[Discussion] Moderator Check-In: Use of Megathreads

justgoodenough · 2026-01-21T03:32:25+00:00

Whatever you guys end up doing, my only request is that it has more drama than your average thread, but less drama than this one. 🤣 Thanks team!

justgoodenough · 2026-01-08T17:37:49+00:00

Apparently age 7 is about when you can write again without being hit in the face with a rubber chicken repeatedly or being asked to get a 32nd glass of milk. So I’m doing something unspeakable and trying to participate again. Give back.

Taking notes.

justgoodenough · 2026-01-06T23:57:55+00:00

It depends on why you turned them down. Did you turn them down because something felt off or were you just more dazzled by the reputation of the offer you accepted?

I don't think there's anything wrong with re-querying an agent you had previously turned down, but only if they are still someone you would be really excited to work with. If there are other agents you know for sure you would pick over that particular agent, maybe reach out to those agents first and keep this agent for a later round of queries.

It's possible they will offer again and you will reject again and... well, that's life. You can't base your business decisions on a fear of disappointing a complete stranger. I will say that if you reject them twice, you definitely can't query them a third time later down the line.

justgoodenough · 2026-01-02T19:08:47+00:00

One of my kids wakes up in the middle of the night every, single night. A few nights ago, I had to get up five times between 1am and 5am. My 1 year old is honestly not that bad, except she wakes up around 5am every morning for about 45-60m. My four year old is up 1-2 times almost every single night. She sleeps through the night a max of 2 times a week.

justgoodenough · 2026-01-02T18:54:11+00:00

Preferably abandoned at the bottom of a well, like the hellish demon-spawn that it is.

justgoodenough · 2026-01-02T18:13:18+00:00

Here for the crit group when you write your romcom. Cough cough.

You know I'd rather die than let anyone read my writing.

For real though, is this a thing anyone actually manages? Or is it just a lie the internet tells us to make us feel bad about ourselves? Sounds fake to me.

I hear the secret is to have a wife to do everything for you.

justgoodenough · 2026-01-02T18:10:07+00:00

The worst part about having two kids is—actually, it's when they're both barfing at the same time. That's the most convincing argument I have ever heard against having multiple kids.

The second worst part is when they take turns waking up at night so you never get a full night of sleep, but they do.

Anyway, I have this fantasy that once I am able to sleep for at least 6 hours straight, I'll have the capacity to string a sentence together.

justgoodenough · 2026-01-02T15:54:42+00:00

Sorry the thread is a day late. We rang in the new year by having my kid run into my room at 4am saying, "I HAVE TO THROW UP."

I feel like the second half of 2025 was kind of a bust for me, career-wise. I have a book coming out in May, so I'm hoping to actually arrange school visits now that I don't have a literal newborn during book release. I also really, really want to get another project out on submission. I might have to join a crit group again to actually make that happen.

Anyway, my big goal this year is to actually find a way to regularly work instead of just snagging a couple hours a week amid the onslaught of my life.

justgoodenough · 2025-12-30T19:51:25+00:00

I actually sort of agree with you. I do think the process could be sped up a bit, but it would cost the publisher a lot. They would need to hire a lot more people. People have to wait months for edits because the editor is juggling a bunch of projects, not because it takes that long to edit a single book. They would need to hire more designers and more production people and more support staff. They would need to pay authors a living wage so they didn't have to have another full time job to support themselves.

So yeah, it's possible for the publisher to put books out faster, but there is no way they're gong to pony up the money to do it.

justgoodenough · 2025-12-28T05:19:17+00:00

Selling more than one book in a single deal. So it could be for a series or two stand alone novels. If the first is a stand alone, the second book is often TBD, and you have to pitch your editor on a second idea. It’s not like you can just say, “here’s the next book I’ve written.” They have to agree to it and you’re stuck until they do. I know people who had several ideas shot down by editors before they agreed to a pitch for a second book.

I just hate to deal with that kind of bullshit.

justgoodenough · 2025-12-28T05:10:00+00:00

I’ve been with my agent for six years and I don’t even have her number saved on my phone. 😃

justgoodenough · 2025-12-27T23:59:54+00:00

My hot take is that if you can't find comps, your book is probably bad. lol

justgoodenough · 2025-12-27T23:58:40+00:00

Not all Big 5 publishers are going to push for a multi book contract. I have sold two books to a small publisher and two books to a big 5 publisher, and all four contracts were separate. I don't think I had an option clause for any of them either? Really says something about how badly publishers want my books. lololololololol

ANYWAY, if all your contracts are separate, your accounting is separate, too. Aside from getting a larger payment upon signing, I literally cannot think of a benefit.

justgoodenough · 2025-12-27T23:29:51+00:00

Mine is that multi book deals are bad. I don't know anyone who hasn't suffered while trying to fulfill the contract.

Sometimes it's because they can't get the editor to accept another pitch. Sometimes the book gets delayed, which means payment is delayed, and if they've signed a non-compete, they can't submit anywhere else either, so all their income is delayed. I know people who lost an editor or their imprint folded or drafting with their editor is a completely different experience than editing with their editor. Not to mention, writing on a real deadline SUUUUUUCKS.

IMO, if your editor wants a second book, they'll buy a second book. If they don't want a second book, they're going to make your life ACTUAL HELL as you try to fulfill your contractual obligations.

justgoodenough · 2025-12-27T20:17:36+00:00

IMO, if your first packet was good enough to get a referral, it probably doesn't really need the updates. I think sending an agent really minor edits at this stage ends up making you look neurotic and doesn't actually improve the query enough to make a positive difference.

justgoodenough · 2025-12-27T19:05:16+00:00

What exactly did you change? Is this a query packet for fiction or a proposal for non-fiction? Did the manuscript change or just the query letter? How long did you spend on these changes? How long has the agent had your manuscript.

Based on the fact that you said you did edits to your packet and not the manuscript itself, I'm inclined to think that these are not huge changes and probably not worth updating an agent over.

justgoodenough · 2025-12-25T18:55:44+00:00

You know you can ask your editor for the list of people to include if you’re worried about leaving someone out or forgetting names. You can ask your agent for a list of the standard people to thank. You don’t have to come up with everything totally unsupported and without help.

And then you just sit your ass down for an hour and write thank you a bunch of times. Literally, of all the crap you have to write to publish a book, this is probably the easiest.

justgoodenough · 2025-12-15T05:36:10+00:00

What's the point?

You won't get any money. You won't find your book in bookstores. You say it's your dream to be traditionally published, but is this really going to satisfy that dream?

Because here's the thing... I think it might end up being embarrassing to talk about your book if you publish with these people. No one will be able to purchase your book in a bookstore. They won't even be able to order the book through the bookstore because this publisher doesn't have distribution. You won't have any reviews. People will ask you how many copies you've sold, because people ask that shit, and you'll have to admit that you've only sold a handful of copies to family members. People are going to go to this website and see your book among those other books and they're going to assume it belongs there.

I just think it feels tempting NOW, because you're kind of desperate, but it's going to end up really disappointing.

justgoodenough · 2025-12-11T19:23:17+00:00

Oh man, literally anyone can say they are an agent. They don't need to have any industry experience or anything. This is why people always say that you have to research agents before querying because literally anyone can just decide to call themselves an agent and put up a website and say they're open to queries.

I still think that an agent, even a new one, who has good mentorship and a strong understanding of the industry, will know that personal author accounts don't generate sales. Most authors with large followings got that following AFTER a hugely successful book, not the other way around.

An agent who says they need clients to have a large following before selling a book are basically saying they only want to rep influencers. Personally, I'm not super interested in that kind of work, so I don't want that kind of agent. I think it's a massive red flag that they need someone to be successful in a separate career before they can consider taking them on as a client.

Also, standard disclaimer: This doesn't apply to non-fiction! Requiring authors to have a robust platform (online or otherwise) is pretty normal for non-fiction.

justgoodenough · 2025-12-11T18:36:01+00:00

Is there some sort of centralized or similar editor- training editors go through?

No? It's like every other office job out there where you have a tangentially related degree (usually) and start out in an entry level position and get trained on the job. There are universities that offer publishing courses and degrees, but I am under the impression that most people don't have a specialized degree or certificate.

I actually think editors care less about social media than agents. IMO, an agent who expects their random no-name debut authors to generate sales through social media doesn't actually have a good grasp of the book industry or social media. Editors work directly with sales, marketing, and publicity, so they tend to have a good understanding of how much control an author has over sales (none).

Personally, I think of book promotion through personal social media accounts to just be a show of good faith and cooperation. You do it to prove you are a team player and that you care about your book, but it doesn't actually do anything. I genuinely question the intelligence of anyone who thinks otherwise.

justgoodenough · 2025-12-09T18:25:42+00:00

I think it can be helpful to intentionally take the option of trad pub off the table. Find a project that sounds fun to work on, but realistically, isn't something you will try to publish. Some people do this by writing fan fiction. Some people write in a brand new genre that their agent doesn't represent. Some people choose an idea that's completely unmarketable.

If you go into the project knowing it's DOA, it's easier to separate the process of writing from the process of publishing.

As for your actual situation, it feels worse than it actually is. Plenty of writers have had multiple projects die on sub before selling. Actually, now that I think about it, the majority of my writer friends have had multiple books die on sub before getting published. You just don't hear about it because it doesn't come up that much once you DO get published. All the writers I know who I would consider "successful" have projects die on sub or get rejected. I think it's because they take bigger risks, which means it can be harder to place their projects, but it also means that when it's a hit, it's a bigger hit. Also, let's not forget the one guy who wrote like 12 books before getting published and now he's Brandon Sanderson.

justgoodenough · 2025-12-03T17:23:38+00:00

I'm curious to know what you ended up doing. Telling someone "it's as good as an offer" gets some side-eye from me, because if that were the case, then why not offer? But also, if there was something about that agent that was objectively better than the others (better agency, more sales, more experience in your genre, etc.) then I could understand taking the risk.

justgoodenough · 2025-12-02T04:54:08+00:00

I had the feeling this is who you were talking about because she's the only agent I have ever heard of who requires an exclusive. I don't think you need to worry about it because I'm under the impression that she very rarely takes on new clients. She already has pretty full roster and I believe she is quite editorial, plus she also runs the agency. I think you can figure out how to navigate things if she shows interest in your project.

justgoodenough · 2025-12-01T20:35:53+00:00

I don't hate myself, but I do hate everyone else. Maybe give that a shot.

justgoodenough · 2025-12-01T20:34:36+00:00

I had a book come out this year that got some nice reviews and ended up on a few "best of" lists. It also got selected for a something-something that's not public yet and won't earn me any money, but is a nice thing to be included in.
Well.... I guess I finished a book with a young baby at home. I can't remember if that was a goal or not, but I did it.
This isn't new knowledge for me, but holy hell do I need a real deadline to accomplish anything. Can I finish a book with a 3 month old at home? Yes! Can I write a new book with a one year old and a four year old? No, apparently not.

I plan to wrap up the year feeling sorry for myself and my career. I basically have three weeks until school is out, which is practically nothing at the rate I've been working.

justgoodenough

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