☪︎ Samiha @hijabi_soldier Twitter profile

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 months

✨Middle grade and lower YA fantasy novels from @shaherazadshelf for your bookshelf and library✨

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Hey @BrandSanderson cut the fake diversity act. Writing in a Muslim character into your book who blows herself up? I know exactly what you’re trying to do. Just because your non-Muslim fanbase didn’t catch it doesn’t mean us Muslims won’t. Sit down & be very quiet.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

I know a lot of writers are retracting their pitches because of idea thieves, & I way to say the app I'm making (called Pitched which is 90% complete) is my way of making a safe space for you all. The manuscripts you post there will NOT be viewable to other writers. Only agents

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

It crossed my mind that the rise in AI for storytelling could be *directly* correlated to the formulaic book structure that Publishing has been demanding as of late. From the three-act structure to the Hero's Journey, these are all mechanical methods of writing.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

3 years

Agents, if you want to see “BIPOC” & “underrepresented” writers yet don’t want “religious” or “spiritual” themes, you’re enforcing the colonist mindset that forced & is forcing Muslims to erase our religion from the public…we shouldn’t be worrying about prejudice when querying.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

An agent saying "I can't wait to see your book on shelves soon" on a full REJECTION should be an acceptable villain origin story. #amquerying #WritingCommunity #neverqueryingagain

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

3 years

Everyone, please help #Judge Alexis G. Krot get removed or her cases investigated due to her most recent racist outburst against a 72 year old cancer patient in #hamtramck Contact representatives by email or phone: Abraham Amaiyash, Senator Adam Hollier I have example text 👇🏽

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

Why are agented writers saying stuff like you're not "entitled" to an agent when unagented writers feel sad for trying & failing. Like wtf? Weren't you on the other side dying for an agent too? Would you say this to someone spending years looking for a job? Trying for a baby?

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

If you're an underwriter (like me), the best thing to do is write the full story and then go back and add details. What kind of details? The weather. The setting. Then add how those descriptions interact with the characters. Ups word count without any false padding.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

A universal writing tip: your first sentences need to hook the reader. This does NOT mean your book has to start with action or have snappy, sarcastic lines (it could be those things!). But it does mean you need to draw the reader with something that will make them keep reading.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

11 months

Feb 23, 2021 - Sept 26, 2023 Goodbye, query trenches! I can now rest in peace.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

#WritingCommunity I know querying is hard, & as an editor, I know how agenting has its own challenges. That's why the platform I created--Pitched--tackles problems holistically AND safely. Other writers can't see your pitches & agents are vetted. Also, we're 300+ users strong!

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Prefacing with I have nothing against these books—I’d like to suggest we don’t use the term “South Asian fantasy” when the below list showcases only Indian fantasy.

Anuja Varghese, Author of CHRYSALIS

@Anuja_V

1 year

South Asian inspired fantasy by and about badass brown women is having a moment and I am HERE FOR IT. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 Also - how gorgeous does this trio by @VaishnaWrites @Spirited_Gal & @tashadrinkstea look together?? 😍😍😍

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

9 months

I finally get to say that my debut YA dark fantasy is on submission!! 🪶Crows, magic, & nightmares 👭Resentful sisters fighting a reincarnation curse 🖤A ruthless, undying prince behind it all ✨Bangladeshi-Jewish & Muslim-coded world Editors, my agent will be in touch!

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 months

Y'all meet my YA South Asian fantasy with dragons! ❤️‍🔥When Zahra's brother is killed in a town fire that starts a civil war, her grief pulls her to join an elite warrior class to smother the rebellion. But the cost of justice will cleave mountains and sunder the skies❤️‍🔥

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

I spoke with a friend recently about owning a publishing house & my goal of being a millionaire by 35. The response? “I think you can do it quicker than that!” Forever grateful for not just support but the belief others have of me. Shaherazad Shelves will NOT go down!

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

All the books I read with mid-level writing yet are million-dollar success stories are by white authors (Twilight, ACOTAR, C. Hoover). There absolutely is a demographic for who is allowed to write “vibes” as opposed to who must “study craft” to be even looked at in the industry.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

3 years

@RayThunderEmoji Some reasons this could be true that me and my sisters thought of:

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

I don’t understand how agents who receive 100s of queries say they can’t find diverse writers/stories to rep? I’ve received less than 20 queries from diverse writers and have already offered publication to 7…it’s not that hard tbh

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Hey, #amquerying #WritingCommunity ! I've finally come through with Pitched, the platform to make it easier for agents to find your manuscripts! Beta users are getting the first look at it, and you can, too! (Agents, DM me if you'd like to know more!)

Support Pitched!

Pitched is a platform to help literary agents and other publishing professionals match with manuscripts! #gethitchedwithpitched

www.kickstarter.com

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

As I deal with personal issues, my dear #amquerying #WritingCommunity , Pitched (the Zillow for manuscripts), is now LIVE! ✨ I will be working on adding literary agents and indie publishers in the coming months. So, hit me up, industry professionals!

Pitched

Matching literary agents with manuscripts. Authors with their representation. Get hitched with Pitched!

pitched-app.glideapp.io

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

I am so upset right now. The same agent who did this & the same author I was referring to in this old tweet just published an IDENTICAL book to the one I queried a year ago. And I mean IDENTICAL. (Nerdy girl+athletic boy fall in love in and out of an online video game.)

☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

How am I supposed to feel when the agent who declined my manuscript brokered a deal for a book in not only the same genre, but the same ethnic group (south Asian with Latino love interest) and age group (high school nerds) as mine? Only difference is the main character’s religion

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

YOU GUYS!!! I’m going to be published!!! The reason I got this far is because I made so many friends from the #writingcommunity who believed in me these past two years! Alhamdulillah. I can’t wait for you all to read about Ayna, Mahl, and Zunaish 💚💚💚

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

3 years

The despicable, deplorable behavior exhibited by Judge Alexis Krot against Burhan Chowdhury, a 72-year old cancer patient, over an overgrown lawn is the most recent of a string of abuses Judge Krot has brought upon the residents in the city of Hamtramck.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

The reason some books by nonwhite authors aren’t doing as well as they should is because publishing markets these books as if they’re exclusively for nonwhite readers (“love letter to my people”). It can other white readers, a large buying demographic, before they even pick it up

Rukman (Hiatus)🍉

@RukmanWrites

2 years

It's the end of the year and everyone's too drunk and tired to start discourse, so drop your most controversial book take now.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

7 months

@AvdullahYousef I might be an outlier, but this angers me because I get harassed for wearing proper hijab by liberals & conservatives online and in real life. While something like that gets to be paraded. Not to mention how this series will have/has had repercussions in the book industry.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

10 months

The amount of damage the three-act story structure has done to the book/writing community is irreversible I fear.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

Please make dua for me, you guys. I turned down an opportunity for the sake of not breaking any Islamic principles, but it was perfect for my career 🥲

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

I have a whole sub list for my YA South Asian dark fantasy novel because of how popular it is to editors, but I can’t do anything until an agent picks me up? Gatekeeping is so real 😭

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 month

I’m participating in #SmallPitch . If I comment (💚) and you think your book fits any of @shaherazadshelf ’s imprints, please DM me for a link to submit!

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

Most of the critique against YA is from adult readers who won’t move on. The behavior they expect in a protagonist i.e., less childish mistakes and more “spice” is found in adult fiction and (rightfully) not YA.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Super excited to announce my official #MSWL has been posted on Manuscript Wishlist!

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Happy Wednesday, #writingcommunity ! Pitched has 150+ users, many of whom have multiple manuscripts up on the platform! Agents & indie publishers, please get in touch! There are absolute GEMS on Pitched for you to peruse for rep/publication #gethitchedwithpitched #amagenting

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Leave the writing of Muslims characters to us Muslim writers.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

The fact that tech bros recognized this and are now profiting off writers is more telling on the industry itself.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

Publishing needs to stop using mosques and Islamic geometric symbols in fantasy covers and aesthetics when the book’s got nothing to do with Islam. If it’s pre-Islamic, use the architecture of that period. Stop appropriating our religion—especially if the plot involves paganism.

Rukman (Hiatus)🍉

@RukmanWrites

2 years

It's the end of the year and everyone's too drunk and tired to start discourse, so drop your most controversial book take now.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

3 months

Should I participate in #PitDark ? Maybe. If I 💚 your pitch and you think it fits with any of @shaherazadshelf 's imprints, please DM me for a specific submission link.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

Are you kidding me? “Prophet of a violent new faith” & a tweet she says is “Based on Islamic history”— how much more anti-Muslim, Anti-Islamic can you get? Shame this manuscript to the GROUND. I will not sit quiet @moodpitchers while this is fed to the public w/ CLEAR PREJUDICE.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

No, because it's rude as hell. Being agented is most people's way of having their dream realized as a published author. & now that you've made it past the hurdle you're being intentionally insensitive to the struggle.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

I think some big news for #gethitchedwithpitched will be announced in the Pitched newsletter soon! For those of you who don't know, Pitched is a platform for querying writers, agents, & editors to find the perfect manuscript. Think of a cross between Zillow + Tinder!

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

@NeilsWarner @BrandSanderson And then she gets cremated (which is weird? Muslims don’t do this. At all. Ever.)

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

All the Sanderson supporters proving my point in the QTs. At best, he wrote a shady character-scene which you should still be holding him accountable for and at worst, purposely did this which means he should still be held accountable for.

☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Hey @BrandSanderson cut the fake diversity act. Writing in a Muslim character into your book who blows herself up? I know exactly what you’re trying to do. Just because your non-Muslim fanbase didn’t catch it doesn’t mean us Muslims won’t. Sit down & be very quiet.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

So no one’s writing a marriage of convenience Muslim romance? I feel like that trope was made for us

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

I'll probably be closing to queries earlier than I thought (got so many good ones) so here's a #MSWL thread from me that also doubles as the type of person I am/the type of content I like ✨ Note: I only take young adult (YA), new adult, & adult genres. Unagented welcome to sub.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 months

Hi #WritingCommunity ! I’m Samiha! I’m an American Bangladeshi 🇧🇩 editor and publisher for @shaherazadshelf but also a writer of Muslims in fantasy, romance, historical fiction, and a genre blend of all three. I might have news to share soon inshaAllah 💚

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

You know what I really love about my job? The “sorry I have a manuscript like yours” will never be a rejection I give. Are you giving me a 54th Ghanaian upmarket fic? The 135th Indian romance? The 999th Thai middle grade fantasy? GO AHEAD! THE WHOLE POINT IS TO DIVERSIFY LIT!

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

And since we all know agents aren't equally trustworthy, signing up as an agent will require payment. Predatory agents are less likely to pay, and there's a paper trail for those who still make it through.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Seeing editors and agents list "South Asian Literature" in their preferences on Manuscript Wishlist, knowing I created the tag because I didn't see it when I first made my MSWL page, is a ✨feeling✨

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

If you want to know how badly Japan is NOT Muslim, vegan, or vegetarian friendly, just remember there’s pork, beef, and wool contamination in their baby formula. They’re also not legally obligated to tell consumers that.

mari 🕊🇵🇸

@rubiestRosie

1 year

Crazy how everything in japan from sushi to donuts contain pork or pork contamination… it’s actually insane 😭 how do people travel there as muslims … im curious / srs

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Pitch event creators, the decline and hesitance of pitch events on this app, contact me to set something up! Pitched has the ultimate privacy—only agents and editors would have access to your pitch! Plus, the use of tags for the corresponding event makes it easy to find pitches

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

Some of you might have pieced it together, so here's the official reveal: @atifalikeathena and I are the two acquiring editors (and founders) of @shaherazadshelf ! We saw the gap for Muslims in publishing & this is how we're addressing it! We'd love your guys' support!

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

We need more south Asian editors!!! In publishing & in freelance!!! I cannot describe in words how comforting it is to have someone with a shared culture read my work about said culture in whatever genre I write!!!

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Agents & editors interested in Pitched: other than a manuscript marketplace with searchable tags for tropes/story elements, ONLY PITCHED OFFERS preselected responses so rejections & requests can be made easily. Plus, writers send samples to your preferred method of submission!

☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Happy Wednesday, #writingcommunity ! Pitched has 150+ users, many of whom have multiple manuscripts up on the platform! Agents & indie publishers, please get in touch! There are absolute GEMS on Pitched for you to peruse for rep/publication #gethitchedwithpitched #amagenting

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

And here it is in the published book. Muslim girl willingly kills herself under righteous pretense….he literally wrote her to be su*cide b*mber.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

@theschreibersam @ep30241 @moodpitchers What is there to love about this? Every Muslim can easily see she is using the grounds of our religion for the villain/ antagonist setting for her book. She’s normalizing religious discrimination.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

3 years

I’m not saying agents HAVE to take books with Muslims in it—I’m just putting perspective into how we Muslims feel as people who often fall into both those two communities.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

@laurcunn Pitched! Because I actually made something similar to this and called it that! (It even comes with a nice slogan, get hitched with pitched) If you'd like the link to join, I'd be happy to share it!

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

My favorite genre of male authors are the ones who succinctly gush about their wives on the book's dedication page. "to my heart and soul, my wife" "to my wife whom I'd be bereft without" Yes, dude, we love to read it!

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

Hey, #amquerying writers, #mswl agents & editors!! Since October of last year, I've been creating Pitched with my twin sister, a platform for matching agents/pub houses with manuscripts. Think dating app, but for books! #gethitchedwithpitched Sign up!

Pitched

Revolutionizing the way authors, literary agents, and editors connect with each other to publish the next bestseller. Beta testing coming in 2023.

pitchedbooks.ck.page

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

3 years

Someone please stop the trend of south Asian/Middle Eastern “inspired” fantasy characters always being THIEVES or ASSASSINS. Cuz why y’all keep making us criminals?

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

I just edited my query letter for my dark fantasy and now I'm cringing at the ones I sent to agents. At least I'll be set for tomorrow's #PitDark 😬? #WritingCommunity #amquerying

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

11 months

I wished the #DVpit creators had asked me to use Pitched's platform for the event lol Discord has been way too chaotic for me #gethitchedwithpitched

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Give credit where it’s due. Also give credit where it isn’t: South Asia includes Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, & Bhutan as well as India. If your rec list only has one of these countries, best to say that!

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

Are there no Muslim writers drafting a romcom where the couple is married & they're learning about each other through dates and awkward flirting?? Will adapt this into a graphic novel/webtoon/manga, I promise. #MSWL

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

7 months

✨I’m just an editor for a small press making trad pub run after me✨ The unique book concepts I acquired these past two years for @shaherazadshelf have started an onslaught of similar books by trad authors in the same space. Don’t know what else to say except I have skills 🤭

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

9 months

My best advice to querying writers is that everything's subjective. I had two acquisition editors from the Big 5 look at the same manuscript--the first said there wasn't enough info on something & the other said there was too much. In other words, DON'T BUY "industry knowledge."

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

Since this has snowballed into something else, let’s be clear: I’m saying it’s rude to downplay people’s struggles in publishing as assuming they feel “entitled to an agent or book deal” as if they’re not working for it. Wanting success is NOT entitlement.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Here’s the link to the newsletter page if you want to be the first to know when the app goes live!

Pitched

Revolutionizing the way authors, literary agents, and editors connect with each other to publish the next bestseller. Beta testing coming in 2023.

pitchedbooks.ck.page

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Agents are free to ask what they want on their query forms, just as writers are free to think certain questions are invasive or unnecessary. That’s it.

Anne Tibbets

@AnneTibbets

1 year

Hi. Not looking to start a THING here, but if a lit agent asks in a query form how many copies sold of your self pubbed book it's because if it sold well, they want to see if they can sell it in traditional publishing and make you MORE money. No other reason.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Time and again I see that the practices of some in this industry are exactly why the issue of underrepresentation exists at all. Why so many are broken by the querying process. Why writers will step on others if it means they succeed. It’s time to reflect & grow.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

I disagree strongly with this. Bad representation is seeing Muslims be terrorists in countless movies & TV. Wrong representation is constantly seeing Muslim women stripped of religion in books for the sexual gaze—representation that influences politics and laws globally.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Starting to think some agents like to request fulls from bipoc writers KNOWING they're going to form reject them later. It's not as slick a move as you think it is

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

As an editor for a publishing house, the most important thing I do is to check for implicit biases in a manuscript. If you ever land a contract deal with @shaherazadshelf , this will be a part of your editorial call, regardless of genre:

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

I am begging authors (especially those from a minority background) to not query until you've written as many books as you can. The query trenches are really brutal for us, and it can and will sap the enjoyment writing and reading used to give you.

Alexander James

@DrunkScribe

1 year

What’s your #writing opinion that ends you here?

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Saw a book about twins that got sold for six figures, so now I'm hoping that my SFF novel about twin sisters, written by a twin sister (me), will get the same level of attention.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

10 months

American academia creates colonizers. The higher you go, the more you will see students from racial & religious backgrounds lose their diverse viewpoint for a moral system designed by the legacy of those who colonized their grandparents.

Scientists Who Lift

@ScientistsLift

10 months

What unpopular academia opinion would get you in this situation?

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Here’s the proof if you don’t want to download it (understandable, I’d hate to).

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Some Pakistan-inspired fantasy are The Lady or the Lion by Aamna Qureshi and Nura and the Immortal Palace by M. T. Khan. Have yet to see any other South Asian countries get their own, but editors, I write Bangladesh fantasy so 😅

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

To all my new followers, a little intro to who I am: —I love everything Islam, nature, cat, book, and science-related. My feed is a giant jumble of all of that! ✨ —Sometimes I dish out zaal 🌶️ takes about publishing which is why I’m in it (to change it) Nice to meet you guys!

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

8 months

Proud of these two, they are my babies: Adult Hist Romance // YA dark fantasy

✧ risa ✧

@laecrimosa_

8 months

Anyone want to show me their moodboards? 😳 I love looking at moodboards…

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 month

It’s alarming that no one in the writing community has been talking about the race riots in the UK?? What’s the point of diverse books if you won’t stand up against racists and actual violence?

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Ever since I watched North & South, Jane Austen's work doesn't feel the same. Austen wrote so many novels but did not once mention the colonization of the Indian subcontinent, Africa, or Ireland. Whereas Gaskell told an honest love story with all the ugly of society in it.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

9 months

Update: the book is now 61k and ✨DONE! ✨ I cannot wait for it to be in people’s hands (or even dramatized by the BBC).

☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

9 months

Update: the book is now 55k words. Two months and 6k words is a lot slower than normal, but that’s okay.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

By the way, Pitched is SECURE. The system has stopped people from trying to enter as an agent/editor when they're not. Plus, there's me, double-checking on the back end :)

☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Pitch event creators, the decline and hesitance of pitch events on this app, contact me to set something up! Pitched has the ultimate privacy—only agents and editors would have access to your pitch! Plus, the use of tags for the corresponding event makes it easy to find pitches

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

So...I've refined my South Asian dark fantasy pitch & I'll be using it for #SFFpit this Thursday!! It'll be pinned on my profile. I also hope to spam my support for you guys the way I did for DVpit, so I hope everyone who's participating is ready 💚

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Why is everyone mislabeling magical realism, paranormal, dark fantasy, gothic, and horror for children as a whole new term? Do you see how varied what I just said is and y'all are putting it as one label? Not everything needs a new term, please!

Moniza Hossain

@moniza_hossain

1 year

What the heck is cosy horror and why is everyone suddenly talking about it? Horror can’t be cosy. That’s an oxymoron

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

8 months

Dear Muslim (women) in the writing community, if you saw the racist skit by Bill Maher, please know your hijab and niqab is safe with me. I will not stop representing us in books. DMs are always open to Muslim writers looking to get their Muslim stories published!

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

3 years

It would be an offense to the constitution of America and the American Dream to allow Judge Krot a place in the judiciary system with her harmful biases. Please consider removing Judge Krot from her position as she has shown a lack of justice through her position as a Judge.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

5 months

AGENTED AND UNAGENTED WRITERS, SEND ME MUSLIM-FRIENDLY MIDDLE GRADE RIGHT NOW. I can’t believe I had to turn away beautiful Muslim children who read at that level 😭

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

11 months

Sorry in advance that this will be anxiety-affirming, but this happened to me. Two of my novels’ plots were ~taken~ (though I think I’m the better writer since I’m a twin who wrote about being a twin). Not to mention those same novels were queried for 3 years.

Megan🪻Add FILYMI on Goodreads

@megmurphywrites

11 months

Do other unpublished authors live in constant fear someone else is going to announce a story similar to theirs before they can or is that just me? 🥰

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

@theschreibersam @ep30241 @moodpitchers I have nothing against the author. It’s the content of this manuscript that is vile and islamophobic.

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34

☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

@authorbjordan It’s called kindness. Instead of seeing someone’s despair & making a thread ranting about it you could just stay silent to someone else’s issues. Calling people who put time & effort into their dreams “entitled” for feeling bad when it falls through is literally weird.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

Update: the book is now at 43k words.

☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

Officially putting it out there: my regency WIP hit 20k words. It's my homage to Elizabeth Gaskell's North & South (and Jane Austen's impeccable writing) with commentary on British colonialism in the Indian subcontinent that these classics often exclude.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

3 years

UPDATE: Google says she is permanently closed! Her petition to remove her has reached 10k signs! Please share it!

Sign the Petition

Remove Judge Alexis Krot!!!

www.change.org

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

I know querying for authors & agents is a pain. That’s why I’d like to introduce Pitched, a web platform (plus an app) that offers writers and agent/editors/pub houses to find each other efficiently. Check my pinned tweet to stay up to date! #writingcommmunity #amquerying

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

Service workers are not your slaves. Expecting them to strip their moral & personal obligations because you paid them money is disgusting.

Salem

@Sandmonkey

2 years

@IHanyFarouk @FarahDesouky1 Why should she care about someone's religious obligations when they are providing a paid service?

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

4 months

As someone in publishing, I like & retweet a lot of cultural and Muslim content to remind writers and others that it’s not a crime to have or be happy with your culture or faith.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

2 years

@samira_says @Rowaida_Abdel You’re literally putting words in her mouth. She’s saying leave Muslims alone i.e. stop acting as if American Muslims had any sort of influence on the Supreme Court draft on abortion. We didn’t.

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

9 months

Does anyone know any Malaysian or Indonesian writers? I feel like you guys are so underrepresented despite being English speaking + having huge Muslim population. I'd love to publish some of your stories!

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

8 months

It's daunting to convince *adults* to pick up my YA dark fantasy manuscript, but the FIRST DRAFT was enough to turn a classroom of high school girls (my target audience) into lifelong fans & to this day, they ask if it's available...sorry it's not, but my agent is on it 🫡

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☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

BTW, as an editor from a minority background, "bad" opening lines or even submitting a rough draft doesn't stop me from requesting or offering publication. I will still take you on because I know not everyone has the time, community, or money for edits.

☪︎ Samiha

@hijabi_soldier

1 year

A universal writing tip: your first sentences need to hook the reader. This does NOT mean your book has to start with action or have snappy, sarcastic lines (it could be those things!). But it does mean you need to draw the reader with something that will make them keep reading.

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