In the arts the wonder is not that lightning does not strike again and again but that it ever strikes. —John Mason Brown

As I close in on the end of this new novel, I can't help thinking of the immortal words of Don Van Vliet, aka Captain Beefheart: "Art is rearranging and grouping mistakes."

In case you were wondering: Yes, there is a Jonathan the Great Tortoise angle to the Pam Bondi firing news.

Sooooo close to 40K units sold. It could happen this month. Today, even, if you're motivated!

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Exciting last-minute news...the incredible Becky Wills is having a launch party for her amazing debut STUN at Uncommon Ground TOMORROW NIGHT! It says RSVP by March 18th but we'll probably let it slide if you just show up.

Business Announcement...we've got merch! Why buy a concert t-shirt to support a band when you can buy a book t-shirt to support a book? Two now, more to come... tortoisebooks.com/merch

I’m extremely grateful to be able to work with @jerrybrennan.bsky.social, and proud to be member of the Tortoise Books family!

Super grateful to @rachellayown.bsky.social and @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social for this lovely interview! Get a glimpse of the publisher's life...if you dare! chireviewofbooks.com/2026/03/20/i...

Using AI to write your stories and books is pathetic. Just do it the old-fashioned way and learn to doubt every word, fret over every edit, and eventually start to hate yourself for ever thinking you could be a writer to begin with.

Worth a watch. Technique is great, but don't forget to make it taste good for the people who just want something that tastes good.

Many people are saying this.

Three faces, two smiling. A @tortoisebooks.bsky.social Order Fulfillment Selfie for 1232. (Plus a gift book.)

This attitude is absolutely essential. Also: the lit world is populated by people working other jobs because the lit world doesn't pay their bills! (Unless they are teaching OTHERS about the lit world.)

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Shoot for the moon. If you miss, you'll end up in a steaming pile of garbage.

I have the honor of writing a blurb for this forthcoming #book, much of which was written in a Thesis course I taught for @lindenwoodmfa.bsky.social - Congratulations @nkweidman.bsky.social & kudos to indie publisher @tortoisebooks.bsky.social for bringing it out

Steinbeck's six rules for aspiring writers. (Courtesy @mikhail-iossel.bsky.social)

COVER REVEAL...we would like to introduce you to the outstanding new literary thriller/noir by Josh Corey, THE LAST WORDS OF JACK RUBY! Available everywhere cool books are available, 11/24/26.

The president and all his rancid enablers really demand the creation of a new word that means “shocked but not shocked, but still shocked, but also totally NOT shocked, yet somehow still shocked, also always appalled, forever and eternally appalled by the endless abhorrence, and now I scream.”

Editing pro tip: When you use, too many commas, you sound like, William, Shatner.

What if we just put up a giant sign that says Books

Official sales numbers as of the end of January...we are closing in on 40K!

Absolutely not trying to make the terrible news of the closure of Washington Post's Books coverage about me or anything, but I cannot stress how bad this is for books. The biggest divide between Big 5 and independent/nonprofit press books is not quality--it's the marketing spend.

Live footage of me every time I go to fonts.adobe.com to grab "just a couple" fonts for a new @tortoisebooks.bsky.social cover...

If you liked the novel #HamOnRye by #CharlesBukowski, you've gotta read this! You're gonna love it! #AnthonyKoranda #BrokenBottles @tortoisebooks.bsky.social

Very excited to announce I will be discussing my experiences running @tortoisebooks.bsky.social at the @storystudiochicago.bsky.social Pub Crawl! I will now self-censor until then so you can ONLY get my takes at this event...and they will be the hottest and spiciest takes you can imagine.

Publishing news alert! 🚨Contributor Sara Lippmann's book JERKS was republished from Tortoise Press! buff.ly/Vfv18vR

BIG thanks to the fine people at @greenlightbklyn.bsky.social for not only allowing these Jerks into their store, but featuring them prominently! (@saralippmann.bsky.social and @jerrybrennan.bsky.social are most pleased.) Go see them--the jerks and the non-jerks--and maybe take home one of each.

Big ups to @saralippmann.bsky.social for ending up on this @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social list of the most-anticipated books of 2026! (And big thanks to @mbwelch.bsky.social and team for the coverage!) chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/06/o...

Big ups to @saralippmann.bsky.social for ending up on this @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social list of the most-anticipated books of 2026! (And big thanks to @mbwelch.bsky.social and team for the coverage!) chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/06/o...

Among my other fun publisher quirks: when I get a batch of @tortoisebooks.bsky.social that's misprinted juuuuuust enough to not be saleable, but not enough to not be an amazing read, I get a credit from the printer and then disburse them at Little Free Library boxes in West Ridge and Rogers Park.

December sales are in, and our lifetime total is now 38,766 books sold. Goal for 2026: see how quickly we can get to 40,000. (And 50,000.)

OK, folks...calling it. All of these, plus a solid number of @tortoisebooks.bsky.social submissions, some of which will be on YOUR lists in 2026, God willing. Some faves: Working, Studs Terkel Jernigan, David Gates The Country Girls, Edna O'Brien The Kid Stays In The Picture, Robert Evans

We were getting all set to hustle up votes for the @chicagoreader.com and their Best Of 2025 feature and...they don't have a Best Small Press category this year? They probably didn't want to make all the other presses feel bad by making them compete with us...

psssssssst this jawn (out in May) @tortoisebooks.bsky.social is now up on edelweiss if anyone wants a free early look www.edelweiss.plus?sku=19651992...

really cannot be emphasized enough that bari weiss has literally never done journalism. i don’t mean that in the pejorative sense. i mean that in the “has never performed the job she was hired to do” sense

Stop expecting answers from books. Instead just say to yourself “This will keep me company while I live the question.”

Spotted at the Center For Fiction. JERKS is in these places...you're in these places...PEOPLE, DO WE HAVE TO SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU?

Super big thanks to all who came out to Hopleaf for Nestor Fest...it was the best event we've had there yet! (And thanks again to Hopleaf for being such awesome hosts!)

Hanging with @the-boss-gomez.bsky.social at his book release party along with @tortoisebooks.bsky.social Buy his book here tortoisebooks.com/store/rescue... #booksky #ImmigrationStories #books #80MinutesAroundTheWorld

Look. You could get all your Christmas shopping done in one fell swoop tomorrow. But only if you like cool books. Just go to Nestor Fest at Hopleaf from 3-5 and catch an awesome reading from Nestor Gomez. (And Brooke Randel as well!) I'm just saying, it's an option. Just spitballing here.

Folks, Nestor Fest is THIS SATURDAY from 3-5 at Hopleaf! (5148 N Clark.) It's the launch event for the incomparable Nestor "The Boss" Gomez and RESCUED ME/ME RESCATÓ; we'll also have readings from Stephanie Martinez and Jitesh Jaggi and our very own Brooke Randel. Be there!

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The JERKS store called and they're running out of YOU! tortoisebooks.com/store/jerks

We saw you from across the tennis court and we really like your vibe (complimentary). Seriously, folks...check it out!

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It is Small Business Saturday and we are a small business so once you read these words you are legally obligated to go to www.tortoisebooks.com and buy some books. Sorry! We don't make the rules!

THE JERKS HAVE ESCAPED CONTAINMENT. I REPEAT: THE JERKS HAVE ESCAPED CONTAINMENT. (Big thanks to Three Lives Bookstore for giving customers a chance to apprehend them in the wild! And to the esteemed @saralippmann.bsky.social herself for forwarding this photo.)

**Puts on headphones.** **Starts blasting Iggy and the Stooges' "Search and Destroy"** **ELIMINATES ALL DOUBLE SPACES IN THE MANUSCRIPT WITH A RECKLESS FURY** That's how it's done, folks. That's all there is to it.