How To Interpret Agent Rejections (& What To Do Next)

It’s no secret that one of the biggest roadblocks to getting traditionally published is the dreaded literary agent rejection. But to find the right literary agent for you and your story, you have to go through the process of querying various agents—which means you should expect to get a handful of rejections before finding your perfect match. 

But how do you interpret the sometimes vague, sometimes generic rejections you’re getting? What should you do with a literary agent’s feedback?

As someone who has worked with hundreds of authors who have queried literary agents, I’ve seen all kinds of responses—enthusiastic yes’s, personal yet polite rejections, form rejections, and, unfortunately, the dreaded radio silence. 

Through reviewing hundreds of query letters and helping writers turn no’s into yes’s, I’ve come to understand better what even some of the most vague and generic rejection letters mean.

So, in this post, we will look at the three most common rejection scenarios and, more importantly, what you can do in each scenario to take the next steps and keep moving forward with your querying journey.

How To Interpret Agent Rejections (& What To Do Next)

Rejection Scenario #1: You’ve queried agents, but you’re not getting any responses other than radio silence or form rejections.

A form rejection usually comes in response to your initial query and rejects your submission in a few short (and often generic) sentences. It may sound something like this, “I will need to pass on this manuscript at this time. I wish you luck with future submissions.”

It might even be a little longer, something like this: “Thank you so much for writing to me about your project. I read and consider each query carefully, and while yours is not exactly what I am looking for, I would certainly encourage you to keep trying. I know your work is important to you, and I am grateful that you wrote to me.”

If you’re receiving form rejections to your query, this most likely means that your query didn’t pique the agent’s interest enough to take the next steps, whether that be requesting to see sample pages or your full manuscript.

This might sound simple, but many writers take silence or form rejections to mean there’s something wrong with them or their story—and that’s just not true.

So, if you find yourself in this situation, the first thing you should do is review this list of querying mistakes to avoid and determine whether any of these mistakes might be responsible for the rejections you’re receiving.

After that, it’s time to revise your query letter to make it more impactful. Once you’re done, get some outside feedback from a critique partner, developmental editor, or book coach—someone who can help you identify whether critical pieces of your query (like conflict and stakes) are missing.

Now, a small caveat here… Radio silence doesn’t always equal rejection. It can take agents a long time to respond—remember, they get hundreds and hundreds of queries each month! Usually, agents will give an expected turnaround time within their submission guidelines, so make sure to check that out when researching who to query.

Rejection Scenario #2: The agents you’ve queried have asked to see your pages, but then you’re getting radio silence or polite (slightly more personalized) rejections.

A polite rejection is usually a slightly longer email than a form rejection. You may receive this kind of response if the agent previously requested sample pages, a partial manuscript, or even your full manuscript. 

The personal nature of this kind of email comes from the time that the agent and/or their support staff took to read your work—so it should highlight (usually briefly) the reasons why they chose not to take on your manuscript at this time.

If you’ve reached this point, it’s safe to say your query letter works.

Something in your query is making agents ask for a set of sample pages (or your full manuscript), but something in those pages is not living up to their expectations.

What you’ll need to do here is read between the lines of the agent’s feedback and revise your pages before sending out more queries.

If they mention something specific, like that the plot or main character’s journey didn’t grip them, you might need to evaluate what’s at stake in your story—and if those stakes should be higher. 

If the agent liked your opening pages but then the story fell apart, there might be a pacing issue that needs to be addressed. 

If the agent said they had a hard time connecting with the protagonist, you might need to flesh them out more or add interiority to the page.

I recommend starting with your opening pages to see if you’ve made any of these common mistakes. Ideally, your opening pages should:

• Give readers a glimpse at the big picture. Where are things headed?
• Introduce readers to your protagonist right away. Start with their POV.
• Clarify what’s at stake for your protagonist. Why should readers care?
• Open with meaningful action. Why does what’s happening right now matter?
• Show how the plot affects your protagonist (internally and externally).

From there, take a look at the rest of your manuscript to carry through any changes you’ve made in your opening pages. 

Then, once you’ve made all of your revisions, get some outside feedback on your pages from a critique partner, beta readers, a developmental editor, or a book coach. It’s often difficult to see our stories objectively after we’ve spent so much time working on them, so objective feedback is really important.

Now, what happens if you don’t agree with any of the agent feedback you’re receiving? 

Technically, you can do whatever you want with your story because it’s your story. You can keep trying to query it as is, or you can self-publish it if you really don’t want to make any changes. 

But if traditional publishing is your dream—and if you’ve received the same kind of advice or insight from multiple agents—it might be time to take a step back to seriously and objectively consider if that part of your manuscript needs work. 

If you need help, this is where a book coach or developmental editor can be of great assistance.

Rejection Scenario #3: Agents have asked to see your pages, but they respond with personalized and enthusiastic no’s.

If you’re in this situation, congratulations! There’s likely nothing wrong with your pages—you just haven’t found the right agent match for you and your story just yet.

What does a personal and enthusiastic response look like? 

Here are some examples:

• “My colleagues and I read your manuscript but have decided to pass. There’s a lot to like in your story—and I think you will sell this—we just weren’t all in.”

• “I loved your manuscript, but I can’t offer representation at this time. Have you tried reaching out to Agent Name? She’s great and would love a story like this!”
• “It’s so brave of you to write on this topic. You write well, but this is not a 100% match for me—and you want someone who is a 100% match.”

Notice how these types of rejections offer more than a simple form rejection would. These examples indicate that a real person is behind each response (versus a generic note that gets sent to the majority of writers).

So, if you’re getting this kind of personal and enthusiastic “no,” keep querying. The perfect agent is still out there. 

For now, you can feel good about the fact that your query letter and pages are working, but you just haven’t found the perfect fit just yet. Eventually, you will find an agent who loves your book as much as you do.

FAQ: What does a “Revise & Resubmit” (or R&R) mean?

The “Revise & Resubmit” (or R&R as it’s often referred to) is just about the best kind of “no” you can get from a literary agent.

It means you’re almost there—that they’re interested in your story, but your manuscript needs a bit more work before the agent’s willing to offer you representation.

In this scenario, agents will usually give you a bit more context into why they’re saying no—and/or what they’re requesting you revise before resubmitting. 

These requests usually have more to do with the big-picture elements of your story, so whatever you do, don’t do a cursory line edit and resubmit. That’s not what R&R requests are all about.

In fact, if an agent is willing to reconsider your manuscript, they expect to receive—at least a few months later—a second draft that has been overhauled on a content-editing level. 

This might mean character arcs have been revised, the pacing has been tightened, interiority has been added, and so on. It very rarely has anything to do with sentence structure or spelling and grammar.

FAQ: How Do I Know When I Should Stop Querying?

The answer to this question will look different for everyone, but here are some signs that it might be time to stop querying.

You should stop querying if:

• You’re no longer excited about your story
• It’s been longer than 18 months (1.5 years)
• You’ve reached the end of your “dream list” of agents
• You’re not getting any requests (stop and revise)
• You’re tired and feel like taking a break or moving on

Again, the decision to stop querying will look different for every writer—and it’ll depend a lot on their goals, their stamina, and whether or not they have other projects they’re excited about. When in doubt, you can always reach out to a developmental editor or book coach to talk through your options and get a second opinion.

Final Thoughts

So, there you have it—a quick little cheat sheet for interpreting agent rejections! If you need help crafting your submission materials, here are some additional resources:

• How To Write A Query Letter That Gets Requests
• 10 Querying Mistakes And How To Avoid Them
• First 5 Pages Workshop: How To Hook Readers In Your First 5 Pages

I hope these insights help you better understand the rejection letters you’re receiving—and give you a fuller picture of how agents approach the query review process. 

Remember, querying is a marathon, not a sprint. It'll take time, but it'll be worth it in the end to find the right match. Until then, don’t let a literary agent's rejection get you down!