Decoding agent rejections plus a full list of resources for querying writers
Your one-stop-shop for everything you could possibly want to know about querying literary agents in North America, right now.
Hello and thank goodness it is Friday and that January—which has been four months long—is handing the baton to February.
This post marks the conclusion of our January querying intensive. Before we get into today’s post on decoding agent rejections, I want to remind everyone what we covered this past month, and list additional resources for querying writers.
Topics covered in our January 2025 querying intensive:
Week one: We discussed how to write a query letter for any genre in 2025.
Week two: We went over query letter do’s and don’ts.
Week three: A marathon Q&A session on all things querying. Be sure to read the questions and my answers—there’s a goldmine of information there, plus, you’ll find people who are going through the same thing you are. Solidarity in querying! Querying is hard.
Week four: Decoding agent rejections. (That’s today!) What does “not right for my list” actually mean? Ditto, “I just didn’t connect with the material.” ??? I’m going to be blunt about rejection subtext, so buckle up.
Additional resources for querying writers:
I’m obsessed with helping writers query successfully. Here are classes I’ve developed and past posts devoted to querying that you might find helpful. Share with your querying friends!
Query Writing masterclass: I’m super proud of this class I created that leads you—online and at your own pace—through everything you could possibly want to know about querying. From do’s and don’ts, formatting tips, making your author platform and author bio look more impressive than you feel it is, suggesting urgency and plot in memoir and finding the right title for books of any genre, this class covers it all. We use numerous examples from actual querying writers in this three-hour class, plus there are take home exercises to help improve your letter. You can sign up for the course through my website. (I will send you the course material when I get your registration.) If you are a paid subscriber, there is a discount code for the class after the paywall below.
How many rejections should you stomach before giving up? This post is based on a subscriber’s question and includes candid advice on when to persist, when to revise, and when to move on to something else. (Never give up! I believe in taking time off, or pivoting to something else, but I don’t believe in giving up.)
Re-querying agents with revised material: Also based on a subscriber’s question, this detailed post walks you through how “changed” your manuscript needs to be before you can send it to an agent you already queried (and who turned it down).
Querying strategies when the world is really messy: I wrote this post in 2022 but the world is still a mess. It explains the rejection pyramid and shares general querying strategies (spoiler alert: my suggestion is to query in small batches.) Lots of reader questions answered in this one.
Preparing your book’s title for the query circuit: The title of your book needs to do some serious heavy lifting when you go out on the query circuit. Sometimes, it’s better to query with a title that is communicative and storytelling-driven (and maybe a little obvious) rather than something opaque and poetic. This post tells you why.
Does your author bio suck? It won’t after you read this.
How to use your comp titles to make your project shine. Honestly? A killer book title and the right comps (used correctly) can get you through the door. Here’s how and why.
Are you rejected? Is there still hope? Understanding your rejections on the query circuit.
After last week’s Q&A session, I promised to summarize the urgent questions. What most people are struggling with is disorientation: not knowing whether they’ve actually been rejected by an agent or what a rejection means. Accordingly, I’m going to share a candid breakdown of what rejections mean between the lines. I’ve written about this in a gentle manner in the posts above, but today I’m going to be extremely blunt.
When agents send rejections, they tend to use language that is so vague, it can leave writers confused as to whether or not they’ve actually been rejected.
Best of luck placing your work elsewhere.
We’ll be rooting from the sidelines.
This isn’t right for my list.
I’m going to decode the most frequent phrases for you. I’m also inviting people to share rejection phrases in the comments and I’ll help decode those, too. I’m interpreting the phrases for all genres of writing—this isn’t just for fiction.
Ready? Here we go.
What agent rejections say versus what they actually mean: Courtney Maum’s extremely candid breakdown.
Rejection phrase 1: “Ultimately, I didn’t connect with the voice as much as I hoped to.”
What this rejection means: