One of my favourite talks at the SCBWI conference was Wendy Loggia’s keynote speech, “I Wanted to Love This: Seven Reasons Why Your Manuscript Gets Declined.” Her talk focused on reasons she rejected manuscripts that were almost accepted but not quite ready.
Wendy is executive editor of Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s books. She edited the Sister Of The Traveling Pants series by Ann Brashares as well as the Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray. In preparation for the talk, Wendy went through her binder of rejection letters and found that pretty much all the rejection reasons boiled down to seven points:
1. Nice writing but no story. The characters are at the same emotional place at the end of the book as they were in the beginning. Wendy found that this was a common problem with authors’ first books. She says that having a good plot is essential. Ask yourself, “Why would a bookstore customer choose and buy this book?”
2. The mss is too similar to other novels that the editor has worked on. Wendy warns authors against submitting books that are very similar to others on the editor’s list; you may be setting yourself up for a negative comparison, especially if the other book is very good. Even worse if the other book didn’t sell well.
3. Your readership isn’t clear. Who will want to read your book? Your book is too “quiet” or doesn’t have enough commercial appeal.
4. The writer seems like a difficult person to work with. Wendy always Googles an author’s name before offering a contract. She says she may be prompted to change her mind about signing up an author if they share too much information in their blog, if they tend to blog a lot about how hard writing is, if they blog about being rejected many times, if they publicly bash a book she’s worked on, or if they bash a colleague in the business who is her friend.
5. The editor can’t connect to your voice. You may be doing too much telling instead of showing. Your writing may be too predictable.
6. You’ve submitted your work too early, before it’s fully polished. Especially in this economic climate, always take the time to present yourself in the best light possible. Make sure your work is ready before you submit it.
7. Your project won’t stand out on a publishing house’s list. Wendy said this is happening more and more. A book may be rejected to avoid in-house competition.
Hope this helps writers out there!
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
I really appreciated this entry — I wasn’t able to attend the SCBWI conference this year, and this was a session I would have loved to have attended. Thank you for sharing! — Jeni Bell
Excellent stuff, Debbie. Thanks!
What a great list to mull over. There are so many variables but this defintely clarifies so much. Thanks for sharing.
http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/2009/08/13/nominate-your-favorite-writing-blog-4th-annual-top-10-blogs-for-writers-contest/
Nominated you! Hope this doesn’t get caught as comment spam. Just wanted to let you know you were the first writing blog that came to mind when I read about this on Twitter.
i second that nomination
thanks for sharing these SCBWI notes…it’s like we were there virtually! This one is especially interesting to me as i begin the submission/rejection cycle again especially #4
Laura and Jan — wow, thanks so much for the nomination. I truly feel honoured.
Thank you so much for sharing this. I am just learning the craft of writing and the fear of rejection is a biggie for me. Hopefully this will help me not to get rejected.
A couple of thoughts:
1) A different editor’s take on the subject of rejections: http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004641.html (scroll down to section 3 in the top-post). Ms. Loggia was being complimentary to her audience by assuming that their manuscripts would all make it to at least point 8; however, given that this was a professional writers’ conference, that may been an accurate assessment. Take heart in reading about the many submissions that don’t reach that standard.
WRT Ms. Loggia’s point 1, “The characters are at the same emotional place at the end of the book as they were in the beginning” — this is a huge issue in lit-fic, but less so in other genres where the plot is expected to be external to the characters. Ideally, you want both an external plot and some internal character growth; neither is a fully-adequate substitute for the other.
This can be applied to all types of creative pursuits. I’ve certainly seen it in the musical creations of my friends and myself.
Point number 2…. Perhaps that writer should consider his/her hand at writing romance novels.
Point number 6…. Speed doesn’t always work against you. It took Handel less than three weeks to write Messiah
This list is disgustingly commercial. It should be retitled “7 reasons why your commercially-tested manuscript isn’t high concept enough to be sold to the masses and marketed with movie tie-ins, picture books, and other assorted marketing materials”.
More imagined reasons can be added to the list!
Hmmmm…. #4 seems a bit off. One must expect a Googling from a prospective agent or editor.
I understand if the writer seems hard to work with, but I’m not sure about “if they share too much information in their blog, if they tend to blog a lot about how hard writing is, if they blog about being rejected many times, if they publicly bash a book she’s worked on, or if they bash a colleague in the business who is her friend.” Hang on – writers are supposed to write, and the writing is supposed to be compelling. If writing on a blog, yes, the writer may share, or lament rejections, or entail difficulties. If they are to not do such things, why have a blog at all? One may not be able to easily tell between the drama queens and those who entail the tribulations of writers.
And I can understand bashing not being cool, but we all have different tastes in literature. Do I have to like everything on an Agent’s list before I submit? Because that’s not going to happen, nor will they even delineate the contents of their list for my perusal. We will disagree on something, somewhere. And no, I won’t lie to their faces and tell them I love everything they ever touched.
Dunno. Just seems too simplistic, and easy to foil at that. What’s this lady’s name again, so I can not query her? Seems a bit touchy, this one.
No. 7 is one I’ve never really understood. Doesn’t it kind of assume that readers are only reading 1 book a year? Most readers I know read dozens, even hundreds, of books in a year, and many of these are similar. And if there genuinely is going to be competition between two books, as a publisher, aren’t you more likely to win if both the books are published by you?
YRG wrote: “This list is disgustingly commercial.”
Right…
‘Your writing may be too predictable.’ What a commercial sellout to have non-predictable writing!
‘Make sure your work is ready before you submit it.’ Disgraceful! Disgusting! Why should you have to submit work that is ready?
/End of sarcasm.
Hate to break it to you YRG, but publishing is, in fact, a commercial business. And while this was always the reality, perhaps it’s even more important to them now. (Go check out the Galley Cat blog for all the “publisher money woe” posts. Reader’s Digest just filed Chapter 11, just about every major publisher has been downsizing and restructuring to make it through the tough economy, etc. etc.)
So yeah, the ultimate market potential of a book is pretty important to publishers, and editors’ and agents’ decisions reflect that reality.
And YRG immediately steps up to the plate to demostrate a clear example of #4.
I have a personal blog on which I’m vocal about various things that p*ss me off. Never (ever!) about writing, books, agents, publishing, etc…only personal encounters with stupid people (such as at the mall), my political opinions, and so on. If I discuss my writing (grown up fiction, no YA or children’s), I may blog about a difficult passage I’m working on and my thought process, ways to get through writer’s block, things that inspire me. Is having a blog where I’m (very) vocal about my political and other opinions that have zero to do with writing likely to get my mss rejected? Something to ponder.
This is very useful information. Thanks for sharing
No negative blogs, I’ll have to remember that one.
Jenna wrote: If writing on a blog, yes, the writer may share, or lament rejections, or entail difficulties.
I think a little of that goes a long way. Professional writers know that rejections are part of the business and just send that ms or query to the next editor. Would you hire a salesman who moaned about every missed sale? A beginner celebrating a personal rejection after a long string of form letters is one thing, somebody whining about how nobody is giving them a break is another.
Other things being equal, would you rather work with a professional or an amateur? (Of course “other things being equal” does cover an awful lot of territory.)
That knowing what’s permissible to put on the blog thing is a challenge for published novelists, too. Readers want to feel as though they have honest access to their favourite writer–and when an editor or publisher (or critic or fellow writer, or, hey, oneself) does something egregious it can be difficult to hold one’s tongue. But we have to. It’s art–but it’s also business.
Love the post. Thanks for sharing all the info.
I’d just blogged about people slamming the work of specific authors publicly, thereby trashing that authors agent and editor and publishing house. I second Nicola. It’s art – but it’s also a business. Be a professional.
Well i do have a children’s blog where i have also posted that I rec’d some rejections on romance manuscripts I had submitted, that it was not either what they consider not dark enough, or needs more work. Which I thought by posting it would help others as well as me. For I re-read those posts and go back over my manuscripts again and again.
I have found a difference from the first three manuscripts I have written and now.
I have a cousin who was an English major. I think I will have her go over some more manuscripts…for notw its free….and for this unemployed broke female, free review, comments are excellent. when I get that first royalty check, or second, I’ll buy her a gift as a thank you..
thanks for posting this.
sincerely,
Have a nice day.
Rhyanna
Rhyanna, my advice to you, as well as any up and coming author, is to join a good critique group. At http://www.writing.com you can set up a free account and I would seriously recommend joining The Novel Workshop on this site. http://www.writing.com/main/forums/item_id/559910
It’s all good! It’s all free
Hi Kurt
THanks for the recommendations. I have signed up for the writing groups you suggested.
have a great day.
Rhyanna
That’s fantastic news, Rhyanna! I know from experience that they will be just what you need to progress to getting published. I’m a member of the YA Novel Workshop myself. Have been for years. My username is emailman.
Which Workshop did you join, just for interest?
Well I think I signed up for the Novel workshop. I’m also trying to sign up for the Romance Novel Workshop as well as the Young Adult Workshop, since I have both kinds of completed manuscripts and stories that are in progress.
I even tried to join that November Novel Writing Month. I figure why not, since I try to enter each month the writing contest on childrencomefirst dot com website. The prize is publication on their website and perhaps later in an e-book anthology. I thought the exposure and comments from editor could help me improve.
That’s cool, you’ll be in with me then in YA. Lucky you…lol…
You’ve done the right thing. You’ll be SO glad you did join, and the Novel Writing Month was a good move too!
I’m a hungry writer. So every tidbit of information I get my hands on, I gobble up. I will do so, and probably go back for seconds! Thanks for the tips, keep em rolling.
No problemo, Veronica. Hunger is good
Joining a ctitique group is a must for any writer.
Anyone would think this was my blog…lol…
Great article and a great list. I especially like the first one. As a writer, I can understand why I may leave a character at the same emotional place, especially in short stories, since not everything changes that fast in real life, not everything gets resolved. But the difference, as a READER, is that the reader doesn’t care. The reader doesn’t care if it imitates real life, they want an engaging story and something that moves them, inspires them, makes them think. And if the protagonist is in the same place at the end that they were at the beginning, it can be a tough sell. It can be done, but I think I just had an “A-HA” moment. Thanks.
Peace,
Richard
Neo-noir fiction
I’m so used to blogs that are self-serving journals about the daily lives of hopeful authors. When I stumble across an amusing, relevant, and helpful blog, I just don’t know what to say. I guess “THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!” might work.