5 Reasons Agents Reject Good Queries

Kip your chin up! Agents reject good queries all the time, and for a host of different reasons. Here are five common ones…

1. They have a book like yours or they've encountered something similar before (so make sure you state precisely why your book is original).

2. They don't "see the vision" because your book summary leans too much on generalities and not enough on specific details (this applies to your market positioning too).

3. They "didn't fall in love"—they felt a strong emotional connection to the subject matter but not to the telling of it.

4. The pitch was great but the sample didn't deliver (maybe there’s too much backstory or ordinary action, or the language could use simplifying for clarity).

5. The pitch has strong comparable titles but doesn't state how the book stands out from them (as creatures of comparison, agents want to know why your book is similar but different).