Discussing Barriers in Querying and Pitching for Neurodivergent Writers
A little over a week ago, I posed a question inspired by some messages with a writer friend of mine, who said they were struggling with query letters as a neurodivergent writer. This surprised me, and I’d sent them some recommendations, some query letter examples, proposals, and the like. They explained that that wasn’t the problem.
There were other challenges, that had to do with length of time, specific questions, the limbo waiting for a potential rejection or acceptance, website accessibility, the challenges of phone calls, the difficulty of submitting anything in the first place… the list went on, and when I surveyed Twitter for further insight, that continued.
It was eye opening, in a way that was distressing.
I’m not coming from this as a person who is themselves neurodivergent. I feel like I need to stress that. I have no formal education there, I’m not an expert. I’m just someone who cares and is concerned, both as someone who works in the industry, a friend of many neurodivergent people, and as the father of an autistic boy. And the definitions here, for neurodivergence, are wide and have many interpretations. I’ll touch on a few from folks who spoke to me, but it’s not by any means definitive.
I’m just sharing what I learned. And I’m hoping neurotypical industry friends can take away all this valuable feedback that was volunteered my way.
Two Quick Disclaimers
First and foremost, I want to link to this blog from Matthew Broberg-Moffitt, an autistic writer who back in December wrote about their experience querying. Everything in here is fantastic, and this line here is such a powerful takeaway:
If you are issuing the call for Own Voices neuro-diverse writers, you are openly saying that you want to see work that breaks the mold from writers that aren’t mainstream. If you issue such a call, but then use the same process that you apply to all queries and proposals, you’re being unintentionally disingenuous. You are, in effect, saying that you want rhomboid pegs created by dodecahedron artists when you will only accept square pegs fashioned by the spherical.
This was the single biggest piece of feedback I got online and via email. That industry pros say they are eager to see these works… but then apply the same process, when it simply won’t work. I’m definitely guilty of that.
Matthew breaks down a few of those things in their excellent blog post (again, please go read it), and I highly recommend following them on Twitter. I’m eager to get my hands on their future books, that is for certain, and to continue listening to their voice in this industry.
Secondly, there’s no single answer here that solves everything. You use words like neurodiversity because of that word, diversity, no? We don’t fix one query problem and then magically, it’s all fixed for absolutely everybody. No one’s experience in monolithic or representative of everyone, I know that just as an adoptee and a person of color who often writes about the experience. That’s not what writing down any of this is going to do, but what I hope it does, is get my peers talking.
One writer who emailed me about this added that there are “technical, sociological, and emotional barriers” that also add layers here. But I hope what it does is start some conversations and implement some changes to make things easier.
And now, onto some of the lessons I pooled from this Twitter thread, and from the emails I was sent.
The Importance and Difficulty of Precision
There’s a lot to talk about here when it comes to being “precise” both on the side of the writer and the industry. How query letters that insist on being so exacting can be a barrier, and how websites that lack that precise navigation can also be a problem.
This particular tweet from Sarah Kurchak really stuck with me:
For me, the querying process always felt like a list of reasons I could never be good enough. Too many unclear things I was afraid I would misread. Too many agents discussing bad queries in a way that made me feel I could never be perfect enough to bother.
I’ll talk about those agent subtweets shortly, but the idea that query letter instructions leave writers feeling like they’re not good enough is a massive problem. Queries are supposed to be our way of inviting writers in, not keeping them out. A query letter should be an opening door.
So, let’s break down some of the problems that were brought up.
The Difficulty of Precise Queries. One thing you see agents talk a lot about on social media, are comp titles. I always found this to be an easy way to sum up a book and well… it’s not. Summing up a huge idea into something so tight, isn’t something always accessible to neurodivergent writers.
Mix that in with the challenges of the “personalization” bit that often gets suggested in query letters, and the precise query letter poses a significant challenge. Writing the quick “look how well I know you” hook in a query can be an anxiety-inducing barrier.
What Do You Expect in a Bio?: This was an interesting point brought up by quite a few people on Twitter. Are you asking the writer about their life, who they are as a person? Are you asking about their writing? Is it a mix of that? A little blip about that in the query process could clear this up a lot.
I never really thought of it as a barrier or something that would cause anxiety, and it was really eye opening to hear this was a problem.
One writer chimed in via email to discuss how ADHD is often treated unfairly in workplaces and can often lead to someone being fired. Sometimes, for one’s safety, these things can’t be discussed. The writer continued, “knowing an agent has a line stating ‘if you disclose your neurodiversity to me in a query, it will be confidential’ would be pretty big.”
Some big things to think about. And what are some potential solutions here, in terms of making things more precise and accessible when it comes to querying and agency websites?
Sharing Sample Queries: Several writers chimed in about how seeing sample queries could be helpful and make the process easier. Asking clients to share the occasional query letter to have live on your agency website, could make a big difference.
Though I do wonder, is this just challenging ND writers to fit into that box Matthew mentioned, instead of us being open to other communication?
Precise Streamlined Websites & Instructions: Instead of having writers bounce around from resource to resource, this wishlist page separate from an agency page, this Pinterest page of favorite books… it’s far more helpful for neurodivergent writers to have all of that on one page. An author friend of mine reached out regarding this specific point, to explain that it’s “also really helpful for chronically ill people, people with executive dysfunction, and many others.”
Right there, precise, accessible.
One writer told me via email that doing all of that excess clicking and reading can lead to something they called “process burn out.” Writers and industry folks suffer burn out enough as is, if there’s a way to avoid this, having a clear accessible way to access these materials could be so helpful.
Clear guidelines, all in one place.
The Power of Forms & QueryManager: I was stunned at the revelation that QueryManager has been a lifesaver in the pitching trenches for neurodivergent writers. But according to many of the writers who chatted with me on Twitter, the accessibility of having forms and clear instructions in one place like that, makes the process a lot less stressful and anxiety inducing.
One of my own authors chimed in on this, and I’ll link to bits of their conversation in another section here. But a number of writers talked about how QueryManager made pitching way easier, particularly those with ADHD.
That said, a number of writers talked about the problems they spot on QueryManager, like an agent asking wildly specific pop culture related references that end up feeling like a “societal norm” test. This tweet struck me in particular.
Openness to Neurodivergent Stories
I feel like this should be a given here. If you want to work with neurodivergent authors, you need to be open to neurodivergent stories, right? But I was really struck (I’m saying this phrase a lot, because it’s true) by this post from Lorna Doon.
They talk about the experience of pitching a story and getting rejections because the agent didn’t understand the journey, because it was an ND one, not a neurotypical one. I talked earlier about authors who reached out to tell me I’d done this, so clearly this is a problem.
Lorna went on to say “I think most agents haven’t accepted that having ND clients means repping different kinds of stories” and goodness, I am going to be thinking about this.
One writer, Natania Barron, reached out with an email that had a statement that really hit me:
Our characters and stories are going to be different, too. I recently got one of those rejections that read like an acceptance, except that they found my MC "too emotionally distant." She's autistic. She isn't emotionally distant, but she expresses emotions very differently than a neurotypical person. It comes in waves. And the story is about her learning a more healthy approach to that. Sure, there were probably other reasons. I get that. But that's very frustrating, because that's something I have heard all my life: I don't express myself enough, I'm too serious. As if those things keep me from being an emotional human!
If you want to champion these stories, you have to fight for them to be told the way they need to be told. And so do I.
Another tweet that stood out in this space was from Dani Redfern. They said:
[T]he best thing an agent can do support neurodiverse writers better is to question their own internalized ableism & social conditioning to a level that fundamentally… frees up the agent’s perspective around biases they didn’t realize they had against ND communication styles/ways of relating.
There’s a lot of inward work to be done there. What does that look like? Reading works by neurodiverse writers, read about advocacy, and just ask for help when you have questions.
Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria
What happens when you’re in a community that is used to being rejected due to not adhering to neuronormal standards, and place them in a position where they have to adhere to strict pitching rules, in a landscape where the gatekeepers so often make jokes on social media about those rules being broken?
Honestly, it sounds like such a horrifying nightmare, and from the responses I got, it certainly seems to be just that. Who wants to pitch someone, when it means you might end up getting made fun of in front of tens of thousands of followers?
This particular response in an email from accessibility advocate Mandy Montano really struck me:
Rejection—It is just different. Most ND face living in a world where we are forced to conform to the neuronormal and experience a different level of failure, it can be exhausting. We are a community dependent on learning and adjusting to neuronormal expectations and needs; it is hard to not know what was wrong, without a response, we are left guessing. No response makes you think the worst and there is no way to learn from it. It is also deeper, most of us spend our days hiding behind a curtain, faking it. Writing is showing behind the curtain and it hurts to be rejected at the core, it is like every part of you being rejected. For dyslexics, sharing writing is like showing someone your wound, and rejection is like someone gasping and turning away at the horror.
Several writers chimed in about this on Twitter, addressing how rejection sensitivity dysphoria and ADHD often go hand-in-hand including one of my own clients, K. Ancrum:
… a thousand years ago back when I was querying the first time round, an agent had a form submission that had everything broken down into categories with drop downs and separate upload places for query letter and pages. It felt revolutionary.
Then when you pressed submit it gave a response like “if you don’t hear back within 2 months of submission, it has been rejected. Then the form rejection, when it came, had a line about most authors spending 2 years querying & was actually a sweet encouragement letter.
This was back in 2012 so i don’t remember who it was who did this. But I do remember thinking very firmly “this very organized. This is how they all should be.” And my ADHD brain was buzzing with satisfaction.
A number of solutions were offered up here to combat this:
Adjusting the No Response Query: A number of ND writers on Twitter expressed that the “no response means a pass” isn’t helpful in dealing with rejection sensitivity dysphoria.
Firm Timelines: Better timelines regarding responses can help here. Agencies often have “responses in six to eight weeks” and then don’t get back nearly that fast. While yes, life happens and sometimes folks fall behind on queries and manuscripts (I’m very guilty of this), I wonder what we can do to make this better.
Be Understanding: I think this is going to be an ongoing theme in this post, but being understanding of mistakes in query letters is a big one. A bundle of writers on Twitter commented on agents and editors subtweeting about mistakes in queries, and maybe not taking into consideration that person might be ND.
This section was updated to correct “rejection dysphoria” with “rejection sensitivity dysphoria.” Thank you Laura!
The Inaccessibility of Conferences & Events
Last year, so many conferences and events went virtual, whether we were talking about book festivals or publishing conferences, both of which offer up helpful events that can potentially lead an “aspiring” writer towards publication (you’re a writer whether or not you’re published, my friends). In my head, this offered up seemingly staggering accessibility. You could be anywhere and go to a big festival or literary conference. It felt like such a huge opportunity.
But it wasn’t, not for everyone.
One writer told me via email that they “want to be considerate of our time and make room for the people the process was designed for, instead of adding to the pile” when it came to conferences and querying events, which really just broke my heart.
How do we make conferences and events more accessible? And how do we make them more welcoming, so neurodivergent writers feel like those spaces are for them.
I don’t feel like the answer should be “well just don’t do those events” because it’s such an outstanding opportunity to get questions answered and feedback, what with the panels and all that surround these events.
I have no answer here. I don’t run events. But there’s got to be a way to make these moments smoother. Do we share the kind of questions we’re looking to ask with conferences organizers, so ND writers feel less on the spot during those kind of potential one-on-one agent interviews or pitch sessions? Does that make the situation easier to navigate?
Website Accessibility, or Fewer Words, Great Comprehension
Rebecca Tapley, a user experience writer with ADHD emailed me, to talk about website accessibility. They took the time to look over my own website and my agency’s website (again, I can’t stress enough just how much kindness and work people put in when I asked for insight here, it’s staggering) for accessibility issues, and the notes they returned were so valuable.
User research confirms that it takes 3 seconds at most for the average online reader to decide if a website is worth reading. Every other type of popular online medium has trained people's brains for thinking short: consider the amount of time it takes to ingest texts, Tweets, and Instagram/TikTok posts. That's where the bar is ACTUALLY set in terms of average attention span, and why.
Neurodivergent people's brains move even MORE quickly, regardless of which type of heightened state they might be in - both anxiety and hypervigilance produce the same basic result, oddly enough. The three-second rule I mentioned just above is even more important in these cases. If you give a neurodivergent person too much reading to absorb, they run the risk of being bored or overwhelmed, and either way they'll likely quit.
Fortunately, the overall remedy in terms of improving online content is the same: fewer words equals greater comprehension.
Tapley pointed out that my agency’s website had too much copy and that our content blocks looked equal in terms of how important they are. A lack of distinction here can be a barrier, cause ND readers to look more slowly, and spend more time figuring out what to choose. That time increase, increases irritation and frustration.
It makes things inherently more difficult.
When it came to my own website, it was pointed out that the sizing of the elements on the home page tell readers to scroll down. And for me, I did that on purpose, I wanted to have a big ol’ picture and my little bio there. But, this can be frustrating for readers on the neurodivergence spectrum.
What are the solutions there, for agencies (and agents!) with their websites? Again, I think it comes down to listening and reading, asking questions about what does and doesn’t work.
So, What Do We Do?
There’s a lot in here. Lots of questions, lots of ideas. The TL;DR of this (though I hope you read, this took a long time to compile and so many writers were open about this on social media), can be summed up in some key bullet points:
Be as Precise as Possible
Be Forgiving & Open with Queries
More Information, Less Pages
Be Truly Open to ND Stories
Rethink Conferences and Events for Accessibility
Be Understanding
Listen as Much as You Can
I know agents in this industry. Editors. I know everyone is overworked and underpaid and simply trying their best across the board. And the industry is flawed and has issues that need to be fixed at a systemic level. Support for others, often comes when you have support from within.
There’s no one click solution that takes all of this in and wraps it up, but I’m hoping that the things I’ve gathered here, from that Twitter thread and the emails that floated in, illuminate something. Helps someone shift this or that, think a little differently.
In the end, looking through all the feedback here, one of the big takeaways is just being more open and understanding. I’m trying my best and thinking a lot. I hope you will too.