This week in the Writing Break cafe, we're digging into QueryTracker's live data to map the real supply and demand of the slush pile. Two genres are topping agents' wish lists while barely showing up in submissions, and five genres are facing the opposite problem.

Then we head to the querying trenches for a reality check: current response timelines, why silence is the new rejection, the brutal math of agent signings, and what agents actually wish writers knew before hitting send.

🛋️

Overthinking Couch Topics:

• What authors are submitting vs. what literary agents are requesting
• The two genres lit agents want but aren't receiving
• The five genres with more supply than demand right now
• Why you shouldn't chase trends but might want to rethink your genre label
• Three practical querying strategies: batching, tracking, and writing the next book
• Self-publishing vs. traditional publishing

Subscribe because you deserve a Writing Break.

• Publishers Marketplace
• Alyssa Matesic's Book Genre Trends 2026 Breakdown
• Top 10 Fiction Genres | QueryTracker
• Home : America's Editor - Let's work together.
• More Writing Tips

Music licensed from Storyblocks.

If you have plot bunnies coming out of your plot holes, it's time for a writing break.

Hello, again. Today, I have some market intel I hope you can actually use, including two genres literary agents want to receive but are not receiving from authors. And even though many of us spend our lives making up stories, we still know when to keep it real, so there will be a querying reality check at the end of this episode.

The Writing Break cafe is open, and the Overthinking Couch is available. I'll meet you there.

If you are querying or thinking about what to write next, listen up. There is a fascinating mismatch hiding in QueryTracker's data. Quick background for anyone who doesn't know: QueryTracker is the site many authors use to research agents and track their queries to those agents. What not everyone knows is that it also publishes two live top-ten lists: one lists the genres authors are submitting the most, and the other lists the genres agents are requesting the most. Put those lists side by side, and you get something rare in this industry, which is an actual supply-and-demand map of the slush pile.

Right now, the two lists overlap heavily. Fantasy is number one on both sides, most submitted and most requested, which tells you the demand is real, but so is the competition. Young adult, literary fiction, thriller, and romance are healthy on both lists.

But here's the interesting part. Two genres appear on the agents' most-requested list and nowhere on the most-submitted list. Those two genres are upmarket, which appears at number three on the agents' most-requested list, and horror, which appears at number five on the agents' most-requested list. So, agents are asking for these books, and authors are not sending them. Therein lies opportunity.

Let's take them one at a time.

First: horror. This probably won't shock you if you've been paying listening to Writing Break for a bit: horror is having a genuine cultural moment. A horror-only bookstore opened in New York City this year, horror films have been on a tear, and the genre keeps climbing. So why aren't more authors submitting it? I got a couple of theories. Number one: Horror is hard — balancing dread and violence without losing your reader is a high-wire act. And number two: And a lot of writers may simply not realize how hot the market has gotten. Either way, if you've got a horror manuscript in a digital drawer somewhere, this is your sign to bring it on out.

The second genre lit agents want but aren't receiving is upmarket fiction, and this one's sneakier, because the gap might be partly a labeling problem. The word "upmarket" is industry jargon; you won't find it on a bookstore shelf. But it's used in publishing to describe the sweet spot between commercial and literary: propulsive, plot-driven stories with emotionally resonant, carefully crafted prose. Think book club fiction. Reese Witherspoon's book club picks are classic examples. And demand is growing alongside book club culture itself. There's a decent chance some of you are already writing upmarket fiction and just calling it "women's fiction" or "contemporary" or "literary" on your query letter. If your book has a strong plot, universal themes, and line-level craft, and if a book club would fight about it over wine, consider relabeling your manuscript.

Now, on the flip side, there are five genres that show more authors submitting than agents requesting. Those five genres are children's, science fiction, historical fiction, picture books, and middle grade. If that's you, don't panic; books in every one of those genres still get published every year, and readers are still buying. It just means a tougher agent search, so your concept and execution need to be exceptional.

And one essential caveat, straight from the analysts themselves: do not chase this data. Don't abandon your work-in-progress to write the great upmarket horror novel — okay, unless that sounds fun, in which case, go for it. But trends shift fast; QueryTracker's lists update constantly, and by the time you write and revise a book, the market will have shifted again.

I'm presenting this data so you can understand the terrain and, maybe, rethink the genre label on the book you've already written.

You can check the live lists yourself anytime at querytracker.net and editor Alyssa Matesic's breakdown of the lists. Links to both of those are in the show notes.

Now let's talk honestly about the process of chasing these opportunities.

The first thing to keep in mind is that everything takes longer than you think. The current standard is six to twelve weeks for an agent to respond to a query — and three to six months for a full manuscript read. And that's the stated timeline. A mid-level agent receives somewhere between fifty and two hundred queries a day, and reads them in the gaps between doing their actual job, which is serving the clients they already have. If advice from a decade ago told you to expect answers in two or three weeks, forget it. That world is gone.

The second thing to keep in mind is that silence is the new rejection. A growing number of agencies now operate under the policy of "no response means no"; if they're not interested, you simply never hear back. I know. It's maddening. But you can also think of that silence not as a rejection but the absence of a response. Until the agent's stated window closes, that manuscript may still be sitting in a to-read pile. Once the window closes, count it as a pass, log it, and move on. And most likely, if it is "rejected," it just means it didn't pass the AI filters, not necessarily that a human laid eyes on it. Not really all that comforting, but that's where we're at these days.

The third thing to keep in mind is that the math is brutal, but it's math. Agents typically take on only one to three new clients per year and reject around 99% of what lands in their inbox. Writers tracking the numbers now estimate it takes somewhere between 150 to 300 queries before signing with an agent. So if you're sitting on fifty rejections, you're in the middle of a normal campaign.

Now, before you despair, the counterweight is that debut authors are still selling. Scan the debut listings in Publishers Marketplace any week and you'll find first-time authors landing agents and book deals. The market is slower and more selective, yes, but it is not closed. What it's selecting for is polish and professionalism.

Which brings us to what agents actually want, and this might be the most useful part. Across the board, agents describe the same wish list: authors who are flexible, receptive to editorial feedback, and committed to producing the most polished book possible. Most agents today are editorially inclined; they expect to do revision rounds with you before your book ever goes to publishers. So, the mindset shift is this: an agent offering notes is not questioning your talent. That's their job now. The writers who thrive are the ones who treat their agent as a collaborator.

So, three practical takeaways. One: query in batches of eight to twelve, not fifty at once. If your first batch gets zero requests, revise your query and opening pages before burning through your whole list. Number two: track everything, like dates, response windows, and policies, so you're making decisions on data, not vibes. Three: write the next book while you wait. It's the only part of this process you control, and if the first book lands an agent, they will immediately ask what else you’re working on.

The querying trenches are hard right now. But they are hard for everyone, which means persistence, professionalism, and a polished manuscript put you ahead of most of the pile.

And remember that self-publishing might be the better option for you and your manuscript. On this show we have talked a lot about what you give up when going the traditional publishing route; time, control, and money are three big things to consider when deciding whether or not to go traditional.

Which makes me think of Robert Frost: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference.”

Self-publishing is so prevalent now, that it can hardly be called the road not taken, so just keep going in the direction that feels right for you.

Until next time, thank you so much for listening, and remember, you deserved this break.

Thank you for making space in your mind for the muse today. Writing Break is hosted by America’s Editor and produced by Allon Media with technical direction by Gus Aviles. Visit us at writingbreak.com or contact us at [email protected].