Not alot of books on my subject

Belle_91

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Hello. First, apologies if I'm in the wrong thread.

I'm currently editing my MS on the US suffragists. I've noticed, however, that there aren't a lot of historical fiction books on these women. It's really concerning me because the 100 anniversary of the ratification of the amendment is coming up in August. Looking at a list of historical fiction books coming out in 2020, I didn't see any on the suffragists/British suffragettes.

I'm really concerned this could spell doom for my MS because no one is buying books in this subject. I thought I had a unique idea, now my fear is that it's too unique. I've also been noticing that agents say they don't want a book in a subject that's been "overdone" (in historical fiction it's usually WWII) but then the NYT bestsellers are WWII books. So I'm confused about how this whole process works.

I was wondering what everyone who have worked with publishers/editors/agents have to say. Perhaps I'm just making a mountain out of a mole hill and borrowing troule (I tend to do that).
 

Girlsgottawrite

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Just keep doing what you're doing. You never really know what publishers want until you try to get your work published. For what it's worth, it sounds like a fairly marketable idea to me, but I'm certainly no expert. Good luck!
 

mrsmig

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Bear in mind is that the books on the bestseller lists right now were probably what publishers/agents/editors were looking for two or three years ago. What you see now is what's on trend. Because it can take months for a book to get from submission to actual publication, publishers/agents/editors are already looking for the next trend.

It would be great if your book was picked up by someone wanting to catch the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment's ratification - but bear in mind that's a mere eight months away. If that's the wave you're trying to catch, you'd better hustle.
 
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Belle_91

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I know that ship has sailed about the anniversary thing. I just assumed others would have taken advantage of it. I was concerned because I didn’t see any coming out for 2020. I thought there would be. I know that even if I were to get an agent today that my piece wouldn’t be ready in August. Hell, from what I understand, even if I had a publishing contract the book wouldn’t be ready to hit the shelves in that span of time.
 
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Atlantic12

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Don't worry about it. Trends come and go. And definitely take most news about trends with a huge grain of salt. WW2 is still going very strong and being bought, for instance, driven largely by women-centered narratives that were rarely told 20+ years ago. Your book has to be excellent above all else. If it is, publishers are likely to take a look no matter the era.