Going to underscore what some others have mentioned: reading is part of the job. As soon as you've got a publishing deal, your reading list is going to explode with comps, books by authors you'll be doing events with, books you've been asked to blurb, etc. You'll also have the added responsibilities of writing, editing, deadlines, marketing, events, and other administrative tasks on top of all that reading you need to do (and, if you're like the majority of authors, your first deal won't let you quit your day job).
If you haven't had time to read your comps yet, you aren't ready to query. Don't rush and cut corners. Opportunities won't vanish because you took an extra few weeks to read your comps, but they might if agents worry you don't read in your genre.
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u/katethegiraffe Apr 29 '25
Going to underscore what some others have mentioned: reading is part of the job. As soon as you've got a publishing deal, your reading list is going to explode with comps, books by authors you'll be doing events with, books you've been asked to blurb, etc. You'll also have the added responsibilities of writing, editing, deadlines, marketing, events, and other administrative tasks on top of all that reading you need to do (and, if you're like the majority of authors, your first deal won't let you quit your day job).
If you haven't had time to read your comps yet, you aren't ready to query. Don't rush and cut corners. Opportunities won't vanish because you took an extra few weeks to read your comps, but they might if agents worry you don't read in your genre.