Jessica V Aragon’s 🪱 Twittter Account
@JVA_writes
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space fantasy author. EMT-I/Trauma RN/BSN. Cat/Owl person. UFO enthusiast. Recovering vampire. any pronouns 🏳️🌈 rep: @JJBker / @literaryfey @BLM_Agency
St. Louis, MO
Joined December 2016
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✨NEWS✨
I have literary agents! I couldn't have found a better fit than
@literaryfey
and
@JJBker
for my deranged space fantasy about worms, gods, and seriously dysfunctional assholes. I'm so excited to see where we take this thing!
😈🧠🪱🌘☄️💥🏜️🗡️🩸🧬🕳️⁉️
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All right, fuck it. I wasn't going to do this on main but this just kicked me over the edge.
I've spent the last year recording every english language fiction deal in Publisher's Marketplace, googling over 4000 authors, and this is what the current book deal landscape looks like
Barnes and Noble dropped their "Best YA Books of 2023" list and every. single. author is white. Y'all. I feel like a broken record at this point because this happens every day
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It’s really amazing how much more I like someone when I find out they have a cat
(If you see this you have to show me your cat)
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requisite disclaimer that I am just one person with a spreadsheet and an internet connection; I may have miscategorized some people or made some math errors here and there. HOWEVER, I do believe this is representative of the current publishing landscape.
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I would like to draw special attention to the fact that Latinx people are 19% of the US population. If we're being generous and looking at the entire Anglosphere, that number is still about 14%. In terms of book deals, though? 5%. That's completely fucking unacceptable.
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I think I made a lot of people sad (including me) so uh
Here’s a cat
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the writerly urge to show someone the first couple chapters of your barely-formed WIP just to feel something
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addendum: The only way to get 100% accurate numbers, no miscategorization, would be to have imprints poll their authors and report on that. Obviously that is outside my control. I would love to see a professional version of this data; I just wasn't finding it so I did it myself.
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being a space opera writer is hard because you have to name spaceships, and the line between "badass" and "stupid" is a very fine one to walk
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@AuthorofPatches
@ananyad12
I think this happens approximately eighty times per business day
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ok well a lot of you are new here and it looks like the algorithm likes me today, so have a thread of great recent books by BIPOC authors
if you notice a space opera/science fantasy bias.... yes.
🧵
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✨NEWS✨
I've queried 3 books over 6 years, so I am THRILLED to announce my space opera epic about the worst person in the galaxy survived the trenches!
I'm now represented by
@lanewriteswords
, whose vision for this book has me so excited!
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@lynnjohnstonlit
Sometimes it's listed in the PM deal, and often people ID themselves on their websites or social media. I acknowledge that my methodology was not perfect; I just did the best I could.
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But actually the most terrifying part of my agent call was realizing I would have to say my bullshit made up names out loud, with a straight face, like a professional
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If you queried for 5 minutes and got 9 offers of rep, it’s sure as hell not because your query letter was perfect and your pages were genius.
You got lucky with the market, & should probably think twice before presenting yourself as a wise, experienced font of publishing advice.
alternatively, what’s a hard to swallow pill for writers/authors, in your experience? either about the process or the industry
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While I have your attention, here's a sample list of recent and upcoming books by BIPOC authors to get you started. One of the only ways we readers can contribute to a more diverse publishing landscape is to READ more diversely and promote these books.
ok well a lot of you are new here and it looks like the algorithm likes me today, so have a thread of great recent books by BIPOC authors
if you notice a space opera/science fantasy bias.... yes.
🧵
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@ByGeorgeJreije
Sorry, I had a screenshot where that was included but I shared the wrong one 🫠 It's right around 1%.
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@NedraTawwab
@ my old workplace that told me I should "take one for the team" and cover the holidays I wasn't scheduled for because I don't have kids
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I am once again reminding everyone that the majority of adult SFF is in fact about people in their 20s
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I got to make a "how I got a literary agent" post 🤯
This one's the story of a longer journey (almost 7 years) with an unlikely book, so I hope people find it encouraging.
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SO I’ve been querying on and off for the last 8 years, I’ve been agented, I’ve done an R&R, I’ve been on sub, I've mentored, I’ve written and critiqued approximately 7534 queries, and I'm basically glued to PM.
if you're a querying writer with questions, my DMs are open and free
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update: I caught a typo. PI authors should be 0.2%, not 0.02%. This statistic is still abysmal. Sorry everyone.
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“30 agents max” is….. very bad advice. Even in the much different landscape of 2016-2018, most people I knew were querying 75+ before shelving.
Query everyone who takes your genre that you would feel good about accepting an offer from.
I'm seeing a lot of
#amquerying
authors ask, "What's the right number of literary agents to query?"
It's what I always want to see in authors HIGMA posts. How many, and how long did it take you?
Alexa Donne (who I think is awesome!) says to query 30 agents max. Yes, 30! Watch
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I got some truly breathtaking tips on “how to write a female character more convincingly” when I wrote under a male pseudonym—including “she should speculate about whether she’s lost weight after waking up from cryostasis”
Worst writing advice you’ve ever received? Let’s vent. I remember someone once told me writing what I know won't get me anywhere. Guess what buddy? I still write about witches.
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my villain origin story is the way book reviewers conflate "debut" with "first book"
ie "This is good for a debut!" 😵💫 when you know the author is a full grown adult with multiple books under their belt
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@VenterGabriel
@Karnythia
about 15-20 minutes of work per day for a year. Not so bad as long as I kept on top of things.
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@booksaremagic23
this is deals reported in Publishers' Marketplace, so Big 5, mid-size independent, and small presses that report there. No self-publishing numbers.
I will say that small presses, overall, have numbers even worse than the big publishers. Quite a few with 100% white acquisitions.
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getting real tired of all these "BUT YOU WERE SILENT WHEN XYZ" takes because
1) that's a REALLY bold assumption
2) information isn't disseminated equally about every bad thing happening in the world. that is not the fault of the average twitter user
3) people learn and grow
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Querying Timeline:
Year 1: so exciting!!!!
Year 2: if I don’t get an offer NOW I am going to PERISH
Year 3: *more or less resigned to my fate*
Year 4: fuck
Year 5: YOU CANNOT KILL ME IN A WAY THAT MATTERS
Year 6+: depends. Either unhinged spite, relentless positivity, or apathy.
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one thing I wish more new writers were told is that you do NOT need to pay for query critiques. Most (not all) of the people soliciting paid services on social media will not be able to tell you anything you can’t get for free via CPs or online forums of fellow writers.
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I am VERY aware that probably every single idea in my books has been done before. And that is... to be expected.
It's not the ideas I'm proud of. It's the way I combine the ideas, and deconstruct them, and join the literary conversation (with other humans) I'm proud of.
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*crawls out of dark hole*
(ahem)
✨NOW QUERYING✨
#amquerying
*crawls back into dark hole*
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Hi
#writersoftwitter
! I'm Jessica, and I write SFF with a heavy dose of horror.
I'm getting ready to go on sub with my epic space opera, featuring a villain protagonist and a deconstructed redemption arc.
My WIP is dark fantasy with a sci-fi twist, set in a terrifying desert.
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If you do not have a cat, sorry, you have to work much harder to get me to like you. The good news is: you can fix this easily by getting a cat!
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There are two kinds of authors:
1) writes idealized self-inserts
2) gives their MC one or two of their worst personality traits, amplifies them x1000, then spends an entire book roasting them for it
(also the pipeline from 1 to 2 is real, ask me how I know)
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I write space opera, fantasy, and horror—often all three at once. I have found myself agent-less and will be querying my science fantasy about sinister celestial events, deranged gods, a horrible desert full of worse people, and bugs where you would least expect them this spring!
Hey authors you should introduce yourselves with this moodboard prompt 🫀✨️
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Hi
#WritingCommmunity
!
I’m a 28 year old writer of bloody, messy space fantasy. By day I’m a trauma RN (background in EMS). I enjoy cats, lifting weights, watching horror movies, and making color coded spreadsheets.
Here is a grainy old photo of me at the Vatican for no reason
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Anyway, apropos of nothing at all
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so last year I read *checks notes* SEVERAL different books that have died on submission. When I say these were some of my favorite reads of 2023 and I'm FURIOUS about it...
anyway. perennial reminder that if you're struggling in the trenches or on sub, it's not you ❤️
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@taeli
English language, so US/UK/Canada/Australia. Mostly US because the other ones don't report to PM as frequently.
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“And for a fleeting second, he glimpsed the future: this moment in effigy, a thousand years from now.”
meet Ysira Naktis, one of two POVs in my
#amquerying
book. She's the worst, but tbh everyone has it coming.
artwork by the incredible
@korraiko
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SO CLEARLY THERE IS A MARKET FOR SPACE OPERA, IS ALL IM SAYING
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report from my subconscious: we have officially moved on from querying nightmares to revision/sub nightmares
is this my life now
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this is a very good problem to have but I have gotten good news email notifications during psychiatrist appointments twice in a row and this man definitely thinks I'm unhinged/unstable/potentially deranged now
in related news: AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
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WELL, I guess I had to do this once.
How much of it is usable? Eh. Ehhhhh. We'll see.
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I have lost all control of my notifications on this post but rest assured, I love all your cats
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publishing: "you should know the market for your genre"
my hyperfixation-prone ass: my cool party trick is I can name the author, agent, editor, imprint, and deal stats for almost any traditionally published SFF title reported in PM in the last ~5 years
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So I think doing
#questpit
tomorrow is actually a very good idea and you all should shoot your shot
Exhibit A:
How it started // How it’s going
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Re that one tweet:
I’ve sacrificed nights out and fun times, treated my writing with the ~utmost seriousness~ for the last decade or so, and I am STILL not published so
Maybe you should do whatever feels best for you/avoid burnout because it literally does not matter lol
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Who are my fellow writers who are also healthcare workers?!?
What’s your biggest pet peeve when it comes to representations of your job in fiction?!
I’ll start: I have a small stroke every time a character removes an impaled object.
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is there anything more embarrassing than making a joke in the company of people whose collective sense of humor simply Does Not Vibe with yours
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more coherent version of my last tweet:
struggling at trad pub feels exactly the same as being 15 and the only one of your friends who didn't get asked to prom, and it is VERY MEAN of the universe to make some of us endure both
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Don’t get me wrong, I’m very glad non-romance fantasy books will have a chance to stand out for once
but getting rid of MIDDLE GRADE? What on earth?
Voting for the only major book awards chosen by readers has finally begun. That’s right, the 15th annual Goodreads Choice Awards are here! Vote during the Opening Round for the books you want to see make it to the Final Round!
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@morganforte
I’ve had it happen where I get a rejection on a request, then heard back literal months later “I’m still thinking about this book, did you happen to do a revision or write anything new?”
Still turned into a rejection in the end but it does happen 😂
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a tale in two phone calls with the vet:
9 AM: "You have the sweetest little kitty! She didn't mind at all when we took her rectal temp! Amazing!"
10:30 AM: "She's done. She's had enough. She's healthy but we had to put her in a box because she's too angry. Please come get her."
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just throwing this into the void as twitter takes its fourth or fifth final breath this year:
it should NOT be as hard as it is to figure out who some books' cover artists are. CREDIT YOUR COVER ARTISTS. PLEASE.
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🩸❄️⚔️ COVER REVEAL 🩸❄️⚔️
so excited to assist in unveiling this jaw-dropping cover art for
@kennington_alex
BLOOD BENEATH THE SNOW, coming March 11, 2025 from
@AceBooksPub
!
I've been so intrigued by this ever since I first saw the pitch, and can't wait to get my hands on it!
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Too many SFF “morally grey” characters are just brooding sarcastic people who angst incessantly about having done (1) one perfectly justifiable Bad Thing.
The term is so overused it means nothing. It’s 500% fine if your MC is a good person, don’t try to sell us on a cop out.
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@zionacook
my number for this is only up to date from last October through August :/ but across the 13 SFF imprints that acquire the most, I have Black authors at about 7%. It's definitely worse in genre fiction than PM's "general" category.
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Feeling deeply sad today about these characters.
I write big, complicated books and the price I pay for it is writing very slowly. I spent nearly 5 years telling their story and trying to sell it, and it’s heartbreaking to say goodbye.
Hopefully it’s just goodbye for now🤞💔
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OH MY GOD I THINK THIS IS ME TELL ME SOMEBODY ELSE DIDN'T WRITE SOMETHING WITH THIS TITLE
#PitchMadness
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I get nervous about how people might receive my books' portrayal of chronic illness/disability. I have PCOS, Hashimoto's, and chronic pain from nerve problems, cysts, and a back injury. I have struggled a LOT with internalized ableism and this is reflected in my writing.
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I mean if you think about it it is kind of insane that for some genres, the entirety of trad pubbed work in the English language is decided by like 12 people’s personal preferences
From my own resource pool (authors I know), it's about 93% since 2021 😬
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Istg my publishing legacy is going to be “that hype man for space opera books”, but damn it, somebody has to do it
Thread incoming of books you must read if you saw Dune and are like “hey, that was neat”
(Feel free to add recs bc I have not drunk worm juice and cannot see all)
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an unexpected side effect of querying/sub is that I've been reading more widely in other genres, and this has helped my craft a LOT.
Specifically, I've been reading more horror and literary fiction. The former teaches me to build tension, the latter to craft prettier sentences.
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my space opera on sub!
It's dark and gritty with cosmic horror and a villain protagonist, taking place across a thousand years and two timelines. It's the best thing I've written to date (we'll see how the WIP turns out), I love it so much and I hope it's on shelves someday 🥺
there’s been so much “do this/don’t do that/this is bad/why does this sell?” chatter on my timeline that I,,,
I just wanna see your books
trad published, indie published, agented, on sub, unagented
pitch me those darlings no matter how they fit in the ever shifting “norm” ♥️
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The creativity privilege discourse is making me a whole new kind of angry
Like these people really don’t understand how much effort, how many hours of work, how much commitment goes into creating good art, do they?
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I’m baffled by
#StationEleven
decision to make Jeevan not a paramedic. It’s such a central part of his arc in the book, not to mention without it the opening scene makes NO sense.
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me: *writes and revises 20k in a week*
professor: I want three pages double spaced in APA format by Friday
me:
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you’re better off taking querying advice from someone who’s been through it and written 3687378 queries, stakes attached, than someone who lucked out on their first try because the publishing gods like them, idk
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boy do I ever have a lot to say about this 🥲
the authors allowed to publish sprawling epics nowadays nearly all belong to the same elite, established demographic
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I signed up to work 12 hour shifts the next five days in a row so I could have extra time off next week but AT WHAT COST
This is going to be me the entire time with my coworkers who dgaf
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I am a person who struggles with envy. A LOT. It's been a recurring problem for most of my life. Pursuing trad pub has not made it better.
But I am so, so lucky to have met the other writers I've met along the way, and I wouldn't trade this community for a nine figure book deal.
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So excited to be joining this incredible lineup of mentors!
I've been making publishing my entire personality since... 2015-ish, and now I get to give back to this community that's done so much for me.
Check out
@RT_Mentor
website for more info!
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I wrote this for every querying writer— especially my epic SFF brethren—who looks at those numbers and goes, “RIP but I’m different”
This is an unflinching look at what you’re in for, plus some tips from someone who’s been there
Round Table Mentor will be publishing a series of blogs across writing and publishing topics. 👀 Today, check out "So You’re Thinking About Querying a Book Outside Industry Standard Lengths" by RTM mentor Jessica V Aragon
@JVA_writes
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@meredithmwrites
the JK Rowling comment is my villain origin story.
there's also this overwhelming assumption I keep running into, that "getting published" equals "fame and fortune and movie deals and quitting your day job" 🫠
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I had to have a nice long minute of self reflection after I got INTENSELY offended at a rejection saying my voice "skewed YA."
Putting aside that I disagree (the MC is 48, ffs), why DID I perceive that as so insulting? YA often has better pacing & plotting than adult books.
I think we need to retire saying “this reads like YA” as an insult/critique on adult books
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Without downloading any new images, show me your writing process
Without downloading any new images, show me your writing process.
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I never understood what anyone meant about “vision” until I had to select a mentee for a mentorship program. I had to both love a book AND understand how to help make it shine, and the latter is very very subjective.
(Have I internalized this? No. Shut up. But it’s still true.)
Slush reading for Pitch Wars showed me:
a) there are a LOT of talented writers out there
b) passes were very rarely about quality and much more to do with the particular skills of the mentor and how they could help specific projects.
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Making this book bloodier AND hornier because why give my family one reason to disown me when they could have several
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fuck it I'm doing COTU also
there's a LOT I like about this one so 👀
do this challenge with me, posting and liking both 👀
QRT w/ your book aesthetic & for every like you get, comment w/ one reason you love your WIP. A theme, scene, character, detail, fun fact, line ♥️
and check this to prompt other ppl to love their work too
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I push this one on literally everyone I know because it's one of the best things I have ever read
Light from Uncommon Stars
A defiantly joyful adventure set in California's San Ga…
www.goodreads.com
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