A big-time agent from NY wanted to see the completed manuscript for Curse of the Black Swan. He had read the first three chapters and liked what he saw…so he wanted to see the rest. I got his response a few days ago:
Thank you for considering us for potential representation. Your work Curse of the Black Swan has certainly all the elements of an exciting fantasy, and you have created an intriguing and definitely amusing character with Nathaniel. Unfortunately, the intensely competitive market forces our agency to be extremely selective, and we believe your project would be better served by another agency. You should not take this as a negative reflection of your work; we can accept less than one percent of the material we receive.
Sigh. The days of getting anything comforting out of a rejection are long gone.