r/PubTips

58K archived posts · Oct 2016 – Sep 2026

PubTips: A Traditional Publishing Writing Community

r/PubTips

PubTips is the go-to place for traditional publishing news and professional AMAs with authors, agents, editors, publicists, etc. We offer query critiques and answer writing and publishing questions with a focus on the traditional publishing market.

Created Oct 22, 2016

63KMembers (last snapshot)

58KArchived posts

##Welcome to PubTips!

MNBrian started this sub to create a place where people could go for publishing and writing advice. Please read the rules below before posting. We've got some pretty specific guidelines here.

##For more info - check out the Wiki Page Here

##The Rules

Statement of Purpose: PubTips aspires to be a place where writers can go to get good information on writing, publishing, and the industry at large. We want to connect industry professionals with writers seeking traditional publication, and connect writers with good writing communities.

For Full Rules & Examples, Click Here or Hover Below

######1. Posts Must Be Publishing Related

Posts that do not contain enough information to start a conversation here on r/PubTips about a specific writing or publishing topic will be removed.

######2. All Posts Must Be Tagged

[PubQ] : A writing/publishing related question.

[QCrit] : A post of a query seeking critique. INCLUDE in post title: Book title, Genre, Age group, Word Count. You may also include the first 300 words of your manuscript.
[News] : Recent news in the world of publishing/writing
[PubTip] : An article/link/post that provides insight into publishing/writing
[Discussion] : A discussion post about a particular writing or publishing topic.
[Series] : A series with helpful information on writing and publishing.
[Support] : A tag meant to be used on posts discussing sensitive topics, meant to focus the community on responding appropriately and thoughtfully. Will prompt mod attention.
[AMA] : Check with the mod team before posting an AMA. We love having publishing professionals and writers post AMA's here with helpful insights into publishing. Send us a modmail

######3. All [News] and [PubTip] posts must contain a top-level comment

Because of our commitment to good quality content, we require every [News] and [PubTip] post to contain a comment by the original poster or a description in the body (if a text post) of why the content is relevant and helpful to writers. Examples can be found in the wiki.

######4. All PubQ's must be New-ish & all QCrits should show basic query letter understanding

Please take a look at the sub to see if your question was recently asked. We love to help writers, but our sub is full of great information. Please use the resources page, the wiki, and the search bar before asking a question to ensure your question hasn't been answered in the last month. For QCrits, please make sure you do some basic research on the structure of a query letter. Do not go over the 300 word limit for first words allowed in QCrit. Removal will be under Rule 4 for this. See the wiki for more examples of a good [PubQ] versus a bad one.

######5. Be Respectful and Professional

We expect some disagreement on any sub. But we will not tolerate anything that we see as damaging to the community. See the rules for more info.

######6. No Solicitation/Self Promotion

We rarely, if ever, allow self-promotion, calls for submissions, or advertisements. Reach out to the moderators if you have questions on this. The moderators will remove without warning any post that has not been previously cleared by them and appears to be self-promotion, a call for submissions, or an advertisement.

######7. Verified Commenters and Flairs

If you're a publishing professional, reach out to the moderators by clicking here to send proof of your credentials and we will award you a flair. We want to give our readers the best possible resources for information. We do this by manually approving all flairs. If you are a traditionally published author, a reader for a literary agent, an editor, publicist, or hold another role, please feel free to reach out!
Note: If you request a flair, be sure to check the box that says "show my flair on this subreddit" on the right sidebar at the top of the r/pubtips page so that your flair will show up

######8. High Quality Content

PubTips is focused on providing a community to writers who are preparing to seek or who are currently seeking representation or publication. The content of posts on PubTips should be of high quality and aimed toward writers who have completed more than just a first draft. Posts must contain enough information to start a conversation about a specific writing or publishing topic.

######9. Query Critique (One Per Week)

We love query critiques, but in keeping our critiquers and publishing professionals fresh, we ask that you do not post a query critique or revision critique more than once per week (this means wait a full seven days before you post again). Post your query critique with the [QCrit] Tag, and include old revisions. Try to keep it to no more than 3-5 revisions, as at that point you likely will need some advice from people who have not seen the query (and are seeing it fresh).

######10. No posts and comments with potentially harmful misinformation

Posts and comments should never purposefully give incorrect information. The moderators reserve the right to remove comments and posts that contain potentially harmful misinformation about the publishing industry. While we understand sometimes one might not know better, those who repeatedly ignore warnings and share misinformation may be banned. Comments should also not derail significantly from a discussion. Mods have the right to remove derailing comments without warning.

##Habits & Traits

MNBrian started a series back in July of 2016 discussing the Habits & Traits of good writers. In the series, he discusses the craft of writing, his experiences in publishing, including guest posts from other notable writers and publishing professionals. Later on he added Nimoon21, another fantastic writer with some keen insights into the publishing world. You can find the full series in the wiki.

##Here are the top ten most popular Habits and Traits Posts:

##Here are some of the most popular posts:

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