I think it was both encouraging and discouraging! Discouraging because OOF those numbers are bleak. But, as someone who received a lot of rejections last year, even though I KNOW I have a good book in my hands (I promise that’s not ego I have a post coming out about it tomorrow! 😂) but this helps to quantify why it’s so hard to get your book to stand out. Thank you for putting this together! I found it really valuable.
I love your confidence in your work--to me that is a HUGE part of resilience in this industry--belief in yourself. Yay. And yes, the numbers are quite bleak, oof. I remember seeing very similar numbers when I queried many years ago--I read 10 years ago that I had a 1% chance of getting an offer from any particular agent. And then, of course, if you sub to a lot of agents, that chance goes up. But still--1% is a tough number to swallow (or 0.8%, as mine ended up).
This information is super interesting! I don't know if this is a question that's for a full post or just the comments but could you talk a little bit more about what made you decide to request a full manuscript and what typically made you pass on a query? I think it would be really interesting for us looking to query soon!
As someone who is currently querying this is really interesting! 3.7% requests for fulls makes me feel good about the several requests I’ve gotten, even if they haven’t resulted in offers!!
I was among the horror rejects, and these stats make your kind and encouraging reply even better!
I've had four full-manuscript requests from about 80 queries, which I think is batting around average, maybe slightly better, and I consider that a good sign. I'm still waiting on two agents to reply - one in particular I'm *massively* excited about because I think it's a great fit, but I'm trying to keep cool and just focus on editing the next novel.
Thank you, Jenna! I found this very encouraging. I haven’t started querying yet, not quite there. But I like having a real idea of what I’m up against. It’s easier to temper the fantasy of knocking it out of the park right away at this point in the process than it would be later on in the throes of rejection! Good luck to you in your second year!
Such a great post! I enjoyed learning about your story and journey as a new agent. I'm an editor at a small publishing house, so I'm reading a lot of submissions. I think these percentages are about what mine are so far. I haven't been doing it long, though.
Unfortunately, a lot of authors submit their work before it's ready. Most of my rejections are due to this.
Do you find that you don't make it past the synopsis because they don't understand what a synopsis is supposed to be or do read some of the manuscript anyway?
Oh, how interesting that your numbers are similar on that side!--though it makes perfect sense, actually!
I have a rule for myself that I always read the pages. Some authors struggle with pitching (and many struggle with the synopsis), and while those are both skills I'd encourage all writers to develop, I find they're different than the skill of writing the book and am frequently surprised by reading amazing pages after a 'meh' pitch.
This was very interesting to see from agent perspective. Thanks so much for being transparent about this. As a querying author, I find it all fascinating.
As a querying writer, I really appreciate this insight! When I was a reader at a lit magazine, I found that pretty overwhelming and can’t imagine sifting through over 3,000 queries!
This was really enlightening! I’m an illustrator writing my first MG market and I feel like there is a lot of conflicting info on interest for MG books. Curious if illustrations on a query would peak interest or not.
I'm not sure if illustrations would matter one way or the other, but I haven't rep'd an illustrated MG yet that's not a Graphic Novel, so take that for what it's worth!
Interesting insights. Thank you for sharing, and thank you for the final paragraph acknowledging the effort that goes into these creative works. It’s hard to put yourself out there and ‘face the music’. It’s great to know you’ve got our backs. Good luck in year 2.
As someone who was "rejected" by you (and thanks for actually sending a rejection), I absolutely don't want to sound like a whiner. I have only sent out 22 queries, so I am well short of Bonnie Garmus and her 98. But this system is broken, or at least totally overwhelmed. It's a total crapshoot. I've looked at the numbers for other agents I queried -- and I did a lot of research before I queried them. Writers need to recognize this reality and understand the publishing industry and how consolidated it has become.
But I believe in my story, which has been developmentally edited and revised and polished and beta-read by 7-8 people (who are not family). It is not rom-com, or horror, or thriller. It is character-driven, with an older protagonist. So I have begun to explore other avenues -- and the hard part is not feeling like it's somehow "less than" being traditionally published with an agent. If it is professionally edited and designed and properly distributed and marketed, the reader won't notice. I just want people to read my freakin' book. In short, I knew the stats but your post made me feel better anyway.
I'm glad it helped you feel better--it's truly so so so very tough out there, and there's just no way around it. I hope as you explore other avenues that you find fresh excitement and hope for the ways your book can reach readers, even though it wasn't your plan A! Publishing often demands that if we want to move forward, we form a plan B and C and D--so I do applaud you for considering all your options, even amidst the disappointment. Hugs!!
That's a little depressing because I'm pitching memoir with fewer than 10,000 followers, but it's memoir+, if that helps anything. I'm still gonna shoot my shot.
I think it was both encouraging and discouraging! Discouraging because OOF those numbers are bleak. But, as someone who received a lot of rejections last year, even though I KNOW I have a good book in my hands (I promise that’s not ego I have a post coming out about it tomorrow! 😂) but this helps to quantify why it’s so hard to get your book to stand out. Thank you for putting this together! I found it really valuable.
I love your confidence in your work--to me that is a HUGE part of resilience in this industry--belief in yourself. Yay. And yes, the numbers are quite bleak, oof. I remember seeing very similar numbers when I queried many years ago--I read 10 years ago that I had a 1% chance of getting an offer from any particular agent. And then, of course, if you sub to a lot of agents, that chance goes up. But still--1% is a tough number to swallow (or 0.8%, as mine ended up).
But thank you for posting this!! I find it immensely helpful. As a former educator I love a good statistic :)
This information is super interesting! I don't know if this is a question that's for a full post or just the comments but could you talk a little bit more about what made you decide to request a full manuscript and what typically made you pass on a query? I think it would be really interesting for us looking to query soon!
Ooh, that's definitely future post material! Thanks for the suggestion!!
As someone who is currently querying this is really interesting! 3.7% requests for fulls makes me feel good about the several requests I’ve gotten, even if they haven’t resulted in offers!!
Oh good! Glad to hear it, and congrats on your full requests!
I was among the horror rejects, and these stats make your kind and encouraging reply even better!
I've had four full-manuscript requests from about 80 queries, which I think is batting around average, maybe slightly better, and I consider that a good sign. I'm still waiting on two agents to reply - one in particular I'm *massively* excited about because I think it's a great fit, but I'm trying to keep cool and just focus on editing the next novel.
Thanks for the stats!
I'm so glad! And congrats on your full requests--fingers crossed one of them leads to an offer of rep!!
Thank you, Jenna! I found this very encouraging. I haven’t started querying yet, not quite there. But I like having a real idea of what I’m up against. It’s easier to temper the fantasy of knocking it out of the park right away at this point in the process than it would be later on in the throes of rejection! Good luck to you in your second year!
I'm so glad to hear that! Thank you--and good luck to you as well!
Such a great post! I enjoyed learning about your story and journey as a new agent. I'm an editor at a small publishing house, so I'm reading a lot of submissions. I think these percentages are about what mine are so far. I haven't been doing it long, though.
Unfortunately, a lot of authors submit their work before it's ready. Most of my rejections are due to this.
Do you find that you don't make it past the synopsis because they don't understand what a synopsis is supposed to be or do read some of the manuscript anyway?
Oh, how interesting that your numbers are similar on that side!--though it makes perfect sense, actually!
I have a rule for myself that I always read the pages. Some authors struggle with pitching (and many struggle with the synopsis), and while those are both skills I'd encourage all writers to develop, I find they're different than the skill of writing the book and am frequently surprised by reading amazing pages after a 'meh' pitch.
I find this true as well. I don't like to reject based on bad queries.
If the synopsis is more of a teaser, though, I do reject it.
This was very interesting to see from agent perspective. Thanks so much for being transparent about this. As a querying author, I find it all fascinating.
So glad you found it interesting!
As a querying writer, I really appreciate this insight! When I was a reader at a lit magazine, I found that pretty overwhelming and can’t imagine sifting through over 3,000 queries!
It's awesome to get to see so much of peoples' work... and also it's a lot haha!
This was really enlightening! I’m an illustrator writing my first MG market and I feel like there is a lot of conflicting info on interest for MG books. Curious if illustrations on a query would peak interest or not.
I'm not sure if illustrations would matter one way or the other, but I haven't rep'd an illustrated MG yet that's not a Graphic Novel, so take that for what it's worth!
Interesting insights. Thank you for sharing, and thank you for the final paragraph acknowledging the effort that goes into these creative works. It’s hard to put yourself out there and ‘face the music’. It’s great to know you’ve got our backs. Good luck in year 2.
SO hard to put yourself out there--as an author as well, I know that 150%! Thanks!
Fascinating! Thx for sharing!!
Thanks Lori! My pleasure =)
This was such an interesting read, thank you!
Thanks for reading!
Wow, this was fascinating. And sad for everyone who queried you. It’s a tough business.
Very tough indeed.
As someone who was "rejected" by you (and thanks for actually sending a rejection), I absolutely don't want to sound like a whiner. I have only sent out 22 queries, so I am well short of Bonnie Garmus and her 98. But this system is broken, or at least totally overwhelmed. It's a total crapshoot. I've looked at the numbers for other agents I queried -- and I did a lot of research before I queried them. Writers need to recognize this reality and understand the publishing industry and how consolidated it has become.
But I believe in my story, which has been developmentally edited and revised and polished and beta-read by 7-8 people (who are not family). It is not rom-com, or horror, or thriller. It is character-driven, with an older protagonist. So I have begun to explore other avenues -- and the hard part is not feeling like it's somehow "less than" being traditionally published with an agent. If it is professionally edited and designed and properly distributed and marketed, the reader won't notice. I just want people to read my freakin' book. In short, I knew the stats but your post made me feel better anyway.
I'm glad it helped you feel better--it's truly so so so very tough out there, and there's just no way around it. I hope as you explore other avenues that you find fresh excitement and hope for the ways your book can reach readers, even though it wasn't your plan A! Publishing often demands that if we want to move forward, we form a plan B and C and D--so I do applaud you for considering all your options, even amidst the disappointment. Hugs!!
Very interesting! A nugget of gold. Thanks
Thank you for reading!!
That's a little depressing because I'm pitching memoir with fewer than 10,000 followers, but it's memoir+, if that helps anything. I'm still gonna shoot my shot.
Absolutely shoot your shot! "Rules" in publishing are never hard & fast!!