The project I started last year is about a pandemic...

Your story line came true!!

The pandemic is all your fault!

Just kidding of course. I say keep writing your novel - maybe change a detail here or there to make it alt-history by the time you publish.

Why would you trunk it? You'll be ahead of anyone who just started with this pandemic hit...

I'd say keep at it. This will be over by the time you finish the novel, go through any editing and revisions, getting an agent, etc.

I don't think there will ever NOT be a market for this type of fiction. How can you use your real-life experiences and observations to give the book more pow? The best books, in my opinion, are those that can say something new about something I thought I already knew about, especially if I can say "I didn't see that at the time, but looking back YEAH! That's exactly how it was" or "I noticed that too but didn't know what to make of it." What can you say about this experience now that you've lived it? How can you give it that pow that will make me as the reader remember it?

I agree with Chris. Remember that what agents are responding to now won't see a bookstore for at least 18 months, and that's if it sells right away. You have some time.

It's not a matter of it being "repulsive" to an agent, although of course agents are subjective about what they like. If they think it's a good book (and they like it themselves ) it's going to be a matter of whether or not they think they can find it a publisher. Pandemic-wise, I think that's a big question mark for everyone right now.

But it's all WAY too far off for you to be worrying about. Write, do it well, don't worry about the rest of the world.

Write the book that came to you to get written, and forget everything else till you get to the words 'THE END'.

I say keep at it.

One thing to consider is that the potential audience for your book is going to be more educated than before.

Example: In January, I started watching a comedy about a pandemic called "Medical Police." Before the pandemic really hit, nothing seemed off about it. But watching an episode recently, I noticed the flaws: no social distancing, no face masks in crowd shots, etc.

Another example from a pandemic movie several years ago, the name I forget: there was a scene where a late night comedy host walked onto his studio and there was no live audience, just empty seats. I remember thinking that the original implication was intended to be OMG everyone's sick and/or dead! But now, I'd just chalk it up to social distancing.

I'm with Brightdreamer on this one. The process from starting a book to getting the book on the shelves takes so long that the people who are just looking around now and saying, "Hey, I should write a pandemic novel" have a pretty small chance of getting it out while it's still "relevant." You've just so happened to luck into writing a book that will probably be a trend for the next year or so. I'd say, full speed ahead before all those other books get written.

Also, yes, I'm sure there are a lot of people looking for light and fluffy escapist reading material right now, but then there are people like me who saw what was unfolding and interrupted the list of books I'd been planning to read in the next month or so to break out The Stand. For everyone who leans away, there are also people leaning in, and I'm sure there are agents that recognize that.