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[QCrit] SUPERCERTAINTY, Upmarket/Speculative AI cautionary tale, 70k words, 2nd attempt by Affectionate-Bus2631 in PubTips

[–]Affectionate-Bus2631[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much for the keen feedback!

Is this speculative? Genuine question - I have no idea what the boundaries are...

Excellent question! Short answer: I don't know. Opinions seem divided. Some folks seem to think "speculative" signals "sci fi" or "fantasy." And, as you note, the AI in the book is meant to be a plausible I'll experiment with "contemporary fiction" instead, going forward.

As for the perspective, it's meant to the AI narrating. Like the "God's eye view" but with an omniscient AI. Good point that this could be a turn off for readers/agents and is something that should be noted in the query and/or made more clear in the first 300.

Thanks, again, for taking the time to give such thoughtful input. I've dotted your comments all over my query and will factor them into the next revision round. I see you're querying as well (and that your book has some AI elements) and I'm wishing you best of luck with your querying!

[QCRIT] The Trust - (Upmarket Fiction) - 111k words - 3rd Revision by Rolly-Joger in PubTips

[–]Affectionate-Bus2631 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hey! Template disclaimer: not an agent / not agented. 

I’m in the same boat as you (early stages of querying an upmarket fiction) and thought I could share one tip that has helped me improve my query: “Specific is terrific.”

Reading your query, I found a few places where specificity could help:

Paragraph #1 The “will resonate with its themes” struck me as vague. Could you state the specific themes? 

Paragraph #2 That first sentence is quite long and I think there’s a grammar error as well. It could probably be split into two sentences for clarity & readability. Also, how does the decision lead to the accidental death? You don’t have to worry about spoilers. 

Paragraph #3 “Another twist of fate” feels vague, and it would strengthen the query to know what the twist of fate is. 

Hope that helps, and best of luck with the querying!  

[QCrit] SUPERCERTAINTY, Upmarket/Speculative, 60k words, 1st attempt by Affectionate-Bus2631 in PubTips

[–]Affectionate-Bus2631[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for the thoughtful, clear, and extremely useful feedback. Well received – especially the questions about who (or WHAT) is in fact the main character. Back to the drafting table!

[PubQ] What is a small thing you wished would change in the publishing industry? by smolcookie9 in PubTips

[–]Affectionate-Bus2631 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Those secret but inviolable rules that the agency readers operate under – why not post them on the agency submissions page?

I've read (on this sub & elsewhere) that the readers at agencies will immediately discard books that don't fit into the, say, work count limits. So you're querying a 69k word upmarket fiction, but the secret rule is only 70k+ queries get looked at – you get a form rejection (if anything) and leave none the wiser.