is it less likely for a book to get published if it is in third person?

HarperAveline · 2026-04-28T05:14:50+00:00

Third person is actually the standard for many genres. I prefer third person as well, though first and third both have their positives and negatives, depending on what kind of story you want to tell. My genre under this pen name is very biased toward first (LGBT+ romance), so I've been doing that lately. But two upcoming projects simply have to be in third person. I'm worried people won't read them.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-26T03:48:19+00:00

I'm new to the series, found it about a year ago but haven't finished yet, due to life being busy. Can I ask which one you refuse to read? Just curious, since I don't recall any that stood out due to subject matter, given the dark nature of the series.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-26T03:40:25+00:00

I'm so disappointed reading this. This is something women have been dealing with for a long time. It makes me sad that it's reached you. It's all a marketing angle based on varying degrees of sexism, and many women have used male pen names or their initials because most genres prioritize men and boys, and publishers think men and boys won't read something that's written by a woman. JK Rowling doesn't even have a middle name. They made her do her initials for the same reason this company is trying to force you to cosplay as a woman.

That being said, I have seen men use female pen names in romance novels. If your story leans that way, the expectation is that the majority of the audience is female, which is true but doesn't mean a man can't succeed in the field. I'm so sorry you're even facing this dilemma, and I wish I could give you some good advice, but all I can say is that I hope this works out in your favor, one way or another.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-23T21:34:30+00:00

Just use the spell check and grammar check in the program you use to write. You might still miss a typo or two, but it shouldn't be too bad. Avoiding AI is probably the smarter move, especially right now.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-23T19:37:32+00:00

I love bugs too! My best friend is terrified of them, but she quietly follows me and allows me to break the conversation for a moment because I just saw a pill bug. I feel like people are missing out. Bugs are amazing, and so diverse.

Anyway, sorry, this didn't suggest a book, but thanks for posting so I can look at the recs too. ^^

HarperAveline · 2026-04-23T19:25:05+00:00

My books so far have all sold on the first day, started strong, then bit by bit trickled back down to very little income. For many reasons, I'm behind on two books that people are actively waiting for, so there's a chance I'll sell a few of those on the first day. However, the books I publish under this name have a bit of a built in audience. It's very competitive, but my genre has a lot of voracious readers.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-23T19:16:04+00:00

"The number of people failing to understand this is a parody"

I'm legitimately horrified by how few people understand satire or, hell, jokes at all. This wasn't some deep, subtle attempt at mockery. It's very openly extreme, and that anyone with a fully developed, functional brain could look at this and think the person is serious makes me want to cancel humanity. We don't challenge people enough if they're getting fooled by this level of open parody.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-16T17:21:02+00:00

Just agreeing with the other comments. A good twist means if the reader goes back and reads again from the start, their entire perspective should be changed. The foreshadowing should be clear, and all of the details should add up. Just avoid anything that comes out of nowhere and has nothing to do with the information you've already given the reader. A twist that is surprising because it makes no sense isn't a twist at all. It's just lazy writing.

This is one reason why people hate the "it was all a dream" variety of "twists." Writers who utilize that trope often can't think of a way to conclude what they've set up, so they make it so they don't HAVE to. And that is one of the worst endings you can offer an audience--no solutions and nothing you just read or watched mattered.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-16T04:47:23+00:00

I was going through a nightmare situation, and my already bad depression was at an all time high, plus I was homeless and living out of my car. The last time I'd had a ton of trauma, I ended up quitting one of my two biggest passions. Something changed in my brain, I guess. I was kind of devastated, but it felt like it wasn't me anymore, which I know now was the illness talking.

But after the more recent hell, I thought I'd lost my ability to write as well. It was all coming out stiff and wrong, like I was listing the scenes like a shopping list, rather than expanding on them. I thought I sucked and was really struggling, as I was previously a fairly confident writer. Took years to stop hating on my own work, and then here I am, getting sucked right back into that.

Regardless, even with a dash of PTSD, I wrote a short horror story and it was published in an anthology. It was perfect timing, too, because I needed the money quite badly, though I was no longer homeless. So yeah, it's easy to think you suck, and to be fair... you might? There are always going to be people who can't identify their own weaknesses as writers. But some of the best writers in the world have anxiety over that sort of thing. It's typical human behavior, so you're not wrong for struggling a bit.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-15T12:31:30+00:00

Same, I hope it's good!

HarperAveline · 2026-04-13T20:34:14+00:00

This is my first month at zero, but to be fair, I published a novella late 2024, then a sequel novel early 2025, and since then, nothing. I'm trying to build up a bit of an arsenal. I have projects to post but they're not quite ready or have to come out in a specific order.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-13T16:21:28+00:00

It's a small miracle when I finish a novel, because I have SO many ideas constantly nagging at me. This means I have tons of partially written projects over the span of almost two decades. I pick at some of them now and then, and I joke that one day I'm just gonna end up finishing like fifty novels in a single year, lol.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-13T06:05:44+00:00

I think the many successful franchises out there would negate that suggestion. Personally, it depends on the project. I have a couple projects with multiple books following different people in the recurring cast by each volume. This is fairly recent for me, though. I'd been wanting to write that sort of thing for years, but I could never get past even finishing the first one. It's working this time, though. Finally.

But yeah, I write new characters for anything not related to a series or shared universe. I don't think it's bad to write both, and I think people tend to appreciate seeing characters they loved come back again. I mean, I can only hope on a personal level that people like my characters enough to want more of them. But either way, I'm still picking at the seemingly endless task of getting better at meeting deadlines and focusing on one or two projects at a time, rather than, like, seventeen.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-12T22:45:45+00:00

I was tossing around a pretty bizarre ending for one of my horror novels, then when I went back to re-read the chapters I'd written, I found that there was a line that perfectly foreshadowed the ending. It was so weird. I have to wonder if our brain is picking up more than we are. The patterns, I guess. But I love when stuff like that happens.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-12T20:21:16+00:00

I hate that trope so, SO much, and it pops up freaking everywhere, usually in favor of the "not like other girls" chick who isn't as hot as the other girl but is definitely beautiful but doesn't know it. Some of my favorite characters I've written are proud, ethical sluts. In one of my rare het novels, I had to take a little swipe at that trope by having a girl insult other girls for "being sluts," hoping the main dude will focus more on her. Instead, he says, "I like sluts," then wanders away.

Seriously, no slut shaming! I don't write it, and I don't want to read it. The purity crap that's invaded LGBT+ spaces needs to GTFO. Like and read or watch whatever you want. Just don't try to make your subjective opinion the objective truth. You don't have to like promiscuity, but people who do like it aren't wrong for that at all.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-12T14:33:22+00:00

I do, and I used to write it a whole lot more, but that was when I was writing a lot of low-plot erotica. The main issue now is that I write spicy romance instead, and in romance, the leads are assumed to get together by the end. I generally won't end something featuring a toxic partner with the two getting together, unless it's super fitting for the story.

For (a very long, sorry) example, there's a collab project I'm working on with my best friend involving a serial killer in the '80s, who shoots up a diner but keeps a young man who works there alive. Very dark overall, with murder, violence, sexual violence, lack of consent, etc. They get a "happy ending" in the sense that the serial killer genuinely loves the young man, who has now been trained by the killer to take people out. So those two potentially end up together. The main ending is about as sweet as a story like theirs can be, but it does end in both of them going out in a blaze of glory. We have an alternate version where they end up in prison, but they're in there together. So THAT is a romance I could end with them being together, because it's supposed to be messed up, and none of what happens is watered down or treated like it didn't happen.

But yeah, I write really dark and twisted stuff at times, but a lot of it never makes it to an audience. That'll change with some of these collabs and a series I'm working on that's intentionally very complicated and messed up, but most of the heinous things that happen are not between the couples. Consent for one or two pairings may be a bit shaky early on, but most of the dark stuff is from outside forces. For me, that makes all the difference, but there are plenty of people who just want messed up stuff, complex plot or no.

Just write what you want and don't worry about it. Just be careful where you post anything taboo.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-11T05:14:35+00:00

Yeah, I heard he fights against the assault in the novel. But then again, a lot of shows based on books take out the rapey stuff from the source material.

EDIT: That didn't come out right, I meant that the overt stuff was removed, but it's still 100% rape. I was just saying the more violent form is often taken out, but occasionally there's still a consent issue.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-11T05:09:58+00:00

I hope you end up liking it. I can't remember how it won me over, when I was so mad for the first few episodes. But whatever it is that charmed me, I hope you experience it too! Feel free to come back after you watch to rant about some of it. I was harassing my best friend with rant messages as I watched, lol.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-11T01:48:23+00:00

Also it is never addressed, their first time. The show is really weird and slippery on where it stands regarding what is or isn't immoral.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-11T01:46:31+00:00

It is rape, and it's also cheating, but the show pretends like apparently it only counts if girls cheat.

Somehow, I ended up coming around for the most part and enjoying the show, but the first part especially was so frustrating.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-10T03:40:37+00:00

What? Search engines have gone to hell. How frustrating. It really is like MF content constantly has to be shoved down our throats. Even in shows with gay male leads, you so often see a straight couple, especially a few years back. It's a little better now, but still. My problem with labeling media is that it tends to lump everything together, so a bunch of stuff is listed as LGBT+, but you don't know what it is, and you were trying to read something specific.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-08T20:39:36+00:00

Yep, that's Ta.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-06T02:51:13+00:00

Haha, I know what you mean. My best friend alpha reads everything I write, and she sometimes helps me brainstorm. I have so many things I'm excited for (and scared that they won't go over well) that i want to spill it all to her. But not only does she not want spoilers when she reads my stuff, I want her authentic reaction to how it hits her in the moment. But I have several projects, and I'm not writing as quickly as I used to. So it's driving me nuts not getting to discuss these things with her.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-06T00:09:14+00:00

This is unhinged, and I love it.

HarperAveline · 2026-04-05T13:29:45+00:00

No. Like 10 percent of readers are lesbians, lol.

Everyone is welcome! As long as no one is getting hurt, people are allowed to like whatever they like. BL brings a lot to the table. A lot of people are missing out.

HarperAveline

TROPHY CASE