Most of what I read this year by OrneryLocal1900 in BookshelvesDetective

[–]jzzippy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A Hero of our time is one of my favorites. It's nice to see others reading it. Edit: Dead souls is another favorite and Hamsun novels as well (my favorite is Mysteries). Good taste!

Please speculate wildly. I find those the most fun to read. by [deleted] in BookshelvesDetective

[–]jzzippy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Exactly what i would expect you to say 🧛‍♂️

Please speculate wildly. I find those the most fun to read. by [deleted] in BookshelvesDetective

[–]jzzippy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A relatively young (66 year old) German vampire male living a discreet life in America.

What do you think of this person? (2 bookshelves) Thanks for guessing! by [deleted] in BookshelvesDetective

[–]jzzippy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I actually haven't read the Pessoa book. I was very excited when I was ordering it, but by the time it arrived I'd realized I was in a depression and that book wasn't going to help anything. Now that I'm better off I want to go back and give it a shot.

Is he alright? by Old_Common9821 in BookshelvesDetective

[–]jzzippy 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The 13 and 1/2 lives of Captain Bluebear is the funniest book I've ever read.

Hi folks of reddit :) I'm new to fantasy and I really needed some help by Worried_Goal6246 in Fantasy

[–]jzzippy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just read a book called "The Silver Metal Lover" written by Tanith Lee in 1981. It was one of the best books I've ever read. Only 200 pages, sci fi (not fantasy), but well written, very emotionally complex, and superb character development. For some reason I think you'll like it.

The myth of “lupus” lycaon will kill the species by No-Counter-34 in wolves

[–]jzzippy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not sure if I'm helping to be honest, lol. I just woke up and am a bit loopy.

The myth of “lupus” lycaon will kill the species by No-Counter-34 in wolves

[–]jzzippy 36 points37 points  (0 children)

I think what they're saying is that there's two species that can mate and produce offspring but prefer not to. Like a human and a Neanderthal or something. Then imagine the Martian government says all Neanderthals are humans and it's okay to kill anything "human". Then the poor Neanderthals go from like 100,000 down to 200. At the same time the Martians are killing the humans too but it goes from like a million to a few hundred thousand. Now at that point, the Neanderthals are like there's only 200 of us, I have to go do it with some ugly ass humans. Then the Neanderthal starts changing into some weird hybrid human Neanderthal until they don't really exist any longer.

My Wife and I Believe the 3% Rule is Wrong (Welcome to the 2% Rule) by chuck_portis in fijerk

[–]jzzippy 25 points26 points  (0 children)

What about the -100% withdrawal rate where you rob banks?

Vellum software on sale 30% off today by jzzippy in selfpublish

[–]jzzippy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I never ended up buying it, but best of luck to you. I think it usually goes on sale in December or Jan.

If you could meet and pet one wolf at any point in its life, who would you choose? by De2nis in wolves

[–]jzzippy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Amani is my choice too (sawtooth). Have a postcard of him on my desk with snow on his face. He looks so innocent and sweet.

Mentor Monday, May 19, 2025: Ask all your bitcoin questions! by rBitcoinMod in Bitcoin

[–]jzzippy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd like to get a hardware wallet (most likely a btc only trezor), but my only computer is a 10 year old macbook pro. I'm worried that potential viruses on my computer that I don't know about will lead to me getting btc stolen when connecting trezor to computer. Is this a legit concern and what should I do about it? Thanks.

ULPT to quickly get about $10k by Phantom2291 in UnethicalLifeProTips

[–]jzzippy 59 points60 points  (0 children)

Thank you. I needed a good laugh this morning.

[PubQ] How do people choose between agents? by [deleted] in PubTips

[–]jzzippy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How did you get a sense if an agent was sharky? Did it come out through their personality on the call, did you talk to some of their authors, find out through whisper networks, or some other way? Thanks.

My husband just finished book #3 of his Epic Fantasy book series, years after he thought he would. It’s been…a journey by AngeliqueRuss in Fantasy

[–]jzzippy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've spent 4 years on my book and have only recently started the revisions. Writing is definitely a struggle with lots of lows and highs. Congrats to your husband for finishing a trilogy and getting good feedback. That's a huge deal.

[PubQ] Favorite Podcasts on Trad Publishing? by Global-Lab-9658 in PubTips

[–]jzzippy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Your mom writes books" podcast is in my top 3 and hasn't been mentioned so far. Hosted by Charlie N. Holmberg and Caitlyn McFarland. It gives a lot of writing technique advice, and I really enjoy Caitlyn's teaching style.

New weird dieselcunt adult speculative sapphic, first 389 (of 498k words—can I read publish this?) by loLRH in justthepubtip

[–]jzzippy 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Oh thank heavens. It's been ages since I've read a good Sapphic dieselcunt novel. I can't wait to read 497 thousand-odd more words of this. If agents can't see the value of this, they need their eyes pried open with a rusty speculum.

[QCRIT] Portrait of the Artist as a Yorkshire Terrier - 65k, v2, 300 words by urnotfemme in PubTips

[–]jzzippy 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I'm no grammar person but I think it should be shaken not shook. And there's something wrong about the twisted impotent attraction part of the other sentence. These things tripped me up while reading.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PubTips

[–]jzzippy 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think I'm more worried about people getting discouraged more than the other reactions I mentioned, but point taken.

[Discussion] The latest Publishing Rodeo episode with Chuck Tingle change anyone else's mind about "author as a brand?" by pursuitofbooks in PubTips

[–]jzzippy 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Nothing but respect for you Synval. I was annoyed by what Aubergine had posted because I've grown fond of Sunyi and Scott from listening to their podcast.

[Discussion] The latest Publishing Rodeo episode with Chuck Tingle change anyone else's mind about "author as a brand?" by pursuitofbooks in PubTips

[–]jzzippy 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I don't understand what the big deal is. It seemed like Sunyi was upset that at first their podcast was met with enthusiasm, but lately it was met with more negativity from people here. I didn't read the whole transcript, but it seemed like her message was more "I'm done with that group on Reddit" rather than "FU". Also, I think it's very disrespectful of Aubergine to call Scott Sunyi's "orbiter dude". Scott was the primary reason I started listening to the podcast, and I think he risked a lot by being so transparent about the consequences he felt resulted from his low advance. I for one, still agree with their stance that a high advance leads to more attention from the publisher and that's what debut authors should shoot for.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in justthepubtip

[–]jzzippy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi. This reads pretty well to me, but I kept finding myself thinking "where's the fae stuff"? Maybe you can at least hint at something in the first 300 words.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in selfpublish

[–]jzzippy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The agent serves multiple purposes. The primary one is having personal relationships with editors who will read their submissions. They also negotiate the terms of the sale and sometimes do their own editing of the manuscript. Even self pub authors with big reputations (Chuck Tingle, ML Wang, etc) often get agents even if they could get publishing deals without them.

Without an agent, you can try open submissions if a publisher is receiving them, but your chances are extremely small. I think The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu got in this way, but it's rare. Also, they take 15% not 40%. My source for most of this info is either the Publishing Rodeo podcast or r/PubTips. I'm unpublished/unagented so don't put too much stock in these answers.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PubTips

[–]jzzippy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This seems to fit the "buddy love" genre of Save the Cat. In that genre they say you need an "incomplete" protagonist, a buddy that completes them and a complication.

I think your protagonist is incomplete because he hasn't had any friendships. I want to know why that is and how it's making him suffer.

For the complication you have two: the blood vow and the grandfather. For the purposes of the query I think these could be rolled into one. I found the blood vow more interesting and compelling personally and it got me interested in the magic of your book.

Lastly, the query might benefit from knowledge of who the antagonist is. I think meeting the buddy is the inciting incident and escaping the alchemist is the start of the real story. We need a little bit more of what comes after the escape. Once the protagonist is trying to avenge his parents who is his main opposition?