One Word, Six Letters is, craft-wise, probably ten times the book Darius was. (And I love Darius!!! Don't get me wrong!!!) But it's been interesting to see the kind of response it's gotten.

IF they keep writing. Bc there is a pipeline of ✨debut✨ > no editing to speak of > dwindling in house enthusiasm > poor sales > ignored 2nd or 3rd book. And the author might well look back at the ✨debut✨ publicity and promises, and think, well, I'll never top that and it still tanked, why bother.

It's an issue in YA lately as well, and very noticeable in debuts or adult authors who are writing their first YA. I keep reading books where my main takeaway is "this needed a couple more passes with an editor with a firm hand."

but there's always another tiktok breakout to snatch up and toss into the grinder, and everyone wants a BIG FLASHY BREAKOUT instead of the solid performance of a midlist author who could grow steadily with a fraction of that support... but not blow up the books in one quarter.

there’s a reason “the pitt” is doing so well - and i do not say this disparagingly but with true admiration - because it is the best show of 1998 made by one of the mandarins of that era. i’m sorry to sound like such a fucking fogie, but the system used to work and to put people to work… (11/14)

Democratic U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids says she’s hearing from Kansas residents who are struggling to make ends meet. In an interview with KCUR's Up To Date, Davids said President Trump went to war in Iran "without a clear strategy," and it's adding to the high cost of living.

HEY AUTHOR FRIENDS!!! Have you got a bunch of author copies sitting around? Would you like to get them OUT OF YOUR HOUSE? We are looking for authors with 5 - 10 copies of a book they'd like to sign and send to some lucky winner, and help raise money for voting rights!

Persepolis - Eye of the Tiger (2007)

To our dismay, the artist and author Marjane Satrapi has passed away. As she wrote, ordinary Americans and Iranians have more in common with each other than we do with either of our governments, which have far too much in common with each other. We honor her memory and oppose the war.

There's a certain kind of teen girl, usually dismissed as "insolent," who knows from jump that the way her world is treating her is more the world's problem than hers. I'll always appreciate Marjane Satrapi for giving that girl a strong voice. www.lemonde.fr/en/obituarie...

I saw Marjane Satrapi speak about her work at Smith College 19 years ago, and she said something I have thought about and taught ever since when I teach comics. “I draw what I can’t write and I write what I can’t draw.“

Iranian-French cartoonist and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi has died at 56 | ABC News abcnews.com/Entertainmen...

This is a personal project I made for Maggie Tokuda-Hall @maggietokudahall.bsky.social , who is one of my favorite writers, based on her book "Love In The Library", illustrated by Yas Imamura @yasimamura.bsky.social . Of everything I've made, I'm especially proud of this.

Thu. 6/25 @ 7PM EDT: A special Pride event in partnership w/ Steamy Lit. Featuring @authorkarmenlee.bsky.social, @chippons.bsky.social, @adibkhorram.bsky.social, @tjalexandernyc.bsky.social , & @bybrittanyjohnson.bsky.social & moderated by @frankiefyre.bsky.social. Tix at link.

It is worth noting that the takeover of 60 Minutes, and CBS News, is the culmination of the strategy that was baked into the launch of Substack. This is the thing we were trying to explain was bigger than just "there are nazis on there". www.anildash.com//2024/11/19/...

HUGE: Deb Haaland has won the Democratic nomination for governor of New Mexico. On to the general!

rewatching BEST IN SHOW because I need some tenderness right now and it's still such a perfect comedy

Like I’m sorry this is my bitter hill I will die on, and the marketing for queer art always hasn’t been great, but this endless clickbaity way to draw attention to anything queer sets up certain expectations that’s not actually helping the audience or the creator (re: pillion)

The soul crushing trend to witness is all queer media now has to reference the hockey show in its marketing. Not all queer things are the same as one commercially successful queer thing I’m so over this lmao

To be fair, I'm basically mangling that excellent speech by Lana Wachowski about opening doors to worlds previously unimaginable which I should definitely credit every time I open my damn mouth

Stand With MN is currently encouraging folks to support the good folks protesting in NJ in their fight against ICE: www.standwithminnesota.com/jersey

My local sex toy shop is still doing a lot of mutual aid work, and you can donate to those efforts at the bottom of their website page. smittenkittenonline.com

@authorsabb.bsky.social is doing some great work fighting book bans and censorship, and you can support them here: www.authorsagainstbookbans.com/donate/

We don't talk enough about how smart @keahbrown.bsky.social is! Listen to our conversation about disability and queerness: open.spotify.com/episode/2pj8...

this is why Rebel Ever After has an open door policy for @tjalexandernyc.bsky.social when they want to come be a guest. listen to our latest convo: open.spotify.com/episode/0ZMd...

stop litigating who is "queer enough" for fuck sake! listen to annabel and lydia's episode about writing sapphic reality tv satire: open.spotify.com/episode/3zHK...

proof @julianwinters.bsky.social is a prince among men! listen to his episode about queer self-discovery: open.spotify.com/episode/5GtU...

The day I am not thinking about this quote from @adibkhorram.bsky.social is the day I am dead. listen: open.spotify.com/episode/3bQ3...

very happy for the interview with the vampire fandom today...i tried (like really hard) and it wasn't for me but i love seeing everyone's joy. folks...it's okay to let other people love things.

now i remember why i don't keep bananas in the apartment

Reminder that Klingons say TRANS RIGHTS BRING HONOR TO YOUR HOUSE

Air conditioning is unapologetically a good thing because it helps people not die. And one good thing about air conditioning is that it largely needs to run during the day when solar power is at its maximum: it can and should align with clean energy goals.

Happy Pride!! Call your reps and yell at them about these horrible book banning bills these losers keep trying to pass reps.fyi

i feel like it's been so long since i started something truly new, I forgot how bad the blank page is

Caspian Bistro, the amazing Persian restaurant in KC (technically Overland Park) that inspired the restaurant in I'll Have What He's Having.

very annoyed that, as my "doing things" budget has finally refreshed at the start of june, i find a number of things i was supposed to do in may

From launch month to Mer-May and now Pride, it's Month 3 of the Yemi and Nova Show! Get your grizzled tragic chaos lesbians and YEAR OF THE MER on bookshop.org and get 15% off with code PRIDE26. bookshop.org/p/books/year...

Hey #BookSky, it’s #PrideMonth, which means I’m supposed to remember to, y’know, mention I’m a queer dude writing queer stories and stuff. How about linked queer spec-fic where the smaller parts tell a greater whole? How about #KoboPlus? How about heterochromic gay psychics? If any are a "yes..."

hello, americans: it’s pride!!!! another great month for YELLING AT OUR REPS!!! follow authors against book bans, make calls, write emails and postcards, LET’S GOOOOO

Happy Pride! Folks on the asexual and aromantic spectrum are queer too. The A in LGBTQIA+ belongs to us, not allies. Being queer isn't only about who you fuck.

My annual Pride Month sale starts now! All pride-related items - plus some others - are included. Shirts are 12% off, pins 17% off, stickers 50% off! willburrows.art/shop

I drew a butt once or twice and the automod is kinda overly sensitive. So even if it's not nsfw you can get the label If I disappear from your timeline you know why; check those settings

June 1st

we cannot be a nation until the whole hell of the deportation machine, the family separation machine, the foul moloch that sustains Stephen Miller and grinds children into dust, until all of that is dismantled and the work of reparation begins www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

So much of the pandemic was us finding out life actually could be easier and better and more accessible, and then watching them peel every scrap of that back out of our hands & lives, often for incoherent reasons. (return to office!)

and there are still people on the *left*, some here on this website, that will tell you that people’s economic insecurity is simply *imagined*

another platform drops due to AI enshittification. i'd like to say im surprised, but i'm not. get off linktree ASAP. there are alternatives in the comments.

It’s going to be very hard for Europe to hold the incongruity of criticising Russia for invading Ukraine and doing nothing while Israel invades Lebanon.

We should be two “D&D Honor Among Thieves” sequels deep.