u/trisolariandroplet

In my experience as a debut author with a mid-sized publisher, no one on my team seemed particularly interested in guiding or shaping my career. I never had any strategy discussions with my editor or publicist. They never asked me what I planned to write next or offered advice on how to position myself within the industry. I had some of these conversations with my agent, but he never really pushed back on any of my ideas or alerted me when I was making strategic blunders. Are authors typically on their own when it comes to career development? Who do you talk to when you're not sure about your next move?

I haven't published a novel in 8 years, and during that time I've built up sizable platforms on social media, but they're not particularly focused on my books. I recently signed with a new traditional publisher, and I'm hoping they have a publicist or marketing expert who will help me figure out the best way to relaunch myself as an author and convert that varied audience into readers. In your experience, do publishers typically work with their authors to develop their brand, or do they expect you to figure it out on your own?

The last time I was published by a large house, their publicist only handled my media appearances and didn't advise me at all on how I should develop my online presence, but I'm hoping that has changed in recent years because I could really use some guidance.

I haven't played very much but it seems to me that every run is drastically different because the items and encounters I get are random. People talk like every item is available to you and you just create the same builds over and over unless the devs shake it up with new content but I don't understand this. I never get to "choose" my build, my options are randomized every time and I just try to make interesting things out of the items I get. I feel like even if they stopped adding anything new I could play hundreds of runs and never have the same build twice.

I walk a lot, so I wear pretty sturdy shoes most of the year. Danner boots, Red Wings, stuff like that. My whole wardrobe falls apart in the summer because none of these look good with shorts, linen pants, etc. All the "summer shoes" I see are super lightweight, thin-soled stuff like sneakers, sandals, espadrilles, etc, but none of those are comfortable enough to trek a couple miles through a city without beating my feet up. I need something with some structure and cushioning that is NOT sporty and wouldn't look terrible with linen shorts or beach pants. Does that even exist?

Bizarre situation here. I had an ebook released by a small indie publisher which has now gone out of business, but the book is still selling on Amazon. There is no company collecting the royalties because the company no longer exists, and my former editor at the company says he has no way of accessing the book because his account email doesn't exist anymore. So my book has just been sitting there on Amazon for over a year, selling copies and collecting money that can't be accessed, and I have no way to reclaim the book.

I actually got ahold of Amazon and they told me there is nothing they can do because they don't control the ebooks, it's whatever "platform" my publisher used to upload it to Amazon, but my former editor insists he can't access this platform either. Amazon told me my only recourse would be to file a copyright claim to get the book taken down, but that sounds like a long and complicated legal struggle and I assume I would be unable to collect any of the money it's earned. Is there any other solution to this crazy scenario?

I have noticed a trend toward much brighter lighting in newer bars and restaurants. It's particularly striking in cocktail bars which were traditionally dim, warm, moody environments designed to feel romantic. Many newer places are painted bright white, with bright overhead lighting that reveals every flaw in faces and feels like an interrogation room. Is there an intention behind this change?

I have the Arctis Nova 5 and I'm very confused about how this thing works. When I'm using it in 2.4 mode on Mac OS, instead of just playing the normal audio from my Mac, it plays its own weird notification sounds whenever I get a text, which fully interrupts any other audio I have playing. Why does the headset even know that I'm getting a text? Is it trying to integrate with the OS in some way? All I want it to do is play sound!

I keep seeing this argument that home ownership is actually a bad investment and you gain more profit by taking all the costs of ownership (mortgage, maintenance, down payment) and investing them than you would gain from the home equity. This really doesn't seem to add up to me when you consider the cost of rent and the unimpressive returns on low-risk investments like money market accounts, but it's very complex math to really map it all out.

Does this logic only apply to specific situations? Like if you're making a very low down payment so you're paying more interest? Or you're willing to do very high risk investments that outperform real estate? Is there a scenario where it really is more profitable to rent your primary residence and own nothing?