Hello again, sequelers. Nothing’s been going well for the last couple of months. I’ll provide an update on how the sequel itself is progressing next time, but in my last update I was about to launch into sending “query letters” to agents, which really means an email that asks the agent if they’d like to find a publisher for you and your book. It’s been going very slowly, not least because I’ve found it very hard to make myself do it. I’d rather be daydreaming and writing stories, not pitching Parallel Lines. However, I know that if there’s one thing I want to do even less, it’s doing the marketing myself, which is why I need a literary agent. I passionately want to get Parallel Lines out there into the world for readers to enjoy and think about.
However, whether any UK literary agent wants a “historical queer romance” is a different matter. The most time-consuming part of looking for agents is finding LGBT-friendly ones. I’ve only found three so far (explicitly soliciting LGBT+ authors not just LGBT+ books) and then discovered that none of them are currently accepting submissions. There’s a larger number (I’ve found eight or nine so far) who say they are actively seeking authors from under-represented backgrounds; here I mainly emphasise my working-class roots, since bisexuals are a very misunderstood marginalised group – which is also exactly why I’m passionate about writing bisexual stories. But I have a nagging suspicion that those agents would prefer mainstream commercial novels from authors from under-represented backgrounds, not novels about under-represented groups. I’ve yet to find any agent who even mentions bisexuals.
Every agency has slightly different requirements for author queries, which is another reason it’s been going slowly. Some have a page limit for the query letter and synopsis, others have a word limit; some want a one-line pitch, others want a paragraph, and so on. I suppose that not following the instructions precisely is one method agencies can use to winnow the heap of submissions. In addition, I’ve read lots of advice for writers about how to perfect your query letter, much of it from real agents, and much of it directly contradictory. I also had some good feedback from my writers’ group. So editing and re-editing my query letter and synopsis has been time-consuming too, though the more different versions I have, the faster it should go as it will be less of a cold start.
And actually, all this refining and honing of my pitch has been the most valuable part of the whole difficult process. By being forced to look at my novel in many different ways to highlight different aspects, like a jeweller holding a gem up to the light and looking at its different facets, I’ve had to think about exactly what it is I’ve produced, and I’ve come to understand much better how readers will read and understand it. And that’s a valuable skill, not just for selling Parallel Lines but for guiding the writing of its sequel, if indeed my current work in progress remains a sequel. But more of that next time.
Query progress for Parallel Lines to date:
Agents queried: 4 / timed out with no answer: 1 / rejected: 1 / active: 2
Planning to query soon: 6 / promising but currently closed to submissions: 4
Perhaps I am an optimist; I would pick up a book that was about a bisexual character for sure. The rarity is what might catch my interest. In my (non-expert!) eyes that seems like a selling point and even straight agents might like that. Hats off to you for sending it out, even slowly. I'm thinking always of James Baldwin's quote about endurance being the most important quality of a writer. Keep at it!
Good luck with this. I guess the right straight agent might be good although hard to tell.