Seems I Haven't Been a Very Good Host, Old Sport

another hetalia fic that significantly impacted my life - all of our sins by @terminallyintroverted!!! i read this one in 2014 and it blew my mind, reread it recently and it sent me spiralling back into hetalia feelings… also, the only fic to ever make me like usuk??? anyway.

1. Writer’s Market 2019 is a great place to start– it gives you a list of magazines and journals that you can send your work to depending on the genre as well as lists a shit ton of literary agents that specify what genres they represent, how you can get in contact with them and how they accept query letters. this is a book that updates every year and tbh i only bought it this year so i dont know how critical it is to have an updated version  

2. do your research. mostly on literary agents because if you listed on your site that you like to represent fluffy YA novels and some asshole sends you a 80k manuscript about like…gritty viking culture, you will be severely pissed off. always go in finding someone who you know will actually like your work because they’re the ones who will try to advocate for you in getting published.

3. learn how to write a query letter. there are slightly varying formulas to how you can write an effective query letter. you’re also going to want to get feedback on your query letter because its the first thing the literary agent will read and based on how well you do it, it could be the difference between them rejecting you outright and giving your manuscript a quick read

4. unfortunately, you’re gonna want to get a twitter. Twitter is where a lot of literary agents are nowadays, and they host things like twitter pitch parties, where you pitch your manuscript in a few sentences and hashtag it with #Pitmad #Pitdark, some version of pit. a lot of literary agents and publishers will ALSO post their manuscript wishlists, which is just the kind of books they’d like to represent/publish, and they hashtag this with #MSWL (it is NOT for writers to use, only for agents/publishers)

What’s the Difference, Anyway?

So many people seem to think YA and NA are the same thing, or NA is YA but with the sex. Have a bullet list from someone who’s tired of seeing them lumped into the same category.

Young Adult

the target audience is 12 to 18 years old

the protagonists are usually kiddos that still live at home and need their parents’ signatures on official documents

themes commonly work with personal relationships on an emotional level, and do a lot of coming-of-age/coming-into-ones-own-identity

sex, swearing, and violence are all watered down for a younger audience

New Adult

the target audience is 18 to 30 years old

the protagonists are of the moving-out age and can start making the big decisions on their own

themes commonly encompass the overall lifestyle shift of taking on adult responsibilities, moving away from home, and dealing with the consequences of the aforementioned big decisions

there is potential the sex, and the swearing, and the violence

Yeah DeValier is great and all but seriously, there are so many amazing writers who are still active and in our hetalia community right now

Maybe if you just took even 5 damn seconds to acknowledge other writers a bit more then you might not have this “oh no i cant find anything better than DeValier” issue

Here are a few writers that I personally think are magnificent and that you could possibly enjoy more than DeValier

@lluviadinoche

@starsmadeinheaven

@thegoliathbeetle

@writingandchocolatemilk

ShippingEverything on ao3

@bad-friend-trios

- hijabis get really excited over pretty scarves - they also like to collect pins and brooches - we get asked a lot of questions and it can be annoying or it can be amusing, just depends on our mood and personality and how the question is phrased - common questions include: - “not even water?” (referring to fasting) - hijabis hear a lot of “do you sleep in that?” (we don’t) and “where is your hair?” (in a bun or a braid, usually) - “is it mooze-slim or mozzlem?” (the answer is neither, it’s muslim, with a soft s and accent on the first syllable) - “ee-slam or iz-lamb?” (it’s iss-laam, accent on the first syllable) - “hee-job?” (heh-jahb, accent on the second syllable)

- “kor-an?” (no. quran. say it like koor-annn, accent on the second syllable) - people tend to mess up our names really badly and you just get a sigh and a resigned nod or an awkward smile, maybe a nickname instead - long hair is easy to hide, short hair is harder to wrap up - hijab isn’t just covering hair, it’s also showing as little skin as possible with the exception of face, hands, and feet, and not wearing tight/sheer clothing - that applies to men too, people just don’t like to mention it ( i wonder why) - henna/mehendi isn’t just for special occasions, you’ll see people wearing it for fun - henna/mehendi isn’t just for muslims, either, it’s not a religious thing - henna/mehendi is not just for women, men also wear it, especially on their weddings - there are big mehendi parties in the couple of nights before eid where people (usually just women and kids) gather and do each other’s mehendi, usually just hands and feet - five daily prayers - most muslim kids can stutter through a couple verses of quran in the original arabic text by the age of seven or eight, it does not matter where they live or where they’re from or what language they speak natively - muslim families tend to have multiple copies of the quran - there are no “versions” of the quran, there has only ever been one. all muslims follow the exact same book - muslims have no concept of taking God’s name in vain, we call on God at every little inconvenience - don’t use islamic phrases if you don’t know what they mean or how to use them. we use them often, inside and outside of religious settings. in islam, it is encouraged to mention God often and we say these things very casually, but we take them very seriously - Allahu Akbar means “God is Greatest” (often said when something shocks or surprises us, or if we’re scared or daunted, or when something amazing happens, whether it be good or bad; it’s like saying “oh my god”) - Subhan Allah means “Glory be to God” (i say subhan Allah at the sky, at babies, at trees, whatever strikes me as pleasant, especially if it’s in nature) - Bismillah means “in the name of God” and it’s just something you say before you start something like eating or doing your homework - In Shaa Allah means “if God wills” (example: you’ll be famous, in shaa Allah) (it’s a reminder that the future is in God’s hands, so be humble and be hopeful)

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Orleans by Sherri L Smith

Iron Cast by Destiny Soria

Is You Okay? by GloZell Green

Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina by Michaela Deprince and Elaine Deprince

The Steep & Thorny Way by Cat Winters

Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson

This Side Of Home by Renee Watson

When Morning Comes by Arushi Raina

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon

American Street by Ibi Zoboi

Goldie Vance by Hope Larson, Brittney Williams

Shiny Broken Pieces A Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra, Dhonielle Clayton

Stone Mirrors The Sculpture & Silence of Edmonia Lewis by Jeannine Atkins

Shadowshaper Cypher 02 Shadowhouse Falls by Daniel Jos Older

The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson

the first 10 pages of most books are always “these are the main characters and here’s some background on each of them and this is the setting etc etc” and it’s such a fucking hassle getting to the plot sometimes

If you write a selfless hero, let them get mad at people.

If you write a cold-heated villain, let them cry.

If you write a brokenhearted victim, let them smile again.

If you write a bold leader, let them seek guidance.

If you write a confident genius, let them be wrong, or get stumped once in a while.

If you write a fighter or a warrior, let them lose a battle, but let them win the war.

If you write a character who loses everything, let them find something.

If you write a reluctant hero, give them a reason to join the fight.

If you write a gentle-hearted character who never stops smiling, let that smile fade and tears fall in shadows.

If you write a no one, make them a someone.

If you write a sibling, let them fight and bicker, but know that at the end of the day they’ll always have each other’s back.

I’m guessing most of you have read most of these stories, but if you haven’t, you’re missing out. Go, read them now! I hope you have a few days worth of free time :)

Historical / Quasi-Historical

In Such a State (by 9mm Meg) – Arthur has been trapped in the body of a life-sized doll by a magical spell gone wrong. Alfred finds him as he looks for a Christmas present for his little sister. Read if you like: Victorian AUs and fantasy romance.

1912 (by RobinRocks) – Arthur and Alfred rekindle their love onboard the Titanic. Warning: contains disordered eating. Read if you like: historical details and a USUK relationship set before WWII.

What they take for granted? Take it away from them.

The one thing they know for certain? Make them doubt it.

Their worst fear? Throw it at their damn faces.

Make their plans fail. Make them cry. Make them question things and fuck up and then learn about them and the way they react in the process.