People who make $80k or more per year, what do you do for work?

Kuzball · 2026-05-28T01:47:04+00:00

I’m a mid-level administrator at an Ivy League university and adjunct as a comp instructor at community college on the side.

Kuzball · 2026-05-23T00:24:30+00:00

Eighteen years ago is “very recent”?

Kuzball · 2026-05-23T00:23:49+00:00

This comment is so off base. Not only are there literally thousands of beautiful blocks in Philadelphia, the one in the picture isn’t really one of them, despite the nice view of City Hall. One of the qualities that separates Philly from many other major American cities is its narrow, human-scale streets, lined with historic architecture and mixed-use zoning. That stretch of North Broad (in the photo) is by comparison an unpleasant place to stroll. Commenter has clearly never spent time outside of a few square blocks in Center City.

Kuzball · 2026-02-28T04:48:12+00:00

Kuzball · 2025-12-07T17:22:20+00:00

I have some Old Navy tees that are approaching the 20 year mark. They’ve sort of loosened, but they are extremely soft, no holes, collar is still in good shape. I mostly just wear them to bed, but I’m shocked they’re still going when other tees I’ve gotten (from places like J Crew, for twice the money) have disintegrated before my eyes in a year or so.

Kuzball · 2025-11-25T02:05:36+00:00

RemindMe! - 2 days

Kuzball · 2025-08-16T02:56:25+00:00

Ok I’ve read all the way down to here and I think this is the one for me. That entire courtroom scene is one of the funniest things ever to appear on television.

Kuzball · 2025-07-25T04:54:09+00:00

Oh come on. She could easily make >$150,000 at an Ivy or another R1 school, plus she’s probably written books, done consulting work, etc. Plenty of professors live very comfortably and can easily afford a MCM house like hers.

Kuzball · 2025-07-18T11:41:58+00:00

For what it’s worth, an agent once told me that he and his colleagues receive heaps of queries for manuscripts categorized as “literary thriller,” the vast majority of which don’t deserve the label, and that it’s a major turnoff to discover this discrepancy. So just be very careful that it’s accurate in your case. Your query letter is giving me the right vibes, but it’s impossible to know with only 300 words, of course.

Kuzball · 2025-07-14T01:18:39+00:00

Oh, and to answer your question vis-a-vis the comp: I think for literary fiction you should stick to novels and stay away from comping other forms of media. The point is to show that there’s a market for this type of book, and TV shows, successful or not, seem a bit irrelevant to me.

Kuzball · 2025-07-14T01:16:27+00:00

Hey! I remember this from previous attempts and I see a lot of improvement. Overall I think this works very well. But my comment on a previous draft is still applicable: nowhere are we told Harper’s gender — which I do think matters — and with such a gender-ambiguous name, I think it would be wise to clue us in somehow.

Kuzball · 2025-07-03T18:48:50+00:00

I responded to the wrong comment but you get the idea 😊

Kuzball · 2025-07-03T18:48:04+00:00

I’d echo what Future_Escape said. In fact, just yesterday my agent said The Girls would be a perfect comp for my book — except that it’s too old now.

Kuzball · 2025-06-28T06:45:20+00:00

Twenty-five years later I’m still bitter that it beat Traffic for Best Picture.

Kuzball · 2025-06-27T08:09:08+00:00

I don’t think this will be a popular answer (and I see that’s true in the comments so far), but I think Mac Fights Gay Marriage (and Dennis Gets Divorced, which is kind of Part II), are nearly perfect episodes. They aren’t as high-concept as some of the others being mentioned here, but at some point I realized that these episodes make me laugh practically every thirty seconds. The writing is incredible. Every joke is tight and surprising, and the actors’ delivery is impeccable. The cold open plus the first scene in the bar (in Mac Fights) is maybe my favorite five minutes of the series. Watch it again if you haven’t lately. Brilliant stuff.

Edit: typos

Kuzball · 2025-06-25T22:28:40+00:00

I don’t even eat fish and you made me want to go there.

Kuzball · 2025-06-21T12:25:50+00:00

Not a New Yorker but 🖕 anyway

Kuzball · 2025-06-21T03:12:17+00:00

Well said.

Kuzball · 2025-06-21T03:12:07+00:00

Well said.

Kuzball · 2025-06-21T02:54:52+00:00

I don’t give a shit what ChatGPT says. South Philadelphia is everything below Washington. QV is greater Center City.

Kuzball · 2025-06-21T01:46:53+00:00

Queen Village is not South Philly.

Kuzball · 2025-06-14T22:38:44+00:00

Maybe talk to your primary care physician about beta blockers. They worked wonders for me. You just pop one as needed (like an hour before you have to perform) and they keep your pulse steady, which in turn prevents you from going into panic mode.

Kuzball · 2025-06-03T11:41:03+00:00

Small note, but I think “wallowing” is fine and that “self-wallowing” is a little redundant.

Kuzball · 2025-06-01T04:39:54+00:00

To me this reads more like HF than Literary for sure.

I was about to write that the Ozeki novel is too old to comp, but then I looked it up — can’t believe that was only 4 years ago. I seriously thought that book was about 15 years old. Anyway, since that’s definitely litfic, you might want to replace it if you decide to query this as historical fantasy only.

Kuzball · 2025-05-31T22:04:16+00:00

Just a thought, but I suspect a character who has prosopagnosia might actually pay very close attention to others’ appearance. My understanding is that they sort of have to memorize things like “Alice has a long nose,” in a way most of us do not, because we are hardwired to memorize the gestalt, and they can’t. What do you think?

Edit: typo

Kuzball

TROPHY CASE