As part of the The Modern Guide to Querying Literary Agents we interviewed agents and asked them to select the top reasons they reject queries. 144 agents responded to this question. This is what they said:

The Top Reasons Agents Reject Queries

(from chapter 6 of
The Modern Guide to Querying Literary Agents)
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Here are some of the most common reasons queries are rejected, ranked from most common to least:

  1. Poor writing quality
  2. Uninteresting plot description
  3. Wrong genre or age category
  4. Unprofessional tone or attitude
  5. Problematic length
  6. Boring opening
  7. Incorrect formatting or missing information
Full description and solutions available inside our book, The Modern Guide to Querying Literary Agents

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