Want to Get Rid of the “Not for me, thanks” Type of Responses from Agents? 

One of the most common problems people come to me with at writers’ conferences and events is: “How do I find an agent? Why is finding an agent so hard? I’m getting a lot of rejection, I’m not sure why. Is the publishing industry like all other industries out there in that it’s all about who you know?”

These are questions that I get asked a lot. One of the things writers complain about when it comes to agents is the lack of response, or the brevity of the response.

They keep getting the typical four-word email: “Not for me. Thanks.” You may have seen some of those in your inbox as you’ve been querying agents. The problem with such a brief response—and this is something that writers talk about a lot—is you’re wondering, “Was it my query? Was it my manuscript? Was it my synopsis? Was it my hair?” You don’t really know.

There’s no feedback to help you try to improve or to change, and that’s frustrating for a lot of writers because they don’t have the connections.

They can’t call up an agent and say “Hey, what was wrong with my submission?” And I understand this is frustrating.

But the real problem here is that so many writers treat publication like a do-it-yourself project. Basically, writers who do this are trying to play in the major leagues with little league equipment.

You wouldn’t try to be an NBA basketball player and show up wearing tennis shoes. You wouldn’t show up to an NHL tryout wearing figure skates, right? You don’t have the right equipment. You don’t have the means to play at that high of a level if you’ve got the wrong equipment.

Maybe you think you can get by with those figure skates, or any kind of sneaker. But the professionals, the coaches and the players, they know what the right equipment is. You’re not going to fool them by showing up with the wrong equipment and trying to fake it.

Writers who think that publishing is a do-it-yourself project are showing up without the right equipment, and I can tell you right now that the professionals are not fooled, the agents are not fooled.

They know what they’re looking for. They know what it means to play at the professional level.

And the result is that you look foolish when you submit like that. You exasperate the agents, and your submission goes straight over to the slush pile, rejected.

I don’t know what your profession is, but if a bunch of people were submitting subpar materials to you—if they showed up to NHL tryouts wearing figure skates— you might start to send these “Not for me, thanks” emails.

So, what’s different about the Writing Gym? Well, over in the Writing Gym we believe in real solutions and we’re getting real results. How do we get to the front of the line over in the Writing Gym? Well, I can tell you that just this last week and agent called me and she said, “Annalisa, I’ve got to tell you this is the best query letter I have ever received.”

Best query letter I’ve ever received. From one of our clients over in the Writing Gym! Can you imagine that?

Another Writing Gym member received a full manuscript request within five minutes of sending the query! If you ever queried, you know how rare it is to receive a full manuscript request. Last week, another member got a full manuscript request within 20 minutes. We’ve had many full manuscript requests. I don’t know how many—I’ve lost count just this year—over in the Writing Gym.

These are the kind of results that we’re getting, and it’s because we’re all about real solutions and real results. We’re about knowing what the market is and knowing what an agent is looking for, and we are delivering.

Now, before you go getting any big ideas, the Writing Gym isn’t for everyone. This level of success is a process. It doesn’t just magically happen; it’s a process.

If you’re tired of dead ends and rejections with no cause mentioned whatsoever, and you’re willing to put in the work to go through the process that creates publishable manuscripts, let’s chat. Just click here, and you can drop yourself directly into my team’s calendar and you’ll get on the phone for about an hour and talk about where you are, where you’d like to go, and how you can get there.

Until next time, Happy Writing