When do you know it’s time to move on from pursuing representation for your book? What is the timeline to start a new story when you feel you’re getting nowhere with the book you poured your heart into?
I’ve sent my query (let’s be honest, multiple different versions of the query) to several agents and I’m getting no bites.
I received at least 3 very kind rejections, one of which said it was a brilliant idea, just not one they could represent at the moment.
And then suddenly, as if all literary agents went into hiding for the winter, I’ve received no more responses for the last several months. Even from the agents who clearly listed they respond to everyone. That either means my work wasn’t worth a response because it was that bad, which I refuse to believe, or these agents don’t actually realize their bio still states that.
Either way, I’m pushing forward, searching for the right fit; but in the back of my mind, I realize my first big novel might not be the one that gets me through the door. Maybe I need more mainstream ideas, more politically-correct characters, more color and gender identities. On most of the agents’ pages, they list that they’re searching for underrepresented minorities or people from the lgbtq community.
Where does that leave us? The other ones. The ones who long for more for our lives, have unique stories to tell, but we’re not the right identity to be repped or we don’t have the right diversity or political agenda to match every other story out there.
I know my story has Christian themes and that’s going to be an automatic rejection from many, but it sucks to feel like I need to write a story that isn’t from my heart with characters I copied from someone else’s successful book. It almost feels like you can’t make it anymore in publishing if you’re not checking off the boxes to meet all the criteria of what’s politically correct.
I’m not whining, I promise. I’m just a little annoyed. It feels like there’s no place for certain writers in the industry anymore. But either way, I’ll keep climbing the mountain and I’ll keep forging through the rejections and non-answers and keep writing the stories I want to tell.
And if it means I never get them published, at least you can’t say I didn’t try.
And I have so many really cool ideas in my head that I can’t wait to write, so maybe the next story will be my yes. Maybe it will be my golden ticket.
I’m going to keep editing, writing, brainstorming, and see what I can do to make this novel better. And in the meantime, I’m going to remember that J.K Rowling was rejected several times before Harry Potter was published. That’s helpful lol
Cozy Corner 
Why waste your time chasing the traditional publishing route? Publish as an indie author – at least that way people will get to see your book.
I prefer trying to publish through this route first before pursuing indie publishing. It’s a lot harder to advertise and maintain when you have to do it all yourself.
That’s true, but most publishing houses these days still expect authors to do a lot of the work themselves. I know several authors who started as indies, then signed with a publisher and ended up coming back to the indie side. 😉
Yes, I know that as well. I just really prefer to see what I can do traditionally before spending so much time and money on the indie side. I’m not opposed to it. It’s just not my first goal.