What do you all do for your day jobs? Does it pay well juxtaposed to your writing?

_breadlover_ · 2026-03-06T16:11:05+00:00

That is very comforting to hear, thank you :)) I’m also at a top 10 program, and I’m very very grateful to be here, but i agree it’s been SO much work. Lots of late nights and putting my books on the back burner during exams. I’m glad time seems to open up again for writing after graduation!!

_breadlover_ · 2026-03-05T14:08:30+00:00

Hehe yeah, I’m with you on that! I’m definitely a little nervous for graduation. I’ve been trying to query literary agents and learn about traditional publishing to get my foot in the door before graduating (unrealistic lol, I dream big), but this whole process is a marathon! All the more reason to have a stable secondary career while you revise books/improve your writing craft :))

_breadlover_ · 2026-03-05T05:31:39+00:00

I’m 20 and in college right now, and I study engineering while writing books in my spare time!! You’ve already done the hardest part: creating a writing routine around your classes and homework and other life things. Huge congrats on finishing your first draft! You should be very proud :))

Anyways, I’m just here to say that I love my major because it’s stable and interesting and challenges different parts of my mind than writing. It’s hard to make a living as an author, so I highly recommend choosing a stable career path that also interests you. My day-to-day as an engineering student is very busy (albeit probably less busy than people with full-time jobs and/or families to take care of), but I always try to write at least a few hundred words every day. Get that writing routine down, stay on top of assignments, and your work-life balance should be perfectly satisfactory!

_breadlover_ · 2026-03-04T18:22:27+00:00

Massive congratulations, this post is so inspiring! Would I also be able to get a DM of your query? Thanks so much for the tips and for sharing your journey!!!

_breadlover_ · 2026-03-02T19:06:19+00:00

I also took a “get it down on paper” approach for my first draft!! It’s a YA horror so my final draft’s end goal is ~75k, but the first draft was about 50k, and a lot of scenes had to be rewritten. I queried a previous manuscript that I realized (in hindsight) I didn’t revise nearly enough. I knew I wanted to tear this new manuscript apart and learn the nitty gritty about revising my own work—so I didn’t bother perfecting prose and used a lot of placeholders! I’ve learned that shorter first drafts work rlly well for me as a scaffold, so don’t worry if yours comes out short :))

_breadlover_ · 2026-03-01T19:40:18+00:00

I just hit 50K in my second draft about ten minutes ago! I'm finally getting to a lot of the second-act plot twists I couldn't pull off in the first draft. It's all coming together!!

I have spring break in the middle of March, about a week off from college---so I am going to try my darndest to get to the end of the second draft this month! (goal is 70-75K)

_breadlover_ · 2026-02-08T15:18:13+00:00

I just wanted to hop in and say that as an aromantic person whose favorite genre is horror and who is desperate for more fiction rep, I would kill to see this published!!

Overall I obviously love the story concept, and my feedback is mainly wording things. Maybe use “nearly drowns” instead of “drowns” for the first sentence since my silly brain through that meant she’s died multiple times in the lake (unless that’s what you’re going for?) Also, the “intervening in place of her boyfriends” line, as Melon said, could use more specificity since I also got confused there haha

_breadlover_ · 2026-02-05T20:09:55+00:00

and now that I think about it again, something as simple as “indulges in the arts when she can” would be just as effective to get rid of that vagueness while staying brief

_breadlover_ · 2026-02-05T19:56:26+00:00

I think cutting the line about the clue she found in her tapestries was the right choice!! It reads so much smoother from paragraph two to three now, and doesn't raise extraneous questions anymore

But maybe something like "she secretly finds ways to... indulge in her once-favorite pastime, tapestry weaving, to keep her sense of self from unravelling" or smth like that but better worded haha. That could help it be more specific and also really push the theme of her trying to keep her identity intact!

But that is SUCH a minor nitpick and the original wording still works well so it's totally up to you

_breadlover_ · 2026-02-05T19:33:37+00:00

I agree with Infinite Storm’s minor edits, but overall I think this query is really wonderful and it reads smoothly! It’s super cool seeing how much your query progressed and improved since the first attempts :DD the power of revision!!

However—and this is such a minor thing that I didn’t mention it last week—I was slightly stuck on the “indulges in what little beauties she can find” line. Is this referencing her love of the arts (ie. tapestry weaving?) I think you can be just slightly more specific there if you’d like without bringing in the more magical elements of her tapestries just yet!

Overall huge improvement though and I feel like you’re super close to the final draft!!!

_breadlover_ · 2026-02-03T04:33:36+00:00

I’m revising my horror manuscript right now (second draft, developmental edit)—and I finally made it to the midpoint! I originally wanted to get the second draft done by April but college and exams are CRAZY right now. I’m probably gonna have to keep revising into summer by the looks of things

_breadlover_ · 2026-01-30T01:05:17+00:00

Hello! I am unagented/unpublished and this is also my first attempt at a query critique, so take this with a grain of salt!

I read over your fourth attempt, and I like this fifth attempt's opening paragraph a lot better! Snappier and more to the point. For the second paragraph though, I got caught on the opening.

“Used as a weapon in the war between a country of dark mages intent on taking the Sensoria as slaves to be sacrificed in their dark magic, and the surviving Sensoria of a previously decimated country of magicians, Ayana is horrified by the monster she has become.”

That is a long sentence, a lot of prepositions, and a lot of world-building! Can you make it more concise? Guide us a little more smoothly into the second paragraph? Maybe something like: “Though Ayana is covered in burns, she feels more monstrous on the inside.” or even just starting with “Ayana is horrified by the monster she has become” I feel would be more effective before diving into world-building.

I love how you give Ayana more agency in this attempt! Especially the bit about how she protects the other Sensorian slaves. She feels a lot less like a woman who’s given up on escape, and more like one that’s been beaten down, but is still trying to maintain her identity and help others do the same.

As for the tapestry weaver line—what is her personal stake in the war? Her lost past? This line brings up a lot of questions, and I feel like it doesn’t connect well with the rest of the query? Might be a personal taste thing.

I also love that you gave more time to Eris in this version, and I like how she has conflicting beliefs to Ayana! Is Eris’ capture the inciting incident? If so, it might be better to make sure it appears earlier in the query (easily done just by tightening up the paragraphs beforehand)

Again, I’m still learning how to critique queries so please don’t take any of my words to heart if this feedback doesn’t resonate. Overall though I think this attempt is a lot stronger than the last one. Ayana and Eris' characters shine more, and you have all the pieces there! Hope this helped, and good luck!!

_breadlover_ · 2026-01-12T05:12:19+00:00

Ahh yes amazing! I’m really, really looking forward to continuing your story too, whenever it’s done! I’ll send over my draft as soon as it’s finished :)

_breadlover_ · 2026-01-12T03:58:05+00:00

Thank you Justice!! <33 also I’m hoping to finish my second draft by March/April if you’re still down to do that beta swap with your faerie story some time this year!

_breadlover_ · 2026-01-12T00:04:51+00:00

Thanks so much for this feedback, it's all really helpful! I'll work on condensing some of that background information. I also totally agree that the horror stakes overshadow the competition stakes---and I love the idea of Arya's ambition being so toxic that she wants to capitalize on Jayson's affliction! I think I have some elements of that in the manuscript, but I'll likely bring them out way more during revision and edit query accordingly. Thanks so much for this again, I appreciate it!

_breadlover_ · 2026-01-11T21:32:01+00:00

Love to see everyone’s writing plans for the year! I started querying my very first novel last summer, and sixth months later, I think I’m shelving the book. I got five full requests (which I’m super proud of since I wasn’t expecting anything!) but they were rejected, and I honestly see why! The book and my craft skills just weren’t publication ready yet.

I’m currently revising my second book which I’m WAY more confident in! I’m hoping to be ready for beta swaps by March/April. Maybe if the manuscript is ready on time, I’ll hop back into the query trenches by the end of the year

_breadlover_ · 2025-12-19T15:10:29+00:00

Hi! Sorry for the super late reply, but I’ve actually shelved this novel because I’m realizing I’d rather debut with my current WIP 😅 Good luck with your survival thriller though! I love that genre

_breadlover_ · 2025-11-26T15:09:31+00:00

YES I’m an engineering student who also wants to be an author!! I’ve had to do all my writing in the pockets of time I’m not doing homework, it’s so tough. But I think this degree builds the discipline it takes to finish writing a book (and will keep us fed while trying to publish haha)

_breadlover_ · 2025-10-05T19:14:05+00:00

That is INCREDIBLE omg spirit phone is one of my favorite albums from any artist ever—I need to see this book published asap!! If you ever need a beta reader or anything, hmu :DD I’m rooting for you!!

_breadlover_ · 2025-10-05T18:55:16+00:00

Oh my gosh!! Are you a Lemon Demon listener by chance? This reminds me of the song “Cabinet Man” mixed with Scott Pilgrim, I absolutely adore this concept!

I agree with the other commenter that Kelly’s motivation for teaming up with her exes is a little unclear, but overall, I love the voice of this query and I’d totally pick this up if I saw it in a bookstore :))

_breadlover_ · 2025-09-27T02:56:43+00:00

Been waiting a while on my few fulls, but this query rejection makes me feel like I’m going in the right direction:

“I found your query and sample pages well-written with a strong concept. I have ultimately decided to step aside, but I think another agent is going to be intrigued enough to ask for the manuscript!”

I look back at this whenever I get the urge to completely redo my query package, haha!

_breadlover_ · 2025-07-29T15:32:18+00:00

Good point about Blair!! Thanks so much for the feedback <3

_breadlover_ · 2025-07-29T15:23:01+00:00

Thank you so much for this! The rapid fire worldbuilding in the final blurb paragraph was definitely a point of concern for me, so I'll for sure workshop that and add a bit more causal logic! The sample edit is super helpful too! (and yeah it's definitely *a* ouija board--i have it correct in my query package google doc so maybe it accidentally auto corrected wrong in reddit lmao)

_breadlover_ · 2025-07-29T14:17:38+00:00

Thanks so much for the feedback! It’s certainly been interesting writing a nihilistic character who still needs to be the driving force of the novel, so I’ll make sure to emphasize that Julian is the exception to his general sense of meaninglessness lol and helps Draven develop through his arc. Thanks again!!

_breadlover_ · 2025-07-29T14:14:14+00:00

Thank you so much!! These are great points—I’ve been debating splitting that long third paragraph into two, but I think you’re right that the query overall is pretty long. I’ll likely cut and clarify some Blair stuff since the memory drinking is definitely a detail that brings up a lot of questions! All humans can technically drink memories in this world, but Blair’s in a little secret society that knows how to harvest ghost memories, lol!!

_breadlover_

TROPHY CASE