It's not you, it's the publishing business 💼

Today's guest is agent Maggie Cooper.

Getting rejected? It’s just business.

You’ve spent months, maybe even years, polishing your manuscript and perfecting your query letter, only to send it to your carefully selected list of potential agents and receive nothing but rejections. What gives?

It’s hard not to take rejections personally, but it’s crucial to remember that publishing is a business first and foremost — and literary agents have to approach their queries with that in mind.

Agents are not just looking for good writing; they’re evaluating whether they can successfully place the project with a publisher and help it thrive in a competitive marketplace. Even a beautifully written manuscript might get a pass if the agent doesn’t see a clear path forward for it within their list.

A pass on your query is ultimately a business decision.

While rejection is always disheartening, understand that agents must be selective about the books they take on because their business — and income — depends on finding projects that align with their strengths and vision for the market. They don’t just need to fall in love with your project or your voice as an author; they need to feel confident they can sell a book to an editor at a publishing house before they commit to represent it.

Take heart in knowing that an agent’s decision to pass on a manuscript is rarely a reflection of the book’s quality. It’s just the agent making a pragmatic business decision.

In today’s interview, agent Maggie Cooper explains why a rejection doesn’t reflect your project’s worth, how agents balance their passion for books with the demands of the industry, and the key factors they consider when deciding whether or not to offer representation.

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OUR SPECIAL GUEST TODAY IS…

Maggie Cooper

Agent at Aevitas Creative Management

Maggie is open to queries the first week of every month and would love to see your funny + queer, cozy + queer, and weird + queer novels.

What separates a strong, successful query from one that you pass on?

There are lots of great resources out there about how to put together a query letter, think about comps, and polish your first pages, so what I will emphasize here is the fact that there are lots of very well written queries that I pass on simply because they aren't the right fit for my list. I'm not particularly concerned about whether or not a writer personalizes their letter to speak to me specifically — it's always nice if you have read and loved a book I represent or want to mention an author whose work we both adore, but what really excites me is seeing a query for a book that I am excited to read and have a vision for placing with a publisher.

I don't think it's necessary or productive for every writer who queries me to read everything I've ever posted online or go out and read one of my client's books. However, I always recommend that writers thoughtfully select which agents to share their work with — and bear in mind that a pass from one agent doesn't necessarily mean anything about the quality of the project or its prospects in the market at large. There are queries that I pass on for books that I think should absolutely sell and books that I could even see myself picking up as a reader, but if I don't have a clear sense of how I am going to add value to the project or help it find its ideal publishing home, then I'm going to step aside in the knowledge that I'm not the right agent for that writer.

What is one thing you wish emerging authors knew about the publishing industry or the traditional publishing process?

I think this is something that writers know, but perhaps sometimes lose sight of: publishing is a business. Because so many of us are passionate about books, we can forget that at the end of the day, many of the decisions that get made about which books are published and how have to do (alas!) with capitalism, not art. Although I consider myself a creative partner and advocate for my clients, agenting is also my primary job, and I can't take on books if I don't think they are going to help me build a financially sustainable agenting practice.

That doesn't mean that every book needs to be a blockbuster, but it does mean that I have to be extremely strategic about what I work on. Agents don't get paid until our authors get paid, which means that we don't get paid to read queries or edit manuscripts or answer emails — those are all things that agents often will do in the hopes of someday making money, but we're essentially working on spec, which means we have to be very thoughtful about how we're spending our time.

Can you share a client success story or a motivating anecdote for writers who feel may discouraged about publishing?

Almost every publishing success story involves some bumps in the road! I'm particularly proud of one of my writers whose book was on submission for almost nine months before finally landing with the perfect editor — it was a tricky project because it took a slightly unconventional approach to genre, but both the writer and I believed in it so strongly that we kept going until we found an editor who "got it" the same way that we did.

Now, it's going to be one the publisher's lead titles next year, and I can't wait for readers to get their hands on it. I don't think she's the first person to say this, but the wonderful Michelle Brower (of Trellis Literary) taught me that "all it takes is one" — although there are a lot of people involved in publishing a book, often it just takes one agent or editor who believes to launch a book on its journey.

What is one piece of advice you would give to a writer who aspires to be published?

Know your "why"! Publishing a book is a dream for so many of us, but like most things in life, it turns out that it doesn't actually solve all your problems—and in fact, it might create new things for you to worry about. Because of this, I always encourage writers to think about why publishing is important to them and start to develop a realistic set of expectations about what they hope they might get from the experience of putting a book into the world. It's exciting and magical and gives your parents something to brag about at Thanksgiving dinner, but it's also a huge amount of work and can be stressful and nerve-wracking. At the end of the day, it's important to stay connected to what you love about writing, which is the part of the process that you will always have the most control over and the place where the magic really begins.

Especially in the wake of the election, I’ve been thinking a lot about why books matter and why it’s crucial that writers continue to make creative work that helps us to exercise empathy, pushes us to think critically, brings us comfort and delight, and invites us to imagine new worlds. The business of publishing can support all of those goals, but we can’t rely on it to always do that consistently or thoroughly or in the way we might like, so I hope that writers will also create their own opportunities to use writing to connect to each other and the people in their lives, and to make change in their communities. Getting a Big 5 book deal is nice, but I would argue that it’s even more important to find ways to build literary community, be fans of one another’s work, support small presses, go to readings, buy books at our local independent bookstores, and read and write our way towards the kind of world we want to live in.

Approximately how many queries do you receive per year, and how many of those result in an offer of representation?

As of the middle of October, I had received 1,433 queries this year, which doesn't count all the material that came to me via referrals or conferences. I've offered representation to about 5 writers this year, and while that may seem like it makes for a truly horrifying ratio, I think it is a great reminder for writers that so much of finding representation is about finding the right agent for the right fit at the right time.

There have been years where I have signed more clients and there will probably be years when I sign less clients, but my hope is that I am always going to be offering representation only to those writers whose work I am truly passionate about and have a vision for placing—no writer deserves anything less!

(For what it's worth, I would love to sign one or two more wonderful fiction writers in the next few months, so if you think your work is the right fit for me... send me your query!)

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