suspiciousactually

Do y'all have any recs where either the MMC or FMC is in a coma for part of the book? Amnesia would be a bonus but not necessary - I just want to see a couple work through recovery together.

For those who have been on sub before, what did your first round list look like?

I’m new to all this, and for whatever reason, I didn’t think I would see many/any Big 5 publishers on my first round list (I thought those would come later, if at all). Out of the 15 on my agent’s list, 12 are Big 5. Wondering if this was normal and if I’m dumb to be extra nervous about sub now lol

I’m almost finished with {Tougher in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell}, and I fell in love with the rodeo setting - would love to read some books with a bronc riding MMC specifically.

I think {Tangled in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell} involves bronc riding, but the focus seems to be on the MMC being injured and in recovery. I would also just like to branch out to other authors/series.

Also saw a tiny bit of this in {Reckless by Elsie Silver} but the author doesn’t describe much about the sport at all.

Have y'all had any experience with The Stahlman downtown? I'm currently living in a high rise close by, paying $2200/month. I'd love to stay in the area paying less, and it looks like their Studios are more affordable.

My agent is taking my book out on sub in the next week or so, and I’ve been watching YouTube videos about things authors wish they knew before going on sub. One video from ~3 years ago, from a Middle Grade Fantasy author, said that she’d had no idea how fast editors would respond in comparison to agents. She said that within a week of being on sub, she had responses from 15 out of the 17 editors in the first batch.

I know every sub story is different, but that’s just mind-boggling to me. Is this at all a common thing nowadays, or more of a rarity? I also heard that sub varies by season, and summer is notoriously slow.

Do y'all know how stories inspired by other creative works may still be publishable? (e.g., 50 Shades starting as a Twilight AU fanfic, After coming from a Harry Styles fic, Christmas in Coconut Creek being inspired by Pedro Pascal's character in Triple Frontier)? Is this something you would need to disclose to your agent before submission?

I wrote a rom-com whose main character was inspired by my favorite video game character. The story itself has nothing to do with the game, and the character has a pretty generic name that I tweaked. (If his name was "Bob Smith," I changed it to "Bob Stuart" and left no other identifying features beyond him being a middle-aged man). Three side c

I've searched the sub for similar recs and mostly see stuff from 3-5 years ago, and not exactly tailored to what I'm looking for. I'd like to see some books where the FMC or MMC works in healthcare, but the plot doesn't take place in or around a hospital. In other words, no doctor/patient relationships or coworker romances.

I found something similar in {Reckless by Elsie Silver}, where the FMC was a doctor, but the author didn't spend much time at all talking about the FMC's career. Would love to see some realistic portrayals of the profession!

Weirdly specific and not for everyone, but I need it 😭

Any recs where MMC is fucking the FMC and notices that he can see/feel the outline of his cock through her stomach? Bonus points if either of them has a breeding kink!! 🫣

I just received an offer of rep from my dream agent, but I still have an outstanding full request that I submitted to another agent, along with 30+ queries. Is it poor form to notify the agent with my full that I have accepted an offer of rep without giving them the opportunity to read the rest of my MS (another 1-2 weeks I hear is the standard)? And as for the queries, is it OK to withdraw without offering them a deadline to respond by?

I have my first call with an agent tomorrow, and I’m nervous 😭 I’ve researched questions to ask during this call and written them down, but do y’all have an idea of what the agent will likely ask me?

For context, the agent read my first 100 pages and replied the day after I sent them the full MS saying they loved the story so much that they wanted to go ahead and schedule a call for later in the week (wanted a few days to finish reading beforehand).

I would be ecstatic to sign with this agent, but I’ve only been querying for 2 weeks, so I know very little about this process. Any advice would help!

I uploaded my full manuscript last night at the agent’s request, after they had read the first 100 pages of my MS. They just emailed me this morning saying that they loved the book so much already they would like to go ahead and schedule a call this week.

I’ve never had a call with an agent, and I have no idea what to expect. Is there anything in particular I should have prepared for it? Is it too soon to hope that the agent might make an offer of representation?

I've been querying for almost two weeks and don't know much about timelines and stats, including how often full requests turn to offers of representation, and when to notify agents of updates.

About a week after I submitted my first query, I received a partial request for the first 100 pages of my MS, I submitted it the next day, and less than a week after that, I got a request for the full MS. The agent also asked that I notify them if I receive any offers from other agents or if I have any "newsworthy updates" to share. Since her first request, I've received a full request from another agent.

Is it common for partials that have become full requests to turn into offers, and should I notif

Is it common to get a full manuscript request after submitting your query package? I’ve only ever gotten partial requests and rejections out of the dozen or so queries I’ve sent, so I was a little surprised to see a full request without the agent having seen the partial MS first.

I received my first form rejection from an agent - polite and brief. Others have shared the message they received from this agent, and mine looks the same, except it’s missing one line that was included in everyone else’s message.

Basically the agent encouraged them to re-work their query to develop their plot points and characters better. Mine just ended with, “Sorry, not for me, but send this to other agents!”

I’m probably overthinking this, but does this one distinction mean anything? I was thinking either my story sucked so bad that they didn’t want me to re-work my query, or my query itself was OK.

One of the agents I’m querying wants a short bio. Since I have no publishing credits to my name, I was wondering if experience as an editor of an academic journal might be helpful to include here. Ex:

“I graduated from [X law school], where I served as Senior Editor for the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law Review.”

Also, should I mention two fiction writing classes that I took in undergrad and/or the fact that my professor recommended me for the MFA program? I didn’t apply, but that professor wrote my letter of recommendation for law school.