Querying a pandemic-related novel

jadeheavens

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Hi everyone, I saw a thread here earlier about general querying during these times, but I'd like to ask specifically about pandemic-related projects.

I've seen a lot of posts and articles discouraging authors from querying or even writing novels about the pandemic. Unfortunately, my WIP is set after the pandemic in a hypothetical future, but it's meant to be a literary coming-of-age story rather than anything apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic. It is not dark in tone or theme, but the protagonist does deal with likely post-pandemic issues such as increased xenophobia and a tougher job market.

What I've read on social media and online articles, however, makes me afraid that projects like mine might be dismissed in the current market. I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts on how (or whether) to proceed with such a project, or if anyone else is struggling with similar questions.

For some additional context, I queried 10 agents a couple weeks ago (admittedly too early; I've since gone through more revisions and am planning to seek more feedback before trying again). I received three form rejections and one very nice personalized rejection from an agent who liked the premise and setting but didn't love the first 5 pages. I'm hoping that means that my post-pandemic setting isn't a fatal flaw if I revise the story itself more, but it's not a huge sample size. I'd love to hear people's thoughts before I drive myself crazy wondering if this novel is even worth querying or working on anymore. Thank you everyone!
 

Fiender

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The general wisdom is, don't try to write to the market. Meaning, don't try to chase trends or avoid unpopular genres. You write what you want to write. Even if you got an agent tomorrow and everything went smooth with you finding a publisher, your book wouldn't hit shelves for a year or more. The issue of the pandemic will (HOPEFULLY) not be so raw and biting within a year or two. Things in this industry tend to go slowly.

That said, many agents right now aren't looking for stories that strike too close to home with current issued (at least, with the pandemic). More so now than ever, check the agent's twitters, their websites, every resource you can find, and see what sort of stories they are looking for.
 

Cephus

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If you're going to chase a trend, remember that trends peter out quickly and even if you had it done today and had an agent today and signed a publishing contract today, your book isn't going to hit store shelves for 18-24 months, by which point it might not be a trending topic anymore. That could be good or bad because it might not bother people by then, but it could still be a hot-topic issue and people may not want to read it at all. Publishers tend to be rather conservative, they don't want to take the chance that, when your book gets released, it's going to fail miserably, just because of the subject matter. This may not be the time to try to get a book like that published. Luckily, things change constantly an in another couple of years, it may be no problem. Keep writing.
 

jadeheavens

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Thanks for the responses! To clarify, I wasn't trying to chase a trend with my WIP; I just thought the pandemic could provide an interesting premise through which to explore themes I found interesting, which I won't go into here. I knew going into it that it takes years for a book to hit the shelves, so I didn't have any delusions about the book coming out in time to catch current trends. It was only as I was thinking about querying that I realized it might come off that way and that agents might not want anything to do with the pandemic right now, however tangential it is to the actual plot and themes. So it's helpful to get an idea of the general disposition, and I'll think about the suggestion to wait a while. Would love further thoughts and comments on this!