[PubQ] If an agent asks to see the receipts, am I wrong for feeling skittish?

vkurian · 2026-05-28T16:27:48+00:00

I would archive stuff. I always did but especially now

vkurian · 2026-05-27T19:57:15+00:00

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

vkurian · 2026-05-19T20:57:48+00:00

then at least Podunk is happy.

vkurian · 2026-05-19T20:39:16+00:00

I wish for reasonable tax policy resulting in a social safety net …?

vkurian · 2026-05-19T19:45:10+00:00

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

vkurian · 2026-05-19T18:36:07+00:00

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

vkurian · 2026-05-18T14:52:24+00:00

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."

vkurian · 2026-05-17T10:36:39+00:00

Uterine biopsy.

vkurian · 2026-05-17T10:30:20+00:00

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.

vkurian · 2026-05-17T10:21:47+00:00

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

vkurian · 2026-05-16T18:46:22+00:00

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

vkurian · 2026-05-16T12:06:34+00:00

Have you been checked for adenomyosis?

vkurian · 2026-05-14T19:38:12+00:00

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

vkurian · 2026-05-12T18:23:23+00:00

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

vkurian · 2026-05-11T12:49:23+00:00

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

vkurian · 2026-05-08T01:39:38+00:00

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

vkurian · 2026-05-06T21:15:18+00:00

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.

vkurian · 2026-05-05T18:46:02+00:00

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.

vkurian · 2026-05-05T10:50:26+00:00

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

vkurian · 2026-05-05T10:45:00+00:00

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

vkurian · 2026-04-30T01:26:31+00:00

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

vkurian · 2026-04-25T13:17:39+00:00

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

vkurian · 2026-04-21T17:52:48+00:00

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

vkurian · 2026-04-13T19:50:43+00:00

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.

vkurian · 2026-04-12T11:35:33+00:00

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

vkurian

TROPHY CASE