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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40749
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40749
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Very likely a rejection. I have a book written by an agent that interviews dozens of other agents, the bottom line is that agents are looking for a reason to say NO, because they have 50 queries for every query they could afford to take.

I suggest you use a spellchecker, #1, and do not ignore ANY flags.

I suggest you get "grammarly" (just google that word), a package that you can get for free to check basic grammar, and pay some more (but it is far cheaper than hiring a person) for more advanced features. Like suggestions for rearranging sentences to be grammatical. They advertise it as a "Free writing assistant".

Agents **do not like** submissions that need work to read well. They don't mind colloquial English, they won't be deterred by a split infinitive or ending a sentence with a preposition, _especially_ if it is in dialogue (people are not grammatically correct in their speech), but even in prose if it _sounds_ right they will let it slide. But they don't want to do the work, and many are not "editorial" agents willing to do that work, so they reject it.

And usually if you are rejected by an agent, unless she specifically invites you to fix the errors and resubmit, you should not submit the same work to her again. (85% of agents are female, by the way).

Take advantage of what is free out there, or buy a package to help you. The way the agent sees it, when working through her slush pile (queries), she has to reject 98% of them, and the faster she does the quicker she gets to the 2% that looks and sounds great. She has zero incentive to give you the benefit of the doubt, and if you can't even use the **free** tools at your disposal, she will see you as not serious about your writing, and not someone she wants to work with. She is there to make money, and extra work for her means fewer dollars per hour of work for her.

She cannot see your work as having "potential" if she just works with you, because she cannot possibly do that for the other 49 out of 50 queries she is going to reject this week, and has no reason to single **you** out for special treatment.

Get both your spelling and your grammar in order first; for your query, your synopsis, and throughout your book.

Original score: 2