What if Editors Don't Want <*Your Kind of Book*> Anymore? Part Deux

Hey friends,

Last week, we talked about the "chilling effect" the Trump Administration was having on kids book sales, especially books by marginalized authors, and hopefully what I had to say buoyed some spirits out there. You should definitely read Laura B. McGrath's take over on text Crunch, and see how she crunched some numbers available from Publishers Marketplace, and feel equally as buoyed. (I can't wait for her forthcoming book about literary agents!) This past weekend, I spoke at the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) annual conference in New York, and this topic came up there, too. But not only about books by marginalized creators. Readers' tastes ebb and flow and many different factors, political or not, affect the book market. So what happens when publishing doesn't want your whole genre anymore?

Sales of middle grade books, those for readers roughly 8-12, have been slipping for years. Here's an article about it from 2024. Here's another about how publishers are trying their hardest to right the ship. The reasons for declining sales are manifold. Readers in this age bracket were just starting school and learning to read when the pandemic hit, and that has impacted literacy rates. Kids across the board are struggling with reading stamina (aren't we all?) if not also reading fluency and comprehension. Barnes & Noble changed some ordering policies regarding hard cover middle grade books (which is the format that earns everyone the most money) and retailers across the board are making more modest initial orders due to <gestures at the state of the world.> Book bans have weakened library and institutional sales of kids books. All of this isn't great!

But what, as someone asked me this weekend at the conference, is a middle grade author to do? Keep writing? Keep querying? Shelve their until things improve? Try to write a romantasy? (Adult romantasy that is. There's little to no romance in middle grade.) What do you do if all you're hearing in publishing circles is that your genre is "tough," "slow," or <gulp> "dead?"

Be prepared to hear conflicting news. You're going to talk to one person who says I just sold a middle grade novel last week! and another who says I would definitely get out of middle grade right now and both of those things will be true. There isn't a single statement that could apply to a whole genre. Middle grade graphic novels are doing pretty well. Middle grade contemporary novels are not. The more people you talk to, the more confused you're going to get–if what you're looking for is a single phrase to sum up everything. Keep talking to people. Gather what intel you can. Just make sure you're not just fishing around until someone tells you what you want to hear. No one's got THE answer because there isn't just one answer.

What you should do with your book depends on you, not the market. Writers ask me should I stop querying? Should I give up on this manuscript? Should I not send to agents who might reject me now and wait until things improve? Should I even try? And the answer is ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. First of all, no one who hasn't read your book, walked your query journey with you, and who isn't an established publishing professional can tell you if you should stop trying to get your book published. (And even then ask three agents and you'll get two answers.) I get asked this question a lot, and there is just no way for me to know without being very, very familiar with your project. This is a question you can ask your agent, not just any agent. And before you have that agent, you're on your own.

But this is ok. Agents don't have crystal balls. We don't know if sending out your book now means your meant-to-be editor will have to reject it for market reasons, but if we waited a year, they'd say yes. No one in the universe can tell you that. Even if middle grade was going gangbusters right now, I couldn't tell you if we should send it out today or in six months to get the most money. We can only tell those sorts of things in hindsight and by then, it's too late. Don't ask what you should do with your book, but instead what you want to do with your book. Duh, Kate, we want our books published!!! Yes, I know, I know. But is it important your book is published now because it's done now, or could it wait? Would waiting be detrimental to your career, besides it be frustrating, unfulfilling, annoying, and disappointing? Can you write another book? Can this middle grade novel be your second book? I know it's hard to wait and I know everything takes a long time. But it's your book. Sometimes you get to make the call. You won't know how it will turn out, but neither do we.

Remember publishing is a long game. I know things look bleak now, but as I said last week, agents and editors are looking for books that we'll publish in 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030 and beyond. We have to deal with what's going on now, but we all know it won't be this way forever. It's possible that the book you just finished isn't right for 2027's market, but it'll be perfect for 2031's. It's possible the book you shelved five years ago is exactly what someone is looking for tomorrow. This doesn't mean you should throw every book you've ever written at all the literary agents at once, but try to remember that the order you've written something doesn't necessarily dictate its publication order (except a series etc etc). The first book I queried an agent with will be my second published book. The fifth full-length manuscript I wrote became my first published book. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Sometimes you never know how it's going to shake out. But if you let one hurdle stop you, you'll never get a chance to cross the second one.

You're allowed to try. Even if everyone is saying X genre is dead right now, you're allowed to send out your book in that genre. It might be harder than it would have been at another time, but honestly, you'll never know. And I understand that writers are worried that if they send out their book and it gets rejected by every agent because of the market, then they won't be able to send it out again when the market comes back. I mean, that's true. You should not resend a query to an agent who has passed on your work unless they specifically invite you to. But which is better: an agent who sees your worth and wants to try and sell your book even when the market is tough? Or an agent jumping on a trend bandwagon when the market for your genre turns? Struggle is not more noble in and of itself. But also, I'm not a trend-chasing agent. It's true that I am more reluctant to take on middle grade novels right now. But if I see a query I love and I think the manuscript is just flat out amazing? I'll be in the market for that book anytime.

It takes a lot of courage to make your own decision about your own book. Remember when Twilight was the biggest thing in YA? After that trend eclipsed (ha ha), it was pretty tough to sell a vampire romance in adult or YA for a good long while. But you know what one of the hottest genres is, for adult or YA? Romantasy, which is romance + fantasy. Yes, including vampires. Twilight came out in 2005. Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Thorn and Roses came out in 2015, and was first published as YA. Someone probably told Maas that paranormal romance was over. Millions of readers, and her publishers, are glad she didn't listen.

I give you official permission to try something hard. The worst thing that will happen is that it won't get published, which is true all the time anyway. I give you official permission to take a time out and try something new. I give you permission to make a decision for yourself, even if you don't know what's going to happen. There is no way for anyone to know what's going to happen anyway ever! Our books are not predestined. The rest is still unwritten.

Join me next week for an online query letter seminar, hosted by McNally Jackson Booksellers. Register now and you could have your query letter critiqued live! (I am extra nice when it's live, I promise.)

Take care. Call your reps. Demand action against ICE, against INVADING GREENLAND for crissake, for releasing the Epstein files.

XOXOXOXO,
Kate