I'm curious as to whether you should send the same agencies that rejected your work say a year or a few months ago your new or other work...is this pushy?

One agent was kind enough to tell me what his honest opinion was of the novel and he also mentioned something about its structure which was really helpful and surprising. he also said if i had anything else he'd would be happy to look at it but now I'm not so sure it just seems like a waste of time...

Oh and Colm-M I kept some of my rejection slips too, toughens you up i think.

I've still got my very first rejection slip, from 1984 when I was thirteen, from Penguin Books saying my A5 book, bound in cardboard, wasn't quite what they were looking for in their Fighting Fantasy books.

I was convinced it was going to make me rich. I had plans to drive into school on a brand new motorbike.

Colin M

he also said if i had anything else he'd would be happy to look at it

this is a good, good sign. Send them something, even if it's a short story.

Ava,

I agree with Colin-M. If an agent says something that positive, you can take it at face value, because they don't do that unless they mean it. In fact, I think I read some advice to that effect somewhere (possibly in the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook), but I can't find the reference right now.


Alex

Ava, they're right, that's a very positive sign - doesn't happen to many submissions - and well worth following up once you've got something worth sending.

Emma

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Opinions on this issue vary, (there's the strike while the iron's hot argument) but personally, I wouldn't just dig something out from my bottom drawer, but wait until I had something I honestly felt was even better than the thing they've just turned down.

Really? I thought he was just being polite! I was a bit bummed at his rejection (although I'm used to it) so I wasnt really up for another "oh yeah....sorry not my thing" type email from the same agent. I have considered it but my first novel is still being edited (on this very helpful website as a matter of fact)so it wouldnt be ready for another few weeks anyway. But I wouldnt have thought it was a positive sign, thats quite uplifting actually...kind of a miniscule step forward!

By the way, its really coincidental that you thought you were going to be rich and famous Colin-M, I imagined the exact same thing! I sent my first manuscript off at 14 and 1/2 years old, unedited with no margin and received it back three days later...I cried.

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"I’d certainly be pleased to see any other full length proposals you might generate in the future."

This is the exact sentence this agent used and I kept the email because of the comments he made.

It was actually my second novel that I sent off to this agent which I thought was much better than the first...my balloon was thoroughly burst.