Barry Knister asked 3 years ago
When robo rejections are identical coming from multiple agencies, and no reference is being made to the submitted manuscript–not even to the title–the queries are not being read. Correct? If you agree, please tell me why agency websites insist that the only queries they don’t reply to are projects they aren’t “a good fit for.” Nonsense. Agencies are using filters to avoid having to open queries. I appreciate being told that an agent is closed to queries, and I also appreciate being told that the only queries of interest must be a referral from a current client, or from someone met at a conference. Unless you can prove me wrong, lots of agencies aren’t leveling with writers, and I don’t understand why.
Chelsea Eberly Staff answered 3 years ago
It’s fair to be frustrated by non-personalized rejections. I’m sure it does feel like agents are not reading the work when they aren’t specific in their replies. While it would be rash for me to speak for all agents–no one person or agency could claim to do that–I do know that in general we all wish that we could respond more fully and in a more timely manner to authors and illustrators. Agents do this job because we love championing and working with creators, not because we enjoy rejecting them. We receive hundreds–often over a thousand–queries each month, so if you put yourself in an agent’s shoes you can imagine why these form rejections came to be. One thing that I can assure you: agents do open and read their queries. We may not have the time to personalize every single response, but we do carefully consider each one. We hear and understand your frustration, but we can assure you that there are no robo-rejections happening and certainly not from Greenhouse agents. I hope this helps ease your concerns.
All best,
Chelsea