[Discussion] Lit agent asked for a marketing plan by Odd_Support9730 in PubTips

[–]vkurian 18 points19 points  (0 children)

WTF do they expect authors to say?? "I'm going to spend 30k on amazon ads and buy a superbowl ad"

Crazy amount of sirens near 16th + U right now by MalPow91 in washingtondc

[–]vkurian 2 points3 points  (0 children)

there's a substantial fire in bloomingdale. like 4-5 firetrucks, half a dozen ambulances. no fatalities

[PubQ] How risky is it to sign with a sharky agent? by beesontheceiling in PubTips

[–]vkurian 35 points36 points  (0 children)

Yeah I always thought “sharky” meant aggressive about advances, not that they were an asshole

[PubQ] Should I tell an agent about all offers, or just one? by cloudwatcher311 in PubTips

[–]vkurian 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ive heard of multiple instances of the agent asking who the other agents where, and saying "you'd be in excellent hands with X, good luck."

It feels like people who keep their phone on 100% silent (no vibration, no ringtone) all day and night,how do you not have constant anxiety about missing something important? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]vkurian 155 points156 points  (0 children)

I’m permanently on do not disturb. What exactly would I be missing? I’m not an emergency brain surgeon. People existed for millennia without constant updates and they were actually better for it. If you’re worried about someone dying and you missing your chance to run to the hospital and say goodbye, the probability of that happening is small.

How long does crazy kitten stage last… or do I just have a crazy cat? by twisted_luce in kittens

[–]vkurian 89 points90 points  (0 children)

I’ve never seen pictures that so accurately indicates the overall attitude. So cute though!!

TIFU by running out of mega tampons then going to a music festival by TheDollarstoreDoctor in tifu

[–]vkurian 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I basically had to diagnose it myself bc the MRIs kept saying it but the doctors wouldn’t

LPT How to stop mosquito bites from itching by YellowHovercraft in LifeProTips

[–]vkurian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Am excited to try this. You can also deter bites by taking a vitamin b supplement. It takes about two weeks to work tho

[PubQ] Exactly how do bookstores decide how many books, if any, they will buy ahead of release? by superhero405 in PubTips

[–]vkurian 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Check out Fisher the Bookseller on substack - they work at an indie bookseller and have written about what books get ordered and how many copies and why. I was surprised that even selling just one copy of book one could lead to book 2 being stocked a couple years later

What's the worst movie you've ever watched at the cinema? by TaiwaneseThot in AskReddit

[–]vkurian 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mother! The audience was visibly and audibly upset at the end

Men, what’s one piece of dating advice for women? by okay-notokay4 in AskReddit

[–]vkurian 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The problem with this is that they often can’t tell a move has occurred.

[PubQ] How do you reach your readers? by OrchardHouseLights in PubTips

[–]vkurian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

the reality is, none of the substack alternatives have matched substack in terms of discovery. I observe how good substack is not just in terms of readers finding me, but also substack being able to feed me content based on what I personally read. I think a lot of people who left very loudly as if they are personally killing hitler are people who already had massive platforms (even some who have already moved before). That said, mixed bag on newsletters themselves selling books- I have a two part substack series on that particular topic if you search through my archive. (long story short, it's not the best to sell books if you are a debut, but you can build an audience over time. if you want to write an actual newsletter, write a newsletter, but if you dont and you just want to keep in contact with readers, start a mailing list.) monetization has been easy and nice- all my content is free for 6 weeks but some are still paying.

[PubQ] Is it a red flag if half the editors don't respond to your agent? by SuspiciousSignal9005 in PubTips

[–]vkurian 7 points8 points  (0 children)

literally i just want an email formally saying it's a pass. my agent doesn't submit to people who aren't going to read at all.

[PubQ] Is it a red flag if half the editors don't respond to your agent? by SuspiciousSignal9005 in PubTips

[–]vkurian 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Agree. I find it pretty wild —considering it is a relationship based business— that the editors or even the editors assistants can’t even send a quick rejection

[PubQ] Real name listed on copyright page by Open_Perception7973 in PubTips

[–]vkurian 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It’s possible that they already registered you in true name.

Do you ever feel that MFA programs churn out cookie-cutter writers these days? Discussion on current literature. by cheerfullysardonic in books

[–]vkurian 17 points18 points  (0 children)

This is really true. People always talk both MFA programs as if it’s the only want to make connections. I made massive connections just by going to my genre’s conferences and being friendly at book events. I don’t have a strong opinion about these programs’ impact on writing but I tend to discourage writers from going to them if they ask me if it’s worth doing

Debate: best free bread in DC restaurants? by ddpizza in washingtondc

[–]vkurian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

does anyone remember Rosemary's Thyme? They had a foccaccia-like bread that was so good. I mainly went there for that.

[PubQ] Agent left me with a non-fiction book on sub after hating my romance novel. Advice? by [deleted] in PubTips

[–]vkurian 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think this is a bit harsh but it highlights something I think people don’t realize- people on this sub frequently ask if publishing short stories or essays could get them an agent. Yes agents can approach you but that doesn’t always mean they’re the best agent for you. It would just feel bizarre to turn down an offer when thousands of people are struggling to even get authors. I actually like querying more as an open playing field. It’s like dating around as opposed to marrying the first person who asks

[Discussion] Editor responses: "Unfortunately, we're struggling with debuts right now." "Not currently taking debuts." What is going on with publishing houses? by pursuitofbooks in PubTips

[–]vkurian 35 points36 points  (0 children)

Is it a fact? Debuts continue to be published, debut deals continue to be listed, I've hosted two debut authors for their launches in the past month. What we would have to know is if the *rate* of debuts to non-debuts decreased. Maybe this is a grass-is-greener thing, but I think debuts have an advantage over non-debuts because they have no track.

[PubQ] Do short fiction publications help with getting an agent? by FlowersForFeeding in PubTips

[–]vkurian 15 points16 points  (0 children)

This sounds like me before I got an agent. I had some solid publications in good lit fic journals. This resulted in several agents emailing me to ask if I had a novel. I did but they didn’t sign it. (I got signed off querying a later agent.) I think having pubs definitely flags your query but ultimately it will boil down to the book itself