In Times Like These...

So why should anyone be interested in my book when our attention should be focused on all the horrible things happening in the world today?

Given my current obsession, I reframe that question in the context of "Why should any agent care about some novel by an unknown author when everyone's distracted by what may be the onset of apocalypse?"

The simple answer: my book is all about what's going on today. As described in my query letter, COME THE HARPIES is "a timely, action-packed satire that imagines an America fifty-six years in the future based on what's happening around us right now."

It has one superpower (China) decimated by a viral pandemic. Another superpower (America) ruled by white nationalist corporate elites who have reintroduced black slavery, rescinded all environmental and gun laws, and features a climate-driven apocalypse.

It sounds pretty dark, but it's not your typical gloom-and-doom dystopian novel because there's a lot of laughs sprinkled in as it depicts our poor twisted nation as it circles the drain.

You may think that people are depressed enough about what's going on in the world that they don't need to be reminded how it could get even worse by reading a book like mine. And, in fact, one agent rejected it for that very reason. "But it's funny," I replied. He wasn't buying.

But I think he's wrong. Sales of dystopian novels go up in dystopian times. When people are going through a difficult period, books like 1984, Brave New World, The Stand, and Handmaid's Tale fly off the shelves. I don't get it, but they do. One of my readers even noted, "It's rather ironic that I found your book to be a welcome escape at a time when many of the dystopian situations reflected in its pages are dangerously manifesting in real life..."

I think many readers think along the same lines. One of the largest and most active groups on Goodreads focuses on dystopian novels. There are literally thousands of members--they can't seem to get enough of this stuff.

Maybe agents are tired of seeing apocalyptic story submissions, but there's a hungry audience for them out there. At least I hope.