The 100 Rejections Rule for Querying Authors

Those of you who know @briaquinlan know she's all sorts of smart. When I need advice, I shoot her an email, and she always takes the time to respond. She's just that sort of friend. A cheerleader. A truth-speaker. Encourager extraordinaire.

One of the best pieces of querying advice she ever gave me was The 100 Rejections Rule.

After my first five rejections, I was certain it was time to throw in the towel. My query must be crap. My book was obviously crap. My writing? Crap. And there wasn't one agent out there who wanted to claim me.

I was ready to give up on my novel, my writing career, my dream.

Because I was Just. That. Bad.

Several of my writing friends (who've all been there before), encouraged me to keep going. Some were gentle when they urged me to send out the next query. They sympathized. They coddled. Others took the No Nonsense Approach: "Rejected? Great! Now send your next query. NOW."

And through it all, Bria's practical advice stuck with me. It may not be for everyone, but it was exactly what I needed to weather the emotional storm. Now I find myself giving the same advice to my friends who are querying:

Don't even THINK about giving up on your novel until you've gotten 100 rejections. 

Bria even sent me a chart to fill out aptly named the Rejection Hit List. Each time I sent a query, I'd input the agent's name and the date into a box on the chart. When they rejected me, I'd cross that box off. I wasn't allowed to complain about rejections or stop querying my novel until I had all 100 boxes crossed out.

One. Hundred.

Not only did this put my query journey in a realistic perspective, but I no longer had an excuse to wallow in my own misery for weeks on end. I could just look at the chart and see I had a long way to go. No time to wallow -- there's work to do!

If you think 100 sounds like too many, think again.

C.S. Lewis collected over 800 rejections before he sold a book. 

Still not convinced it's a long, hard, rejection-filled journey? Take a look at these 50 Iconic Writers Who Were Repeatedly Rejected. Many of these authors faced rejection numbers well above 100.

100 is sooooo not an unrealistic goal.

For me, the "winning" number was 20. Yours might be 8, or maybe 42, or maybe 99. Whatever it is, it's a success.

I tweaked my query each time I sent it out, and even ended up scrapping it near the end and rewriting it. That final query was the one. I no longer received form rejections. I got requests. Then phone calls. Then offers.

You don't have to send the same query 100 times. Feel free to change it up and keep making it better. Take a query writing course like the one my good friend, CJ, teaches. Keep working. Keep making it better until you're getting requests left and right.

And if you hit the 100 mark, then, and only then, start to re-evaluate your novel. Maybe it will be time to write a different one. Maybe it will be time to query another novel you've written. Maybe it will be time to breathe new life into the first one.

Whatever the case, believe me, you'll have insight and a better game plan after 100 rejections.

So? What are you waiting for? Go forth and get rejected!