The One Who Got Away
Even Us Agents Get Rejected
Friends!
Guess what!? Over the weekend ye olde Agents & Books crossed 20,000 total subscribers! Thank you to each and every one of you who reads, shares, comments, and recommends this newsletter to your friends and colleagues. It has honestly made my dreams come true, and I look forward to writing it every week. 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹
Today, we’re talking about something less celebratory that I’m still celebrating. As some of you know, I reopened to queries on October 2nd and the response has been overwhelming—in a good way! I have so many fun things to read and using Query Manager has made things much easier for me. I will not tell you how many queries I’ve received, read, or rejected (maybe you can see that on there already? I am still fuzzy on what metrics are where on QM) but I do want to tell you about one particular query that I read, requested, read the full, had a chat with the (wonderful!) author, and offered representation. You’ll never guess what happened next.
She did not choose me. At least one other agent offered her representation (which I knew about) and she chose someone else. Let me tell you that I have a smile on my face as I am thinking about this. I really do! I am not bitter I didn’t win what we call the Beauty Contest. I even asked her who she choose, just so I knew who to bug for a galley so I can read it again, and it was an agent I wasn’t very familiar with. This, too, I found interesting and delightful! Good for this other agent! She’s getting something so great to sell!
You might be thinking, Kate, if you were so happy not to get this client why did you offer rep in the first place? I can see why you’d think that. I’m not thrilled I don’t get to work on this book, of course. I would have rather the author chose me, obvs. But every step of this process was enjoyable to me, even considering the outcome, and maybe I’m just glad to be back in the swing of things. I probably wouldn’t love it if happened over and over again but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
The book that got away was a hot, sexy, contemporary romance. It was so fun! It was so hot! It was hilarious! I ate it up. It made me want to read more romance. I bought two more at the Ripped Bodice in LA last week. Heck yeah, bring on the romance! I read it within the time period the author requested, after she notified me someone had already offered rep, and tbh it was a light lift because it was so fun to read. I found myself going back to it on my “off” time, and that’s when I know I’m really interested in a project. When I finished, I set a call with the author and we had a lovely chat. She asked smart questions and we had a good rapport. Did I think I was going to land the client after that call? Sure! But I usually think that so…..
When she emailed a few days later and said she was picking someone else, I was definitely bummed. She said some lovely, and authentic, things about our chat and connection and I found I really had no hard feelings toward her. She’s got a great book and I’m sure she’ll go far. She said she chose the other agent because she had more sales in romance and she’s right! I don’t have as many as this other agent has and that is a fine metric to use to make a hard decision. (Was it the right one? Who knows! But I’m sure she’ll be fine.) Do I think I could sell it just as well as that other agent? Yes. But the author gets to choose and that’s all that matters! I don’t begrudge her decision at all.
Of course, no one likes being passed over. Maybe it’s my two decades of publishing experience that has given me this perspective, but I think it applies to authors, too. You can’t cry over lost clients (or agents) or opportunities. (I mean, you can but don’t linger.) If you didn’t get it, it wasn’t meant for you. Another one will come along sooner or later. That doesn’t mean authors (or agents) are worth a dime a dozen; it just means there are a lot of fish in the sea. And other metaphors. I didn’t take this as a hit to my ego. I’m not worried writing this will make me look “bad” to other writers (and if it does ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ you don’t have to query me!). No one wins everything. Even “big” agents with 20k subscribers on their newsletters. It’s ok.
I can’t wait to cheer this author on. (She knows I’m writing this! <waves>) And I can’t wait to find something else this good in the inbox. Of course I don’t want to lose every beauty contest, but I have a feeling I won’t.
OXOXOXOX,
Kate
This is a great perspective... though it's also good to remember that at some points in our lives and careers it's easier to be magnanimous about rejection than others. This post is written from a position of security in this industry. Hard-won security, absolutely! But it's a very different scenario for authors querying their fifth novel, working a thousand hours a year unpaid to get their foot on the first rung of the ladder, or early career agents also working with no guarantee of a paycheck, at risk of being fired by their big agency if they don't make enough sales. Some rejections have much higher stakes than others.
Great post! I was going to query you, but I just decided to self-publish as my book is ready and I don’t want to wait a year or more to see it in print. Everyone always has their reasons and I hope this author chose wisely.
As someone who had an agent that didn’t work out in the past, that quit on me, then wanted to get back together, then did it all over again, and felt like a turbulent boyfriend, made me make so many changes to a book, got me a deal and then lost the deal, and caused me a lot of heartache, I know having the right agent is extremely important!