S.A. MacLean | THE PHOENIX KEEPER is out now!!! 🔥
@AuthorSAMacLean
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Sunday Times Bestselling Author | THE PHOENIX KEEPER out now! | ecology professor | bi woman 🏳️🌈 | she/her | rep @JJBker
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"Do you ever wish you could go back and tell your younger self to just keep going? That it will all get better in a few years?"
THE PHOENIX KEEPER is OUT NOW 🔥🔥🔥
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I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOB I GOT THE JOB
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I am now the curator of my very own ✨cozy library corner✨ and I have never known such bliss 😌
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Is there any joy greater than ✨️new shelves✨️ ready to be filled? 😌
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Querying is the pits right now, so you know what? Write something wild. Something INDULGENT. You deserve it!
I'm drafting the lush fantasy snarky monster romance of my dreams. Is it marketable? Questionable! Am I LIVING while my other book is querying? Like never before!
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TENURE-TRACK PROFESSOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE!!!!!!
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I know it's meant to be encouraging, but the rejection with "Your story has so much potential, just not right for my list right now! I'm certain you'll find a home soon!" starts stinging pretty bad after the dozenth or so time, you know?
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LOOK AT MY SWEET GIRL! MY BEST BIRD! 🥹
I'm absolutely combusting to finally share the gorgeous covers - yes, COVERS PLURAL - for THE PHOENIX KEEPER, my queer adult cozy romantasy about a magical zoo!
🧵shouting about editions/artists/preorder links below
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It's wild to read a published, crazy successful book that opens on 30 pages of straight exposition. Meanwhile, I'm combing my sample pages 1000x in terror of one expository sentence too many making an agent pass.
The dream of having an audience and just getting to write 😭
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Agent 1: "I deeply appreciate the premise of the story, but the writing weighed down the narrative."
Agent 2: "While I thought your writing was very strong, I ultimately struggled to fall in love with your premise."
Me: Thank you for this ... actionable feedback 😅
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Full request number threeee. Oh yeah. It's slow work, but it's going somewhere. 🤩
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SHE DID IT!
THE PHOENIX KEEPER IS AN INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER!
PERCHED ALL THE WAY UP AT
#2
!!!
ALL THE SHOUTS AND CAPS LOCK IN THE WORLD TO MY AMAZING TEAM AND THE EVEN MORE AMAZING READERS WHO HAVE SHOWN SO MUCH LOVE FOR THIS BOOK ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
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I was about to shelve THE PHOENIX KEEPER.
67 agents rejected it while querying. Only one agent offered.
We got our first pub offer 2 days into sub.
And multiple six-figure pre-empts within a week.
My latest blog, How I Got My Pub Deal, is now live!
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Whenever I see these query statistics/advice threads going around, I'm begging agented authors, I'm on my knees ✨pleading✨ that we remember to explicitly acknowledge the luck and perseverance component involved in publishing.
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For a while there, I thought Twitter had lost its touch.
Now we're finishing off 2024 with review bombers making it into the NYT and people copywriting the sun.
Really strong comeback for the climax, did not see any of these plot twists coming.
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Hello, friends. This week, I declined an offer of rep, shelved my book, and resigned myself back to the query trenches.
Here’s a thread / love letter in support of fellow querying writers who have to make difficult decisions (1/🧵)
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Don't stop after 30 queries.
My last book, I got an agent offer on the 43rd query I sent. 79 queries total. Eight new full requests after the offer.
This round, I'm 44 queries deep, waiting to hear back on half. More to send out.
Querying is hard. Don't cut yourself short.
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I FINALLY MADE GOOD BREAD 😭
LOOK AT THE CRUST ✨️
LOOK AT THE STEAM 🔥
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Today, out there in the real world, a person was asking about my debut book, and they asked how many chapters is in it.
Not word count.
Not page count.
How many CHAPTERS.
And my brain made dialup noises.
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One whole month of nail-biting silence on the query front, only for a full request to pop into my inbox today! Keep chugging forward, all my
#amquerying
friends!
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We're PM official, babes 😘
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I’ve been giving away weekly query critiques for 4 months now, so I’d love to share some of the most frequent comments I find myself repeating. Love them, hate them, let’s talk about comp titles! 🧵1/8
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Not comparing or diving into discourse, BUT...
Romantasy is, to me, *not just* fantasy that happens to have romance in it. But it's also *not just* fantasy that is mostly romance, with less plot.
In a good romantasy, romance and plot are equally important -- and inextricable.
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The Phoenix Keeper was rejected by 68 agents over six months.
We went on sub and had multiple competing offers withing the first week.
It's so subjective, y'all ✌️
AGENTS HATED THE BORROW A BOYFRIEND CLUB SOOO MUCH Y'ALL. i queried for months and months. one agent even said they were "offended" i'd sent it because it "made no sense"
when i went on sub, several editors offered almost instantly. you NEVER know what's around the corner!
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Humbled by all the congratulations yesterday ♥️
Querying is HARD. My stats for transparency:
Books 1-5
Didn’t query
Book 6
39 queries
3 fulls
Book 7
79 queries
2 partials
11 fulls (9 after offer)
1 offer, declined
Book 8
68 queries
6 fulls (2 after offer)
1 offer, accepted!
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Hitting up my good ol' list of agents to query like, "Hello! It is I, once again! May I interest you in a DIFFERENT chaotic bisexual this time? This one has magical bird friends and 10x the anxiety??"
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My adult cozy fantasy debut, THE PHOENIX KEEPER, is out now! Featuring a bisexual MC with anxiety, working to conserve endangered phoenixes at a magical zoo, with a slowburn rivals-to-lovers f/f ship ❤️
Since it's bisexual visibility week/month, can I ask authors to make their bisexual books visible? 👀🩷💜💙
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Bursting at the seams to announce I'm now represented by
@JJBker
at
@BLM_Agency
! I was blown away by John's enthusiasm for my magical zoo, my anxious disaster MC, and her prickly college rival. Can't wait to share this story of fantasy, romance, and mental health rep with you!
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Just a little bio update, very demure, very mindful
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@MattBrownWrites
Matt I read the first sentence in a panic and thought we couldn't be friends anymore.
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Final copies are officially Perry Approved™️ 😌
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At long last, a post on How I Got My Agent!
It's only *checks calendar* 4 months late! 🙃
I wanted to talk about how difficult this journey is, how many ups and downs, but also the joy of perseverance.
To authors still querying, I'm rooting for you ♥️
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There is no more unhinged state of dual hope and despair than sending out a new batch of queries.
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What's truly awe-inspiring about authors is how they can take three separate discourses and weave them seamlessly into one massive new crossover discourse, a genre mashup if you will, all the the classic tropes but with a fresh new spin.
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Don't mind me, just crying over my own book like a nerd. Who even wrote this???
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Honestly, how HOT is this full cover spread??🔥😍
Just over a week until you can visit the cozy magical zoo! Watch the stunning free-flight griffin show, grab a dragon plushie from the gift shop, and don't forget to enjoy some spicy chocolate phoenix feather cake pops!
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Holding my physical book for the first time! Proof copies of The Phoenix Keeper US edition from
@orbitbooks
😍
Visit the magical zoo to see an anxious bi disaster team up with her hot college nemesis to save their endangered phoenixes!
THE PHOENIX KEEPER August 2024🔥
Links⬇️
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Checking another item off my writer bucket list: some afternoon tea with my ...
✨Publisher's Marketplace Announcement Mug✨
Hey, add THE PHOENIX KEEPER on Goodreads, if you haven't already (linktree in my bio) 😘🔥
Cheers 🍾🍵
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TWO DAYS LEFT!!!
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Being bisexual with social anxiety just means Aila can be an awkward disaster when attempting to flirt with men *and* women 😌
Preorder THE PHOENIX KEEPER for heaps of bi panic and a cozy zoo full of magical creatures!
For pride month, can I ask authors to be loud about their books with bisexual main characters? 👀👀🩷💜💙
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For this latest query round, 2 of my first 3 replies were fulls. I was thrilled! I posted on Twitter and got so much love!
Since then, 0 requests. 15 rejects, including a form reject on a full.
Celebration posts often gloss over a ton of struggle, so don't feel bad for yours ♥️
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"Who's gonna assemble all this for you?" asks the delivery man who just deposited 21 boxes of Ikea furniture in my new apartment
I look him in the eye
The power of bookshelves roots in my veins
The ancient lore of instruction booklets
"I AM," I answer, and the world quakes
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🔥THE PHOENIX KEEPER, my cozy queer romantasy debut, is coming summer 2024!!🔥
Tickets to the magical zoo made possible by
@gollancz
and
@orbitbooks
. Come for the griffin show and kelpie feeding demonstration, stay for the anxious bisexual panicking over her hot college rival.
"This book is for all the nerds who hoarded dragon stories in our youth and deserve just as much whimsy now that we’ve grown up."
@gollancz
has acquired The Phoenix Keeper by ecology professor and début author
@AuthorSAMacLean
.
Read here:
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My baby is shiny and beautiful and FREE INTO THE WORLD!
'Filled with mystical creatures so vivid I could swear they're real and the coziest possible combination of intrigue and romance' Laura R. Samotin
Enter
@AuthorSAMacLean
's irresistible world teeming with mythical beasts!
#ThePhoenixKeeper
is out now!
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🎉100TH QUERY LETTER CRITIQUE GIVEAWAY🎉
Can't believe I've completed 100 free query critiques! To celebrate, let's do a special giveaway this Friday: query letter PLUS first 10 pages!!
Comment with your book pitch and/or aesthetic by 7pm PDT today and I'll select two entries!
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Magic zoo book has gotten 3 query responses, and 2 of those are full requests from dream agents.
Please, someone send along a dustpan to collect my ashes after I combust.
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I forgot to cross post, OOPS.
Hey, so, THE PHOENIX KEEPER was the
@illumicrate
July box pick, and isn't this special edition absolutely GORGEOUS???
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MY BIRD IN BLUE 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Look at these stunning colors!? Look at these majestic birds!?!?! 😭
US preorder:
UK preorder:
Goodreads:
Cover launch! Set in a magical zoo teeming with mythical beasts, THE PHOENIX KEEPER by
@AuthorSAMacLean
is a joy of a cozy fantasy novel with a soul-restoring queer romance. Preorder now from Orbit US:
Design by Rachael Lancaster
Art by
@niallcgrant
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Above all, keep pushing. Writing is hard. Querying is hard. Being on sub is hard. It never stops being hard, but I’ve benefited from viewing writing as a journey rather than a destination. Along the way, I'll be here rooting you on. (14/14)
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Let's not use "clean" for YA OR ADULT books without sex!
Let's support low-heat. Let's support better ace rep. And let's support healthy, consensual on-page sex. Let's support messy, complicated sex. Let's support sex that weaves into character arcs, and sex just for fun.
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The Phoenix Keeper has been out in the world for an entire month!
Hearing your stories about connecting with Aila’s anxiety, about animal lovers and workers in animal care seeing your experiences reflected on page, it makes me feel so humbled to have reached my audience ❤️
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I got invited to a final interview for the professor job and I'll now be hyperventilating until next Monday thank you
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Sure, sex is great, but have you ever walked barefoot across a freshly-swept floor while it's still cool and clean and you don't feel a single grain of dirt on your feet?
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Do you ever wake up from a badass dream and think "Wow! That would make such a cool book! Let me write it down!" And then sob when you realize the details are already gone except some random image of a screaming monkey.
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THE PHOENIX KEEPER came to life with stunning front cover and back cover *and* interior art by
@niallcgrant
I'm endlessly in love with the flowing details of these phoenixes, the intricate wreath of flame, and the full wraparound will make you *perish*
Support real artists👏
Authors! Please come flaunt your human-drawn covers. Quote this naming the artist of your cover and what you like about it!
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Can we all just take a deep breath, acknowledge that querying is hard and diverse feelings about it are all valid, then go back to laughing together at that schmagency? I had my popcorn ready and everything.
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Absolutely SURREAL to hold the final copies of my debut book in my hands 😭❤️
Are you more excited for the blue/orange US edition, or do you prefer the cream/gold UK edition? 👀 (I can't pick, they're both so beautiful 😭)
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DEBUT YEAR DEBUT YEAR DEBUT YEAR DEBUT YEAR DEBUT YEAR DEBUT YEAR DEBUT YEAR
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The Barnes & Noble pre-order sale is back! If you haven't already ordered your copy of THE PHOENIX KEEPER, well, what are you waiting for???
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Same sword. New profile pic.
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Be me, languishing because there's a fun trope board trend, and I have a gorgeous cover in my inbox that I can't share yet 😭
SOON . . .
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I wanted to look something up in my book.
And instead of opening a Word Doc, I just . . . picked up the book off my shelf? And flipped to the section?? In real life???
WILD.
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I am OBSESSED with my adorable new bi bat??? The colors are so vibrant and the proportions are so perfect. Now I just need to decide the perfect perching spot on my bookshelf ...
Awesome work by
@PlushMayhem
!
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What's cuter than a phoenix? A whole nest full of phoenixes, of course!
I drew this adorable nest of endangered Silimalo phoenixes as a promo for THE PHOENIX KEEPER at a Waterstones event last month. Was anyone lucky enough to snag one of the limited prints? 👀
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Is plotting advice valuable? Yes!
Will many authors benefit from learning how to make a stronger query? Absolutely!
Does writing an amazing book with an amazing hook and an amazing query letter guarantee you an agent offer?
No. Not at all.
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#PitMad
is next week! I'll be pitching my very gay adult fantasy with four fierce female magicians, scheming gods, and sassy animal companions.
Let me know if you want to swap RTs! And please gush about your work with a pitch/aesthetic/gif in the comments!
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My bf dreamt last night that he was forced to go back in time to eighteen and relive his life, and his biggest concern was whether he'd be able to find me again.
If you need me today, I'm afraid I'll be unavailable while my heart is in a puddle on the floor.
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🔥🔥🔥ATTENTION EVERYONE🔥🔥🔥
Could I interest you in something jaw-dropping? Something awe-inspiring?? Something squeal-inducing???
Something . . . COVER-SHAPED? 👀👀👀
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Nbd just a shelf full of *my books*
(It's a huge deal, I'm actively disintegrating every time I look at them)
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🌺QUERY LETTER CRITIQUE GIVEAWAY🌺
Happy Friday, everyone! Time for another query letter critique!
Comment with your book pitch and/or aesthetic by 7pm PDT today and I'll select two entries!
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I've always wanted more fantasy books with bisexual protagonists - so I wrote my own! And it's out now!! ❤️
THE PHOENIX KEEPER is packed full of queer joy, a whimsical magical zoo, and a heartwarming mission to save endangered phoenixes from extinction.
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EXCUSE ME?
THE PHOENIX KEEPER has surged past 1000 "to-read" adds on Goodreads and I am blown away by all the love for my silly little magical zoo book, thank you all for your support 🥹😭❤️
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Good morning to everyone except this agent on query tracker.
I wish an ESPECIALLY GOOD morning to you, kind agent. Is there anything I can get for you on this fair day? Some sample pages, perhaps?
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I just got a full request on a 60 day old query.
Everything is slow right now. Stay patient and find a project to occupy yourself in the meantime ♥️
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Can you believe it? Only 3 months until everyone gets to visit the cozy magical zoo in THE PHOENIX KEEPER!
Ride a replica dragon on the endangered species carousel! Enjoy a phoenix feather cake pop flavored with cayenne chocolate! Snag a peacock griffin plush from the gift shop!
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I HAVE TURNED IN REVISIONS FOR MY DEBUT.
I HIT 50K ON THE WIP.
I'M PROBABLY MOVING IN 2 WEEKS.
JUST CONSTANT SCREAMING IN THIS HOUSE RIGHT NOW.
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Guess who just got the green light to start showing off some of our incredible art for THE PHOENIX KEEPER? Maybe we'll take our first peek tomorrow 👀
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🌺QUERY LETTER CRITIQUE GIVEAWAY🌺
First giveaway since I got my agent, but I never want to stop helping the community! Hoping to return to a weekly schedule.
Comment with your book pitch and/or aesthetic by 7pm PDT today and I'll randomly select two entries!
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When I got my PhD, my condescending advisor told me to get cheap robes - if I was leaving research, I'd never wear them again.
This year, I'll attend commencement as a tenure-track professor. I finally bought robes I'll be proud to wear - paid for by my book deal advance.
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But please, let's also acknowledge that luck is a huge component.
Long journeys are the norm. Cold querying is the norm. Dozens of rejections are the norm. If you're struggling in the query trenches, remember that it's a game of perseverance.
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The Phoenix Keeper is on Goodreads! Add it for:
🔥mischievous magical creatures
🔥animals >>> people
🔥zoo giftshop w/ peacock griffin plushies
🔥social anxiety set to max
🔥my rival's hair smells WAY too good
🔥bi/lesbian/trans characters happily in love
We're PM official, babes 😘
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Hello
#WritersOfTwitter
! I'm Sarah, and my debut, THE PHOENIX KEEPER, is out August 13 from Orbit (US) and Gollancz (UK)!
My cozy romantasy features a magical zoo, a bisexual disaster with anxiety falling for her college rival, and themes of endangered species conservation 🔥
can we bring back
#WritersOfTwitter
again? i would love to meet some new writer friends (& hype up the ones i’m lucky to know already) so go ahead and (re)introduce yourself! 👀💕
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SHE'S HERE. SHE'S QUEER. SHE'S FIERY 🔥🔥🔥
Excuse me while I become absolutely insufferable, this is my bird, she's on a cover and I love her 😭
UK preorder:
US preorder:
Goodreads:
Meet THE queer romantasy debut of 2024 from
@authorsamaclean
THE PHOENIX KEEPER 🔥
Coming August 2024.
Pre-order your copy today
Cover design: Rachael Lancaster
Cover illustration:
@niallcgrant
Animation: Jack West
#samaclean
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🌺QUERY LETTER CRITIQUE GIVEAWAY 🌺
Happy Friday, everyone! Time for my weekly giveaway! In celebration of 4k followers, this week I'll be critiquing query letter + first 10 pgs.
Comment with your book pitch and/or aesthetic by 7pm PDT today, and I'll choose one entry!
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When I see tweets of "I got an incredibly high request rate! Here's how!" and the advice is to ... write a stronger book?
I fully believe this advice is well-meaning. But I think it's also misleading, verging on harmful.
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2023 was ... transformative
I sold my debut adult cozy fantasy. And while we've been quietly accruing a *mountain* of news that can't be announced yet, I can safely say that I'm watching all my dreams come true, and it is a FEELING 🥹
2024 is going to be an incredible year 🥰
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What's that in your inbox, editors? THE PHOENIX KEEPER is now on sub! Cozy queer romantasy at a magic zoo, a perfect gift for holiday self care!
Join bi disaster Aila as she battles social anxiety, eats churros, saves endangered phoenixes, and simps for her hot college nemesis.
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Who else loves books with incredible art inside?👀
THE PHOENIX KEEPER features four gorgeous interior illustrations by
@niallcgrant
! This mischievous magical archibird attracts a mate by building an ornate tower out of metal scraps (inspired by our real-world bowerbirds!).
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I am just sitting here quietly. Holding my hands out. Waiting for a kind invite to that nice place all the cool writing people are going off to.
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The best writing setup 🥰
(And yes, I'm feeling very normal about my amazing phoenix laptop background, thanks for asking 😍)
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Confused about comp titles? Check out the first installment of my BRAND NEW BLOG (🥳🍾) with tips and examples on how to effectively use comp titles in your query letter!
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To anyone who's ever felt that you aren't good enough. You are, and always have been ❤️
3 MORE DAYS!!!
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There are hundreds of querying authors who have written multiple books, who have studied plotting structures, who have been through multiple query critiques. And they're still struggling through dozens of rejections. They're still shelving manuscripts.
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✨LET'S DO THIS✨
Magic zoo book is officially off to the query trenches!!! Come for the world-famous griffin show and phoenix feather cake pops, stay for the mischievous bird friend antics and several hundred pages simping over your hot ice queen college rival.
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🌺QUERY LETTER CRITIQUE GIVEAWAY🌺
Happy Friday, everyone! Time for my weekly query letter critique!
Comment with your book pitch and/or aesthetic by 7pm PDT today and I'll select two entries!
44
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Netgalley roundup! THE PHOENIX KEEPER is now available to request in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand!
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I'm here to write angsty romantasy and grade papers.
AND I'M ALL OUT OF PAPERS TO GRADE.
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Do you like griffins? How about peacock griffins with fantastical tails and blue pom-pom heads?
The third interior illustration for THE PHOENIX KEEPER features a resplendent peacock griffin, brought to life by
@niallcgrant
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Someone block me from the querytracker timeline before I melt into my screen.
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