If an author were to compile a vocabulary list for writers in the making, or writers stuck in the middle, they might put the dreaded NO at the top of the list. To many, it feels as if they hear NO more often than any other response as they pursue their writing career.
It’s a No
No, you can’t expect to sell your project if the romance thread won’t find resolution until the final volume of your 27-book series.
And no, a publisher won’t be interested in a 27-book series of any kind from a first time author.
No, your query didn’t interest the agent enough to ask to see your proposal.
No, your proposal didn’t hold the agent’s or editor’s attention enough to pursue further.
Or no, the book isn’t a good fit for that publishing house.
No, not this book either. Or that one.
Sometimes NO means finito! (Finished, over, done, the end.)
Or it means NOT A YES…YET.
How is an author to know?
The Dreaded No
What if we considered NO a clue rather than a condemnation?
“Our goals personally and professionally don’t align as well as they’d need to for us to work together as author and agent.” It might even be theological differences that would make it hard to represent your work. Another agent might applaud the author’s approach. But Books & Such agents want to be able to wholeheartedly support what they represent. It’s not our job to change your mind, or your job to change ours. It’s just not the best fit.
An agent doesn’t owe anyone representation. They carefully choose who and what they represent.
Editors and publishing houses don’t owe a contract to any author. Discernment weighs into their decisions too, as well as:
- Quality of the writing rising above the thousands of other great proposals on their computers
- Author’s ability to reach an audience
- Potential for that book’s sales numbers given the subject matter and reader interest and uniqueness of the story
- And too many other factors to list here.
The Uncertain No
Where did the NO come from? Perhaps the book was way too different. Or not different enough. Perhaps already in the publisher’s catalog the public won’t see for another year are two books similar to the one proposed.
Maybe the agent already represents authors who would be competing for the same few publishing slots as your project. It’s possible the NO is rooted in “I personally love the story, but I know stories like this (or nonfiction on this topic) have dwindled in sales recently, increasing the risk.”
The Important No
When is a NO important? If it prevents a writer from launching prematurely into a demanding, rigorous career for which the writer is not yet prepared. Or when the concept is brilliant but the execution is not yet matured and ready for publication. An agent or an editor saying yes on concept alone isn’t doing the author any favors. What lies ahead for that author may be brutal and frustrating.
A NO is important when it helps redirect a writer to what may become their sweet spot in writing. A discerning agent or editor may see potential, but not in the proposed project. They notice the author’s skillset better fitting in-person audiences, or video rather than print, or a topic in which they’re gifted and trained but which is far off from the book they pitched.
The Not Yet a Yes
Sometimes a NO in the publishing world is accompanied by no clues. But if publisher after publisher or agent after agent says NO, that still means we have a clue. Something’s not working…yet. We examine and analyze and wonder and ponder…but with purpose. Wondering that leads to worry is counterproductive for a writer. It chews up time and steals brains cells we need for thinking and creating.
Mourn the NO if you must, but set a timer. Unlike other griefs, a publishing NO is almost always more pause than loss.
Did the editor or agent mention that the platform (built-in audience) wasn’t strong enough to carry it forward? Then pause submitting until that’s corrected or at least gains meaningful trajectory. What if it was pointed out that the book doesn’t seem laser-focused enough, it’s trying to do too much, or it doesn’t have a naturally flowing beginning, middle, and end? Continuing to submit to other places without addressing the specified concern is like trying to find an agent or publisher who doesn’t care about “details” like that.
The Get Used to It
An author never grows beyond hearing NO. Even a multi-published, award-winning, bestselling author will still hear “No. Not this project. Do you have another idea?” or “No, not yet. Let’s see how your most recent book performs before we offer another contract.”
We can fret and fuss about it. Or we can adopt the attitude that NO is a vital part of the vocabulary of publishing. It almost never means “You stink.” Watch for clues to what it does mean and for what comes next.
On a personal note: I’m grateful that I heard NO after NO when pitching my “charming” historical romances in the early 2000’s. Without those pauses, I wouldn’t have discovered that women’s fiction and nonfiction were my sweet spots. Fifty published books later, I still hear NO from time to time. And I ache with every NO my authors hear. But we adjust and trust…which strips the NO of any destructive powers.
What if we considered NO a clue rather than a condemnation?
Books & Such Literary Management— Big News!
It’s been a dreadful week. Your post called for an answer, for which I make no apologies.
What, really, are you gonna do
when your life tells you No?
What is gonna be your true,
and where you gonna go
when your body falls apart
and you’re bleeding in the dunny.
What is real and what is art,
and why is it so funny
that disaster is a clown
with scary sneering face
who thinks that he has got you down,
but you respond with grace
to his nihilistic calls
and let God kick him in the balls.
If I may be permitted a PS, especially pertaining to the image (and last word!) in the closing couplet…
Untreatable cancer can feel like life’s ultimate No. You can’t do this, go there, eat this…and you’re denied dignity in daily necessities. The temptation can be to ascribe it to almost a caprice of the Almighty, and wail, Why this, Why now, Why me?
But I think the truth is a but different, that cancer is a product of the Fall, and God would be inconsistent to and in Himself to cure it for those who, say, got the right format for self-healing prayer.
But He IS on my side in this fight (and it is a hard, nasty fight that frequently has me literally crawling to the dunny). He IS willing to call out a personified cancer and kick him where it hurts, and cancer’s pain is my laughter. He may have physical power, but God has my heart.
And ‘that word’…I could have gone cutesy and said b***s, and thus forced anyone who read the thing to say it within, but that seems kinda wrong, like I’m telling a reader to say the ‘bad word’ so I don’t have to.
Anyway, Cynthia, thanks for your patience. ‘No’ is really why I write, that living within the temporal No is the Transcendent Yes, that there is beauty in ashes, and that all things ARE made new, in His Love.
Andrew, Andrew, Andrew. Your PS is so beautifully expressed. Many could list their crippling No of life, but you have found a way to give language to “‘No’ is really why I write, that living within the temporal No is the Transcendent Yes…and all things ARE made new, in His love.” Thank you, thank you.
Thanks for sharing, Cynthia! Rejection is a chance to learn, and every “no” brings us closer to a “yes.”
It’s not intuitive or automatic for a human to find JOY in a No. But we can certainly find the clues, the lessons, and the wonder of exercising patience, can’t we?
I’ve learned God has three possible answers to my prayers: yes, no or not yet. Agents have the same options.
I thank God for the agent who told me many years ago, “You’re not ready for prime time.” I look back at my words from that area, grateful they didn’t go far. I’m still in the “not yet” category, but I’ve come a long way.
Wouldn’t it be interesting to do a deep-dive blog post about all that God accomplishes in the “not yet” seasons of life?
This is such a timely blog, Cynthia! I was just thinking about how grateful I am for all of the NO answers I have recived in the 24 years I’ve been seriously writing. I have a focus now that I didn’t previously. I’ve learned how to incorporate my passions into fiction where before I had chosen my genre haphazardly. My craft has grown in ways I could not have imagined. I am so thrilled with all that I have learned and gained through my many NO THANK YOU emails and (yes, I’ve been submitting this long) letters. While I grieved each and every time, now I can see that each NO was a gift from the Lord. If that is how I had to learn, I wouldn’t want to give back a single one.
Kristen, your response also shows a level of maturity that bloomed in you during the NO seasons! What a great attitude!
Thank you for sharing that even you still hear no.
We all do. All.
I didn’t expect this post to hit me the way it did. Cynthia, your raw words hit us where it hurts most—and where we need hope the most. Honestly, it could serve as a metaphor for life in general, couldn’t it? We hear “no” far more often than we’d like. The question is: what will we do with it? Curl up and give up? Push forward in our strength and burn out? Or move forward in strength that’s not our own, trusting the Savior for His timing, His direction, and His comfort?
I’ve heard many “no’s” in life. They’re never easy, but eventually I’ve learned to thank Father for each one, because He sees what I can’t. Just this morning, I wrote a devotional on Exodus 14:14, reflecting on the tension of being still as a writer in God’s hands while still faithfully doing the “things” writers do. Thank you for this strangely encouraging post.
So grateful this was helpful! Sounds like a great devotion!
Актуальный промокод, укажи промокод получи бонус. Получите максимум при регистрации в одной из букмекерских контор. Mostbet предлагает сейчас 35000 рублей всем новым игрокам букмекерской конторы. промокод на слоты сегодня. Отличительной особенностью букмекерской конторы Mostbet является возможность совершения ставок по промокодам, которые предоставляются бесплатно. В БК Мостбет промокод – это универсальный инструмент при работе с бонусами и акциями. Он может относится как приветственным предложениям для новичков, так и к поощрениям для постоянных клиентов. Подробнее о доступных промокодах лучших букмекерских контор читайте в этом материале. Выделим несколько основных методов, которые позволят получить промокод Mostbet.