Why Agents Don’t Give Feedback—And Where to Get It Instead

Today’s post is by Allison K Williams (@GuerillaMemoir). Join us on Wednesday, March 20, 2024 for the online class Getting Past the Gatekeepers.


The long, frustrating process of querying seems so one-sided. Most queries receive form rejections with cryptic phrases like “I didn’t connect” or “just not for me,” or fall into the deep valley of No response means no.

Author after author asks on Twitter, in writing groups and workshops—why can’t they just say what’s wrong? Make a checkbox or a copy-paste? At least tell me, is it the writing or the story or what? It would take thirty seconds!

Well, no. Responding with brief-but-helpful feedback to your query takes maybe 10 minutes, after the agent has read the query and enough of your first pages to know the book is not a fit and why, then copy-paste “Sorry I didn’t believe your hero” or “Vampires are over.” But agents get upwards of 200 queries each week. Two thousand minutes a week is 33 hours. When are they supposed to, you know, work?

That’s the first reason agents don’t give feedback: You aren’t their client. They already have contracts with other authors, legally binding agreements in which they promise to spend their time selling books and furthering careers. They have manuscripts to read, revisions letters to write, editors to pitch, non-responsive editors to follow up with (agents get ghosted, too). Many agents are part-time or have another gig. Often, they tackle their inbox at night or on weekends—and after two years without reliable school and/or childcare, those inboxes are fuller than ever.

Another reason not to give feedback: Agents don’t actually know what’s wrong with your book. They only know where they lost interest in the first pages. Maybe they don’t want to spend time with the hero. But if that problem gets solved on page 50, then “Your hero is unlikeable” could send an author into a long and fruitless revision, when the feedback they really needed was “Cut pages 1–49.”

Query feedback could hurt more than it helps. Maybe they sent a form rejection because the writing isn’t ready, the story is terrible and the format is sloppy—but will saying that inspire an author to take a workshop, get a critique partner or form a writing group? Or just crush their desire to keep writing?

Sometimes they’re wrong about the market. What if this agent writes, “Sorry, vampires are over,” and the author shoulders their sadness, tucks away the book, and stops querying? Maybe next week, another agent has a line on a great new vampire series that will totally revitalize the genre, only the author quit before querying them.

Sometimes there’s nothing you can change. “Didn’t connect” can mean “the book is fine, the writing is fine, the story is fine, but it doesn’t make me want to shriek and call you immediately before another agent spots you.” How many books have you picked up in a store and decided they just didn’t grab you enough to buy? Do you owe each author a critique? Agents work for free until the book sells. Your agent must be so excited about your work that she’s happy to invest her time and reputation and take her lumps if the book doesn’t sell.

I hear authors raging that agents who don’t answer queries promptly are “violating every professional norm.” Exactly whose profession would that be? Because I spent ten years as a circus performer, and my “professional norms” include multi-gender full nudity backstage. Violating my professional norm would be noticing that people are naked instead of getting on with your business. But I sure wouldn’t expect to follow that professional norm in your break room, and you’d be pretty freaked out if I did.

Queries are sales emails. There’s not a professional norm in the world that says we must respond thoughtfully to every sales email. As authors, we’re seeking a partnership to sell our carefully crafted product. But an agent’s primary job is to make money for and with their pre-existing relationships. Making new relationships with future income potential is important but secondary.

There is some feedback you can give yourself on your own query and first pages, for free.

  • Does the story begin in the first paragraph? Not backstory, not the hero’s description, not world-building, but the actual dramatic arc. Read the first pages of published books in your genre. How does the first action of the book kick off the quest, whether that’s to get sober or get the magic sword?
  • Is the protagonist established as someone readers want to spend time with? Not just a “save the cat” moment establishing their fundamental humanity, but showing what they’re passionately interested in. People who are interested are interesting. Look at those published first pages again—when do you find out the hero’s personal passion? Check your own first pages. What does your hero care deeply about?
  • Are the “rules” of your book clear? Does the reader know what they’re signing up for from page one? If you’re writing suspense, can you point to the first moment of foreboding? If it’s a mystery, when does the first clue appear? If it’s memoir, your voice, format or structure must tell the reader, take my hand and follow me through this—it’ll be worth your while.

Agents generally don’t give feedback. If you’ve gotten feedback specific to your book, that means they thought there was enough promise that it was worth spending precious time and risking a rude response (believe it or not, it happens!) to help you. Cheer for yourself. Revise, if you think it’s true. Then get back to querying.


Getting Past the Gatekeepers with Allison K Williams and Jane Friedman. $35 class. Wednesday, March 20, 2024. 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern.

Note from Jane: If you enjoyed this post, join us on Wednesday, March 20, 2024 for the online class Getting Past the Gatekeepers.

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David Biddle

This is a great and important post. Also, still, understandably frustrating. That feeling of “I got this!” when we send out a query and partial is uplifting as heck. Then nothing…for months usually. Then “Sorry!” There may not be a better way, though. That initial connection or lack thereof is what the whole game is about. It’s up to us as authors to know what we’ve done is what we want, or to try something new. This game ain’t easy! Special note: I once had an agent say she loved my book, but she needed the following three things if she was going to accept it. I worked those things through. Took me several months, but I did that and while I didn’t feel what she wanted was what I wanted I did what she asked. And it seemed like I did it well. I didn’t hear from her for a good six months so I emailed and she eventually got back to me saying, “Okay. Good job. But I think we should do these other two things here…” That was it for me. Never responded back and realized that if I need an agent’s opinion before signing, I’m probably not ready to submit yet, or they’re not The One.

Last edited 1 year ago by David Biddle
Allison K Williams

It’s such a tricky process – and you’re right, we’ve got to also keep in mind our own goals and taste!

Elizabeth West

I got a critique rejection once, but it was after I’d sent a full manuscript. I was very grateful the agent took the time to do that. The feedback, along with another outside edit, helped me revise it into the best version it could be. I ended up indie publishing the book—it’s got good ratings and I learned a lot from that experience. 😀

Also, the sentence “I spent ten years as a circus performer” sparks all kinds of questions. PLEASE tell me you have a memoir about that!

Allison K Williams

I’m so glad that was positive for you! One day a circus memoir 🙂 I was an aerialist, acrobat and fire-eater!

Maggie Smith

I’m not an agent but as the managing editor of an on-line magazine that publishes original short stories, I’m in the same position as one when I send rejection letters to authors. It’s not uncommon to be asked for feedback on what they should change. Mine’s a volunteer position and the decision to accept or not is not mine alone but that of 3 other editors as well. There simply is not enough time to give helpful feedback to the stories we turn down. And when I sometimes break down and do so, I often get either excuses or arguments back which makes me leery of doing it in the future. When it’s a no, accept it and move on. However, I do think agents should respond one way or the other, so authors know the submission did go through and have closure. Total silence is where I think the “unprofessional” complaints stem from.

Allison K Williams

I agree!!

Mary Ann

Oh, yes! I also edit a magazine. When I first started and was all starry-eyed, I offered kind feedback. I soon realized it was a rare thing for a writer to welcome it and that feedback more often generated explanations or arguments, so I stopped doing it. I also find that more people than you can imagine don’t follow the most basic submission requirements–or they send follow-up emails to say something to the effect of “I made an error in my submission, please toss that one, and replace it with this one.” Even rejections often generate more email. I have always imagined that agents deal with these same sorts of issues only at a much greater volume. I can totally understand why they don’t supply feedback or even reply–although I have wondered if they couldn’t benefit from some better submission tracking system/software that would help them reply to the nays.

Leslie

As an agent, I can also say that having to sift through dozens of queries a day, I’ve started rejecting the ones that don’t follow the guidelines, which are posted on the website AND my query page. If an author can’t follow directions, I don’t want to put in the time and promote them to a publisher who’ll wonder why I sent them an author who doesn’t follow directions.

Submitting the work to the specifications (what and how to submit it) is important, but so is making sure the work is a fit to what the agent represents. I can’t tell you how many submissions I get in which the author says it’s a romance when it’s not. Just because a book has a romance in it, doesn’t make it a romance. Writers should consider that submitting their work to an agent that doesn’t represent the genre is a waste of the writer’s time because that agent doesn’t have the connections the book needs. Don’t try to submit your work as something it’s not.

When I have dozens of queries to go through, I’m often having the pick the best of the bunch. So a story might be good, but maybe not as good as the other four or five I’ve requested a full-MS on.

Allison K Williams

Yep. The ability to follow directions is a good sign for a future working relationship!

Margaret

Well, I never ran off to join the circus, but maybe I should’ve! It’s more interesting than I thought! Lmao. I’ve been reluctant to approach an agent just because I hate not knowing WHY. WHY don’t you want me?!!! It’s like throwing my life’s work to the wind to see where it sticks. More like gum on the bottom on an agent’s shoe. Scrape it off and move on. Nothing’s ever easy and that’s the truth. I don’t encouraged after reading this article, but neither am I discouraged. It’s better to know, and now I know WHY.

Tara Solomon

Great points, with a delivery that doesn’t mess around! THANK YOU for the sage intel.

Steven

Good points, all.
Also, my experience has been that it often invites trouble when I offer feedback.
Either the writer gets angry and wants to argue with me endlessly; or
They love me and expect an ongoing mentoring relationship; or
They assume that I’m inviting them to revise and resubmit (which I rarely do), which only invites another expectation of free advice.