Rejecto-Acceptometer

(Approx 4 minute read)

Who else nerds out as bad as I do with querying? I developed a system using Excel to track agents I’ve queried and their responses over the past year to see my progress (by the way, getting rejections is progress and before you argue your point about how that cannot possibly make sense, let me explain: you cannot get feedback of any kind—positive, neutral, negative, etc.—unless you are trying to put yourself out there. So, yes, in theory, even a rejection is progress because it means you completed a book-length work, crafted a query letter, researched agents, and submitted).

I figured it would be helpful to know if my daunting quest to find an agent was producing anything good. At first, I tried comparing my stats to other writers, but now, I’m saving the data to compare to my own works as I continue querying this book and others down the line. Comparing anything to other writers won’t give me a clear picture on whether my data is trending in the right direction, for several reasons: our markets and target agents are different, trends in publishing vary from year to year (and agent preferences), and there’s no way to tell if we’re tracking our data exactly the same way.

However, if it helps another writer out there, my pie chart and stats are below. Once I do have an agent and I’m on the road to publishing, I’ll do my best to update my data on this blog. I wanted to share this information because, after much digging and searching, I found it helpful to know that I wasn’t alone in the high percentage of rejections. Of course, I knew that the likelihood of a quick turnaround for a contract was unlikely, but to see it for myself was encouraging.

My 2023 Querying Data (AKA: the Rejecto-Acceptometer)

Total Queries sent: 44

16% Response rate requesting FULL or Partial MS (I updated the pie chart at the end of the year to reflect those who rejected after reviewing the materials—all but one agent requested the FULL, the other agent requested 50 pages)

Blue sky: The light blue is for full requests.

The Bright Unknown: The yellow are outstanding queries.

Nope: The red are rejections, either flat-out “no’s” or those that never responded after the timeframe listed on their website (i.e., I never received a response from several agents, but it’s an “assumed rejection”).

Maybe Next Time: The purple is the kinder, personalized rejections that weren’t form letters and stated I could query them with future projects. (These are my favorite rejections, and I scored 28%!)

A Hopeful Tomorrow: The gray “no response” is for agents that didn’t respond, but their website doesn’t show a timeframe in which the manuscript is considered “rejected.”

One of the chief insights I gathered from this data sourcing was the amount of interest my book generated from preferred literary agents. Though several ultimately decided they weren’t the right agent for the book, I gained valuable feedback. The querying process is a lot like job searching. The better the resume, the more likely you are to get a job interview. The more job interviews, the more likely you are to get job offers. Though I’ve yet to secure a contract, I know from the data that I’m trending in the right direction, and this is how tracking your data can help you too! If you’re not getting any hits after 25 or so queries, consider a new strategy. You could rewrite your query letter (have it professionally edited and/or seek feedback from other writers), ensure the agents you query are specifically looking for projects like yours, and consider getting your synopsis, first three chapters, and any other common submission material reviewed (again) by friends, writerly colleagues, editors, etc. Then rebuild your agent list and try again with a new batch.

There are so many excellent writers out there—no doubt including you, dear reader—and yet we all have to sludge through numerous rejections to get to the right agent. But I truly believe good things come to those who pursue like they mean it! Querying doesn’t have to be a waiting game. Use those long periods of silence to work on the next book. Outline something new, edit an old manuscript, enter a contest… And let me know in the comments when you get that contract!