Aaaargh agent fail :(

[Quillwitch]

Hi @Paul Whybrow and @Marc Joan - thanks for your support. I'm a bit gutted really -- it's almost worse to receive this kind of rejection than a cut n paste form one.
The agent in question does represent historical fiction, but maybe more of the "women's" (hate that term!) sort. Mine's perhaps a bit more...quirky? The agent at CB says she can see Nicola Barker, Alan Garner etc as influences, with a commercial twist. So I wouldn't say it's overly unusual. Here's the quick pitch, to give you an idea:

In some places, the past is never history…
In 1796, conman conjurer Bartholomew Preston arrives in the marsh-ridden town of Ridgemarr, on the trail of a sinister relic that he hopes will make his fortune. Sceptical and self-reliant, his only love is his dead sister, whose clay pipe he treasures. His cynicism is challenged when an Old Magic is seemingly unleashed, stirring up secret lusts, lies and violence, and Bartholomew discovers that the Gods don’t pay their debts in money.
Bay Carter, the fourteen-year-old son of New Age travellers, comes to Ridgemarr in 1987. He’s lonely, unworldly, and desperate for a place to call home. The acquisition of Bartholomew’s clay pipe draws Bay into mysteries of the town’s past and present, and he realises that history isn’t just something you learn at school. As the summer holidays draw to a close, Bay fights for his own kind of independence and finds that — for once — the Gods might just be smiling down on him.

I was thinking about Salt, and maybe Galley Beggar if they have an open window again. I'm going to give it another 6 months on submission (hopefully CB -- or somebody...anybody!!...will have got back to me by then) and, depending on the outcome, change tactics. Grrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaarrrgh

Oh my lordy, I love it!! Love it!! I´d buy it!
But, I think that you could tweak the synopsis to make it better and more appealing. As is, we really can´t tell who the MC is, when /why the time shift. I really, really like the character of Bartholomew, and the shift to Bay kind of throws me off. So, i´m not sure if it´s a YA novel or what kind of novel it is. I don´t know if that helps any.

 

[Richard Sutton]

Lucy, the only thing that comes to mind is that if your own writing is terribly awkward, well then you can always offer agency services... right?

 

[Luciferette]

Lucy, the only thing that comes to mind is that if your own writing is terribly awkward, well then you can always offer agency services... right?

What, poacher turned gamekeeper kinda thing? I like to think I'd be gentle on the huddled literary woss names, but I think agents seem to Go Postal after about the 1 year-query reading mark. Can't blame em, really.
Ps. Funnily enough, had my second rejection yesterday, along the lines of: "you write beautifully, intriguing concept etc but...not for me."
Keep on keepin on *waves optimistic flag*

 

[Richard Sutton]

My favorite rejection was from an agent that's a big deal here in NY. She loved the story and respected the writing but her best friend just got back from Ireland and had written a book set in Co. Mayo so she really couldn't take mine on. It's always somethin', ain't it? I don't pitch around much any more. I had actually had a full read requested from a regional publisher, so I felt pretty good for the first six months I waited to hear from them, then... months later, when I inquired online I found out they had disappeared like a ship in the night, no port of call for forwarding, etc. Oh well...