H.M. Geiser is ✨Agented✨
@hgeiser_author
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Aspiring author, former burlesque dancer, TikToker, and cat mom. Repped by @VictressLit
Dallas, TX
Joined January 2024
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After 6 months of querying, 158 rejections, and 11 full requests, I finally realized traditional publishing is not the right path for me.
Am I insane? Maybe. But I’m not putting my dreams on pause for a moment longer.
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My final query stats after 7 months in the trenches:
Rejections: 198
Full requests: 10
Partial requests: 4
Offers of rep: 1
Request rate: 6.6%
My story of how I got my agent is WILD, stay tuned for that. I’m working on the blog now.
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I withdrew my manuscripts. I committed to self publishing. I was ready to prove everyone wrong who rejected me.
And yet, somehow… I’m vague??
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Being a writer is believing your manuscript is unreadable garbage 50% of the time, and being shocked that literary agents aren't busting down your door to represent you the other 50%.
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Why I chose to withdraw my manuscript requests in favor of self publishing. (As someone who used to be dead set on trad)🧵
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I’m thrilled to announce I’m officially repped by
@VictressLit
! After 200+ rejections and withdrawing all my manuscripts, no one is more surprised by this development than I am. Read all about my crazy journey on my blog 💕
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That video of the girl claiming she got rejected by a publisher because she didn’t have 100k followers? Guys, it’s fake. Anyone can fake a phone call, and people who write fiction get published by the big 5 all the time without a huge following.
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“6 months of querying is nothing! You’re giving up to soon”
I’m not giving up. I CHOSE to withdraw my last 5 full manuscripts from agents in favor of self publishing.
Trad pub is not the right path for everyone. I WANTED it to be right for me, but it just wasn’t. 🤷♀️
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That’s all folks.
I’m leaving the query trenches with a broken heart and a bruised ego, but it’s time to focus on my next project.
On to the next. Hopefully I’ll have better luck next time!
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Okay I might be hallucinating but I think I just got a full request?????
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I absolutely FLOPPED in the query trenches. Here’s what you can learn from my mistakes.🧵
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Sometimes the agent who you think is a perfect fit will reject you, and the one you queried on vibes only that doesn’t even have your genre listed on query tracker will say “this is exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Shoot your shot! You just never know.
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What if there was a literary agent marketplace where they could scroll through elevator pitches and see more information about the manuscripts that interested them? They could sort by genre, age group, word count etc. Then they could make requests and not worry about rejections!
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Sometimes, being vulnerable and talking about your failures can have unexpected positive outcomes.
My thread about flopping in the query trenches prompted an agent to reach out to me, and they now have my full manuscript.
Make the post!! You never know what will happen.
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My editor just hit the twist in my book and called it “vile, reprehensible, and utterly original.” 🥹 Makes my dark lil’ heart sing.
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Hi, I’m a former burlesque dancer who wrote a thriller inspired by Moulin Rouge and Gone Girl. And yes, one of the POV characters is also a burlesque dancer! Who needs a mood board when you’ve got old photos from your showgirl days?
#authorpit
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When do you finally stop editing??
Every time I do another round of revisions on my novel, I feel like it’s in a great spot. But when I come back and look at it again later, I start seeing a whole new set of things to be fixed.
Does it ever stop? 😭
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I just got my second full request this week after not having a single one for the past THREE MONTHS and I am in shock.
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I need someone to talk me down from a ledge rn because I’m this close 👌 to withdrawing all my full requests and never letting anyone read my book again.
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6. I’ve let the idea of “being chosen” dictate my self worth for my entire life. In a way, I think that’s why trad publishing appealed to me so much in the first place. But I think the only way I’m ever going to heal is to choose myself. So I’m doing just that. ❤️
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The hardest thing to wrap my mind around when it comes to getting an agent is that you can do everything right and still fail.
I’ve done everything I can possibly do to succeed on my side and now there’s nothing left in my power. All I can do is wait. 😭
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I see this advice all the time and I agree on a conceptual level. But HOW are y’all moving on and thinking about another project with no closure on the first one? Tell me your secrets 😭
If you're in the process of querying, I encourage you to try working on your next manuscript! Doing creative work will distract you from the querying trenches, and if you get The Call, agents are likely to inquire about your work in progress.
#amquerying
#amwriting
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I used to think that the moment an agent had my full manuscript in their hands, there was no way they wouldn’t fall in love.
Obviously, I was naive. Publishing really is a numbers game!
Sometimes you can do everything right on a technical level and still not nail it!
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If querying damages your mental health, your relationships, etc, then continuing to do it is basically an act of self harm. So is it really giving up if you stop?
I don’t think so. I think it’s an act of self care, and people who choose that route shouldn’t be shamed for it.
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Imagine my confusion when my query letter and opening pages were praised so highly in a
#RevPit
editor’s
#10queries
post, but I’ve only gotten 3 full requests (+100 rejections) after 4 months in the trenches.
When people say publishing is subjective, they mean it!
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I was already pretty confident I made the right decision for myself, but I knew it for sure when a full request landed in my inbox just now and all I felt was relief that I could just ignore it. 😮💨
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Agents don’t even guarantee responses to full manuscripts THEY requested, and they’re certainly not going to acknowledge a simple thank you note. So what’s the point? I’m genuinely curious. If you send the manuscript, you’re acknowledging the request 🤷♀️
When an agent requests to read a full manuscript on QueryManager, why do many writers just upload the file without acknowledging the request?
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It’s a bittersweet feeling to celebrate your friend’s books being brought to life while still mourning the death of your own. Like, I’m genuinely happy, but I also feel…very lonely.
I don’t know if that makes any sense but I’m hoping it’s not just me 😅
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We’re up to 3 this week!!!! My heart is so full it might explode!
I just got my second full request this week after not having a single one for the past THREE MONTHS and I am in shock.
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Got (partial) requests from all 3 agents I pitched to, which is better than nothing! Feels good to be done 🙏
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I didn’t win
#RevPit
, but I just learned I was selected as a finalist by one of the editors I submitted to! What a huge honor. Congrats to all the winners!
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Reminder for all my fellow authors in the query trenches:
Rejection (even lots of it) doesn’t mean your book is bad.
The landscape is the most competitive it’s ever been & agents only have so much bandwidth. It’s as much luck as it is skill at this point.
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3. Capitalism sucks and I refuse to let someone else’s profit margins dictate how publication worthy my book is. I’m a reasonable person who accepts feedback and critique, but I won’t fundamentally change my story to make it a better “market fit.”
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A small press with my full manuscript said they would get back to me in 3-4 weeks. It’s now officially been 3 weeks so let the anxious email refreshing begin. 🕯️
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2. Writing what I want to write is more important to me than money or prestige. Trying to keep up with the market just sucked all the joy out of coming up with new ideas or working on my WIP.
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4. Trad publishing involves a lot of waiting, rejection, and straight up ghosting. Getting an agent is only a small part of an uphill battle, and I had no fight left in me after 6 months of querying. I just don’t have the right personality to make it in that kind of environment!
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5. I believe in my book and know my readers are out there. Will it be a NYT bestseller? Absolutely not. But at the end of the day, I’d rather have a handful of readers than none at all.
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I’ve started getting more and more personalized rejections which makes me feel like I’m on the right track. That being said, I took a huge risk with my unhinged twist. Hopefully the agents with my full who didn’t request a synopsis first won’t hate me 😅
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I thought I’d cracked the code when I got so many back-to-back full requests a few weeks ago, but now it’s back to nothing but rejections 😭
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Me every time I remember that several real life publishing professionals have my manuscript in their hands and are actually considering taking me on as a client:
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Not to be dramatic but being back in the query trenches makes me constantly feel like I’m heading toward the gallows for my execution 😅
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One of my conference partials turned into a full request! 🎉 I’m not getting my hopes up, I really needed the win this week.
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Last but not least, don’t forget to be proud of yourself. YOU WROTE A FREAKING BOOK! That is an amazing accomplishment in itself, and putting yourself out there at all is brave as hell. /🧵8
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1. If I was going to take the leap into self publishing, I wanted to be intentional, and not just use it as a “last resort.” I consciously withdrew my manuscripts knowing any of them could have resulted in an offer. I did it because I WANTED to. Not because I had to.
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Investing in full manuscript critiques/editorial assessments has been a game changer for my confidence. Once you have a professional tell you that your writing doesn’t suck (while also telling you how to make it even better) it makes the rejection sting a bit less.
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Reminders for
#amquerying
authors:
-It’s okay if you change your mind & decide traditional publishing isn’t for you.
-Conflicted feelings are normal. You can be jealous of someone else’s publishing news & still be happy for them.
-Don’t be afraid to take a break & rest.
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I love the intention behind posts like these, I really do. But the reality is that not every querying author is going to get an agent, and sentiments like this end up making the rejection feel more personal than it is. An offer of rep is a business decision at the end of the day.
Hey you, querying author. you know that agent you’re manifesting? Your dream one? Yeah, they’re manifesting you, too.
#amquerying
#writingcommunity
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Agented authors: How do you present your WIPs to your agent? Do you need to get their sign off before you start working on something new? I know every agent is different but just curious to see the different possibilities.
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I know agents are busy but if they ghost an author on a full I’m pretty sure they’re violating some kind of Geneva Convention anti-torture laws.
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Every time I say I’m just proofreading I end up rewriting. 😅 How do you decide you’re actually done and just stop?
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Every weekend my full requests survive without a rejection feels like a win 😎
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One of the agents with my full doesn’t have any other manuscripts on their plate (according to QT), and their fastest rejection over the past 2 years has been 14 days. I’ve now passed that and haven’t heard anything. Praying it’s a good sign 🕯️🤞
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Someone: I loved your book!!!!
Me: 😔 Only four exclamation points??? 😩 Omg they hated it 😭 And they probably hate me now 🫠 My writing is garbage 🙃
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The curse of being a pantser is having to write the first 20k words of a draft at least 5 times until I find the right place to start the story 😭
(Yes, I’ve tried plotting, and I can’t seem to follow my own outlines for the life of me.)
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THIS. As someone who is pursuing self publishing, it annoys the daylights out of me when I see fellow indies telling querying authors to “just self publish” when they express frustration about the process. Let people choose their own path & keep your eyes on your own paper.
Something just came up in another thread: I want to be trad published. I don’t want to self publish. I have my reasons but they’re MY reasons, I don’t have to explain my choices to strangers, and the self pub crowd here rarely respects my decision. 1/2
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Some people query 50+ times and NEVER see a full request. If you’ve gotten a full request at any point in the process that’s a huge thing to celebrate!
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Another perk of self publishing: Resurrecting some of the darlings I had to kill for the sake of my word count 😅 (Not too many, though. I promise!)
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I don’t get it. I had one single week in my entire five months of querying where I got requests. Obviously I did something right to get those 4 back-to-back requests, so why is it not working anymore? I’m so confused.
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I think you have to be a certain kind of person to make art in the competitive landscape of trad publishing. And with the toll querying took on my mental health, I just don’t think I’m the right personality match for that kind of environment.
@hgeiser_author
Glad you found a path you feel comfortable with! Out of curiosity, may I ask why you didn’t want to wait it out? Having received 11 full requests in 6 months is impressive.
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En route to the Washington Writers Conference. I’m doing 3 in-person pitches this weekend and then I am DONE with querying. (For real this time lol.) I’ve finally exhausted my list, but at least I’m going out with a bang!
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Every time I’m thinking about posting something about my book there’s a pitch event going on and I don’t want to dilute the feed but holy crap I can’t just sit here on my hands anymore 😂 there are so many I can’t keep up.
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I’m not participating in PitDark but let me know if you are and I’ll be on the lookout for your posts to support!
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Doing some rebranding in preparation for some ✨news✨ coming soon.
I decided to go the initials route for my author name instead of using my full legal one like I’d originally planned. That way I can keep my professional and creative endeavors separate (hopefully).
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These huge query numbers are fascinating to me. The competition is a bit harrowing, but isn’t it beautiful to know there are so many of us chasing our dreams and going through this process together?
I have 2,000ish queries. I am planning to take on around 10-12 fiction clients THIS YEAR. Simply brutal numbers. 🥲
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I tried to talk myself out of the super ambitious idea I have for my second manuscript but I couldn’t come up with anything better. So complex, dual-timeline, sapphic thriller here we come!
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Create a separate email address for queries and only check it when you’re in the right headspace to do so. I know it’s easier said than done but I wish I had done this. Even if you’re expecting rejection, it hits harder than you think it will.🧵/6
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Didn’t get any
#LuckyPit
requests but I’m still proud of my little burlesque thriller and I know she’ll find a home someday 🖤
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Remember that agents are people too. Be patient during the process and remember that until they sell your book they’re doing every second of labor FOR FREE. Don’t argue or ask for feedback when you get a rejection. 🧵/7
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Whenever you’re ready to start querying, walk away for a minimum of 2 weeks. Read your query letter, synopsis, and first 50 pages again with fresh eyes and be honest with yourself about improvements that could be made. 🧵/3
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Thank you everyone for your kind words of support yesterday. I’ve stopped spiraling and I’m doing much better today. This writing community is so wonderful and I’m grateful to be a part of it. 🖤🙏
I need someone to talk me down from a ledge rn because I’m this close 👌 to withdrawing all my full requests and never letting anyone read my book again.
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Learn to recognize form rejections asap. So many agents will say they loved your submission in a form rejection to be polite, but don’t mistake it as personalized feedback. Check the comments on query tracker to see what they’ve sent other authors! 🧵/2
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Sorry for the radio silence these past few days. The twists and turns in this publishing journey just keep coming. 🤐
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I’ve withdrawn and resubmitted my query to my dream agent like 4 times but now I’m promising myself I won’t touch it again. 😭 If it’s meant to be it will be!
#amquerying
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If you asked me a year ago if I’d consider indie publishing, I would have said NO.
But authors like
@Ophallic
and
@shainaveronica
are changing my mind. Their passion for their books is infectious, their marketing is so polished, and I get hype every time I see their posts.
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Would you read a psychological thriller about a burlesque dancer getting caught in a web of obsession with a controversial pop star and her personal assistant?
Bonus: I wrote it from personal experience as a former award-winning burlesque performer!
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@emmailene_
Her post about looking for a “non-woke” editor made me laugh out loud in the airport 😂😂😂
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@CaitlinLucyy
Unfortunately even if you have the perfect submission package, a lot of this process is down to luck, timing, and subjectivity. Maybe they just signed someone with a similar book. Maybe they’ve already read 100 queries that day. Rejection isn’t always a reflection on quality.
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You know you’re burned out when you catch a glimpse of your manuscript file name and just the sight of it literally makes you nauseous 😅
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JK they ghosted me 👻
A small press with my full manuscript said they would get back to me in 3-4 weeks. It’s now officially been 3 weeks so let the anxious email refreshing begin. 🕯️
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Don’t compare yourself to people who get an agent soon after they start querying. Some people are very talented and it happens fast for them, but a longer and less linear journey doesn’t make you a bad writer. 🧵/5
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Once upon a time I was an award-winning burlesque performer. Now I’m querying my psychological thriller, THE BURLESQUE DANCER, which features a lot of my own personal experiences as a showgirl. Ask me anything about my book or my performing days!
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I personally would prefer a flat out rejection vs a form that gives false hope. Obviously this industry is subjective and I know agents are trying to be polite, but identifying forms can be SO confusing.
Tip for new querying writers: most rejections you get will be form. Look on the “comments” tab of Query Tracker you can check what other people have gotten to determine this.
Kills me to see people trying to figure out what an agent meant by a clearly form (to me) rejection!
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The writing community is so kind and eager to help the underdog, and this author is taking advantage. Don’t fall for it.
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Scrolling the
@PoppUpPit
hashtags and WOW I am so inspired by how talented my querying peers are.
The concepts? SUPER creative.
The pitching? Sooo well thought out and engaging.
The moodboards? They speak for themselves!
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Earnest question: Why are so many popular adult thrillers absolutely riddled with misogyny?
I’m sick of reading female characters who are vilified for having a mental illness, being sexual, not wanting kids, etc. Where are my smart, well-rounded feminine protags at?
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Not me hitting 5k followers on the clock app 🥹 I love y’all ❤️
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Line level writing is more important than ever. Agents are swamped and they want things that are as close to publication ready as possible in many (but not all) cases. My concept was very well received but agents stopped reading because of sentence flow. 🧵/4
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Question for agents and editors, particularly those who work with thrillers. Is past tense a dealbreaker? I’ve noticed present tense becoming more common, but is it the new standard?
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I withdrew all the (few) queries I still had floating around out there, and I feel better than I have in weeks.
I will return to the trenches, but for now, I just want to fall in love with writing again.
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Do publishing taboos still actually exist, or do they mainly just apply to debut authors? I once spoke to an agent at a conference who said she expected debuts to “pay their dues” before exploring certain topics in their writing, and that really stuck with me.
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I’m at that point of creative burnout when even thinking about any form of words on a page makes me feel physically ill 🫠
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This is UNACCEPTABLE. Yes, querying is stressful and emotional, but there’s absolutely no excuse for behavior like this toward literary agents. We’re all professionals here and we need to act like it.
I just received an extremely hateful query only to bash on me and my ability to do my job and the fact that I have mental health struggles. Does anyone know how to report someone on QM?
@QueryTracker
I wouldn’t want anyone else to receive anything of the sort
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Never thought I’d be impersonated on here with only 1200 followers but here we are 🙈 This is NOT me, so please block and report them if they reach out to you.
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Got a manuscript request!!
It was from my therapist 😂
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Is there any better feeling than being in a flow state after WEEKS of writers block? I don’t think there is.
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Me to my manuscript every single day of querying 😂
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