>Dear anon, in regards to your manuscript, after careful consideration

>>9085180
>after careful consideration
After dumping it on that retarded intern who can't even make coffee.

>>9085180
They just don't get it...

reminder that [respected author] was rejected [X] times

Can I have some stories of sending your work? I'm pretty young and I never sent anything and I'm curious.
Is this >tfw nobody gets my book meme popular?

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Share your pain, fellow hacks

>>9086283
That's a relatively considerate and encouraging note. The reader is probably new to the job.

>>9086285

Sophie Lambert from Conville and Walsh

Shit I was surprised she was so nice as well

>Write a semi-autobiographical novel
>in refusing it the publisher refuses you

hmmm...

>>9086286
Women are emotional as always.

>>9086287
Have you tried adding the part where the publisher refuses you into the novel and sending it to them again?

>>9085180
whats wrong with that donkey

>>9086369
too much donkey hot tea

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>tfw study computer science at top 10
>ive actually had job offers before without actually applying

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Let's keep this shame train rolling

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>>9086373

underrated post

>rejected by email
Sucks to be you. I have like 20 physical rejection slips around here somewhere.

>>9086670
>Physical reminders of you mediocrity
How do you even live?

>>9086283
lmao

>>9086283
DOUBLE THE LENGTH OF MANY NOVELS

>Forgot to change my name on the query letter to Adewale Gutierrez-Fukuhara (preferred pronouns: xe, xir, xim)
>Get rejected

>>9086848

Do you really want to be known, or even famous as Adewale Gutierrez-Fukuhara (preferred pronouns: xe, xir, xim)?

>>9086283
>double the length of many novels

novellas maybe

>>9086975
>double the length of many novellas

novelettes maybe

>>9086283
>double the length of many novels
kek wtf

Why make such an arbitrary comment? There are many novels over 600 pages long, many novels less than 300 pages.

This is the kind of shit that discourages me from seeking out an agent once i have something publishable.

Why would i spend years of my life writing something until I finally feel like it is at least an appreciable work of substance, just to hand it to a fucking hack like this?

>just so you know I only like to read YA novels no longer than 200 pages in length

yeah im mad

>>9086641
>>9086283

>I'm paid for this job but this matter is completely subjective
That's the most painful part for me. Rather have them saying it's not good enough

>>9087172
You're autistic. Of course there are many novels 600 pages long, and less then 300 pages. She's talking about the average novel you imbecile, the type that you see in bookstores and the type which her firm published many of.

>spend years of my life writing something until I finally feel like it is at least an appreciable work of substance

It isn't, especially if you haven't been published before. You don't know what good means at this point and nobody is going to read 600 pages of the mediocre garbage you produced.
Shorter works are much easier to write, easier on the editor and will most likely sell. You will never produce anything publishable if you keep up your current attitude, there haven't been a single published writer who started with a 1000+ page book as his debut.

>>9087172
>Why make such an arbitrary comment?
Because publishing, vile though this may sound, is a business. Not every reader is a /lit/-browsing fetishist for doorstoppers and it's highly likely that 600 pages from an unpublished novelist is overburdened with bloat (not to mention a riskier investment for any publisher). Something like 80,000-90,000 words is an industry "standard" and thus more palatable for any agent or publisher to handle.

Just be mature about writing. There's the creative aspect to it but there's also this professional aspect where you have to be reasonable and know that foisting your 1,000 page "masterpiece" upon an agent (as a literal who author) will not yield dividends.

>>9086975
>>9087041
>>9087172
>>9087202
>>9087208

I'm the 170k fucking loser. It was a hard lesson to learn. In total it amounted to just over 400 pages, which I considered an acceptable length for a debut novel. Unfortunately not. The thing is after I received that feedback I returned to it and found a lot more shit to remove, quite a few purple passages and superfluous tangents, and got it down to 135k, approx 350 pages. I've still been rejected thus far, and don't imagine this first novel will ever see the light of day, but when I receive feedback it makes a big difference.

My latest novel, which I'll soon be submitting, is 95k.

>>9086971
>pretend to be oppressed WOC minority for fame
>never come to in person meetings, say you're a recluse/some bullshit
>give vague, Stirner-like sketches of yourself if asked for authorial photos
>have the press hype up your work as empowering to minorities, a triumph blah blah blah
>after acclaim and money come to you, expose yourself to the world, have it be a social experiment/performance art/deep commentary on society
> get sued
Perfect plan

>>9087309
In what kind of 6-point subscript are you imagining 385 words per page?

The industry standard rough calculation is 200 per page. 400 pages = 80,000 words.

>>9087172

http://misssnark.blogspot.com/2006/10/people-who-think-they-are-exception-to.html

The process is also known as "growing up."

>>9086348
Have you tried adding the part where the publisher accepts you and gives you a blow job into the novel and sending it to them again?

>>9087531

Courier New, size 10, 1.5 spaced. About 400 words per page.

>>9087531
Maybe he writes entirely in one-syllable words. This is why the amount of characters is a better indicator of length than words.

>>9087611
>>9087622
Or, he has mis-matched manuscript page count for finished book word count, which leads me to wonder both, how many 8.5 X 11" novels I have ever seen on a store shelf, and gee, why have all these agents and editors and publishers who make their living pushing wood been using the wrong metric all this time?

Anyone else want to share their rejection/feedback?

>>9087309
Just keep a copy of the 135k work around so that--after you've made a name for yourself--it can be published posthumously and possibly even made into a movie

>>9086673
I've done better since. I was just a kid sending out an unfinished MS to random publishing houses, I did well to get responses at all.

>>9085180
Funny, this is eerily similar to all of my job applications.

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Fuck it, one more. Someone else should really contribute a rejection though.

>>9088044
a near miss is pretty good though, right?

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>my manuscript in attachment
>actually it's all typed

>>9088066
it is most likely an automated response desu

>always have trouble with being too short
I'm gonna make it lads

>>9086282
>send in manuscript to several publishers
>all send back copypasta rejection letters

>>9087202
>there haven't been a single published writer who started with a 1000+ page book as his debut

William Gaddis

>>9087531
The industry standard is 250-300. For longer books they obviously go to the higher end, so let's say 300 for 177k guy. That's a 600 page doorstopper, but not unprecedented. Definitely not happening for a first novel, though.

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this thread is interesting to me as an outsider.

desu, the only contemporary authors I read are already somewhat notorious
how bad is the market for completely unknown non-YA novelists?

>>9088312
it's the same as it has always been for books without a wide appeal

>>9088312
>how bad is the market for completely unknown non-YA novelists?

YA? No fucking problem

Anything else? lmao don't even bother

>>9088312
YA is what sells so YA is what gets published

You think some autistic ramblings about living in a basement and why society sucks shit and the reason why you can't get a gf is gonna sell?

>>9088380
well, I imagine there's some middle ground between those two options

>>9088312
HOLY SHIT when he reaches the top... Damn.

>>9088380
yes, if you viral it on 4chan

>>9088413
Literary fiction simply doesn't sell, and therefore, doesn't get published. The culture has moved on without it.

>>9086283
sophie seems like a sweetheart

>>9088432
Genre fiction and literary fiction is a fake division anyway

>>9087172
>the publishing industry has to go bankrupt trying to shill my big long shits that nobody wants

>>9088439
Everything is a "fake division" if you look at it that way. What utter rubbish.

There's a huge difference between literary fiction and genre fiction. You'd have to be stupid to conflate the two. There are some that blur the lines, but in general it's a good distinction to make.

>>9088432
and the only thing self-publishing is good for is smut.

podcasts are the future though.

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>>9085180

>>9088472
Damn anon they got you

>>9088472
Are you sure you sent the email to the right address m8?

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Contributin'

>>9088694
>I wish you best luck in placing this elsewhere.

Now that's just sadistic.

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>mfw friend who is a complete drug addict was able to put three poetry books regarding his father in the stores

>>9088694
Oww, terse!

I've got a handwritten rejection slip from the 1990s that just says, "No for us, sorry."

>>9088730
>>9088736
I think he/she secretly disliked it. It was a short story, and it read like a night terror.

I wish I had the rejection I received at sixteen. All it said was that I had a command of the English language but that I lacked structure. I haven't tried again, I'm 23 now.

>>9088452
Pseud alert.

Literary fiction is itself a genre. Self-styled "highbrow" novels are deliberately written as candidates for literary prizes, catering to fashionable bourgeois tastes of the day. Ultimately it's all about making money.

>>9088757
>This kills anons hopes and dreams

>>9088756
I don't think it was a very secret dislike with the wording like "best luck in place it elsewhere (in your ass)".

>>9088757
>lacks structure
Not a criticism. Joyce lacked structure.
>but he's not Joyce
Not an argument.

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>>9088781
>tfw it actually went in the Google Drive trash bin

>>9088766
It was really dumb. The plot was the writings of a man who was struck by lightning while riding an elevated train. The strike gave him the ability to see into the future but only mundane things. The short story was letters to a correspondent where he rambled about skateboards and cell phones. It was dumb.

>>9088823
Oops mean to respond to >>9088800

>>9088432

The great big 177k thing I wrote was an attempt at a lit fiction bildungsroman. You see my problem. I'd attempt a shitty YA novel but right now I just can't swallow that bitter pill and I'm still trying to write something meaningful. Fuck me, I guess.

>>9086283
>>9087668

I feel you anon. My opus started at 180k (down to about 165k at last count). Spent months locating my perfect agent. She asked for my full less than twenty minutes after sending my query. Called it "fascinating and beautifully written and spookily up [her] alley." Promised me she would finish it and get back to me soon. Then radio silence for three months, and now zero response to a nudge email.

Tfw when I say I'd take a rejection at this point over no further explanation. Tfw next six queries get form rejections.

you guys should take classes and stop taking shits all over the world of writing

>>9088472
Thank you for your time, sir. I do appreciate you considering it. If there is anything I can do to make it more palatable please let me know. I can stop in anytime if you're available. Let me know! I appreciate your valued feedback.

Lmao my dad submitted a poem once and they mailed it back crumpled up.

Now he works in conservation and likes it, gets to be outside

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the grammar and punctuation she's referring to is due to the story using a lot of texts

I don't get why they even bother when they're just going to spit out something meaningless like this

Just don't give feedback at all at that point

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>We regret to inform you that we must reject you for publication, again.

>>9088694
jesus christ I looked up Black Treacle and the stuff they published in their (now dead) magazine was utter garbage

>>9089892
Do you happen to be Slavic?

>>9089670

Give her a nudge, I think if she asked for a full manuscript you've earned the right to get back in touch.

>>9090220

Thanks, but I did. At four months from ms. submission (and two from her interim email). No response. I'll nudge her again at some point, but ignoring me can't be a good sign.

>>9087358
It'd be more like:
>pretend to be oppressed WOC minority
>still rejected
>tfw no more boogeymen to blame

>>9088044
>that run-on sentence
How are these people allowed to be the literary gatekeepers?

>>9090703

That sucks man. I wish you the best of luck with it anyway, you're a step further along the way than most of us at least. I'm hoping to convert the promising rejections into a few full ms requests with my next novel, but yeah, here's to hoping!

>>9090063
No, why?

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I've got a couple.

This one was my first time submitting anything anywhere. The kind words from their slush readers were a real boost to the old self-esteem, but I wish they'd given me a clearer reason for ultimately choosing to reject it.

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>>9090764
This one was a lot more in-line with the usual form rejection you see. Their comments about my transitions are salient and valid - it's something I constantly have to work on.

When I submitted both of these I knew there was still room for improvement in them. To the others who have submitted and been rejected: Did you truly believe that the work you sent in was your best work?

>>9090770

177k here - each time I've submitted I felt that it was my best, most complete work. Unfortunately, perspectives change. After being told my book was too long I returned to it and wondered what the hell I was thinking. Cue my final, massive edit. No wonder the agent felt my 'quirky, appealing' style wasn't strong enough - it was marred by either purple or unnecessary passages.

Your first rejection was really good. I'm sure you've kept going and only improved in the meantime.

>>9089670
Maybe she died.
She was your one shot anon, and she just had to go ahead and die.