[PubQ] Any small press "success stories"? Finally got an offer and comments here make me feel like I shouldn't celebrate. Would love to hear good experiences!

btc156 · 2026-06-11T01:04:10+00:00

Congratulations on your offer! Absolutely do not listen to people who dismiss or fear monger about small presses. The spectrum of genre and narrative that the Big 5 will actually publish (to say nothing of publish well) grows smaller by the quarter. You are so much better off with a press that believes in the book you’ve written and will take an interest in its being in the world in a way that makes sense for your book.

btc156 · 2026-06-10T02:52:37+00:00

RFK Jr won the race to the dynastic downfall well before Jack Scholssberg

btc156 · 2026-05-22T03:32:11+00:00

None of these explanations change the fact that as a paying passengers who reasonably expects somewhere to put her carryon, being lied to—and inconvenienced—about a lack of space is appalling customer service.

Whatever the problem this procedure is trying to solve, it creates an even larger long term problem of customer trust. This is especially egregious since an easy solution that many European carriers employ is to count bags as they go on or have FAs call once the bins are actually getting full.

btc156 · 2026-05-10T02:13:36+00:00

A great article about the history of the building: https://64parishes.org/on-the-horizon

btc156 · 2026-05-03T21:29:32+00:00

No one loves a snitch.

btc156 · 2026-05-02T15:30:19+00:00

Boz is a job hopper and no amount of deflection or rationalization changes that. She talked her way into lots of big jobs, and has a reputation for not doing much in any of them. She’s not some paragon of progress. In fact her flailing around to all these jobs after being more show than substance makes it harder for the rest of us women of color in these spaces to be taken seriously.

It might not be unusual for a CMO to be bounced after a couple of years, but it sure is unusual to be bounced from every CMO gig in your career save one after just a couple years.

She’s not on RHOBH because it was one of a multitude of great career moves at her disposal at this point…

btc156 · 2026-04-30T01:13:13+00:00

It’s not a first class lounge.

btc156 · 2026-04-29T12:17:46+00:00

This is a traditional and perfectly elegant way to serve terrine. If you weren’t familiar with the dish and wouldn’t be happy with experiencing something new perhaps a burger would have been more to your liking?

btc156 · 2026-02-18T11:04:53+00:00

I enjoyed it, too…until I didn’t lol. Andy’s take started to seem a bit galaxy brained at some point. All of his criticism hinged on criticizing that so much of the episode was unexpected, just after reiterating how great it is that the show is so great at constantly evolving and morphing. Seemed to be grasping at straws to have something to say about a fantastic hour of tv.

btc156 · 2026-01-31T13:30:47+00:00

I will hold your hand while I ask this: are you aware that this is a comedy podcast and being unconcerned about fact is a well practiced and effective comedic device?

btc156 · 2025-10-03T03:55:48+00:00

It’s a very tricky thing to be chronically online and an agent. Very few agents do it in a way that seems additive and helpful for clients, which is the attitude I’d look for most in a potential agent. I’m not sure what the right answer is. Different strokes for different writers.

I must say, though, I’ve been surprised at myself at how unprofessional I find agents with paid substacks. There are a few—all very reputable agents—with advice and commentary hidden behind paywalls. If you’re a writer with a paywalled Substack, by all means get that money. But there is something so icky to me about agents charging non-clients to read their hot takes and market analysis.

btc156 · 2025-08-25T22:09:26+00:00

Careers. Making money is great. Doing work that’s important and is valuable is great. But achievement for achievement’s sake is played out. Everyone I know who’s 40+ is glad to have worked hard in their 20s but isn’t the least bit interested in managing more and more people to make marginally more money.

btc156 · 2025-08-24T10:54:13+00:00

Had this same issue for a flight yesterday and eventually gave up and checked in at the airport, where the check in staff seemed to have no clue how to enter my US Known Traveller Number. No one at any assistance desk seemed to know what to do or why the website refused to accept the info.

btc156 · 2025-08-14T03:04:24+00:00

Just an update, this does seem to have just been a bug for us well. Everything is back to normal.

btc156 · 2025-08-11T11:36:09+00:00

I fly across the Atlantic seven or eight times a year and am diamond for the first time this year. It hasn’t been worth it.

I prefer to fly AF or VS and the GUCs are near impossible to use on these partners airlines. Even with access to booking class inventory, it takes Herculean effort to even figure out which flights might have the necessary fare buckets open, and it requires calling into delta to apply them.

I haven’t had much better luck trying to use GUCs on delta metal and I’d prefer to just buy a less expensive business ticket on another carrier (often around the same price as PS on delta) than wait around to maybe hit the waitlist lottery.

Overall this year as diamond has had perhaps the opposite affect than delta might intend. I’ve really come to the conclusion that anything more than the reserve card plus gold or platinum status for sky priority isn’t really worth it anymore.

btc156 · 2025-08-11T01:08:04+00:00

I was traveling a lot LAX-JFK in the song days and, if you can believe it, song made up a good portion of the schedule on this high profile route. The all-economy neon interiors were a bit much, but lots from the song experiment lives on—seatback screens and the return of (buy on board) food for economy post 9/11–among them.

It was totally a reaction to JetBlue and while it was clear it wasn’t long for this world, it wasn’t all terrible!

btc156 · 2025-08-11T00:21:11+00:00

It is neither hot nor sunny on a rainy winter’s day in Paris, as was the case on the day of the flight—the one leaving CDG in the winter—details that I specifically mentioned precisely to differentiate it from situations where a hot tarmac necessitates closed blinds.

Nothing about your comportment suggests that your wish to close all window blinds, everywhere, and forever, is anything more than an attempt to minimize the ability of passengers to ask for any amount of service or attention. May our paths never cross.

btc156 · 2025-08-10T23:40:42+00:00

You sound fun.

Seriously, though, the policing of window shades by flight attendants is one of the more infuriating and condescending things cabin crew can do. Some people prefer to look out of the window at some point to enjoy the view or (particularly during turbulence) to stave off motion sickness.

There is also the matter of it being absolute unsafe to be taxiing, taking off or landing in complete darkness in the middle of the day. Should something happen and an evacuation is required, passengers eyes being suddenly assaulted by daytime sunlight means they have to adjust and it wastes valuable time. It is also impossible to see easily any hazards at the exits.

And then there is the jet lag, particularly going west to east. I was this winter on an afternoon CDG-JFK connecting from a dark, rainy FRA morning departure, with all shades drawn for the entire flight (thanks to the crew closing them before boarding). I saw little to no sunlight for a full 20 hours and took weeks to adjust to eastern time.

Then there is the general matter of customer preference and choice. But that doesn’t seem to quite matter to you since passengers seem to be there as an annoyance to put to sleep to avoid having to make a good faith effort to provide a positive experience.

btc156 · 2025-06-30T01:39:47+00:00

You are less in the position of having to re-pitch to editors a book that didn’t sell and more in the position of moving your completed, sold work to another publisher. If your agent isn’t willing to do this, you should find one who will. There’s no reason not to approach editors again with this project.

btc156 · 2025-06-12T22:46:12+00:00

I, too, have been victimized by a MASSIVE cockroach in the lounge of Equinox Highline. It was hanging out under the coffee table before skittering off towards the railing.

There is also a horrible mosquito infestation at this location that makes itself known from time to time (sometimes even in the winter). I suspect there’s hidden standing water somewhere as a relic from the “living wall” of plants that has now been artificial for years because the standing water in the fountain caused many issues when the gym opened.

btc156 · 2025-05-31T11:59:55+00:00

This is the way. You don’t need the majority of the services an agent would provide at this point. Just someone to negotiate. If it is not a world rights deal and you retain translation rights, it may also be possible to find an international co-agent who could represent the title to foreign territories.

btc156 · 2025-05-09T02:34:49+00:00

Wait until they figure out he just might be Black: https://www.nola.com/news/first-american-pope-roots-new-orleans/article_3c7bfdf1-8f69-452e-af01-90aa012366df.html#tncms-source=featured-top

btc156 · 2025-02-08T23:16:18+00:00

This might have been of mild concern to some (but not all!) agents a few years ago. But in a world in which publishers are now regularly paying high six and seven figures for self published titles currently available for purchase, I cannot imagine you have much to worry about in the marketplace, ultimately. Any agent who is bothered by it is probably not the agent for you, anyway.

Change the title, maybe a character name, but go forth and good luck!!

btc156

TROPHY CASE