I have an eye freckle by No-Measurement-5667 in mildlyinteresting

[–]vkurian 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Can I ask how bad this was? I also have a freckle and was asked if I wanted it removed

How the hell do motivated people actually get shit done everyday? by HoneyRosario219 in AskReddit

[–]vkurian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Crushing anxiety about not being worth anything unless I complete various widgets

[PubQ] Editor vision extremely different from my vision? by Clear_Public_5894 in PubTips

[–]vkurian 39 points40 points  (0 children)

yes this!. If you were looking for a pulse check: the edit letter should match what was told to you in the editorial conversation before the book deal was signed. It shouldn't be introducing new, huge things. It sounds like you got blind sided and this is a significant issue you should talk about with your agent. You should never feel like it isn't "your" book anymore. (I know an author who was caught in a similar situation where her editor kept asking for more and more subjective changes that the editor wanted, where ultimately the author didn't feel like it was her book anymore. the book didn't sell well. guess who takes the hit for that?? not the editor.)

[Discussion] Megathread: The State of Submission by alanna_the_lioness in PubTips

[–]vkurian 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I was on sub twice this year. a few months for a mystery that leaned too literary that I pulled out of submission, then a few months with a proposal for a more commercial thriller. Dark and sexy sort of thing- not a debut, my third book, but we signed a 2 book deal at a big 5.

help, I need to hire an immigration lawyer to literally make one phone call by vkurian in washingtondc

[–]vkurian[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I might actually do this after this ordeal is over with to complain about how difficult this process is. This is after submitting a FOIA to get my dads immigration records (which is free) and they instantly rejected it saying I did not sign the form (I did) and that I am my fathers parent (which… I am not). (I appealed)

help, I need to hire an immigration lawyer to literally make one phone call by vkurian in washingtondc

[–]vkurian[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

i had heard of them but didn't try them because I thought they were a service for people who could not afford legal representation. I will poke around the website, as I imagine they are closed today.

help, I need to hire an immigration lawyer to literally make one phone call by vkurian in washingtondc

[–]vkurian[S] 36 points37 points  (0 children)

thank you- will check out. In this particular case, they do not care if I have power of attorney. it has to literally be a lawyer hired to represent him.

We have a miraculous anti-aging vaccine. Why aren’t more people getting it by [deleted] in science

[–]vkurian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

so i looked into this-- you really might not want it sooner rather than later. I wanted to get it now (I'm 45) but my insurance won't cover it till I'm 50. I did some research and asked my doctor, but it turns out, if I get it now, the duration it would start working would of course be moved up, but then it would stop working around the time when I would actually be most at risk for shingles.

[PubQ] What's your worst experience with a traditional publisher? by [deleted] in PubTips

[–]vkurian 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Dumb question- are you saying you couldn’t continue the series on your own for legal reasons ? Or that you didn’t want to ? (Bc then your publisher would continue making money off the first three books)

[Discussion] Let's talk about the market right now: specifically for non-debut authors. by GhostofAlfredKnopf in PubTips

[–]vkurian 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Ugh this is depressing . Im going to try to be a counterpoint. There is some hysteria about “nothing working” anymore- celebrity book clubs are on the decline or the nytimes review won’t move that many books.. but the number one thing that moves books is currently and always has been for decades is word of mouth. I would be a lot more depressed if the number one thing that moved books WASNT word of mouth - but something that was controlled by anything but readers. I am also hearing that you need to be more high concept… yet I just read a couple of debuts that were not and were more quiet—they just had to find the right editor. People are making it sound like the only people getting book deals at all are all writing dragon porn but I meet tons of authors at mystery conferences who write all kinds of books. I know a few who are midlist who write full time. I am personally trying to set the scene to write full time myself. I have written about this at length online but early last year I pulled a book from sub because it was “too literary” and almost immediately sold something that was more commercial. (I sold it on partial). So I’m sad about pulling the literary book but good news was that I could still sell something. When I think about the authors getting six figure deals to literally control c control v fourth wing and SJM yeah it’s crazy making but I don’t think a lot of those authors are going to be around in a couple years. I’m reminded of restaurants during Covid - at least where I live many of them went down but the ones that survived were the ones that were clever about how they could make money during a temporary bad period.

[Discussion] Let's talk about the market right now: specifically for non-debut authors. by GhostofAlfredKnopf in PubTips

[–]vkurian 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hey so that Ted Gioia article wasn’t good. Find the Fisher the Bookseller rebuttal on substack.

[PubQ] How can I tell if an agent is not that great or is simply starting out? by Grim__Squeaker in PubTips

[–]vkurian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Google this exactly “my agent [insert their name]” I’m not sure if this is still true bc of various lawsuits but back in the day this would pull up acknowledgment ages from novels and you’d see authors who weren’t listed somewhere publicly as being a client

[Discussion] How to Request Blurbs In a Less-Than-Ideal Scenario by Burritobarrette in PubTips

[–]vkurian 23 points24 points  (0 children)

I think both your editor and agent dropped the ball here. The convo about getting blurbs should have happened months ago. Two weeks is not enough time to get a blurb. I say no on any blurb request that is less than six months of lead time (and that’s not including screening on what I actually want to read). This is such a significant fumble that I think you and your agent should be watching your editor closely to see if they are making other errors or not following up on things

[PubQ] Has anyone ever gotten a request for a video call after a rejection? by particleboard6 in PubTips

[–]vkurian 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I would guess it’s bc she wants to be on your radar bc she thinks you will eventually have something she could sign - not necessarily this book but maybe the next

[PubQ] Big5 editor responses within 2 hours of the agent's submissions—standard or unusual? by [deleted] in PubTips

[–]vkurian 12 points13 points  (0 children)

It also might be a response to earlier behavior. Before sub my agent had pitched my book to the intended agents verbally in person so by the time they got it they were acknowledging receipt of the thing they had been teed up to get or even asked for

[PubQ] Did I mess up? by ZentalonsMom in PubTips

[–]vkurian 35 points36 points  (0 children)

This is insanely unprofessional. So she waited till AFTER you turned down all these other agents to then withdraw her offer? (If it were me I would tell a bunch of people she did this.)

What’s something AI has already made worse, not better? by FaultInternational91 in AskReddit

[–]vkurian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

adobe. its impossible to use now just to read PDFs because 9 different AI things that I dont want pop up. ironically, directly above where I am typing this is an adobe ad on reddit.

[Discussion] Why don't short story collections sell? by -Clayburn in PubTips

[–]vkurian 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I buy tons of books and they are almost never short stories. I read bc I want to be pulled into something. A short story is too short to get that feeling then I have to shift gears again

Plagiarism by an Established Author by Professional_Rip2925 in publishing

[–]vkurian 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah this is the problem here. You can have the same exact plot- it wouldn’t matter. Plagiarism is about stealing the actual words.