I can kiss that one off!
This morning, I submitted a query to an agent I’ve had my eye on for some time. She’d be a perfect fit for my novel, The Breaking of the Vessels, but I doubt she’ll ask for more than the sample. Why? Because of AI.
Instead of simply looking at my publishing record and the first ten pages of the book, she also asked whether any part of the book was written or edited using generative AI. Similarly, she wanted to know if AI was used to create any part of the query. The answer to both of those questions is yes.
I write my own stuff, so that’s not the issue. The issue is the part where she asked about my editing workflow. As I have revealed on this blog, I use AI to review everything I write. At the very least, I use Grammarly to spot-check my text. For more demanding jobs, ProWritingAid steps in. I have no problem using them, and any reasonable person shouldn’t either.
Similarly, I will freely admit that I suck at writing pitches and synopses. I’m not a marketing person, I’m a novelist. So I choose to let something like Claude write those things. That’s me leveraging a tool to offset a weakness. Isn’t that what tools are for? Just a thought.
Will this agent represent me? Probably not. If she has an issue with employing powerful tools to a practical end, there’s not much I can do.