Form Query: 4/17/2021
ER: 4/19/2021

I really appreciate the fast turnaround, and she was polite and encouraging in her rejection email.

FormQ: 03/28/21 Historical speculative fiction. 77k
Form Rejection April 12

EQ: 4/8/21
ER: 4/12/21

128k Historical Fantasy

Form Sub April 2
Form Rejection April 6
136K Adult Alt-History

Form query 3/29/21
1493k

Adult Romance

#PitMad request

Form submission: 3/4/2021
75k LGBTQ+ Gothic romance

Form Query - 2/10
Form Rejection - 3/1

I think the thing that irks me about form rejections is how impersonal and blunt they are. I know it's impossible for agents to respond personally to every query, but there has to be a middle ground between a personal rejection and the "I'm not the right agent" forms that writers get, which is so generalized it's impossible to figure out what to fix/where to go next.

EQ 2/26/2021
ER 3/1/2021
Form: Unfortunately, I don't think I'm the right agent for this project, so I will have to pass.
Adult sci fi 117k

Form rejection w/in hours of a 40+ page nonfxn proposal required in lieu of fxn sample.
@whiteGardenia and @ mawidmaier– Couldn't agree more with you two, and this agent isn't alone. I find problems across the board w querying, going back as far as 2012. Here's my 2 cents.
Among the pet peeves I'd add to those expressed and something Query Tracker might address immediately: try defining more of the fxn terms like narrative nonfxn, creative nonfxn, historical this, historical that, etc. pointing out the differences among each. While standardization isn't the goal, clear communication IS. Too many agents demand clear, effective writing from us while being obtuse, contradictory, and even misleading in their terms. The latter happens when agents, and the industry, say, refuse to spell out that"memoirs are only accepted from celebs, existing clients, or other insiders, etc."If an agent really wants non-celeb memoirs, tell us whether we should write the entire ms, a proposal, or both.

Re "contradictory," agents should try to update #mswl, QT, Agent Tracker, etc. wishes as soon as their needs, whims, etc.change.

And for goodness sakes, if requiring a form, spell out exactly what a "synopsis," "chapter outline," "blurb," etc. means to you. QT and MFA programs should take the lead and insist that the industry start using these terms more responsibly.

Final 'plaint: if forms are the new normal, don't make us reformat our samples, proposals, queries after pasting. Spacing, centering, etc all require writers' time. We're as busy as agents oftentimes.

EQ: 2/24/21
ER: 2/25/21

95k Adult Historical Adventure

EQ -- Adult Fantasy

EQ -- form 1/30/21 Thriller/Romance 107K
ER 2/17/2021 Form letter response

Amanda Jain. Multicultural 80K. "Unfortunately, I don't think I'm the right agent for this project, so I will have to pass."

Query (form): 2/9/2021
Full request: 2/10/2021

80K Historical Fiction

@mawidmaier, I'm with you. What is so frustrating, is that with most agents' form rejections, you really don't have a clue as to WHY they are rejecting your query. Is the genre? Are they saturated with certain genres (like the ones we are submitting) and only looking for a specific one for their list? Is the wordcount too high? Is the query boring/ineffective? Wish there was another "check box" on QueryManager for the sake of the writer with a clue as to the reason for the rejection. Furthermore, for this particular agent, her last 3 requests have been for SciFi and Horror. If that is what she's looking for right now, I guess submitting my Historical Romance was a waste of time...