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Literary Agents Reject ‘Election 2016: The Novel’

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Thanks for sending your work for my consideration. Unfortunately, this novel didn’t resonate with me. The villain character is too cartoonish. I don’t buy that someone would actually be this despicable. But even if you taper his shortcomings, he would still need a motivation for being so loathsome. Perhaps a trauma from his past? Maybe he was held hostage by foreign agents and that might explain his animosity towards all those different groups? Speaking of which, this would work better if his hostility was directed at just one particular minority, as it’s hard to keep track of all the calumny. In any event, I’m passing. Wishing you luck placing it elsewhere.

You lost me with the “bus tape” revelation. It all happens before the novel begins, and we don’t get to see it unfold. Not to be snarky, but in literature we have a rule called “show, don’t tell.” You might consider taking a writing course because this isn’t ready for submission. It’s a no from me.

The protagonist’s past, and all the various claims against her, are so convoluted that no reader would be able to follow the story. Why so many accusations spanning as many years? When you brought the email motif in yet again, in the penultimate chapter, I was frankly exasperated. I think you’re trying to make a broader point about misogyny, but it gets lost in the puzzling web of her history and it’s really quite distracting. Didn’t work for me. There are many other agents out there and I wish you the best of luck finding one to champion your work.

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