Welcome back to Jake the Author! It's been a few weeks (more like months) since my last post, but I wanted to make sure I had a worthy topic to discuss before I spent some time writing/making you read my thoughts about another aspect of writing.
Have you ever walked aimlessly through a bookstore and noticed how many of them seem to tell the exact same story, with characters and plot points that are carbon-copied from other properties? It can be a bit frustrating for an aspiring author to see so many hackneyed, unimaginative works being picked up for publication while the masterpiece you've carefully crafted and poured your heart and soul into for years is being wrongfully overlooked. Why can't you seem to get over the hump?
I've thought about this a lot, particularly since the experience I just described happens to me every time I step into a Barnes & Noble or walk through the book section of a supermarket. The truth is that there are several reasons for this. Some of them are far more comforting than others, but I feel it's important to understand the practical explanations for "failure" in the publishing world.
First, you might not have composed a very compelling query letter. This is the first opportunity (and possibly the only opportunity) you will have to impress an agent or publisher, so not devoting the proper time and attention to its construction will surely result in the inevitable rejection. There are many great outlets for how to structure your query (Writers Digest, AgentQuery.com, etc.), so I won't go into detail as to what needs to included/excluded from your cover letter. Suffice it to say that you MUST do your research and repeatedly revise the content of your letter before presenting it to a potential agent/publisher. Stack the odds in your favor by doing your due diligence before you make a rookie mistake.
Second, you have to consider what the market trends currently are. The reason you see so many generic YA dystopia novels right now (Divergent, Matched, etc.) is because The Hunger Games books and films are such a massive success. Whether it's fair or not, a lot of manuscripts with a similar plot and setting were/are being picked up even when they might not be the most well-written or original works available. Publishing is a business, and a pretty ruthless one at that. With the increasing prevalence of eBooks and self-published novels on Amazon, it's becoming harder and harder to make a substantial profit through traditional publishing routes. For that reason, agents are far less likely to take a chance on something unusual and creative that may not sell as easily to publishers as something that's more in-demand.
I'm not saying you should drop what you're writing and cater entirely to what's trendy, because by the time you're finished with your novel it won't be trendy anymore. Just keep in mind that not every agent or publisher is going to be brave enough to take on something out of the norm, regardless of how good it is. Just keep submitting (pretend that Dori from Finding Nemo is singing that to you) and sooner or later, someone will.
A third reason might be that whomever you're submitting to simply doesn't need the book you're querying at the moment. He or she may have just signed someone else in the same genre, and could be unable to justify another writer so similar to what she just picked up. It's hard enough to find a home for one author, let alone two that are competing for the same market. Just like when following trends, agents can't afford to take chances on something good when they already have something comparable. They may also have a limited number of clients they can take on at one time and therefore must be far more selective than others with more flexibility.
There are other reasons why a publisher or agent might pass on your material, but the hardest one for a writer to stomach is when the agent just doesn't like it. Literature, like all other art forms, is a subjective medium. Some people absolutely love The Giver, for example, while other people think it's boring and uneventful. Neither one of those opinions is wrong, but if the person you're submitting to has a different taste, they might not connect with your material the way you were expecting. Hopefully it's just a matter of personal preference and not an indictment on the quality of your prose, but it can be hard not to take these kinds of rejections personally regardless. Though most responses you receive will probably be form letters, some agents are willing to level with you when they send a rejection, often saying things like, "While I found the premise intriguing, I just didn't connect with the story the way I hoped." They almost always finish with an encouraging statement to continue querying to other agents, but that doesn't always mend your bruised ego.
Regardless of the reason for the rejection, I urge you not to give up on your project just because somebody (who's most likely looking for something very specific) doesn't want to risk their career to promote and sell your writing. As long as you genuinely feel there's something special about what you've created, then don't let anything get in your way. There's always an audience for a good story and relatable characters, even if every agent and publisher in the world can't see it. If that's the case and you've done everything you can to make it better (received critiques from trusted sources, made revisions to your manuscript, researched story structure and plotting, etc.), publish it yourself. There are more resources and opportunities now for a self-published author than ever before. Take advantage of it and do all you can to make it a success.
Above all, don't get discouraged in the submitting process. It can seem like a laborious and even excruciating endeavor at times, but stay optimistic and open to criticism when you get it. Be objective about your work and strive to make it as good as possible. Someone somewhere will read your book and they'll love and appreciate every second of work you've lovingly put into it.
I'd like to end with an invitation to whoever's reading: if you have a query letter and you want some honest (and free) feedback, please email it to jaketheauthorblog@gmail.com and I will be happy to help. As a fellow aspiring author, I know how hard it can be to find readers. Let me know what you thought of this post in the comments section below and let me know how your writer's journey is going! There are lots of demands on my time at the moment, but I'll try to be a little more consistent with my posting in the future. Thanks again for reading and don't forget to write!
