"Stepping Aside" in the Query Trenches

How agents reject you with a tricky turn of phrase

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

In the publishing world, it’s called the “query trenches,” a place where the only sounds are the tap-tap-tap of your keyboard and the echo of an empty email inbox.

Between the crush of the “not right for my list” agent rejections and the Miss Manners level rules of agent etiquette, the query trenches can throw writers for a loop, me included.

Still, I’m weirdly fascinated with my rejections, often picking them apart to see what makes them tick. Mine fall into three categories: the impersonal form letter, the personalized let down, and the mostly positive, yet still “couldn’t connect with it” refusal.

What intrigues me most, though, is when the agent offers to “step aside.” It’s a brilliant rejection device. That little phrase transforms something they’re doing to me—rejecting my blood, sweat and tears manuscript, into something they’re doing for me—sacrificing themselves for my greater good.

They’re not, of course, but it makes it sound like they are. Saying “no” while keeping hope alive for a better champion at another agency. It’s a genius phrase.

Is this me rationalizing by focusing on the how of my rejections than my actual rejections? Probably. But we writers are always examining words to maximize their impact. We shouldn’t expect any less from those who hope to represent us.

Now, since there are other articles out there you’re probably dying to read, I’m going to step aside.