R.E. Moore

@DebsHof I went down that path in 2010, needed a pacemaker to keep me alive, four more pacemaker operations since 2018, and I’m still here. Best wishes on a successful operation, and going forward, your thriving in life.

So not only am I am an author but I’m now awaiting open heart surgery! Say hi!

@Bethyo That’s a serious charge. Better to take the path you’ve chosen than act on assumptions that may or may not be true.

Just DNF'd a book I am 99.9% certain was written using gen AI. Since I can't prove it and don't want to ruin a career that may be an honest one, I'm not going to rate or review it or trash it anywhere. But MAN, this nonfic was soulless and dry. I'm angry I paid for it.

@qmconnwrites Rejection is rejection, even if they say something nice. It’s still a crap sandwich with sugar on top.

I’m not sure what’s worse… waiting for an agent to reject you after MONTHS. Or getting a rejection 30 minutes after sending a query. 😣 #amquerying #WritingCommmunity

@LVTeacherman @REstepLit You’re welcome. Keep in mind that larger word counts equal higher page counts, and those equal higher printing costs. Publishers are trying to avoid books that aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.

@REMoore13 @REstepLit Thanks for that. I'll check it out.

I am passing on a lot of manuscripts for word count reasons this round. One of the most important things you can know is what the genre norm is for the space you are writing.

@LVTeacherman @REstepLit Writer’s Digest addresses word count issues per genre. However, it’s a moving target that’s constantly evolving. One writer thing I’ve learned is that targeting your work to 80-90K should put you in the ballpark without scaring off potential agents from considering your work.

@REstepLit Is there a website with that information?

@amykdebellis Ah! AI, proven or not. Another reason for the industry to fail to take a chance on an unknown quantity. Courage this is not.

@GennaMattioli Without knowing your work I’d advise ending the first of the trilogy on a thrilling high note that leaves things unsettled, and set up for the next two books. Since you already have 206K into it, you might be able to end book one sooner than you think, like I have a clue. LOL.

@REMoore13 That's exactly what I'm keeping in mind because there is a limit to how short this can go. It's a fantasy, book one in a trilogy (potentially) hitting the Young Adult/New Adult crossover space.

Y'aaalll! I probs shouldn't be this excited but WHO CARES. I got my first revise and resubmit for a query. Only requirement for further consideration is lower the word count. I can do that. I got this😤

@GennaMattioli Good luck with the revisions. It sounds like the agent likes things about your book but it’s longer than one she can sell. Make sure you keep the story’s heart in place. Genre?

@REMoore13 For sure. My first draft was all the way up to 206k because I naturally like to write everything I want down then go back. So maybe I'll cut a full 100k by the end who knows lol

@GennaMattioli That’s challenging. It’s amazing how many things are hard to cut that seem organically important to the pace and overall structure. I hired an editor to reduce a similarly long novel to 105K. The requesters failed to reject my efforts, leaving me in permanent limbo.

@REMoore13 At 122k when I submitted. Trying to get it closer to 110k (or less if possible) to be more in market. I can be pretty brutal with my own editing so will see!

@SRaeEvans Maybe you don’t scream “easy sale”? Best wishes for your success.

I’m not getting any agent requests for my YA contemporary and I’ve been querying for more than 6 months. Any suggestions to help with query packages? I’ve already hired an editor and made heavy revisions, so I don’t think it’s the story. I’d like to think it’s not my writing 🫠

@SRaeEvans Who knows? Especially not me. I’ve been sending queries for years. Other than a couple of requests for more pages, and even full requests, I’m still in the wilderness waiting and watching. Maybe they’re not gripped by your story or writing? Maybe you don’t have a platform?

@lhallwriter Same here. There are also a lot of imposters claiming to be successful authors who want to know about my writing journey.

My junk inbox is full of false promises and offers from so called marketing experts these days. Below is a post all about avoiding potential scams 👇

@DelandJessica If there anything the fakers won’t do? Apparently not.

‼️Spread the word!‼️ A fake literary agent just tried to follow me, and it looks like they've fooled a number of those in the #WritingCommunity. Good reminder to always do your research on an agent before submitting your precious writing to them. Stay safe out there, everyone.

@Bethyo Angels We Have Heard on High, and, Oh Holy Night. Honorable mention to Jingle Bell Rock.

My top 2 Christmas songs: "Carol of the Bells" and "Do You Hear What I Hear?" Yours?

@AJLinnemeyer I used to joke that agents were dreaming of taking a call from Stephen King asking for new representation, or pitched Kobe Bryant’s Cookbook. In other words, an easy sell. Cha-Ching!

@REMoore13 Right?! I love those!

Had a pass today from an agent who loved the opening pages and voice, but didn’t like that the inciting incident doesn’t happen in the first 5 pages bcuz that would make it had to sell. Is that truly the standard now? We have to have the inciting incident immediately?? 😫😭

@AJLinnemeyer What about slow burn story arcs that deliberately hide what the story’s really about until the reveal?

@REMoore13 Also, this is the same book that got me agented before so I know it’s not universal, but I’m worried it will become that way if we aren’t careful to protect books with more build up

@AJLinnemeyer Well, they didn’t cite their own work in making their argument, but they didn’t follow it either.

@REMoore13 Oh no! They gave you example books that didn’t even match the advice?? That would be so frustrating!

@vickyweberbooks I have submitted plenty of queries via QM and plenty of email queries before QM’s dominance. QM’s primary purpose seems to protect agents from unhinged authors. I completely understand why an agent would do this. I always follow agent’s submission rules stated on their websites.

@REMoore13 They get deleted, unread. (Though I do have an autoresponder that lets the author know that) I have never accepted email queries. I only accept queries through QM and those submission guidelines are everywhere. Super easy to find with a Google search!

I did the math. In 2025, I received 4,756 queries. I have now replied to them all, except for the ~15 I'm still reading through and hope to reply by the end of the year. (This does not include live conference pitches, unsolicited email queries, or DMs.)