Well, once again the full manuscript of my novel was returned from a London Agency. This time, however, there were no helpful editorial notes - not even a brief line or two saying why the work was rejected.
At this stage, I'm not too concerned about being rejected. For those of you who don't know, an initial submission to an agent consists of a covering letter, short synopsis ( 4 pages in my case ) and the first three chapters of the novel. The letter should grab the agent's attention, the synopsis should interest them in the story, and the chapters show them whether or not the author can actually write ( somewhat essential in this game ).
So, I know that both of the agents who have requested a full mansuscript so far like the story and like my writing. Therefore, something in the full manuscript must be letting the story down. Having spent the last month and a half reviewing the work, I think I know what that might be, and have begun adjusting the novel to account for some changes that will hopefully rectify the problem. In addition, I have recruited two great-mates ( Pete Dev and Mattior ) to read the novel and let me know if there's anything within that spoils the show and makes an agent say 'no' instead of 'Yes!' They have to believe that they can sell the work to a publisher, and do so without trawling through months of editorial work....
In the mean-time, submissions are going out to eight agencies, in the hopes that one or two might be interested in reading further. It's a shame only in the sense that so much time is spent waiting ( three months per agent on average, from submission to final decision ). Still, I have the sense that I'm close - two hits from major agencies in a row isn't bad going me thinks....
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