Bad taste (or little point) to query during the epidemic?

Fiender

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Part of me feels it's crass to be querying a project given the times, and my more pragmatic side even wonders if there's a point. Would agents view a query at this time as thoughtless? Or are they just as unable to do their jobs as many other industries? (Unable to network/meet with publishing reps or go to conferences. I've heard some agents network online, even during games of Overwatch, but I don't imagine that's the norm).

I was wondering what other AW's thoughts are on this. I should note, this project doesn't involve an epidemic or any themes relevant to the crisis. Except, perhaps, government incompetence.
 

veinglory

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People who are positioned to continue their business will be taking queries. I see nothing wrong with sending them. Industries and other normal activities need to continue as much as possible consistent with the health recommendations.
 

lizmonster

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I'd be surprised if anybody thought it was in poor taste. Anecdotally, I know a lot of people who are finding work to be a real mental lifesaver right now. Wouldn't surprise me to find many agents feeling the same way.
 

Elle.

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A few agents have already mentioned on Twitter that because of the cancellations of books fair they find themselves with more time to read submissions. A lot of their work is done over the phone and emails so it's pretty much business as usual just done from home.

Just query away!
 

cool pop

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It's not bad taste at all. Things happen in the world all the time but doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your own career or plans. Query away! In fact, this might be the best time because agents might have more reading time especially if they have to hunker down like most of us.

After all, the pandemic hasn't stopped agents from still taking clients and pubs still offering deals.

You never should feel guilty about doing your business or job.
 
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Cephus

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Why would it be in bad taste? People are still working. Agents still need to find clients. They probably have more time to review the slush pile now than ever before.
 

Fiender

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Ah, thanks everyone for responding!
Maybe I just had that feeling because this is my first time living through something like this.
 

hester

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Understandable to feel that way, but I agree with everyone upthread--query away!!! I think agents are probably grateful for the distraction :)
 

Sonya Heaney

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The team at Bookends are openly asking for more queries at the moment. I've seen other agents and editors also begging for people to keep sending them stuff.
 

mccardey

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Same. My agent has sent tweets and emails asking for new stuff (and also gardening advice...)
 

Tepelus

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I guess I need to stop dragging my feet and get this synopsis written so I can start querying. I'm off work because of the virus so I have no excuse not to work on it, I'm just being lazy.
 

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Cheering you all on!
I've seen a lot of agents ask for queries right now. Only one on my feed is saying she's having difficulty reading anything due to distraction. But even if you were to query her, eventually she would read it.

One exception is that I've seen multiple agents ask for authors to avoid sending pandemic novels for now.
 

Gemma007

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Thank you for asking this. I was wondering the same thing. And getting very dejected, thinking what's the point?
Good luck with your querying!
- Gemma007
 

Nina Kaytel

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Since the main theme of my book is treating a feral child (raised in isolation) I have been wondering too if it is an advantage to push out queries or careless. So, thanks for asking.
 

Putputt

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The only reason I would hold off querying is if the book is a set in an apocalypse or post apocalyptic time. I’m seeing Tweets from people asking for escapism, so probably not a great time for a dark apocalypse story. Otherwise, I think agents and editors are still reading, so query away!
 

Cephus

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The only reason I would hold off querying is if the book is a set in an apocalypse or post apocalyptic time. I’m seeing Tweets from people asking for escapism, so probably not a great time for a dark apocalypse story. Otherwise, I think agents and editors are still reading, so query away!

Of course, by the time it would ever be published, nobody will remember this. You're probably looking at a 2-2.5 year lead time for publication.
 

Putputt

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Of course, by the time it would ever be published, nobody will remember this. You're probably looking at a 2-2.5 year lead time for publication.


Yeah, but I’m not sure agents would want that in their inbox right now. I could be wrong!
 

Fiender

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The only reason I would hold off querying is if the book is a set in an apocalypse or post apocalyptic time. I’m seeing Tweets from people asking for escapism, so probably not a great time for a dark apocalypse story. Otherwise, I think agents and editors are still reading, so query away!

This is something that gives me a lot of pause :/ My story is set in a fairly dismal future Earth where the air itself is toxic so people have to live within closed environments and go through airlocks just to get to their cars and drive to work.
 

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This is something that gives me a lot of pause :/ My story is set in a fairly dismal future Earth where the air itself is toxic so people have to live within closed environments and go through airlocks just to get to their cars and drive to work.

Don't pause. You have the book you have. If you got rep tomorrow and sold the book next week, it'd still be 18 months minimum before it saw a bookstore. (And pollution isn't the same thing, imho.) Be proud of your work and go forth.
 

benjj

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I hit the Query Letter trenches three weeks ago. I'm finding the normal reply times (rejects so far) have been cut down from weeks to days, according to the QT timelines. I'm guessing the COVID-19 Lockdown is allowing agents more free time to grind through their query list.
 

Cephus

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Yeah, but I’m not sure agents would want that in their inbox right now. I could be wrong! [/COLOR]

They're in business to make money, not read for comfort. Anything that publishers will buy, they will want to sell them.
 

lizmonster

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They're in business to make money, not read for comfort. Anything that publishers will buy, they will want to sell them.

I'm going to tweak this just a little, because it leaves out one important bit: Anything they love that publishers will buy, they will want to sell them. There's absolutely a subjective component to agenting; many times when agents reject with "not right for me" they mean just that: a perfectly fine book that isn't their cup of tea.

(And I'm in a similar boat as MC, although I got an agent last November: my current MS doesn't involve infectious disease, but it does involve chronic illness, and yeah, I'm a tad worried, even though the ending is optimistic.)
 

Tarley

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My current manuscript DOES involve an epidemic (the Black Death) and was I literally putting the finishing shiny touches on my query and synopsis when this all hit. Now I am at a stand-still. I can't help but think querying this book at this time would be in bad taste, even knowing if I got an agent and if she sold it to a publisher it would years before it was on a store shelf. I don't want to shoot myself in the foot on a (I think) good manuscript by putting it out there now. But then I wonder, how long would an appropriate time to wait after the pandemic...six months, a year, five??

On the other hand, a friend of my suggested to go for it and query because there might be interest in a sort of "what we've been through before" aspect, especially since it does have an optimistic ending.
 
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Woollybear

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Part of me feels it's crass to be querying a project given the times, and my more pragmatic side even wonders if there's a point. Would agents view a query at this time as thoughtless? Or are they just as unable to do their jobs as many other industries? (Unable to network/meet with publishing reps or go to conferences. I've heard some agents network online, even during games of Overwatch, but I don't imagine that's the norm).

I was wondering what other AW's thoughts are on this. I should note, this project doesn't involve an epidemic or any themes relevant to the crisis. Except, perhaps, government incompetence.

(emphasis mine) Here are my thoughts:

Surely agents are as individual as we are?

There are horrific epidemics almost yearly. 2019 saw the worst Dengue epidemic in recorded history. Zika was in 2016, and that one caused brain damage in fetuses. Talk about horrific. Ebola (!!) and measles, that was 2014.

Yes, this one is different, but they're all different, and any agent who would want epidemic type literature to begin with should be up-to-date on all of these ongoing crises.

There will be another epidemic, and another pandemic. I mean, come on. These won't stop. Why would they?

There may well be war before long. Certainly environmental destruction is ongoing. I queried my environmental project anyway, despite each year being warmer, with less ice and higher seas and more carbon in the air. Some agents want to do the responsible thing and promote eco literature. Some agents solicit climate books. Some AWers rightly encouraged me to query despite the climate crisis we witness.

This pandemic doesn't hold a match to what's in store, baby. Go ahead and query.

Those are my thoughts. :)