimes very precise) specifications.
You're targeting the wrong agents
Another reason you’re getting rejected by literary agents? They may not be the right kind of agents for your kind of story.
Agents tend to specialise in a genre or a selection of genres. They have their own likes and dislikes. It could be that, while your story has real merit, your genre just isn’t one they’re interested in.
Agent requests vary over time, too. For example, they may have signed a number of YA authors recently. So, despite this genre being one of interest, they aren’t currently looking for more YA work.
Your book isn't up to scratch
Onto a thorny topic for aspiring writers.
You’ve poured your creative heart and soul into your manuscript. But there’s a possibility that it simply isn’t ready for querying yet. There may be some fundamental problems that are deterring potential agents from taking your query further.
Agents want to see that key story elements are in place. They want to see a consistent point of view. Believable characters and good dialogue. Pace and tension. Showing, not telling. A satisfying story climax and resolution.
If your story falls short on any of these counts, you’re much more likely to receive a literary agent rejection in response to your query.
What to do after literary agent rejection
A literary agent rejection is, of course, disheartening. If you’ve recently received a rejection, start by acknowledging that you’re in good company.
Some of the most successful writers of all time have faced rejection. It’s an inevitable part of the writer’s journey. You may also like to take heart from what famous writers have said about being rejected by literary agents and publishers.
Then, wallowing done, you need to decide what you’re going to do next. Here’s what to do after literary agent rejection.
Keep going
It can take time to get a literary agent. There may be absolutely nothing wrong with your query, blurb, sample pages, and overall story. Your rejection may come down to the personal preferences of the agent and the current state of the market.
For some writers, it takes years to find an agent and publisher willing to take on their story. So if you’re confident in your book and your query — and you’re choosing agents who align with your genre — it may be a case of keeping your chin up and pushing through the rejections.
Edit the book
When you’ve lived and breathed your story for weeks, months or years, it’s hard to view it objectively. Things that make perfect sense to you can feel jarring or confusing for a reader.
Many writers turn to their friends and family for feedback. This can be useful. But — if you have any niggling doubts about your story — you should also work with an experienced fiction editor.
Unlike friends and family, an editor won’t be afraid to tell you the honest truth. Editors also have experience of the publishing industry and in-depth knowledge of your chosen genre.
This means they’ll be able to offer valuable, constructive feedback on both your book and writing style, giving you clear direction on what you need to improve.
After working with an editor, you can restart the submission process with a new and improved novel and a much stronger offering.
I help writers improve their manuscripts, ready for submission, with my Manuscript Assessment service. This service includes a full read-through of your story and an in-depth editorial report.
Finesse your query letter and blurb
Your query is a professional letter that communicates what your book is about. It should include:
Why you want to work with a particular agent
The title, genre and word count of your book
A short blurb
A little about you, including any impressive writing awards or credits
When putting together your query letter, it’s important to get the basics right. Check for spelling and grammatical errors. If you’re sending your letter by post, make sure you’ve formatted it correctly. Check that you’ve got the agent’s name right.
Agents receive thousands of submissions, so ensure your query letter is easy to read. Get to the point, stick to short sentences and don’t use elaborate language when a simpler alternative will do.
When you write your blurb, it should sound like the blurb you get on the back of a book. It isn’t a summary of your entire plot — save that for your synopsis. The blurb doesn’t give away the ending or go into too much detail.
Instead, the blurb needs to pique the interest of an agent. Reference the key characters and the book’s main point of conflict. You can also describe the unique selling point of your book — how does it differ from other novels in your genre?
It can be very tricky to distil a 300-page book down into a paragraph or two. So it can help to link your story to a well-known work of fiction. For example, tell an agent that you’ve written a ‘sci-fi Pride and Prejudice’ or a ‘modern-day Lord of the Rings’ and you communicate a lot of information in a few short words.
You can also get lots of inspiration by reading successful query letters. And by taking a look at Query Shark, an archive of query letters critiqued and edited by literary agent, Janet Reid.
Work on your synopsis
A synopsis is a factual account of your story, its characters and its plot. Unlike your blurb, this story outline isn’t particularly salesy.
Your synopsis should include:
Your story’s narrative arc
Your protagonists and their motivations
The major elements of your story
The resolution (including spoilers)
Stick to one page of text — or less if that’s what an agent stipulates in their submission specification. And take a look at these synopsis guidelines to make sure your synopsis aligns with agent expectations.
Make your sample more compelling
Agents generally want to see the first few pages of your manuscript before committing to reading the whole thing. So the first chapter of your novel needs to grab an agent’s attention. It needs to get them itching to find out what happens next.
If you feel like your story only gets going a few chapters in, you may need to redevelop those opening pages of your story. These pages need to be strong, polished and intriguing to avoid a literary agent rejection.
Tailor your query to each agent
As I mentioned a little earlier, some literary agents reject a story because it simply doesn’t fit with their interests or specialism. Most agents list the stories they’ll consider on their website. So be sure to take a look before firing off a query.
It also pays to check out agent social media profiles. This information may be more up-to-date than their website. So it’s a great place to find out what your chosen agents are looking for right now.
Once you’re sure that your chosen agent will be interested in your genre and story, tailor your query to make it personal and relevant. Don’t be tempted to cut and paste.
Remember that agents get so many queries that they develop their own ways to whittle down their inbox. If you've failed to follow instructions to the letter, they might automatically delete the query.
So check for agent specifications. They may ask that you structure your query letter or synopsis in a certain way. Perhaps they want you to include a specific subject line or want a particular number of sample pages. Read specifications carefully so your query gets through initial checks on the agent end.
Take a break from the book and write something new
Another thing you can do after a literary agent rejection is shelve your story for the time being. Sometimes it pays dividends to take a break from a project and lose yourself in something new.
Remember, not every book has to be published. And failing to land a publishing deal doesn’t make your book a waste of time.
It might be that this book was a learning experience. The book that taught you essential writing skills. The book that helped you develop your voice. This project could be something that paves the way for your next work, a novel that generates the agent and publisher interest you’ve been hoping for.
Neil Gaiman talks eloquently about finding his voice as a writer and how the mistakes you make bring you closer to a distinctive voice:
“You don’t have to get it right at the beginning. You start out by making mistakes. You start out by getting it wrong. The most important thing you do is just write.”
If you’re not ready to resign your original manuscript to a drawer, keep sending it out while you work on something new. It could be that the market shifts and there’s a renewed appetite for your style of story. Or that a year or so down the line, with more writing experience, you find new ways to improve your original book.
Self-publish
Self-publishing sometimes gets a bad rap. But it's becoming more and more of a viable option these days. There are plenty of writers out there making a big name for themselves in the self-publishing realm. And those who’ve done great work in redressing the balance of power in writers' favour.
In fantasy, Ryan Cahill and M L Wang are a couple of big names. There are also writers like Evan Winter and Travis Baldree whose self-published novels were so successful that they were subsequently offering deals with publishing houses.
(If you’d like to learn more about self-publishing, take a look at Travis Baldree’s detailed blog post on the topic.)
It just goes to show — literary agents don’t always get it right. They aren’t always willing to take a risk on something new and different. And they don’t always read the market accurately.
So if you’ve done all you can to finesse your story and your query and you’re still getting rejected by literary agents, self-publishing is definitely a route worth considering.
In summary
There are a couple of reasons why your query could be getting rejected by literary agents. You might not be a good fit for the agent, your query is underwhelming or your book still needs work.
When deciding what to do after literary agent rejection, there are a couple of options. You can try finessing your query and tailoring it more sensitively to agent preferences and requirements. You can dive into the world of self-publishing. You can give up your manuscript (for now) and work on something new.
You can also get a fiction editor to look at your manuscript and suggest areas for improvement. It could be that a few simple tweaks could make your story much more attractive to literary agents.
For writers who’ve received a literary rejection — or want to avoid one — I recommend two services — my manuscript assessment service and my pre-submission critique and copyedit service.
Choose either and you’ll get comments on point of view, pacing, character, dialogue, structure and plot. And you’ll improve your chances of getting agent attention.
Unsure which service is right for you right now? Then get in touch to chat about your project. I can’t wait to hear from you!
