Q&A Thursday

A hardball and a softball

Hi Friends,

Let’s do some questions today!

First, the hardball.

G asks: I have a question for your Substack, which I've absolutely loved reading over the past year! My question pertains to queries, but I'm not sure if I've worded it okay. 

In some query letters and bios, I’ve seen people describe themselves by aspects of their identity, like these made-up examples: a nonbinary Chicana writer, the son of formerly undocumented Filipino immigrants, a disabled writer born in Virginia to an Iranian family, etc.

The characters in my memoir are diverse, including me, who I’d describe as queer, but in a heterosexual relationship; multiply disabled; and multi-ethnic, (though I self-identify as white due to my upbringing). Although I’m open about these in my life, none of this is mentioned in my query because the book’s focus is another topic.

I don’t see a reason to bring up anything about my identity other than to attempt to “score points” for being different and persuade agents to look at my pages. It feels kind of tacky to me. On the other hand, being that I don’t have a book deal and others are using that strategy, maybe I should incorporate something more about me into the query. As you would say: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

What are your thoughts as an agent, and if you’d advise doing this, how would you do so in a tactful way? 

Hi G. I want to thank you for asking this question. I’m sure a lot of people have it and might not be brave enough to ask it, because it touches on sensitive subjects. First, I’m going to answer your question as you asked it and then I’m going to talk about why.

You do not have include anything about your identity in your query letter. Full stop. It’s not required. If it’s not pertinent to your story, then fantastic, no one will miss it. If you think it adds something to the reader’s understanding of your story, then have at it. If it just feels weird to you, don’t do it. That’s it. Including it, however, won’t get you a book deal. This is not a strategy others are using to get a book deal and it is not something, by itself, that will persuade agents to look at your pages. You are making a false equivalence here. In the end, you can do whatever you want. I don’t think there is any more or less tactful way to describe your identity in a query letter than just saying it. I am X. I identify as Y.

But going deeper on this, I’m want to encourage you to stop thinking about this as “scoring points” or a kind of strategy. Someone’s identity does not earn them points and revealing that information is not a strategy to get published. To call it so is insulting to those people who reveal their identities and to the agents reading those queries. I know you didn’t mean it that way. But I don’t look at a querier’s identity and then compare it to my client list and think great! I don’t have one of those yet! and offer them rep. I know it feels like some agents do this, but I swear to you no one is doing that. Are agents looking to bolster the work of writers who have been historically marginalized? Yes. Why? Because they have been historically marginalized and it’s a small, good thing we can do to right some wrongs. No one is getting a book deal based solely on the fact of their identity, and they are not getting yours or anyone else’s book deal. They’re getting their book deal for the book they wrote.