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Why querying is hell for neurodivergents
Literary agencies have taken steps to make their submissions policies more inclusive—and some simple adjustments can throw the doors wide open.
Querying: the word itself makes it seem straightforward. You query an agent—“Hey, would you like to represent my novel?”—and they say yes or no. It’s actually incredibly complicated, consisting of learning unique skills and new acronyms like R&R, FR and CNR. If you don’t know the terminology either, R&R is revise and resubmit, FR can be a full request or a full rejection and CNR is could not reply. Querying can make you consider: is my love for this book worth the challenges of pursuing publication?
Querying being difficult is not an experience unique to neurodivergent people and may not be everyone’s experience, since every neurodivergent person is fundamentally different—it’s in the name. But this article offers an insight into how agents can make the process more accessible and inclusive. The problems start early because there isn’t a set “guide” and no clear benchmark to measure how you are progressing. The percentage of partial or full requests a querying author may receive might be good for YA fantasy but not for adult cosmic horror, and it can change month on month. Add to this varied, long and intense wait times and it can cause serious issues for neurodivergent writers.
Lack of clear instructions is a problem; agents request a variety of formats, fonts, number of pages and salutations, and this lack of universality—however much it may be for a valid reason—means that misinterpretation, and consequent stress over understanding social cues, is more likely to occur. The use of Query Manager, an interface that streamlines queries to agents, has made the process more universal from agency to agency. It can also include fun questions such as entering a playlist that fits your book. While unexpected questions can cause issues, having a fairly standard setup reduces excessive mental fatigue—beneficial to both neurodivergent and chronically ill writers. It’s also encouraging to see agents offer an email address for any accessibility issues; it signals that the agency welcomes diverse writers.
Specific parts of the written communication are more tricky to solve. Query letters, comparable titles and writer biographies are ideas often summed up in very specific terminology that isn’t always accessible to neurodivergent writers. A bio can be difficult to conceptualise. How much of your life should you share? What accolades are important? First or third person? There is little standardisation and a lot of assumptions, which can get confusing.
Add to this personalisation, to show you researched the agent and how they might fit you, and you have a breeding ground for writers feeling “too much” or “not enough”... words lots of neurodivergent people hear far too often, not because they are oversensitive but due to growing up in a world that can often be actively hostile.
When we look at content, there is another barrier. Authentic marginalised voices may not always have that perfect “Hero Arc” or “voicey” character that has been sold before. Neurodivergent character traits can be picked up on as “unlikeable” or “unrelatable”, especially in terms of characters’ ages and stages of life, which often happens when combined with other marginalisations. Add to that stereotypes about neurodivergence and this can pose problems when agents need to feel a personal connection; even if an agent is neurodivergent, there is no guarantee that they will relate to the view in the book.
Alice*, 22, a querying neurodivergent writer, commented: “Some things that agents expect from stories are just not possible when writing from a neurodivergent perspective. For example, the active character that has a lot of agency may not necessarily relate to the neurodivergent individual that struggles with anxiety and executive dysfunction. That doesn’t mean their story doesn’t matter, or isn’t relatable, just that we may not have seen these types of stories before.” (*Name changed for anonymity.)
Combine all these elements with extreme stress and the querying process can exacerbate symptoms, resulting in what are seen as clumsy mistakes: spelling and punctuation, over-explaining details or not understanding assumed practice. This is also applicable to a lot of disabilities, for example those with energy-limiting conditions.
Clear communication and simple solutions
Agents supplying clear descriptions, even examples, of what they are expecting from submissions, author biographies and query letters, help set expectations. Linking to resources on social media (or elsewhere) of what the agent is currently looking for is also helpful.
Agencies and literary organisations could offer querying workshops, guides and resources that specifically help neurodivergent writers put together and check through their submissions, without imposing judgement or shame. This would show neurodivergent people they are accepted in the publishing world with actions, rather than words.
Although struggling with querying is not a neurodivergent-only experience, opening up the space to discuss specific problems neurodivergent writers have with the path to publication, and offering simple solutions to many of the barriers to submission, can help us look to the future of a more accessible publishing world.
