that's up to you! you're not required by any means to disclose anything you're not comfortable with, but you absolutely can if you want to. i wouldn't spend too much time on it--maybe a sentence.

if you don't, it'll likely be something that's talked about on an offer call!

that's something you can mention briefly in your bio or something to discuss when you have a more personal convo after an agent offers

i personally ask on my QM form why you're the person to write that story--if an agent has something similar, that would be a good place as well!

particular group use their own voices to write about their own cultures.

again, this is extremely watered down and i am certainly not the most qualified voice to talk about this particular issue, but that's essentially what i would ask yourself to start!

culture/marginalization isn't the center of your story, you're generally going to be okay (as long as you do research, sensitivity reads, etc.)

if you're writing ABOUT a group and their particular struggles/issues/etc., i would stick to letting authors who belong to that

oh man--this is a topic that is extremely nuanced and i can't address everything here. this is a very reduced and short version, but a lot of what it comes down to is what your story is actually about.

if you're writing a character that is simply from another culture, but that

if you have solid ones yes! however, i personally think that no comp titles are better than bad/incorrect ones, so if you're struggling with them or feel they're off, leave them out!

generally if you're going to use an older title (or something that isn't a book at all) i'd suggest having a recent comp title paired with it.

"buzz" and relevancy to the market are different things--buzz tends to swell around release time and fade, rising and falling as new readers find it

relevancy to the market is about 3-5 years and shows agents you're up to date on what's being published right now and are showing

ballet/ballet schools aren't something i /personally/ tend to look for so i'm not 100% certain, but i would just ensure your take on it is unique. so look at books/other media centered on ballet schools and see what your book would do to bring a new angle/aspect to that setting!

personally i love seeing other media in comps, but i'd say one of the comps SHOULD be a recent book release (last 5 years). the other can be whatever else! older title, song, movie, TV show, GN, comic, mythology, etc.

depends on what kind of advice you're looking for; that's a broad issue with a lot of nuance. in general i would just say write your book how it needs to be written--crossover is definitely a thing. and just be strategic in how you pitch it!

No.

Genre crossing is always potentially problematic.

It sounds shortish, but it depends on the book.

First, they have to love it. Then, yes all or any. Happy holidays!

I will always pass if I don't LOVE the entire novel.

It's pretty full except for a new masterpiece. But I am not looking until mid January.

The ability to offer suggestions for improvement even if you did not love the manuscript.

" I know it when I see it" is an annoying answer, but true. If I don't want to do anything else BUT read THAT manuscript, then I want it.

Depends on the genre. 70-90k for contemporary. Up to 100k or a bit more for fantasy. But in the end: it depends on the book.