The different reasons for rejections
In my previous two posts I talked about how to write a strong cover letter and how to write a strong synopsis, using my own cover letter and synopsis for my teen novel, The Reinvention of Rolo Rawlings as examples. In this post I wanted to share what happened to The Reinvention of Rolo Rawlings after it got shortlisted in The Bath Children’s Novel Award 2017, found me a wonderful agent, underwent a few rounds of edits and then got sent out on submission in 2018.
My agent sent it out to 24 publishers, and I’ve shared the feedback I received below. I haven’t included which publisher said what, as I didn’t feel that would be fair on them, and anyway, it’s irrelevant. My reason for sharing these responses is because I know it will be helpful to anyone who’s querying agents or out on submission to publishers for the first time.
Not every publisher provided feedback, and some publishers didn’t respond. A few editors loved Rolo enough to take it to acquisitions meetings, where it didn’t clinch a big enough vote of confidence from other members of the publishing team.
When Rolo finally reached the end of the road, I was pretty bereft. This wasn’t my first attempt to write a novel, but my seventh. It was by far the strongest manuscript I’d ever written and if I couldn’t get this one in the back of the net, would I ever be able to? However, I received enough positive feedback and encouragement from publishers (which I really appreciated) to crack on with writing something new – and to head in more of a middle grade direction than teen/YA (at least for a while), as they felt my writing would lend itself well to that age group and that’s where the market was strongest. Soon I hope to be able to share with you the journey of that next manuscript, Clementine Florentine. But for now, I hope you find reassurance in the responses below, as they demonstrate just how different the reasons for rejection can be – and why you should keep persevering.
(FYI, the character of Rolo is 14. His older sister, Lacey, who he hates with a passion, is 16. And herpetology is the study of reptiles and amphibians.)
Rejections for Rolo:
Thanks for sending us Rolo Rawlings. I did enjoy his herpetology-related woes (and will be looking for opportunities to use herpetology in a sentence) but unfortunately I think its tone is a bit old for our list, so sadly I don’t think this one is for us.
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Thanks so much for sending The Reinvention of Rolo Rawlings. However, after much consideration, we've decided it's not quite right for our current list. The writing is great and we enjoyed reading it, but the voice is a little too young for us.
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I finished this over the weekend and it really is very funny – I also had a lump in my throat during the talent show. Tasha has Rolo's voice perfectly and that self-deprecating and often quite dark humour is spot on. In particular, I loved the family dynamic and that Mum, Lacey and Jim in particular, were really well portrayed.
I think structurally, it could do with quite a bit of work, pulling some of the plot points forward. It felt as though a lot of big reveals came at the end without the proper time to consider them – particularly Mattie's sexuality and her presence at the old mill on the day of the accident. I thought her blossoming friendship with Rolo was done really well – some of those awkward moments were fantastic – but somehow a lot of the action was seen so much through his lens, that I didn't feel as though those bigger issues were dealt with as sensitively or comprehensively as they perhaps could have been.
So I'm afraid it's going to be a reluctant no from us, because Tasha really can write. I think ultimately, the plot suffered in favour of Rolo's observational humour and although it really did make me chuckle out loud on several occasions, to stop it from feeling too domestic, the characters do need a little injection of additional drama. Really sorry to disappoint and I'll look forward to seeing where you place it.
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Thanks for the nudge about this one. I have really enjoyed reading – there’s some fantastic humour here and Tasha has a great spark to her writing. I’m afraid though that I didn't think it always quite hit the mark in the way that you’d want for a funny book like this, and for that reason it’s a bit of a reluctant no from me, I’m sorry to say. Do wish you a good home for it!
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I’m just writing to let you know that we’ve decided not to offer for THE REINVENTION OF ROLO RAWLINGS by Tasha Harrison. There are some lovely and wry observations of the world from Rolo and I particularly enjoyed the great teenage boy banter but in the end there just wasn’t quite enough spark in there to keep us fully engaged in the actual story. Thanks again for submitting to us and I hope we find something to work on together soon.
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I’ve now had a chance to read The Reinvention of Rolo Rawlings and it was such fun, I really enjoyed the voice that Tasha brought to the story through her writing. Sadly though I felt it read a little too young for us as we’re focussing on the more upper end of YA, stories that have cross-over potential with Indies and Amazon and this one wouldn’t be able to do that. So sorry that it’s not better news, I did really enjoy this and Rolo is certainly a character to be reckoned with.
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Thanks so much for sending Tasha and ROLO. From our brief meeting at Bath, I thought she was absolutely lovely – and no doubt she’ll be a brilliant author to work with. I’m just not sure how we could make the novel stand out in a crowded area. It’s well-written, with an engaging voice – but the idea is quiet. So sadly, not one for us. Really do hope you find an editor who disagrees, and best of luck to Tasha from us.
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Thanks for your patience while we’ve been considering ROLO. It’s been a very interesting one to consider and I can understand why you love it. Rolo is such an appealing lead character and I think we all came away feeling charmed by him. I’m afraid to say though that in the end we came to the difficult decision to pass this time.
We talked about Tasha’s decision of where to age Rolo and to sit in the space between middle grade and YA, and it’s great to have thought this through so much. That said, we agreed that to find the right book to work in this space is a difficult task, from the uphill battle to position in-house to the challenge of selling in to retailers. To do this, we’d have to find the book we’re all incredibly passionate about and, while everyone enjoyed Rolo, I don’t think there was the requisite passion to make it work. Sorry not to have better news. It’s clear that Tasha has great writing ability and I’d look forward to seeing her next book.
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I’m going to pass on this one. It was very funny, great observational humour and a fab central character in Rolo. But I think it sits a little close to the XXX series by XXX and the XXX books by XXX, already on our list. I hope you find a good home for Rolo and for Tasha – it really did make me laugh and I thought the whodunit was nicely handled!
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I’m so sorry for the delay in coming back to you on this. I’ve been really going back and forth on my feelings about this one because I think Tasha has a great voice but something isn’t quite clicking for me with the story as it stands.
I think that the opening few chapters are great – an all-out war between a geeky younger brother and cool older sister definitely has legs as a premise. But all the additional layers don’t always feel aligned in terms of the age-range, and I found myself wanting to strip the story back, rather than having quite so much packed in.
I will completely understand if you have some interest in the manuscript as it stands, but I’ve been starting to mull over whether she might have more potential aiming her writing at a slightly younger audience… Do you know if her heart is completely set on this particular story? Or whether she might have other ideas tucked up her sleeve?
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This one has me really torn! Tasha’s writing is brilliant – funny, personal and emotive all at the same time. It’s a brilliant combination. We’re tightening our YA list even more than before and whilst I loved Rolo – I didn’t feel his story was quite the right shape for the few gaps we have on the list. Saying that, if Tasha writes anything else, I would love to read it. Even her biog is really funny! Sorry not to be able to offer this time around.
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Basically, I think the humour and the writing and the style is all there – it’s wonderful, it made me belly-laugh and left me feeling very satisfied with life. BUT, I think it was just too domestic for the market at the moment – at a time when we’ve struggled to get XXX and XXX books off the ground for this age group, I just couldn’t see how we’d sell it. And I wanted so much to be able to.
So my feedback is that if this doesn’t by some miracle get snapped up, but Tasha decides to write something else with a bigger set up, I’d absolutely LOVE to see it. I think she’s great and thank you for sending it to me!
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Many thanks for sending over this one. I really enjoyed it – some of the family scenes and sibling scenes were so funny. I asked X to read it too and on balance we’ve decided this isn’t one for us. I can’t help feeling that it’s just a bit too wordy to feel quite right as a boy’s voice and then we couldn’t quite decide where it would sit comfortably in the market. I’m sorry, as I say, I did enjoy it.
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Apologies for the delay on this. I don’t think this is one for us. This tween area is a difficult age-group to be publishing into and whilst I liked the voice I didn’t think it was quite funny enough.