5 Common Kiss-Offs from Agents. . . and What They Really Mean

REALITY CHECK

5 Common Kiss-Offs from Agents. . . and What They Really Mean

1. "There's no market for this project."

What They Really Mean: You haven't done your homework. You're not aware of the slew of other books in the stores on this subject, most published in the last year or so. The book is too short (60 pages is not a book) or too long (no one wants to read a book this long on this subject). The market niche for this book is too small or specialized. We can't make money off of this project.

2. "You are not the right author for this project."

What They Really Mean: You haven't published on this topic before. You lack the relevant education or credentials or experience (for example, you want to write a book about unified field theory when you've been a successful entrepreneur — not a physicist — most of your life). You do not have an established audience (what publishers call a “national platform”). You do not have enough “visibility” to be promotable, to garner the media and publicity that are necessary to make a book stand out from the crowd. And you don't have enough of an ability to sell thousands of books on your own (to clients, organizations, and so on), a factor that is increasingly important to publishers.

3. "This is not right for me."

What They Really Mean: For every agent, there are many reasons:

It's not the right genre — I don't represent fiction.
It's not to my taste — I don't like most of this New Age stuff.
I'm not taking any new clients right now.
It's not a strong enough idea that I can sell to a publisher (and make money for us both).
You don't have the right author profile for this project, but I don't want to tell you that directly.
There's no market for this book, in my opinion.

4. "This is not a market I know about or have editorial contacts for."

What They Really Mean: Many agents, especially independents who work alone or in a small office, specialize enough to make things manageable. So not all agents represent both fiction and nonfiction. Within fiction, some may specialize by genre (such as romance, mystery, thriller, literary works). Within nonfiction, agents may limit the subjects they handle (for example, they may not represent books on health or crafts or self-help or psychology). Since they've specialized, they don't have strong personal contacts with editors who publish in those genres or subjects. That means they won't know who to send your book to without doing a lot of research. Even more, they may not have a good grasp of your book's potential because they haven't been working in those markets.

Use one of the reputable guides to agents, such as the regularly updated Jeff Herman's Writer's Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents: Who They Are! What They Want! And How to Win Them Over! to find out which ones would be right to approach for your book. Don't waste others’ time (or your own).

5. "Your project does not interest me at this time."

What They Really Mean: You may have had a decent idea for a solid market, but your query letter did not grab the agent's attention or present you and your project in a compelling way. Form letters especially are a big no-no. They say to the agent that you are contacting everyone under the sun rather than targeting your efforts; they lead to embarrassing glitches (such as letters addressed to "Dear Sir," where the recipient is not a sir); and they are hard for you to keep track of. Better to focus your attention on writing a query letter that five or eight agents you've carefully chosen to approach will respond to with enthusiasm.