Pitching to Agents who want Marginalized Characters

Nuwanda · Dec 8, 2016

I've noticed, along with everyone else, that the big desire for agents right now are stories with people of color/marginalized/strong female voice/etc. Which is great! Which is wonderful! Here's the rub for me. The series that I'm pitching right now has a main character that is a white man...BUT the female lead is a black woman (also the MC's niece if that helps...). The struggles she faces and how he handles them are a major contributing factor to the plot and their relationship in the SECOND book but not so much in the first. The second book's plot deals with him solving a murder that sparked a BLM protest and he has to make the decision to come forward with the truth or to keep it to himself for the sake of the movement. But again, that's the second book. (I have been told by a few people that I should put book one on the back burner and pitch the second book first instead.)

Right now I'm just pitching book one as a paranormal military noir and I mention that it is the first in a series. Since the first book is about my MC overcoming PTSD, I'm not sure there's room in the query to talk about my POC characters/leading lady, without muddling the query and getting into the subplots.

So should I not bother with mentioning the POC since I'm only pitching the first book? Should I mention it at the end of the query? Or in the synopsis?

Thanks for your time!

Laurasaurus · Dec 9, 2016

I've seen a couple of agents tweeting lately that they're confused by queries that state the book is own voices or marginalised characters, etc but don't mention how it is.

So, all I was going to add was if you do mention it, make sure you describe how the book is so.

Old Hack · Dec 9, 2016

If your book's MC was a marginalised character you could query it as a book which stars a marginalised character.

However, as your marginalised character is only a supporting character in your book, presenting this book as a showcase for marginalised characters seems somewhat ironic to me.

Nuwanda · Dec 9, 2016

I'm totally there with you on the irony, Old Hack. But it never hurts to ask...

Niiicola · Dec 9, 2016

I would probably not label this as a diverse book if it's not the main character. Let the book stand on its own, and if they're excited for diverse characters and they like your POC character, that's great. If the book is good, they'll be interested in it without it being sold as a *diverse* book. I also agree with Old Hack, though it's hard to say for sure without having read the book.

DongerNeedFood · Dec 10, 2016

Agent desires are always shifting. After a flood of marginalised character books, we will see agents asking for something else.

mayqueen · Dec 11, 2016

DongerNeedFood said:
Agent desires are always shifting. After a flood of marginalised character books, we will see agents asking for something else.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by this. Calls for increased diversity isn't about chasing trends. But perhaps I'm not reading this correctly.

Thedrellum · Dec 13, 2016

I'm not sure there's another way to read it. And diversity definitely isn't a trend.

Cyia · Dec 13, 2016

Nuwanda said:
a main character that is a white man...BUT the female lead is a black woman (also the MC's niece if that helps...). The struggles she faces and how he handles them

The highlighted areas are why you're not writing a "diverse" story. You're filtering HER struggles through HIS eyes. Why? If it's her story, then she should be the MC. If it's his story, and she's a part of it, then you're writing your basic white male MC.

Katrina S. Forest · Dec 13, 2016

Cyia said:
The highlighted areas are why you're not writing a "diverse" story. You're filtering HER struggles through HIS eyes. Why? If it's her story, then she should be the MC. If it's his story, and she's a part of it, then you're writing your basic white male MC.

I've got to second this. If I asked for book recommendations with strong female protagonists and someone handed me a book with a male protagonist but a strong female sidekick, I might still like it, but that isn't what I asked for.

If the book has dual POVs and we see her story as much as his, I think that might be a different thing.

Just my two cents.

DongerNeedFood · Dec 13, 2016

mayqueen said:
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by this. Calls for increased diversity isn't about chasing trends. But perhaps I'm not reading this correctly.

I was being cynical of the publishing industry.

Aggy B. · Dec 13, 2016

A little puzzled here. Aren't folks with PTSD also frequently marginalized? There may be areas of your book that are intersectional - your MC may not be marginalized in certain areas/aspects (i.e. white, male, abled, etc), but may have struggles in other areas (mental health, PTSD, etc) that will echo the struggles/issues faced by your secondary character.

Just a thought.

Pitching to Agents who want Marginalized Characters

Nuwanda

Laurasaurus

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

Nuwanda

Niiicola

Twitchy

DongerNeedFood

mayqueen

practical experience, FTW

Thedrellum

Grr. Argh.

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny

Katrina S. Forest

DongerNeedFood

Aggy B.

Not as sweet as you think