I’m not saying you should like rejection, but accept it’s going to be part of your journey. Unless you’re the lucky 1% who fluke their way through, you’re going to be rejected. Sometimes the rejections are kind, sometimes they’re harsh. But they will happen.

In fact, you will probably experience the most rejection you’ve ever had in your life. If that’s too scary, maybe now isn’t the right time. Writing is a relaxing hobby with its own rewards. Nobody’s forcing you to query. And if you’re under pressure from friends and family asking “when does your book come out?” tell them to go jump in the lake. (Or, better yet, say that you write for yourself because it helps your mental health.)

I was lucky enough to have a jobbing actor in my writing circle who compared querying to auditioning. The decent actors who can handle rejection are the ones who keep going and eventually get the parts. Actors can’t get every role they audition for, right?

So try to be neutral when you see the inevitable ‘unfortunately’ in your query replies. Think OK, that happened and my MS is not for everyone. And then have a treat and/or send out a revenge query!

I love QueryTracker. I mean love love it, and now I’m experiencing withdrawal symptoms. (I appreciate this is a nice problem to have.) But no matter how much you obsess over the QT timeline, or groom your own spreadsheet, there’s zero you can do to speed things up. Also, I’ve heard that QT only represents up to 30% of queries: the traffic in QT looks overwhelming enough, but when you triple it – ouch. Agents are busy.

And timelines have got even longer during this darn pandemic. I had a full request 6 months after submitting a query! Yes, you can nudge agents if you want to, but this only seems worth it if you have a full or a partial out there.

Everyone says you should work on something new while you’re waiting but honestly, it’s OK if querying is the only writing activity you’re doing. I found the context switching between querying and drafting hard. Give yourself grace, and the agents time.

MY MS is a summertime YA romcom set in a historical park. I remember an agent tweeted that they were after YA romcoms with MCs who have funny summer jobs. I got very excited and queried right away, expecting an instant response. Did she request? No. Even if an agent is asking for your jam, you’re still competing, and if they’re after something super-specific they probably only want to sign one of those. And it may not be you.

The flip side of this is that you CAN query agents who aren't a 100% perfect fit in their MSWL. I had a bunch of unexpected full requests from agents who were open to generic contemporary YA but didn't specify humour or romcoms. (but make sure they rep your genre, obvs)

This one's a toughie. I had more fulls than I'd like to admit rejected with a note like I loved reading this but I'm not sure I can sell it or the YA market is so tight, I wish I could pick this up, but I can't.

It's really sad and sucky, and when this happens get yourself a treat or have a cry or both. Because you've done everything you can. It's not you, it's publishing.

Also, the tides may turn in your direction: I did most of my querying in 2021 when the YA that sold was geared towards fantasy/worldbuilding/etc. but the moment the calendar changed to 2022 suddenly agents were after lighthearted stuff again, and I had two offers within the first two weeks of January.

Some full MS rejections you get will be the I just didn’t fall in love with it type and there’s nothing you can do there. Move on. However, if you have an agent saying that they liked the concept, and that there was one thing that needed improvement, or that the language needs cleaning up - you can ask for an R&R. After all, they liked your book enough to request the full. In the worst-case scenario, all they can do is say no again.

Last autumn a wonderful, supportive agent hit me with some honest feedback in a rejection. My concept and characters were there, but my language could be tighter. I asked if she’d reconsider if I made changes, and guess what, she did! I spent a month mainlining Understanding Show, Don’t Tell, and the MS that came out at the end was much better. And that was the one that got the offers.

Some people like to go straight to known fast responders to test a few different versions of their query and pages. But many fast responders are fast for a reason: they have their finger on the no button and aren’t afraid to use it. If you’re batch querying, maybe try a combination of fast and not-so-speedy to get a fuller picture of how your query is doing. Don’t judge yourself based only on data from the speedy pack.

Hear me out on this one. My MS had a title I absolutely loved (My Summer of Fire) but around a year down the line I realised that yes it was a great title but not for this book — it could be a thriller or horror story, not necessarily a daffy romcom about teens in bustles. So I experimented with a few keywords that were getting traction in my Twitter pitches and came up with another one (My Cottagecore Summer). I don’t feel as much emotional resonance with the new title BUT it was much easier for agents to get a sense of the MS from it.

Also, changing your title means you can create a new product in QueryTracker with a new track record and stats that are more up to date. 😉

Pitch contests and mentorship programmes are lots of fun and the source of many a Twitter drama. But you don’t have to do them! If that’s your bag, great, go for it, but remember the end goal is getting your book published. Winning a mentorship is awesome, but it’s not a guarantee that you’ll get rep in the end. You have limited time and energy: maybe you want to create a really banging query instead? After all, most people get signed from the slush pile (myself included: I blundered through on my own with no mentorship. Got there in the end though!)

What’s even more important than the end goal is your mental health. Querying is tiring and emotional. I rewrote my MS three times and queried over 100 agents before getting an offer. Breaks were part of my process. Step aside and come back when you’re ready. There’s no deadline, no urgency. Be kind to yourself.

One thing that made me feel better throughout the endless rounds of rejections was having friends who understood. I’m lucky enough to be part of a Twitter groupchat and we’re truly there for each other. (🍄 🥰)

Your IRL people may not understand the ups and downs - the elation of a full request, the frustration of a rejection from an agent that was just right. But if you can find your writer squad, they’ll have your back. I honestly could not have stayed querying without my friends.

If you don’t have a writing community already, link up with like-minded people in Manuscript Academy, Scribophile, #writingcommunity and #amquerying on Twitter, or at your local library. It will make all the difference.

I could go on for about another 30 tips but hopefully these are a good start. Good luck querying!