#kingnikolas

[fixyourwritinghabits]

A question in representation. Most of my protagonists are male, that's how they form when I come up with a story. Should I make an effort to change that for the sake of having more non-male lead characters?

It’s always a worthy effort to make, but if you try it and feel like you can’t write non-male leads well, I don’t think that makes you a bad writer. There are other things you can do to help boost representation - have good female and non-binary side characters, put your male characters in situations where they have to consider other perspectives, etc. And, like anything, you’ll only get better at writing other perspectives if you keep trying at them!

[maryluis]

Are you still selling copies of Quarantinealot?

Hi kingnikolas! I’m sorry but I sold all the copies I had ): 

[fixyourwritinghabits]

I'm editing my first book and really wanna get it published, but I know nothing about the literary world. I'd like to find an agent who can best represent my interests, because my biggest fear with my work is it getting stolen or losing creative control. Any advice on how I can find an agent?

There’s a couple different ways to find an agent. You can Google for literary agents, go to conferences, or find them on social media. Many agents are extremely active on Twitter, so check out the tags #pitmad, Please note there are some rules around #pitmad so be sure to read up on those.

There are a few general rules:

Do your research. Read the blurbs on the website to see what genres they want, or follow them on social media to see what they’re looking for. Some may say they want specific types of stories. Make note of that. Ultimately, do not send your sci-fi thriller to an agent who wants romance or non-fiction.

Follow the damn rules. Read their submission/query letter requirements very carefully. There may be particular instructions they want you to follow and a quick way to have your material NOT read is to ignore them.

Apply to several. Keep a spreadsheet with names, emails, genres, and when you applied to them. That way you can stay organized and know who you applied to and when.

Do not send them money. Any agent that is asking you for cash up front isn’t a real agent. They will get paid when your story gets picked up for publication.

As for people stealing your work, in the US, you can get copyright. It costs about $75 and requires you to fill in some forms and send in some proof that you’ve actually done the work. The truth is, the likelihood of people stealing your idea and writing the exact same story is low on the literary side.

As for losing creative control, unless you sell the rights to your story (which you wouldn’t do unless you’re selling film rights, and then they can only change the movie not the book), you remain in control. They cannot force you to make changes. With that said, if you refuse to make certain changes, they are well within their rights to drop you as a client.

P.S. For those of you wondering, for TV and Film agents, you (generally) do not find them. They find you.

-Graphei (who’s back from the long hiatus)

[halloweentreat]

You are my FAVORITE Halloween blog! Thank you for being awesome!

Thank you very much!! Happy Halloween! :)

[jitterbugjive]

Dude, I just listened to your "Hypnosis Therapy Session" with Rorshach and I gotta ask how much of that was scripted, if any, because that was the toppy-tippers!

No script at all.

I was honestly hypnotised in character.

I have subpersonalities and sometimes get stuck or affected by my characters IRL. So when I was hypnotized I had no idea what would come out, and listening to it again freaked me out a bit because 2 different characters took over, one panicked because they didn’t want to be dragged out, and the other was malicious.

So... Yeah, that was 100% unscripted, legitimate hypnosis. 

[tatertotsasserole]

kingnikolas answered to your post “Halp I am indecisive”

KILL A GOAT

So I should play Skyrim?

[yokonami]

"You know who should be Catwoman? Antonio Bandares."

-Nikki