An Agent’s Perspective on Pandemic Publishing
April 2021 Gimme Five: An Agent’s Perspective on Pandemic Publishing
By Jen Collins Moore
Literary agents are the bridge between writers and publishers, able to see the macro trends and also what they mean for individual authors. This month, Alice Speilburg, founder of Speilburg Literary Agency, shares her perspective on publishing one year into the pandemic.
1) Readers are buying a lot of books
Book sales are at their highest point in decades across formats. Publishers have rehired the workers they furloughed last spring, and while some houses have not fully recovered or rehired laid-off employees, most have resumed acquisitions.
This is great news for authors, but not all categories are performing equally. Many readers are seeking out feel-good fiction right now, using their time at home to catch up on their pleasure reading. Others are inspired by the protests this summer and are buying books that relate to the movement. And anything to entertain children at home is selling well.
The mystery category overall is well positioned, Alice says. “It’s a comfort genre, and people are particularly turning to women-centric mysteries. That dovetails with the boom in historical that’s continuing across the board.”
2) Debut authors have taken a hit
Debut authors aren’t benefiting from the same trends. Alice says readers are seeking out the tried and true, and without bookstores in a position to hand-sell a great novel by an unknown author, readers are choosing established favorites over first-time authors.
Everyone’s working on their digital strategies, and Alice says the publishing houses are investing in authors, but without a robust following, it’s been challenging for first-time authors to get widespread attention.
3) Everything is moving slower
Agents and editors are experiencing the same upheaval in their daily lives as the rest of us. Those with children are juggling the chaos of pandemic parenting, and everyone is experiencing the physical and mental effects of the disease in their own lives.
Then there’s the impact of working from home. Editors have been forced to set up Zoom meetings to review books instead of catching up with colleagues in the hall. It’s slowing down the approval process, but Alice thinks the more formal process is also translating to earlier buy-in from all the departments, which will only mean good things for a book once it’s in production.
It’s a process that demands patience. Alice tells her clients to expect to wait four to six months for decisions about books on submission.
Writers querying agents should also expect longer response times. Alice says her inbox is bulging, and she suspects many people stuck at home during the pandemic have had the time to devote to their craft and to complete a manuscript. More queries to read and the pressures of COVID-19 are slowing most agents down.
4) It’s OK to be behind
While some writers say their craft is thriving in lockdown, others are not.
“For many, the mental capacity to think through a book idea isn’t there,” Alice says. “It’s a lot of different things. This is a politically challenging time. There might be health issues. Kid challenges. Sometimes all three.”
And across the board, everyone has been very understanding. Alice has had many clients asking for extensions or needing to put off planned projects. “If you ask for more time, the answer is always ‘of course, of course you should take whatever you need.’”
5) The market is hungry for BIPOC voices
Alice says every editor she works with is prioritizing BIPOC authors. “Editors have been saying they want diverse voices for a long time, but now they’re hearing from sales they want it too.”
This means editors are facing less of a battle to get the go-ahead on the books they want and bigger advances for their authors.
Alice reviews her inbox for BIPOC authors, but is also seeking out writers with diverse backgrounds, reading short stories and magazines and actively introducing herself within these communities.
BONUS TIP: Don’t worry about writing the pandemic into your story
The question comes up in nearly every author conversation: Should I include COVID-19 in a work in progress?
Alice reminds authors it will take two to three years before a book on submission to an agent gets published. “Hopefully the pandemic will be in the rear-view mirror at that point, so don’t worry about putting masks into the manuscript,” Alice says. “Editors say it’s too soon for a COVID-19-centric plot, but subtle reminders of the shifts in our daily lives—whether it’s the home-gyms we invested in or how much takeout we consumed—might work really well.”
Speilburg Literary Agency values an open and collaborative relationship with its authors, and Alice is especially interested in female-driven stories with historical settings, and/or dark atmospheres and themes that border on horror. She is officially closed to submissions, but she welcomes queries from MWA Midwest members using this special link.
Jen Collins Moore is the author of Murder in the Piazza from Level Best Books. Her short fiction has appeared in Masthead: Best New England Crime Stories and Mystery Weekly. She is an officer of Sisters in Crime Chicagoland and editor of the Mystery Writers of America Midwest newsletter.