FQ: 5/19 Pit Dark like
Full Request: 6/8 Sent same day
Nudge with offer of rep:6/22
82k Rom Com

Late entry:

Form Query: 1/3/22 - #PitMad request
Form Rejection: 1/9/22

92k YA contemporary fantasy

FQ: 6/3/22
Adult Fantasy 85k

reps Ellen Chang-Richardson

@LUV4NA I do agree with you on the backgrounds and perhaps a different world view and I wholeheartedly support that. But I also believe that there is a difference between stating the perspective you are coming from and opening up to that and saying that because you don't look like this, I'm not going to take you. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Again, though, my point remains if your story is marketable it will get picked up. And your skin color should have nothing to do with it <3

@k_e_nicole
You...are clearly missing the point. Let BIPOC write their own stories and let them have the same platform as non-BIPOC writers. Mentioning you're BIPOC is not asking for special treatment. It's alerting the agent what perspective they're writing from and what lived experiences could be incorporated in their work. Diversity in client lists, work settings, audiences, etc are important for so many reasons that I won't get into here because this comment section is meant for query updates and not for a debate like this.

This will be the last time I comment about this. Please educate yourself because the low number of published stories by BIPOC should bother you way more than an agent who is only seeking BIPOC queries.

@LUV4NA
Yes. I am. Stories that can be marketed get published, not because of skin color. Fixing discrimination with discrimination is like saying two wrongs make a right. Furthermore, why would you mention your race when you query unless you wanted special privilege? I have never mentioned my race and it doesn't matter unless you're specifically looking for it. And no one should look at a book and go, "wow, it's great, the writing is well done and it's totally marketable. I just wish the author were a different race." That's crazy. Let your work speak for you. My skin color is not a barrier unless I make it one.

Patrick, do you know if she recently moved to New York? On her twitter page it still says Toronto and this page still has the Canadian flag and not the U.S. flag.

@k_e_nicole So you're saying that the reason why there haven't been many BIPOC stories published in the past is because they're not good enough? This is not special privilege. The agent is prioritizing BIPOC queries to make up for the discrimination in publishing. She is not signing every BIPOC author who sends her a query. She is making sure they are seen rather than overlooked. I think that if you are not aware of the disparity in BIPOC stories, then you should do some research.

So you're saying that the BIPOC community needs help in this industry? They aren't good enough unless given special privilege? I know for a fact that I would not want to be represented just because of my ethnicity. Your race has NOTHING to do with how well-written your work is. I am calling out this blatant discrimination.

@k_e_nicole I think you need to take several steps back here. It has been constantly shown that BIPOC authors have way more of a disadvantage in the publishing industry than any other group. Some agents are trying to close that gap and make up for the many years where the only books being published were the non-BIPOC ones. There are plenty of other agents for you to query.

So no one is gonna call this agent out on being blatantly racist? Ma'am if it were the other way around and you only accepted queries from non-BIPOC people, the scandal would be astronomical. This is unacceptable in the writing community.

Has anyone received a response recently? I queried her yesterday.

"BIPOC queries ONLY" Ouch...
Upmarket YA, 78k

Form query: 03/10/22
Form rejection: 03/17/22

Adult Rom-Com, 75k words