Rejection letters from literary agents and editors of literary journals can be discouraging—especially impersonal, one-line form letters. But rejection is a necessary part of the writing process, and creative writers should know how to interpret the information in rejection letters and then use this knowledge to improve their submissions.
First, let’s look at the different types of rejection letters:
The form letter rejection
A form letter rejection is easy to spot. This may be a short, generic note that reads something like, “Dear Writer—No thanks.” Or “Dear Writer—Please try again.”
There’s not much to be learned from a blanket rejection letter. But a few literary journals do have “tiered” rejection letters: one form for writers they don’t want to encourage; one for people who are good writers but who aren’t a good fit; one for writers who are invited to submit again.
Some literary agents or editors who do not use a form will simply send the work in question back with a handwritten note that says something like, “Not for us.”
Standard phrases used in rejection letters from literary agents and editors of literary journals:
Cannot use it/accept it at this time
Didn’t pique my interest
Didn’t strike a chord
Doesn’t meet our needs
Doesn’t fit our plans
Have to pass on this
Isn’t resonating with me/us
Isn’t something we’d like to pursue
No room for more clients (unless truly compelling)
Not a right fit
Not exactly what we’re looking for
Not for us
Not suitable for us
Not quite right for this list/publication
We are not enthusiastic enough about this work
We are not certain we could be effective in placing your work
We are not right for your work
We recommend you buy/subscribe/read our magazine
We do not have a place/room for this
and the list goes on!
If you receive a rejection letter with phrases like those above, be careful not to misinterpret it. A form letter doesn’t mean you targeted your writing to the wrong agent or editor. It doesn’t mean you’ve made a mistake by sending your submission. A form letter, no matter what the exact phrasing, is a nice, generic way of saying no thanks.
The personal rejection letter
When a literary agent or editor has taken the time to include a comment about your submission, then you know it’s a personalized rejection.
Even if the comment is a critique of your work, we recommend you consider resubmitting to any literary agent or editor who cared enough about your work to offer a personal comment.
Send the agent or editor a thank-you note, and if/when you resubmit, reference the comments from the original rejection.
An invitation to resubmit
Some journals and literary agents always invite writers to submit again—it’s part of their form rejection. But others make such an offer more cautiously. At Writer’s Relief, we track our clients’ rejections and acceptances, so we know when these kinds of comments are “boilerplate” phrases in a form letter and when they are personalized.
We invite you to submit more in the future.
Do you have anything else we can consider? Please send.
Why, you may wonder, are you being rejected if the writing is so great?
A piece may be rejected simply because the timing is off. Or your project was too similar to something else already in the works. Or the editor or agent might believe you have talent and he/she is looking forward to seeing you develop it.
Either way, send a thank-you note and a new submission (when possible), and again, reference the original comments in your cover/query letter.
Close, but not quite
Often, writers will begin to get discouraged when they get too many “near misses.” But there’s a valuable lesson to be learned if you’re receiving rejections that imply “close but not quite.”
Take the time to analyze any comments you’ve received. Is there a common thread (i.e., tired theme, flat characters, weak ending)?
When choosing to make revisions based on feedback, think carefully before you begin to start taking every piece of advice thrown your way. Follow your heart and consider the comments thoughtfully—avoid knee-jerk reactions.
If one agent says “you should have written this in first person,” you may want to wait to hear if any other agents have the same comment before making such a drastic revision. It’s important to trust your instincts.
Keep in mind that what one agent dislikes, another agent might enjoy! That said, if you receive multiple comments that critique the same elements, it’s certainly time to revise.
Finally, if you’re getting many nice rejections, it may be time to reevaluate your submission strategy. Professional writers submit habitually and carefully—with proper etiquette and targeting. If you’re not sure of exactly what’s required by the industry, Writer’s Relief can help you with that.
Why do literary agents and magazine editors use form letters?
The fact is, editors and agents receive too many submissions to provide a personal comment on each piece. Hence, form letters.
Many of our clients find that working with Writer’s Relief allows them to take a more professional (and less emotional) approach to their rejection letters. (Of course, getting acceptances through Writer’s Relief helps too!)
Here’s an example of how one client changed her attitude about rejection letters—and changed her life!
Dear Ronnie,
I’ve been a Writer’s Relief client for nine months. Over that time, I’ve received one acceptance, one provisional acceptance (the editor asked me to resubmit with changes), and three encouraging rejections from editors at top-tier literary journals. The positive feedback from editors makes all the rejection slips I’ve been collecting worthwhile—and I should add that I never would have been able to stand the rejections without the support of your service and your staff. My confidence has grown, and along with it, I believe I’m producing higher-quality work. I never could have made this kind of progress without Writer’s Relief.
Alisa W., Writer
How should writers deal with rejection letters?
Writing is a business, and writers must remember that agents and editors have nothing against them personally.
Agents’/editors’ jobs depend on the choices they make, and if they don’t feel the work will sell—or they simply don’t feel any enthusiasm or passion for the piece—they don’t have time to argue or explain exactly why.
Literary agents and editors of literary journals have different tastes and interests, which is why writers should learn what they can from rejection letters and then keep submitting to find the agent or editor who will love their work. Writer’s Relief has been helping writers do just this since 1994. We have a team of industry-specific submission strategists who can increase your acceptance rate for book manuscripts, short prose, and poetry. Give us a call if rejections are getting you down!
I once got a rejection letter where they said they were shooting me down because they were simply too busy to read it.
I was sent a rejection, the prime reason being spelling. I responded to the editor and stated that there was no spelling issue (I am not a terrible speller and did use spell check a few times). I suspected that the editor of the online journal didn’t like the story but didn’t have the guts to say it.
He responded to me. He basically lost his patience and started ranting. Since that email, I have never submitted work to any online, ‘allegedly’ highbrow journals.
Ana, We’re sorry to hear about your experience with this editor, but don’t let one bad apple sour you on all online journals! As this article proves, writers should not let rejections (even very rude ones) stop them from continuing a well-rounded submission strategy. Read our article about online journals for more information on how to determine if an online journal is reputable. Good luck and keep submitting!
I decided a couple of years ago not to call them rejections but to call them responses. If I offer someone a plate of cookies and they say, “No thanks,” they have not rejected my cookies, they have responded to my offer. That is easier on the ego.
I once received a rejection within 5 minutes of pressing the send button.
The only thing I might disagree with in this article is the advice to thank an agent for a personalized rejection and resubmitting after taking their advice. Over the years I have read more than 1 agent blogging about this very issue and they say, “Thanks, but no thanks.” They say they are so busy with queries that if even 10% of the rejections sent thank yous or worse yet, resubmission of something they rejected, they’d be even more swamped. No is a no, regardless of how nice they said no. If they liked your idea but not your query, they’d ask for a partial. I guess if you’ve already been rejected, it couldn’t hurt, but I still wouldn’t want to annoy them. BTW, I’ve considered form thank you’s to all of the rejections.
I have received quiet a few form rejection letters over the years and do not mind them all that much. It is a business after all and the form letter serves an important purpose, it doesn’t burn any bridges. However there have been two letters that were nonsensical personal attacks. They rambled from one reason another none of it having anything to do with the story I submitted. They read like the editor was trying to convince him or her self and not me because I was convinced with the words we are sorry. The three paragraphs after that were well, overkill.
But here is the thing spelling errors, grammar errors it is all bull nothing in this world is perfect especially not the printed word. What really is important is whether or not you tell a good story. All the rest is the delusional fantasy of people that believe they are guarding the gates against mediocrity when the truth is of the thousands of books I have read there were two that I would call great. Most authors telegraph their endings long before I get there and most plots are derivative. Greatness with regards to literature is a very over used word. One day, books will be published in a great on-line library and people not editors will decide what they want to read.
I can’t help but find some of these ‘responses’ from literary agents to be downright hurtful. I’ve been trying to submit the first of my proposed three-piece novel for the last several months. Although I’ve had a few “close calls,” I’ve had the arbitrary two word “We’ll pass” statement, which I find to be rediculous considering I put far more work into meeting their individual submission guideline than their two word horrid response.
Then there is the fact that I have yet to receive anything I could take away as constructive criticism. If literary agents are thriving off of others’ work being submitted to them, they should at least make a vain attempt at motivating those that are trying to make their first steps. Not shoot them in the foot before they could even get it off of the ground.
My only wish is that there was a place that existed outside of conventions which could offer some unobjected, yet motivating constructive criticism. I’ve scoured the net for such a place, but none exists. Relying on your family and friends doesn’t help to critique your work. A simple, neutral “hey, this part looks good, but how about (insert revision here)” would go a long way for prospective writers.
With my experience with literary agents, its almost as if they are musing themselves as the doorkeeper to a person’s ability to get their word out. I don’t care about it being a business. So what if it should be considered one? My novel is not solely meant for personal gain, despite their obvious belief. I just feel that it’s a story that needed to be told. See what I’m getting at?
I have a question about form rejections. A few months ago I received what I thought was a personal rejection from a journal–they said they were “very impressed” with my writing and hoped I would submit again. Yesterday I got a form rejection from a different magazine that said the exact same thing. Would this be considered a tiered personal rejection letter, or do these magazines tell everyone they are impressed with the writing?
Thanks for the help!
Amy, Generally, a journal won’t tell you that they’re impressed unless they are. Editors don’t have enough staff time to encourage submissions from writers who are submitting work that is inappropriate. Probably, you’re receiving a tiered rejection. It’s a very good thing that you’re getting nice rejections.
Hello,
I just received my first rejection letter and it said “At this time we are not interested in publishing your story. We would, however, welcome another submission from you in the future.”
Is this a form response?
Anisa
Anisa,
Although this does look like a form letter, it is very possible that this is a positive “tiered response.” Often journals have more than one form letter response that they send to writers. For example, one that invites the writer to submit again and one that thanks them for their submission but without the invitation to resubmit.
We hope you’ll take this journal up on their offer to submit again and that an acceptance is in your future!
I started sending submissions a month ago, so far I have received two rejections. I received the first, a day after I emailed the query and synopsis. It was a form rejection, the title of my novel was not mentioned and they addressed me by my full name. The rejection was quite brief, only two sentences. Just that they could not offer their services and that they wished me luck.
Today I received the second rejection. I was addressed by my first name, the agent mentioned the title of the novel(she wrote the title in capitals) but she told me that it is not the right book for the agency at this time and explained to me that she needs to fell in love with my work instantly. She encouraged me to submit to her in the future.She was very kind and told me that this is just her opinion and there are other agents out there more suitable.
I believe that both letters were form rejections, although I admit that I cannot understand why would someone ask to resubmit. I thought that no means no, no?
Dear tzoyia,
Although we can’t see the rejections, it does sound like they are form letters. Some agencies have a standard letter that interns or assistants will modify by plugging in a writer’s name or book title. Many form letters are very encouraging and warm (as many agents are encouraging and warm, even when they have to say no).
Some agents or editors will see something they like in a given work, even if that piece is not exactly “right.” Hence, writers will often get invitations to resubmit.
Hope this helps!