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I’ve received my share of rejection letters, but this response from a publisher who had asked me to send them a revised manuscript for my newest novel has me a bit puzzled. After I hadn’t heard from them for six months, I asked for a status report. This is the email I received.

“Honestly, we are interested, but just can't make the time in the schedule for it. It wouldn't be fair to you for us to take it knowing that we won't touch it for more than a year.”

I did reply to them and said that I would go ahead and self publish my new thriller and maybe when they could fit it into their schedule, I would be willing to give them the appropriate rights to go ahead and publish my novel.

Now my questions to my fellow authors are: (1) Does their response after looking at my manuscript sound like a “rejection”? (2) Does my reply seem reasonable and might it still keep the door open? –or- (3) Should I just self publish and forget them?

Well, it's sure not an acceptance. I don't see how stating that you will publish the book elsewhere "keeps the door open" for a publishing company. Why not shop it elsewhere?

It seems like a rejection letter to me. They told you politely they aren't interested. Your answer was fine and reasonable. I will try elsewhere in your place.

Good luck with your book!

Sounds like a rejection letter to me. If they were really interested there's no way they'll let it hang for six months. I say go ahead and self publish it and get us to review it for you. Minimize your costs and time.

That is a very positive response. You shouldn't publish it yourself. There are a lot of publishers out there; plus a letter like that could help you land an agent: "see my work is publishable, I just need help finding the right publishers."

Congratulations.

"That is a very positive response"

Boy, if 'No, we are not going to publish you.' is "very positive", I'm left to wonder what a merely "positive" response would be? 'Drop dead.'?

I didn't mention before, but though everyone is calling it a letter, it6's not. it's an e-mail. To me, this also indicates a lack of real interest in that they could not be bothered to send a letter. I don't know - is all correspondence with publishers via e-mail? Sort of cheapens it, in my mind. Heck, even a credit card company will send you a letter.

FNAWrite wrote:"That is a very positive response"

Boy, if 'No, we are not going to publish you.' is "very positive", I'm left to wonder what a merely "positive" response would be? 'Drop dead.'?

I didn't mention before, but though everyone is calling it a letter, it6's not. it's an e-mail. To me, this also indicates a lack of real interest in that they could not be bothered to send a letter. I don't know - is all correspondence with publishers via e-mail? Sort of cheapens it, in my mind. Heck, even a credit card company will send you a letter.

1. Yes, most publishers communicate via email. Welcome to the 21st century.
2. Most rejections letters are obvious form letters that read like this:

Dear Author:

Thank you for your recent submission. After careful consideration, we do not think your submission is a good fit for us. This does not necessarily reflect the quality of your work. We encourage you to continue querying us on your future writing projects. Our doors are always open.

We wish you all the best.

3. The fact that the publisher took time to say some positive and specific about your submission is VERY POSITIVE. I recently had a publisher reject a manuscript but request to see my future work in a personal EMAIL that clearly was not a form letter because it made specific comments on my work, so while they said, "no, we don't want to publish this," the response was still extremely positive.

4. No offense, but it sounds like you need to have thicker skin and a reality check about how difficult it is to get published. Lord of the Flies was rejected 20 times. Most authors can wall paper their entire houses with rejection letters before they break through. The fact that this publisher indicated that they are interested in the work but currently at maximum capacity is VERY POSITIVE. Publishers do not have unlimited means, and if I were you, I'd be extremely polite with them. Out of the thousands upon thousands of submissions that they receive, they saw something in your work that they liked and that is VERY POSITIVE. It's not a book contract, but it's a very good sign. And, like I said, if you put a sentence in a query letter to an agent about this situation, the agent is likely to keep reading, which is at least half the battle.

I don't know, the form letter/e-mail seems just as positive to me. In fact "not a good fit" seems to say a lot more positive than "we haven't got time" to publish your book [because all our time in the publishing business is spent publishing books that we are honestly more interested in than yours is what that says to me].

Would you think this communication mean they are not accepting any new works for the next year or more because they are so busy?

Maybe you should copy and paste the entire notice in a post. It's kind of hard to make a judgment from one sentence. However, I still think that one sentence is positive because the way I understand it, they would publish your book if they weren't already committed to so many projects. It's sort of like a college football team: Once they run out of scholarships, they can't offer you one, no matter how good you are, so they might say something like, we'd really like to offer you a scholarship, but our roster is full.

I may be completely wrong, of course, but it sounds very plausible to me that the publisher really likes your novel but simply cannot schedule any more projects for the time being. Post a copy of the entire email, if you don't mind. But in any case, getting a rejection email is nothing to get down about. Keep plugging away.

“I finished my first book seventy-six years ago. I offered it to every publisher on the English-speaking earth I had ever heard of. Their refusals were unanimous: and it did not get into print until, fifty years later; publishers would publish anything that had my name on it.” ― George Bernard Shaw

Unfortunately, I agree. It's a rejection letter. But more kind then some can be.

ecoman wrote:I’ve received my share of rejection letters, but this response from a publisher who had asked me to send them a revised manuscript for my newest novel has me a bit puzzled. After I hadn’t heard from them for six months, I asked for a status report. This is the email I received.

“Honestly, we are interested, but just can't make the time in the schedule for it. It wouldn't be fair to you for us to take it knowing that we won't touch it for more than a year.”

I did reply to them and said that I would go ahead and self publish my new thriller and maybe when they could fit it into their schedule, I would be willing to give them the appropriate rights to go ahead and publish my novel.

Now my questions to my fellow authors are: (1) Does their response after looking at my manuscript sound like a “rejection”? (2) Does my reply seem reasonable and might it still keep the door open? –or- (3) Should I just self publish and forget them?

Ecoman, What I am reading here is that yes, your novel is good, but we can shelve it. Any business runs on profits. Look at it from the point of view that, if they thought this book was going to break the bank for THEIR company - I am not saying your book is bad Then they would not let it wait. They would grab it with both hands.

So I think it is an easy let down to tell you that your book has publishing potential, but they have many of those they are already currently working on.

Your reply is correct and effecient.

Have you tried other publishers?

I did contact one of the authors who has a novel published by this publisher. She read the same email I quoted for this discussion and here's her reply.

"From working with Keith, I've found him to be direct and a man of his word. I wouldn't take his reply as a rejection. I know Spore Press has a lot on their plate and they've had difficulty finding dedicated staff to make their dream a reality.
If he says they can't make the time in the schedule, I would believe him. I would keep in touch and see how things pan out."

Also; in answer to Artemisia question. Yes, I’ve tried a good number of publishers and received my fair share of rejections. However, since my novel is a biotech thriller, I feel this publisher would be the perfect fit for my book.

Congratulations! I know it's not a contract, but you are well on your way!

robertcjgraves wrote:

FNAWrite wrote:"That is a very positive response"

Boy, if 'No, we are not going to publish you.' is "very positive", I'm left to wonder what a merely "positive" response would be? 'Drop dead.'?

I didn't mention before, but though everyone is calling it a letter, it6's not. it's an e-mail. To me, this also indicates a lack of real interest in that they could not be bothered to send a letter. I don't know - is all correspondence with publishers via e-mail? Sort of cheapens it, in my mind. Heck, even a credit card company will send you a letter.

1. Yes, most publishers communicate via email. Welcome to the 21st century.
2. Most rejections letters are obvious form letters that read like this:

Dear Author:

Thank you for your recent submission. After careful consideration, we do not think your submission is a good fit for us. This does not necessarily reflect the quality of your work. We encourage you to continue querying us on your future writing projects. Our doors are always open.

We wish you all the best.

3. The fact that the publisher took time to say some positive and specific about your submission is VERY POSITIVE. I recently had a publisher reject a manuscript but request to see my future work in a personal EMAIL that clearly was not a form letter because it made specific comments on my work, so while they said, "no, we don't want to publish this," the response was still extremely positive.

4. No offense, but it sounds like you need to have thicker skin and a reality check about how difficult it is to get published. Lord of the Flies was rejected 20 times. Most authors can wall paper their entire houses with rejection letters before they break through. The fact that this publisher indicated that they are interested in the work but currently at maximum capacity is VERY POSITIVE. Publishers do not have unlimited means, and if I were you, I'd be extremely polite with them. Out of the thousands upon thousands of submissions that they receive, they saw something in your work that they liked and that is VERY POSITIVE. It's not a book contract, but it's a very good sign. And, like I said, if you put a sentence in a query letter to an agent about this situation, the agent is likely to keep reading, which is at least half the battle.

Exactly what you said.
In fact, regarding the letters vs email part I would go as far as to say that if a publisher only communicates via snail mail I am inclined to think them backward and put them lower down on my submit to pile.

It's definitely hard to find a publisher that suits your needs and serves the art it represents. Companies are so particular... Anyway... do whatever you need to with this one. If you like this one and he said he needed a year at least, see if you have a chance when the term is up. Patience is NECESSARY if you're going to be a part of the business. Do whatcha gotta! Happy writing!