THE ONE THAT WAS TREATED LIKE A DIVERSITY CHECKMARK
Category/genre: Historical Fiction
My sub-story started in the querying trenches, like everyone else. I queried two-hundred plus literary agents over the course of a year, and finally signed with one who seemed promising. They had started a fledgling agency, and tooted diversity in publishing—they are still tooting this image, and sadly I think people believe them.
The genre of my book is historical fiction, about a respected historical figure, and—in my opinion—my target audience would be looking for as much of the truth as possible, while understanding that due to this figure’s limited history, blanks would need to be filled in. I worked through three wildly varied revisions to my draft—which were essentially entire rewrites proposed by my agent. And that would have been fine, except for the fact that ideas from this agent were haphazardly tossed around without much thought or regard. It made me question how much care was being directed to the narrative of this historical figure, versus the sales their story might help generate.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I understand publishing is a business and sales matter, but it is also a creative business, so meaningful stories matter as well. One of the suggested rewrites had me change the main character’s sexuality 'so it would be appealing to publishers'. This should have been a red flag to me, because this agent lacked the cultural sensitivity to actually read about the character, and understand them. When I let my agent know this, they simply said 'there is room to change stories around in historical fiction.' And maybe that’s true in some cases—each writer approaches their subject matter in their own way—but I was striving to tell history as accurately as possible. Ultimately, my agent understood my desire to stick to actual history where possible. We did, however, modify the genre from adult to YA (at their request). At first I was confused by the switch, but they explained the larger readership with YA, and therefore, the larger opportunity for success. They also communicated that the story read more like a YA.
I was about done with that revision when my agent suddenly emailed me to say they could not represent me any longer. I asked if there was a reason, or financial trouble with the agency, and was told ‘no, they were simply downsizing their client list’.
What’s strange is that I felt like an unshelved trophy.
Now, let me rewind as to why I felt this way. About one to two months before they 'unshelved' me, they had me connect with a new client. This client was also a marginalized woman like me, except that she wrote in a different category. After speaking with the new author, I remembered a sweeping feeling of, perhaps my literary agent will replace 'marginalized woman number 1' (me) with 'marginalized woman number 2' (new author). I couldn't place my finger on why I had this feeling, but it stemmed from an inherent distrust of non-diverse owned agencies zealously proclaiming a desire for diverse authors, while being completely culturally unaware.
Either way, when we parted ways, I kept it professional, because I'd heard the publishing industry can be brutal to those who are known to be 'troublemaker' authors—even if the trouble is valid. I re-entered the querying trenches, and this time I contacted independent publishers as well, since I’d had a challenging first agent relationship. Luckily, my book was now YA, so that opened a whole new door of agent and publisher opportunities. I received an offer from one of the publishers and a new agent almost simultaneously. I signed with the new agent and have been with her since. She is well known in the industry, and although she is not as responsive as the initial agent, she is more candid. I trust her. I much prefer to have that, than to be a diversity checkmark on someone’s list.
My new agent and I discussed the existing publisher’s offer, and agreed to send one set of submissions to big five publishers/imprints first. She contacted twelve, and after one month, asked if I’d like to go through a round two, or move forward with the interested publisher I’d found. This agent—who represents multiple award-winning authors—gave me a choice, even though it was not the most profitable one for her. That is what I pictured in an agent. Someone who would actually advocate for me and my wants and needs.
My decision thereafter was two-fold. I am in the fortunate position to have a full-time career, so the larger advance a big five publisher might offer was not necessary for my family. I also admired the books and mission of the publisher who was interested, so we moved forward with them.
In this respect, the actual ‘submission’ part of my sub story was easy and pleasant. My debut comes out this year. I am in a wonderful place.
But it is a terrible place to be in, to be fearful. Fearful that if you speak your truth, you will be shunned from an industry you deserve to be in. Fearful that if you tell more than a few trusted friends or family members, your story might leak, and you may never publish a book again. This is an anonymous post, but I believe an important one, and I want anyone who has felt this fear to know you are not alone, and your feelings are valid. You should not be brought on as a check mark for any kind of diversity goals, and definitely not dropped from representation if your 'type' of diversity is elsewhere fulfilled or doesn’t meet an outsider’s approval. You are talented, your stories matter, even if not mainstream, and you should be treated with respect. Look at what happened with me, and use that as motivation!
There is something cathartic about writing this secret for anyone to see. And we writers seek nothing if not to reveal the truth.
*
The stories on this blog are posted anonymously so that authors can speak candidly about their experience. If you have a sub story you’d like to share, drop me an email at: katedylanbooks@gmail.com
*