So capitalizing the first letter of each word seems to me like a happy medium.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30313529)

I keep picking at it and revising this and that tiny shit so it's a relief to finally be forced to send it and stop fussing over it.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30313575)

Though I will likely be outed one way or another if it gets published.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30313702)

Seriously though, congrats.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30316953)

If interested, an agent will ask for the full manuscript.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30313688)

The query letter is like 75% discussion of what the novel is about and 25% biography. I agree -- it's a farce to make a decision without seeing any or a very nominal portion of the work.

Mainly, I think it's a product of the number of submissions they receive and the amount of time they have to review. Between the letter's synopsis and the first, say 25 or 30 pages, agents, I guess, think they are able to decide what warrants a full read.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30313803)

but, on the other hand, congrats on writing a novel. im sure its good.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30313723)

The excerpt I sent was a full 50 pages, and representation following a full request has a much higher probability than receiving a full request following a query and excerpt submission.

Still got a long way to go, but I'm excited nonetheless.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30313830)

Given the absurdly low cost of living, my lack of law school debt and biglaw savings, and my wife's new job's salary, I intend to take my sweet time finding a job that doesn't make me wanna kill myself like biglaw did.

Ideally, I'd continue being able to write creatively, looking at doing some adjunct teaching work at a nearby university, doing contract legal work for the handful of firms in town (research & brief/motions drafting, ideally, and perhaps try to pick up some other freelance writing assignments.

We'll see. I'm not exactly in a rush to get back to working at a law firm. Writing brings me unrivaled joy, while billing my time and watching Mort Kikenstein eviscerate my beautiful cert petition felt like death in life.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30313958)

The novel is not upmarket fiction, or something. I'm not aspiring to be the next John Grisham or something. Fully aware the pay is exceedingly likely to be meager.

It's not a particularly easy read. It's not like it's on par, difficulty-wise, with something like Gravity's Rainbow, but it's long and requires some effort by the reader to put the pieces together and understand how everything fits together.

My (unrealistic) hope is that it's well-received, brings in some somewhat meager earnings, and -- most importantly -- opens doors to additional literary success.

I don't really crave fame, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want people to read me, respect my writing, enjoy it, and appreciate it.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30314091)

thrilled to be out of the rat race and pursuing something that brings me joy. life's too short, etc.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30314129)

Similar to you, I have a contact in editorial at a major publishing house who read most of it (before I'd finished it), and he all but assured me that it's worthy of publication. So that made me feel really positive since he's not a friend or anything -- someone I was connected with through someone else -- and it seemed like he was giving it to me straight, not just blowing smoke up my ass, worried about hurting my feelings.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30314097)

were you invited to send a query the first time? or is it sort of like cold-calling?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30313728)

i dream of doing this. you are living my dream.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30313765)

But after this SCOTUS cert petition I wrote for biglaw -- which was legitimately 180 -- got completed eviscerated by a pair of boomer partners who made it an absolute fucking disaster, I started doing creative free writing when I had down time at work.

The primary characters and premise sorta walked into my head on May 12, 2015 and I wrote thousands of words every day until I quit biglaw in early June in order to study for a different state's bar exam.

I continued to write in fits and spurts, and completed it in mid-March 2016.

It's too long and needs to be cut down. But I did manage to keep it under 125k words, which was the goal I set for myself.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30313886)

I am more than happy to discuss more of the nitty gritty about the entire process.

For me, identifying the major plot threads / characters / premise was the biggest hurdle. Once I managed to get a handle on those, the actual drafting came very, very easily.

Good luck to you too!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30314011)

Surely, you've drawn at least a little inspiration from ARE greatbort?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30316370)

But there are a handful of passing references that any xoers who read it will appreciate.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30316446)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30316455)

The Ben Franklin University was formerly known as The James Madison University. The school’s redubbing occurred in 2019, at the zenith of the (mostly collegiate) hard-left’s protracted war against free speech, a robust marketplace of ideas, and any/all twenty-first century references to historical figures who could even tangentially be tied to anything inconsistent with the then-chic version of normative morality.

Given that James Madison—the human and fourth POTUS—owned slaves, the proponents of safe spaces and trigger warnings took aim at JMU in 2017. Their tactics and the entrenchment of their campaign was so vehement and unceasing that JMU's application and matriculation numbers plummeted something serious, which all but forced the school’s administrators to acquiesce and negotiate.

Because Benjamin Franklin was also a Founding Father and he was not a slave-owner, the safe spacers and the oft-triggered similarly acquiesced from their initial demand to rename the school “Trayvon Martin University.”

In the end, no one was happy, but such is the nature of compromise—or something like that.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30317212)

- "FMA" appears at least once

- "Chad Thundercock" explicitly referenced (and yes I'm aware that's not a true xo original

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30317507)

I probably wouldn't have started it if I'd know I'd constantly be harassed about it.

It's much more fun, imo, when they pop out of the blue instead of forcing a weekly edition weak on content.

More will be forthcoming -- I do promise you that -- but when the entire "Top Threads of the Week" are DBG threads hating on NM and 300+ PDDJ threads, it's hardly inspiring.

Less frequent, higher quality -- that's my current approach.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30313989)

I don't see this place as unipolar -- it'd be a lot less interesting if there weren't a lot of different niches and ways to poast.

He enjoys poasting his sci fi writing -- overwhelmingly in his own threads -- and never fucks with, flames, or puts down anyone else.

Personally, I enjoy his poasting. Just cuz it's not for everyone (read: mainly DBG) doesn't mean it's devoid of value.

I have a shit ton of flash fiction that I'd like to poast and share but don't really want DBG attacking me constantly for doing so.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30314173)

it's supposed to be a NEWSletter. isn't it your job to report on the news, not what content you find personally inspiring?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30314137)

It's always been a digest. And while that is indeed a periodical, the time and effort required to prepare a document full of mind-numbing content is not enjoyable, fun, or the way I'd like to spend multiple hours a week.

If poasters want the megathread news, we already have a feature for that.

But I firmly believe that shitty content on a rigid schedule won't keep people interested for long.

So I stand by what I wrote earlier -- higher quality content that comes as a surprise. Call it whatever you want.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30314244)

My take is that there is a lot of high-quality content poasted here that's lost amid the megathreads. I'd like to put together documents that strike a balance between major trends and call attention to underrated quality poasting.

The hostility over this shit hardly makes me want to spend my free time contributing. Fuckin everyone's a critic. It's no wonder no one else does it.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30314278)

in college i was assigned an essay by john gardner on the moral purpose of fiction that argued more or less this premise. i didn't quite understand it then, but i think i get it now.

modern fiction has become unmoored from this important calling, to the point where i can't remember the last time a work of fiction met this need. movies, tv, memoirs, documentaries, biographies, articles, non-fiction books have all done so much a better job of helping me relate to the suffering of others and imbue my life with inspiration and greater compassion.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3201140&forum_id=2#30318693)