Jakob Lingaas 📚 Querying Writer

Signal boosting! 😁

I'm seeking an artist to do a digital cover illustration for the standalone ebook edition of my story "Kaiju Agonistes." I'm looking for something in the $300 range (plus, I profit share): stylized, not elaborately realistic. You can see my existing e-book trade dress at: www.scottlynchstore.com

*waits patiently for you to get to *that* scene in Wavewaker*

Still baffles me she's so popular, but I'm glad she ended up working out. Working hard in edits to polish her parts 🐳😊

Hehehehe 🐳

How far did you get?

Hey

Seems like it! I am worried I'll have to shelf this project and try to write something shorter to get my foot in the door, but I guess I'll know after querying 😁

The Name of the Wind is hauntingly beautiful. As someone heavily inspired by Kingkiller, I do hope there's still space in publishing for epic fantasy.

Querying even 135k words seems difficult, though (based on querytracker).

A notebook with a teenager's handwriting: Day one Three reasons why I want to write a book. 1. To be able to show my perspective and opinions with the world 2. The longing to feel pride because of something I did. 3. To feel closure by finishing something in my life Day two

Cleaning out old notebooks and...

My "Write A Book In 30 Days"-plan when I was 15 is unintentionally absolutely hilarious.

Swift recovery!

I might be a writer one day(and also my partner).

A long shot but if I don't get up and work I'll lose.

So many cool pitches 😁❤️

I think emotional depth for characters. Alean's struggle with the guilt, shame, and self-loathing that comes with poverty mirrored by Priscilla's struggle with the intersection of privilege and disability is really strong.

That, and I've heard my dialogue is good 😊 I'm no Scott Lynch, but 🤣

Lies of Locke Lamora is *so* fun. I am very inspired by Scott Lynch with Wavewaker, and yes, fantasy heists are delightful. Drama, schemes, trickery, adventure.

And a lot of trauma hehe

a cat is laying on a table with its eyes closed and hearts flying around it . Alt: a cat is laying on a table with its eyes closed and hearts flying around it .

❤️

The setting is such a cool part of the book 🐳😊❤️

Moodboard of a grimy, whalepunk fantasy heist novel called Wavewaker.

Wavewaker Tropes & Themes: - Underdog MC - Socioeconomic disillusionment - Morally grey characters - Found family - Star-crossed lovers - Grounded magic system - Undercover heist

Excerpt from Wavewaker, from the character Alean: Al remembered scampering to his first shift, lost in the sea of day-dresses and overcoats. He’d been nine, his parents bedridden with rattling coughs and burning fevers. Stage one of the Rot, common in their line of work. They had been whalers—still were, presumably—and time ashore without work was brutal. Time sick was even worse. They had cut the heating to keep food on the table. To protect him. They had thought Al hadn’t understood what was happening, but he had. The factory foreman had made him crawl under the roaring boiler to stick his hand between the cogs and clear up jamming. He’d had to exhale fully to fit under the tightest spots, bumping his head when he turned. It had only been for a month, but he’d had nightmares of being buried alive ever since. That was part of why he’d eventually gone to the public church schools, studying for the University’s Apprentice exam, learning reading, reasoning, rhetoric. He had been nothing back then. Just another idiot with a dream, barely seventeen and flush with pride. He had told his parents he wouldn’t go on that last whaling tour, had shown them his acceptance letter. The proudest day of his life. The most shameful day of theirs. “Don’t think you’re better than us,” mother had said. “We fed you, clothed you, and put a roof over your head, and you piss your life away on pride?” Al picked up his pace.

SIX OF CROWS x DISHONORED x LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA

Magical whale oil, exploitative capitalists -- and one legendary thief who decides to rob the safest oil vault in the city.

But he can't do it alone.

🐳 Victorian whalepunk
🐳 Fantasy heist
🐳 Star-crossed lovers
🐳 Found family

#Bluepit 📖 #A #F #Q

So excited to participate in this again! I finally have the manuscript I want to try to publish and sharing with fellow writers is fantastic 😊

You cannot be fucking serious.

If I ever get traditionally published i will come back to this comment and link it 🤣❤️

My (hopefully) debut novel is getting incredible feedback from beta readers 😊

Draft four edits will be tricky but super manageable. In a few months I'll be querying this Victorian Whalepunk fantasy heist novel, inspired by Six of Crows and Lies or Locke Lamora 🐳❤️

What does it mean when your editor says she loves the book and beta readers are staying up late to read, then gushing? Is it an ill omen?

Good editors are a blessing. It's magical to see someone read your story and with surgical precision elevate it to something far better.

Screenshot of editor's email to me: I strongly disagree that Al is the only really well-written character, especially as you've moved through rounds of revisions. I think there was a time when it was mostly the Al show, but you've moved past that. The good news is, this feeling is normal. You're tinkering with teeny, tiny details and you're focusing on those details rather than the book as a holistic whole. This work is necessary and important and will pay off in the end, but remember that the *whole book* is what really matters. You're doing the work of making sure emotional throughlines show up in each scene, that every character has a real motivation and arc, and that those motivations and arcs are demonstrated (at least a little) on the page. That's good and I'm impressed by the progress you've made. BUT. Just because you've made progress doesn't mean the previous version was bad. A professional athlete continues to train to improve their performance, but they were already a professional athlete. Same goes for musicians. They can keep practicing and refining, but you would never say that they were bad just because they were a violinist with the second best orchestra in the world. You're a good writer. You have a good story. You have the ability to make a career of this. Of course you will continue to improve your craft and refine the product as you go. But that does not mean the previous drafts were poorly done.

This email from my editor is in my "for a rainy day"-folder. Been feeling a bit disheartened about my chances of becoming traditionally published and writing full-time, but it's really special to have someone who knows the industry truly believe in you.

Going to keep editing my inciting incident.

Absolutely gorgeous cover and sprayed edge 👀

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Also, the market has shifted and does shift. Some masterpieces from decades ago might've struggled to query in 2025.

And really, some books just aren't for debuting. (*Hides three 150k+ epic fantasy novels*)

Wavewaker's query letter is finally done. Stupidly difficult to pull off, but one step closer to querying.

Now... All the act 2 edits 😭😭😭