u/lovemylittlelords

As someone who is extremely broke and hates AI, I've put a lot of work into self-editing my book over the course of (now) six drafts. I've had a lot of beta-readers. I'm trying to be ruthless about improving my prose with each draft. I'm at the stage where a copy editor is the next step.

I know not hiring an editor could be considered extremely taboo, but I'm also curious what other self-pub authors think and if there is any nuance around an author's decision to not hire an editor.

Btw, not saying I won't hire an editor, I'm really just trying to gauge what people honestly think about this.

I've had sleep abnormalities all my life, but as I've gotten older, they've escalated more to sleepwalking and night terrors. For instance, last night I flung myself from my bed because I thought I was being suffocated by the mattress, and I nearly injured myself in the process. I recently moved to a new state, and I feel like things are getting worse. Worse still, the house I live in is essentially a loft, so the stairs are quite dangerous if I were to be sleepwalking. I've set up a gate system so I'm less likely to sleep walk down the stairs, but it's definitely a concern. And my poor partner suffers from insomnia, so it doesn't help that I'm disrupting his sleep all the time with either sleep walking or night terrors.

I don't really drink. I don't take any medications. Most nights I'm in bed reading by 9:45. I generally feel well-rested in the mornings (I wake up at 6 every day). I don't struggle to fall asleep at all. The only thing I can think is that I have a decently stressful lifestyle but usually I'm not going to bed feeling stressed out. (financial stresses mainly)

I was reading online that usually sleepwalking isn't related to dreams, but in my case they are almost always accompanied by some kind of hallucination. Like I'll wake up doing something crazy because I thought something bad was happening.

I'm just trying to understand what's happening to me.

I've had sleep abnormalities all my life, but as I've gotten older, they've escalated more to sleepwalking and night terrors. For instance, last night I flung myself from my bed because I thought I was being suffocated by the mattress, and I nearly injured myself in the process. I recently moved to a new state, and I feel like things are getting worse. Worse still, the house I live in is essentially a loft, so the stairs are quite dangerous if I were to be sleepwalking. I've set up a gate system so I'm less likely to sleep walk down the stairs, but it's definitely a concern. And my poor partner suffers from insomnia, so it doesn't help that I'm disrupting his sleep all the time with either sleep walking or night terrors.

I don't really drink. I don't take any medications. Most nights I'm in bed reading by 9:45. I generally feel well-rested in the mornings. I don't struggle to fall asleep at all. The only thing I can think is that I have a decently stressful lifestyle but usually I'm not going to bed feeling stressed out. (financial stresses mainly)

I was reading online that usually sleepwalking isn't related to dreams, but in my case they are almost always accompanied by some kind of hallucination. Like I'll wake up doing something crazy because I thought something bad was happening.

I'm just trying to understand what's happening to me.

Not sure if this is allowed, but I'm writing a trilogy that includes a love triangle. At the end of book 1, FMC is with MMC1 but she is taken prisoner (in part) by MMC2 who is an enemy soldier but wants to join the rebellion. Oh, and MMC1 believes she's dead for all of book 2. Throughout book 2, MMC2 is actually trying to help them both escape the regime, but FMC is constantly oscillating between hoping that she'll get back to MMC1 and not believing she'll ever escape. Through this, she starts to develop feelings for MMC2. By the end of book 3, she wants them both, but MMC2 leaves, feeling like he wouldn't be able to handle sharing her, and also knowing that while he helped her survive, she was living to get back to MMC1.

I just wanted to ask - does this strike you as the type of love triangle that would annoy you or not? I feel compelled to write it like this but I want to portray the love triangle in a way that isn't messy and the reader can really understand where FMC is coming from when she acts on her desires with MMC2.

Hello, I'm hoping to ask a question on my mom's behalf. Her house has been on the market for 27 days, and she just had a conversation with her real estate agent where they dropped the price, and they're planning on giving it 2 weeks before pulling it from the market and waiting until the spring! I don't know anything about real estate but this seems super weird to me? The house is in a prime location for skiing in Utah, it's priced well, and it hasn't been up that long.

Can anyone give some advice about this situation?

Hello, I'm hoping to ask a question on my mom's behalf. Her house has been on the market for 27 days, and she just had a conversation with her real estate agent where they dropped the price, and they're planning on giving it 2 weeks before pulling it from the market and waiting until the spring! I don't know anything about real estate but this seems super weird to me? The house is in a prime location for skiing in Utah, it's priced well, and it hasn't been up that long.

Can anyone give some advice about this situation?

Looking for advice on finding character art. I've tried looking on Instagram but I haven't really found anything that suites my taste. I want to find an artist with a similar style to the Andor season 1 poster. So I'm wondering where people find their artists?

ETA: I am not interested at all in anime or cartoon style character art. I'm looking for retro, realistic character art. Also no AI.

There's a lot of advice around writing synopses, but I haven't found anything that's series specific.

Should I be hinting at things that will be revealed in book two in the book one synopsis? For instance, a lot of the conclusion comes down to certain character motivations that are revealed in the first half of book 2.

This may be a stupid question but I haven't seen it discussed anywhere, so I hope some of y'all can help me.

We're told to query in batches, right? But what happens if we get an offer of representation from an agent, and we haven't queried our whole list yet?

I haven't started querying yet, so I'd love some insight from someone with more experience than me.

My current plan is to query a batch that includes high and low priority agents, and see what happens. If I get some fulls, I'm thinking I'll use that as confirmation to continue querying with that package. Maybe this is obvious lol. I'm scared.

Hey everyone. I know the word count is long, I'm gonna work on a butcher draft later this month to shave it down, which is why I have it blank in the letter.

Thank you in advance for the feedback. This is my first ever query letter for my debut.

Dear [Agent Name],

[MSWL personalization] I’d like to submit for your consideration FALL OF MEN, a dual POV adult post-apocalyptic romantic dystopian epic. It is the first book in a planned trilogy, complete at _______ words. 

With an unflinching gaze and spiritual lens akin to PARABLE OF THE SOWER, a fallen-world atmosphere comparable to STATION ELEVEN, and an exploration of the costs of rebellion against a dystopian empire like ANDOR, FALL OF MEN is a complex narrative of love, loss, and the costs of colonization to the human soul.

300 years after the Fall, communities have persisted without civilization for generations, living peacefully amid the ruins of the Old World. A balance between man and nature has been struck, but that balance will soon be threatened once again. 

Twenty-seven year old Nairi Raine has yet to come of age. When she does, she’ll be married to a man she does not love, chained forever to her insular mountain village with their mysterious rules of isolation. Despite her love for her family and her community, her longing for adventure, freedom, and knowledge constantly tests her obedience.

Following the shocking death of her mother, Nairi finds herself thrust into a continent-spanning war after discovering the truth of how she died – that she was murdered by the scouts of a growing Empire aiming to ruthlessly recolonize the entire world.

Torn between two paths, Nairi must decide between her loyalty to her people and joining a mysterious group of rebel Rangers, led by the haunted and cerebral Zia Adhara. As secrets are revealed and forbidden romance brews, Nairi is plunged into an alien world as she learns about the Fall of Men, and fights against the rise of the Promethean Empire. 

As the power of the enemy grows, and war begins to take shape, Nairi learns that she is much more tethered to this conflict than she could have imagined – and it will cost her everything.

[Bio]

Thank you so much for your time and consideration.
 
[My name]

ETA:

Thank you to everyone for all of the help. I'm so nervous to query my project, and this feedback is extremely helpful.

Does anyone else who’s hoping to debut soon feel like with the state of trad pub being so risk-averse and self-pub being inundated with slop, that it’s like we showed up to the party at the point where everyone is either passed out or puking, and there’s a sticky layer of beer covering the floor?

Are there any genuine alternatives to these two paths?

It’s hard not to feel kinda hopeless about publishing some days.