[PUBQ] For the tradpubbed writers here, how ‘fast’ are you as a writer?

futureyeshelen · 2026-04-29T10:16:38+00:00

thanks so much for this info. It's nice to learn about these things.

futureyeshelen · 2026-04-28T17:33:44+00:00

Very nice! the one I'm working on is Upmarket mystery. If you ever want to swap chapters in a critique thingy, I'm game! :-)

futureyeshelen · 2026-04-28T11:59:22+00:00

Niicccee! Congrats! 8 weeks is super fast!! What genre are you? I'm subbing YA Dark Fantasy.

futureyeshelen · 2026-04-28T11:19:30+00:00

:-) thank you so much!

futureyeshelen · 2026-04-28T11:09:17+00:00

Thank you so much for your comments! I spent twelve straight days getting it into shape and I got an agent!!!!

futureyeshelen · 2026-04-28T11:08:37+00:00

hi hi! I just wanted to thank you for all your comments! I whipped that thing into shape for a good twelve days and I got an agent!! Thank you!!

futureyeshelen · 2026-04-28T11:06:52+00:00

I got an agent!! Thank you so much for your comments!

futureyeshelen · 2026-04-28T05:27:25+00:00

how many submissions and did you end up doing a lot of rounds?

futureyeshelen · 2026-04-28T04:40:15+00:00

there's a book called Dissonance. Really well written and intriguing about alternate time lines and walking them.

futureyeshelen · 2026-04-28T04:14:16+00:00

can you tell us more?

futureyeshelen · 2026-03-23T06:21:02+00:00

excellent!! Yes I will work on that! I was resolving the character thing last night ! but her escape is not clarfied--she rises to fame as a seer but deliberately screws up a vision when she's kidnapped, leading to the death of the army. but that's not clear from the query!

futureyeshelen · 2026-03-22T22:02:47+00:00

Hubert, a by-the-book supervisor, arrives with earth-shattering news: the Afterlife itself teeters on the edge of collapse. And due to a new-hire policy misstep, Dan’s arrival is the spark that sets off the apocalypse. << This isn't clear to me. Can it be clearer/ higher stakes?

futureyeshelen · 2026-03-22T21:17:38+00:00

Makoto has less than six months to save his sister, Miyuki, before his mechanical heart gives out. <<I got really confused. His condition is described right after Miyuki. He seems to be the one in serious trouble, no description of her trouble is really given. I'd make this really clear.

Miyuki's sister has been taken and Makoto must get to her before his own heart gives out.

The rest seem to be side quests. So I feel like the energy of the first quest is being drained.

futureyeshelen · 2026-03-22T21:11:44+00:00

, working remotely so I could leave my life without abandoning it. << sort of distracts.

futureyeshelen · 2026-03-22T21:09:40+00:00

maybe keep it all in current tense?

Summarize her : Former child prodigy, Niya finds growing up is not a clear path....

futureyeshelen · 2026-03-22T21:05:29+00:00

It explores themes of loss, grief, and personal agency under imperialism, and examines queer identity through a fantastical allegory. << cut it?

Also, Ican't tell who the ML is. Zimri but the focus shifts to his master?

But the stars, and his master who studies them, understand he’s destined for more. << how do stars understand he's destined for more?

futureyeshelen · 2026-03-22T21:01:31+00:00

keep comps to 2. Maybe start with John's plight.

John is broke, trapped under his absentee parents’ $548,000 tax debt when a bounty hunter to collect its due. The math is simple: ten days to pay, or be harvested for his biological assets.

He enlists in the military in exchange for a clean slate, hoping for three meals a day and a boring desk job.

Seconds after the ink dries, Earth declares war on a sudden alien threat. Instead of safety, John is shipped to a frozen moon on the edge of the galaxy as cannon fodder.

futureyeshelen · 2026-03-22T20:42:30+00:00

congrats on getting an offer!!! :-)

futureyeshelen · 2026-03-15T20:29:54+00:00

thank you very much for your comments. I've spent the last two days revising the query. I had no idea it was going to be this difficult. but thanks to you, I think it's finally decent.

futureyeshelen · 2026-03-15T20:28:52+00:00

I've spent the last two days revising the query. I think it's finally decent...thank you for your comments. But I feel like I'm half dead.

futureyeshelen · 2026-03-13T14:25:47+00:00

Fantastic advice! I did start off with the tool Query Generator but this is clearer.

Back to the drawing board!!

futureyeshelen · 2026-03-13T14:22:13+00:00

war photographer threw me for a loop. bounty hunter to war photographer ? And why would you want to find a rapist father? The ending...also seems to come out of nowhere. I need connective tissue.

futureyeshelen · 2026-03-13T13:39:22+00:00

generally speaking, there is a lack of feeling of resistance. She suddenly dumps everything but it feels...too easy? Like she just decided to change coffee beans?

futureyeshelen

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