I received a rejection letter from an agent yesterday, and it was notable for a couple of reasons.
First, it was long and detailed. Not just, “Sorry, not right for us,” but a full page of personalized feedback, both praise (“We were all particularly impressed by…”) and the opposite (“we worry… we felt they lacked… we also had some concerns…”). Good stuff, even if not quite the sort of stuff I’d been hoping for.
The second thing was — and my wife confirmed this for me — the letter smelled. It was scented. Perfumed, I tell you. Not as strong as the cologne strip in a magazine ad, but definitely noticeable.
Maybe all of this agent’s correspondence — or everything from her entire agency — carries this aroma with it. Maybe just the rejections do, to make them go down more easily. Or maybe there’s a hierarchy of smells available to them for marking their letters, and I got one of the more appealing ones.
If that’s the case, I’m just glad I didn’t submit to this agent a few revisions back…
Congratulations on the soon-to-be-published The Day-Glo Brothers! I’m always happy to hear of some new good non-fiction I can entice my students with. You asked about the ‘whys’ of the many boys not reading. I think it’s a combination of many factors, including the ones mentioned in your questions. I see some of my students get discouraged and give up the hunt for good reads. They were not exposed to it before, are expected to get hooked into fiction, which just doesn’t work for some. Positive, reading male role models is also another challenge I see. Thank you for your comments. I appreciate you tackling this issue on a practical level! Best of success with your new book.
Congratulations on the soon-to-be-published The Day-Glo Brothers! I’m always happy to hear of some new good non-fiction I can entice my students with. You asked about the ‘whys’ of the many boys not reading. I think it’s a combination of many factors, including the ones mentioned in your questions. I see some of my students get discouraged and give up the hunt for good reads. They were not exposed to it before, are expected to get hooked into fiction, which just doesn’t work for some. Positive, reading male role models is also another challenge I see. Thank you for your comments. I appreciate you tackling this issue on a practical level! Best of success with your new book.
Congratulations on the soon-to-be-published The Day-Glo Brothers! I’m always happy to hear of some new good non-fiction I can entice my students with. You asked about the ‘whys’ of the many boys not reading. I think it’s a combination of many factors, including the ones mentioned in your questions. I see some of my students get discouraged and give up the hunt for good reads. They were not exposed to it before, are expected to get hooked into fiction, which just doesn’t work for some. Positive, reading male role models is also another challenge I see. Thank you for your comments. I appreciate you tackling this issue on a practical level! Best of success with your new book.
Perfumed rejection letters? What is the world coming to?
Positive feedback on a rejection letter is always a good thing, although it’s a bad feeling to get rejected. Congrats on your new book.
Perfumed rejection letters? What is the world coming to?
Positive feedback on a rejection letter is always a good thing, although it’s a bad feeling to get rejected. Congrats on your new book.
Perfumed rejection letters? What is the world coming to?
Positive feedback on a rejection letter is always a good thing, although it’s a bad feeling to get rejected. Congrats on your new book.