The Darkest and Most Intelligent Age of Its Genre. And Not Short, Either.

[realityanalyst]

I got a rejection letter from an agent today. This is not a particularly uncommon occurrence; what is uncommon is that the agent was good enough to tell me two major reasons why she rejected my story

Comments

[alias_amy]

I went to an agent panel and it was interesting to hear one of them say that one of the common misconceptions about agents is that you should use them when you have something that's "hard to sell". The agent's point is that they can only manage a small number of clients, and so they don't have the time to take on anyone that's not going to be easy to sell. If anything they are like a boutique personal shopper -- they have a client (publisher) in mind, they know that client's specific tastes, and they are seeking that specific niche that might be less mainstream but is still very tightly confined in the space they know

[realityanalyst]

I was grateful that she bothered to send feedback, just very surprised at what the feedback was. I have added a line in my query mentioning that it is frequently light and humorous despite the darkish themes. I'm nearly out of agents to query in any case -- I suppose I'll try publishers next. I don't want to self-publish.

But in any case, that's all very good to know; thank you.

[goldvermilion87]

My question would be how/why is it dark. Because I would only accept that Harry Potter is dark in a limited sense, and as it gets darker, it moves into Young Adult anyway. And I wouldn't call Ella Enchanted dark at all. I'd call Percy Jackson dark in a limited sense. But there are other kinds of dark that would be creepier.

(Middle grade fantasy not my thing, obviously, because I know nothing of the other books you mentioned.)

[realityanalyst]

Come to think of it, I think Ella Enchanted might be young adult. But in any case -- it's a girl who is enslaved by a curse which forces her to do horrible things and strips her of her self-control and possibility of happiness.

In the first Harry Potter book, a baby's parents are murdered by an evil dark wizard who is trying to murder Harry. He grows up with emotionally abusive relatives and is then whirled away to a school where one of the teachers attempts to kill him multiple times. When he gets past deadly traps meant for grown-ups, he undergoes torturous pain and has to kill his attacker to survive.

Very dark themes indeed. Now, they're definitely readable -- and readable because of the feeling of hope in the narrative and the pervasive humor.

(Maybe I should insert a line about humorousness in my query letter? Hmm.)

[goldvermilion87]

I guess that's what I'm getting at -- In Harry Potter there is death, and we know Crucio is horrible, but it's so much humor and goofy kid interactions, that I wouldn't call the books dark. I think there are intimations of something darker at the beginning (see the cruciatus curse) and then a dramatic turn in the final chapter of The Goblet of Fire, but by that point Harry is 14 -- a 9th grader if he were in America -- which is moving into Young Adult.

(Though I guess that I'm coming from my interpretation of the series as geared toward whatever age group Harry fits into at the moment. I have no idea if this is the usual interpretation or not?)

[realityanalyst]

Okay, I suppose -- by "dark" I mainly meant "deals with dark issues" more than "makes you sorry you're alive because the world is horrible." (I do NOT like books like that, coughCasualVacancycough.) I think I've clarified that in my query now -- hopefully, it's not too late.

[lilybelladonna]

First of all, I still maintain that your book is darker than you think it is. :P I also still maintain that I like how dark it is.

Have you sent a query letter to the agent/publisher who handles Suzanne Collins's work? Her series "Gregor the Overlander" is as dark as your book in some of the same ways, and it was published before "The Hunger Games" (i.e. before she gained such a degree of popularity that she, like others on your list, could probably write a book on the history of microscopes and get it published as middle-grade fantasy.) It's worth a shot, anyway.

[realityanalyst]

I have now. The agency wasn't on my list before because of the way I did my search.

Is it that dark? I suppose in some places. But I made a real effort to include funny bits.