No Coronaqueries

Unless You're Dr. Fauci

Hi Friends,

If you’re feeling, like me, that work is the only normal thing you have these days, you might be gearing up to send queries to agents for your latest book. (Just getting started with your query? Read this.) So you might be thinking things like:

• Editors and agents have so much more time to read now because we’re all at home!

• My book has X thing in it, and that relates EXACTLY to a global pandemic!

• People are going to want to escape into stories, and my book is perfect for that!

(And if you cannot possibly be productive right now, and you have the freedom to not be productive, it’s so very, very ok.)

If you’re thinking those things above, you’re not wrong. Those things could be true about your book. BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT CITE THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC AS THE MARKETING HOOK FOR YOUR BOOK. I mean, when it’s written out like that, it probably makes total sense, right? There are other things that this applies to that feel obvious, like mass shootings and recent, gruesom serial killers, and things like that. (Oh wait, people do that all the time. Hmmmmm.)

But RIGHT NOW and probably until the end of the year, just don’t put the coronavirus or COVID-19 in your query letter, unless you are Dr. Fauci or another world-renowned epidemiologist or something like that. If you’ve already done this, give yourself some grace and take it out of your future queries. You’re not going to get automatically rejected for this, but it’s just in bad taste. And why is that?

• BECAUSE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WILL DIE OF COVID-19. A person you’re querying could have a loved one with it, or a friend on a ventilator, or have it themselves.

• Because any book you’re querying now will not come out for up to two years, and who knows what the world will look like then.

• Because “readers will need more books” is true, but…it’s still going to take two years to get your book out there so the “free time” (lol) we have right now will be long over.

• Because, frankly, we’re all reading hundreds if not thousands of words about Coronavirus a day, and that’s enough.

Again, if you’ve already done this, don’t beat yourself up. You’re not going to get automatically rejected for saying something like “in this time of strife, readers are going to want cozy mysteries to escpe into.” That’s pretty benign, tbh. But also, it misses the mark on being effective reasoning as to why your book is needed in the marketplace and is just wasted space in your query. Say anything else. Almost anything.

Stay safe. STAY HOME. Wash your hands. Take care.

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And welcome new followers! I’m so glad to see you. If you’re just getting started, here’s a quick guide to some of the things I’ve already covered. And starting soon we’re going back to our free on Tuesday/paid on Thursday model, and paying subscribers get access to my famous (sure, why not?) Q&A Thursdays, where you can ask me any question you want, as long as you don’t try to pitch me your book. You can subscribe here. Happy reading!

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OXOXO,

Kate