YABookgate

[Two Gorillion Dollars]

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Is this prose as painful on the eyes as I think it is?

It's pretty badly written ("amidst the chaos of an ancient curse?") but it's also poorly conceived. This is an awful, generic pitch that sounds like a million different YA stories. It tells me nothing about the world, Emerence's place in it, or the plot of the story and the choices Emerence will make throughout it -- what's her journey, what are the stakes? That's the key part of a a pitch like that. Your ancient curse and resurrected gods don't mean anything if you don't hook me on Em's journey immediately, Kayla! Why Em have to fight to find "her place in the world" (nice generic term) and why is that important to her?

"When Hughie's girlfriend is vaporized in broad daylight by an uncaring superhero, he is approached by the mysterious Butcher who offers him revenge on the one responsible. But as the true extent of Butcher's murderous goals become clear, Hughie must choose between his desire for vengeance and his desire to remain human."

Honestly, the love story with a statue sounds like the most interesting part of her novel, yet that summary doesn't focus on it at all. I've read a lot of novels dealing with ancient curses and dark powers rising again. I don't think I've read any dealing with a statue waifu.

That publisher seems like a pretty shady outfit, though. And it looks like they've deleted both their Twitter account and website. That's why you go through agents instead of throwing your stories at whatever little website claims to be a publishing company and offers to sign you based on your sample chapters. Agents are bullshit but they have a vested interest in actually getting you signed by someone reputable.

I'm also so sick of quirky about the author bios.

 

[Cobalt-60]

The publisher sounds it's run by idiots. They officially offered publication and a contract, only to rescind the offer because...the publisher doesn't have it shit together? And I think when an author decides to accept a contract, they pull their manuscript from any other places. So she more or less got tricked into going right back into the slush pile. She doesn't seem like a good author and has that drama-addiction Book Twitter stink about her, but it looks like in this situation she was done dirty. Rejecting a pitched manuscript if one thing, but basically saying "yeah this sounds good, you're hired!" and then going "whoops nvm" is incompetent. Honestly she dodged a bullet.

Also looking at another tweet in the chain....it sounds crazy that this publisher was supposedly accepting WIP manuscripts from newbies. The only time I've ever seen WIPs accepted are if they're a nonfiction project, or it's from a well-established author that's guaranteed to put out.

 

[Second Missing Primarch]

It's pretty badly written ("amidst the chaos of an ancient curse?") but it's also poorly conceived. This is an awful, generic pitch that sounds like a million different YA stories. It tells me nothing about the world, Emerence's place in it, or the plot of the story and the choices Emerence will make throughout it -- what's her journey, what are the stakes? That's the key part of a a pitch like that. Your ancient curse and resurrected gods don't mean anything if you don't hook me on Em's journey immediately, Kayla! Why Em have to fight to find "her place in the world" (nice generic term) and why is that important to her?

"When Hughie's girlfriend is vaporized in broad daylight by an uncaring superhero, he is approached by the mysterious Butcher who offers him revenge on the one responsible. But as the true extent of Butcher's murderous goals become clear, Hughie must choose between his desire for vengeance and his desire to remain human."

Honestly, the love story with a statue sounds like the most interesting part of her novel, yet that summary doesn't focus on it at all. I've read a lot of novels dealing with ancient curses and dark powers rising again. I don't think I've read any dealing with a statue waifu.

That publisher seems like a pretty shady outfit, though. And it looks like they've deleted both their Twitter account and website. That's why you go through agents instead of throwing your stories at whatever little website claims to be a publishing company and offers to sign you based on your sample chapters. Agents are bullshit but they have a vested interest in actually getting you signed by someone reputable.

I'm also so sick of quirky about the author bios.

Yeah, this feels like neither she nor the publisher win. The publisher sounds like some fly-by-night outfit that is either totally incompetent or an outright scam attempt, so fuck them anyway, but her melting down about it instead of just saying "hey, fuck these guys, I'll try again" and moving on makes her look like a spoiled kid who never heard no and doesn't know how to handle it.

Though it doesn't seem like the lesbian Pygmalion story is what got shot down; instead that was something called "Those Who Burn the Brightest". Her description on Twitter makes it sound like an absolute nightmare to read, though:

https://mobile.twitter.com/writingwkay/status/1539941348354052096

kayla on Twitter: "SAPPHIC HUNGER GAMES x FOUR DEAD QUEENS 🌹 THOSE W…

archived 25 Aug 2022 02:06:36 UTC

archive.ph

"Sapphic Hunger Games"? "Gay fae against the patriarchy"? Ehhhhhhhh, no thanks.

 

[Two Gorillion Dollars]

Fae with an elemental court system? Stop the fucking presses, no one's EVER written that before.

 

[Second Missing Primarch]

I also note that she takes pains to talk about how she commissioned a bunch of art of her characters as if it were an integral part of her process. Like, I get the desire to physically see the person that you've created from whole cloth in your head, but maybe hold off on commissioning multiple portraits of characters until you've actually published something. It's an unnecessary affectation for a budding writer.

 

[Commissar Fuklaw]

https://mobile.twitter.com/writingwkay/status/1539941348354052096

kayla on Twitter: "SAPPHIC HUNGER GAMES x FOUR DEAD QUEENS 🌹 THOSE W…

archived 25 Aug 2022 02:06:36 UTC

archive.ph

"Sapphic Hunger Games"? "Gay fae against the patriarchy"? Ehhhhhhhh, no thanks.

The way these brain dead women capitalise their emotions ANNOYS me AGHDSDGDSA

And these fuckers are what the industry has been infested by and pander to. I'm glad everything is failing

 

[Mola Ram]

I also note that she takes pains to talk about how she commissioned a bunch of art of her characters as if it were an integral part of her process. Like, I get the desire to physically see the person that you've created from whole cloth in your head, but maybe hold off on commissioning multiple portraits of characters until you've actually published something. It's an unnecessary affectation for a budding writer.

YA writers, especially the specimens who haunt Twitter, are more concerned with commissioned art, "aesthetics," moodboards, and ever more granular calculations of what identity groups they're pandering to than they ever are with the actual fucking writing. Christ, that's too much like work.

 

[Kiwisee]

You go, girlfriend! Smash the patriarchy! Seriously though, what publisher in their right mind would work with someone who they know pulled this? It just goes on and on and on. This publisher I'd never heard of declined to publish this gal's epic, and on to Twitter she went. Wew, lad.
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I think my favorite part is when she accused THE PUBLISHER of acting unprofessionally. Followed by the legion of simps coming out of the woodwork. Lastly, she started whining when employees of the publisher blocked her. I'd post more screenshots but I'm not even sure where to start. This is unadulterated craziness, start to finish.

Twitter thread:

https://twitter.com/writingwkay/status/1561847964058132480

kayla on Twitter: "today, on the day i was hopeful about sharing exci…

archived 24 Aug 2022 16:23:40 UTC

archive.ph

Threadreader:

Thread by @writingwkay on Thread Reader App

@writingwkay: today, on the day i was hopeful about sharing exciting news, i feel foolish. i was offered publication from sage & sparrow to now be told that they don’t have the capacity to take me...

threadreaderapp.com

Thread by @writingwkay on Thread Reader App – Thread Reader App

archived 24 Aug 2022 16:21:02 UTC

archive.ph

meet the author - ✐

meet the author on ✐

www.kaylawriteswords.com

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LMAO, I wonder if this is what they took a pass on? Can't possibly imagine why. The market for a lesbian Pygmalion story clearly burgeoning the way it is.

seven silenced - ✐

seven silenced on ✐

www.kaylawriteswords.com

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View attachment 3642699
Is this prose as painful on the eyes as I think it is?

Gee, I wonder why a publisher would drop her after proving to be a drama whore

 

[Elwood P. Dowd]

Gee, I wonder why a publisher would drop her after proving to be a drama whore

It turns out this "publisher" was probably a fraud anyways. Shame on me, but it didn't even occur to me to look at matters from that perspective. Should have, got no excuses.

https://absolutewrite.com/forums/index.php?threads/sage-sparrow-publishing.353285/

Sage & Sparrow Publishing | Absolute Write Water Cooler

archived 25 Aug 2022 19:31:11 UTC

archive.ph

The above was as of a few days ago. No website, no record of incorporation in the state the principals live in (Arizona). The Facebook page referenced is now locked. And a Twitter account that --if I have this right-- is deleted.

Oh, well. Fools all the way down on this one, me included.

 

[Fromtheblackdepths]

Gee, I wonder why a publisher would drop her after proving to be a drama whore

No, she did the drama whoring after being basically kicked to the curb by the chucklefucks that ran the publishing company.

 

[Second Missing Primarch]

It turns out this "publisher" was probably a fraud anyways. Shame on me, but it didn't even occur to me to look at matters from that perspective. Should have, got no excuses.

https://absolutewrite.com/forums/index.php?threads/sage-sparrow-publishing.353285/

Sage & Sparrow Publishing | Absolute Write Water Cooler

archived 25 Aug 2022 19:31:11 UTC

archive.ph

The above was as of a few days ago. No website, no record of incorporation in the state the principals live in (Arizona). The Facebook page referenced is now locked. And a Twitter account that --if I have this right-- is deleted.

Oh, well. Fools all the way down on this one, me included.

Yeah, the sense I got going through her Twitter thread was that Sage and Sparrow was either monumentally incompetent or some kind of scam outfit, and given this information I'm definitely leaning toward the latter, though of course one shouldn't attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity, etc etc.

 

[Windows 10 Upgrade]

Two self-published authors team up and create something shitty: who'd have guessed!

Getting called a publisher is unfortunately easier than you expect: last I uploaded something to Amazon/Kindle, you could write ANYTHING you liked in the "publisher" field. Most self-published writers who were organising their finances might create an LLC and put that name in - it appears these clowns didn't even do the registered business part.

As much as the author is a dramacow, I can understand where the pain is coming from. Sometimes just getting that "offer" can cause people to lose their goddamn minds. It's like how getting offered sex by a street hooker doesn't mean you are now an irresistible Sex God Thundercock/Thundercunt, but for someone who nobody will touch with a ten foot pole , any solicitation is seen as artistic affirmation.

(PL) Many years ago when e-publishing was becoming more legitimate due to the invention of Kindle, a person in the local writing community put together a small press publishing venture. I submitted a manuscript to it - not one of my best, but just something to fill the echoing gap between rejections. (There are local people who are genuine small press publishers - with distribution set up and everything). THANK GOD the person went on to Absolute Write to advertise their publishing venture and got eviscerated, because I was deliberately missing red flags.

I would eventually get the real thing years later, but I totally remember that jolt of hopeful retardation that made my brain turn off.

 

[Cryptojew]

I also note that she takes pains to talk about how she commissioned a bunch of art of her characters as if it were an integral part of her process. Like, I get the desire to physically see the person that you've created from whole cloth in your head, but maybe hold off on commissioning multiple portraits of characters until you've actually published something. It's an unnecessary affectation for a budding writer.

If you absolutely MUST have character art that early, use the money you'd spend on a comission to buy a cheap tablet and learn to draw. It'll save you money in the long run.

 

[SphinxItOver]

That's why you go through agents instead of throwing your stories at whatever little website claims to be a publishing company and offers to sign you based on your sample chapters. Agents are bullshit but they have a vested interest in actually getting you signed by someone reputable.

You make a great point about getting an agent for finding a reputable publisher to sell a book to. I don't imagine that many immature writers understand why agents are so handy or that the querying process is skewed towards the 'diversity' crowd right now. Just doing some bare research into it and reading some agent query wish lists gave me massive third party cringe.

 

[Boston Brand]

Man... I hope the site stands firm.

Where else do I get to dish about the behind the scenes crap in trad pub?

 

[Rezza]

Man... I hope the site stands firm.

Where else do I get to dish about the behind the scenes crap in trad pub?

Any new gossips in the industry, my good sir?

 

[JJLiautaud]

Man... I hope the site stands firm.

Where else do I get to dish about the behind the scenes crap in trad pub?

It will this shit always happens about once a year if youre worried throw some shekles at jersh he needs a pick me up.

 

[Boston Brand]

It will this shit always happens about once a year if youre worried throw some shekles at jersh he needs a pick me up.

Just tell me where to toss them.

 

[JJLiautaud]

Just tell me where to toss them.

There's the how support the forum at the bottom of the page its a link and it gives you all the options, remember Jersh is for whatever reason banned from all major payment processors.

 

[JJLiautaud]

Sorry to double post but want to give Deed of Paksenarrion a read, does anyone have any other good paladin fiction recommendations, other than War Gods Own?