If you are a lit agent and aren’t a member of @aalitagents.bsky.social you just missed such a good webinar / Q&A with class council on the Anthropic case. The AI and copyright stuff our team is doing is worth ten times the dues I’m paying.

Second panel of the day is on the Creator Economy— a big common theme is engagement. (So, uh, like and subscribe for more content like this!) #peopleofpublishing

Happy @peopleofpublishing.bsky.social day to all those who celebrate! Absolutely nothing I love more than seeing all my friends and colleagues IRL. #peopleofpublishing #peopleofpublishing25

If you are an author and The Atlantic’s article on LibGen, pirated books, and AI/LLM training has you in a tailspin, might I recommend checking out Jodi’s fantastic newsletter about it?

I completely forgot that running into the tiny grocery store today would force me to bear witness to every kind of Nashville’s worst husbands and boyfriends.

All I can really say at this point is if everyone isn't watching how trans people have lost basic rights and protections on a scale that hasn't been seen in decades in the span of 72 hours and realizing that even if you aren't trans there's nothing stopping it from happening to you, you're a fool

I’m spending a lot more of my midlife than I’d anticipated focusing on acquiring increasingly warmer socks. Is that climate change or just aging?

A few weeks ago I was on the "Oddly Specific" podcast talking about how lost I felt after losing my literary agent. What I didn't know was that the universe and @laurenmacleod.bsky.social was listening and I am happy to share that I am now reppedx by Aevitas Creative. 2025 - I am SOOO ready.

For the record, the reason I think I'm #1 is that I'm only open on Query Manager to a select few nonfiction subgenres (cookbooks, food, pop culture, true crime), and, despite that, MOST of what I get in this inbox are novels the novelist described as "pop culture." But I do sign clients from here!

I wonder how many hours of my life I’ve spent trying to get my favorite dog to understand that this restaurant doesn’t begin seating for dog dinner service until 5 p.m.

Devastated to hear the news that Anita Bryant was still alive.

I love the level of “wheeeee! It’s going to snow for real real!!!” in Nashville’s local news coverage today. The weather nerds almost never get to promise kids snowmen down here and they are loving it.

You’ll be minding your own business stirring some soup, and all of a sudden your Dad will enter the family group text to claim something wild and categorically untrue, like “in my day we only got five days off school for Christmas.” It is like texting with chatgpt.

When I was little my Mom once pointed out to me an elderly local gossip in the grocery store who was wearing all her jewelry and was draped in a rhinestones, fur, sequins, and several silk scarves. I told my disapproving mother I was going to dress like that when I was old.

Time to watch the second best Christmas-centered movie about attempting to off oneself starring Jimmy Stewart!

Happy cookies for breakfast week to all who celebrate!

Y’all the publishing scams are wild this year. Writers take note!

I cannot say enough nice things about Regina, I’ve loved working with her to make @aalitagents.bsky.social bigger and better; she’s incredibly inspiring and generous and motivating! So well deserved!

Can confirm Jodi is one of the best at editing herself!

I’m worried I’m going to be hospitalized for dehydration if the algorithm continues constantly feeding me videos of people getting puppies for Christmas.

One of my favorite Hallmark movie tropes is signaling how much Christmas spirit the character has based on how much whipped cream and candy these adults order on top of their morning coffee.

Today I learned that if you mostly listen to books & podcasts on your phone, but then you spend one (1) Easter weekend slightly too into singing the original cast album of Jesus Christ Superstar to your three dogs, it REALLY makes an impression.

So happy to support LAOC this #givingtuesday -- the Fellowship Program encourages recruitment & the Mentorship Program focuses on the retention/promotion of agents belonging to historically underrepresented groups. As a mentor, I've had the pleasure of seeing how much impact this work has!

Anyone want to talk me into or out of an e-ink notebook? Writers (or colleagues?), do any of you use one to edit your books? I’m itching to try something different than my current system of iPad word docs or taking notes on my phone while I read on an e-reader in 2025.

I've had a couple writers recently withdraw immediately saying they signed with another agent, so I thought I'd do a mini chat on what's expected once you receive an offer. 1) thank the offering agent. Let them know you still have materials out and ask for 2 weeks to make your decision.

On this morning, I can’t help but think about how Miracle on 34th Street starts with overprotective mother / Thanksgiving parade coordinator Maureen O’Hara being super chill with little Natalie Wood spending a bunch of time with the adult man across the hall whom she has not yet met.

I decorate my house for the holidays like at any moment a Hallmark executive might knock on the door with car trouble and be so impressed she will offer me my secret set decorating dream job so I can finally put enough lights on the main characters Christmas trees.

Okay fine, but it *is* rude to tell me I’m wrong on a platform everyone has promised me will be an echo chamber.

This is a Big Swiss post. This is THE Big Swiss post www.portersquarebooks.com/book/9781982...

Please settle a debate: is it, indeed, rude to text one’s sister in two different apps simultaneously, or is any objection just me being “such an elder millennial”?

This has done very well, friends. And don’t be afraid to nudge me if you’re an agent pal and not on here. I don’t know who else is on this site yet. 🤷🏽‍♂️

Many scammers cheat authors by selling what looks like conventional publishing or marketing or agenting--except that it's a scam. But sometimes they just make shit up. Here's an example: a mythical thing called a "No-Objection Certificate", supposedly to ensure compliance with copyright laws.

There is a gorgeous field near where I walk the dogs, and, because it is Nashville, in the fall there’s always 1 to 3 photoshoots taking place in the tall grass and I always think about how freeing it must be not to know about snakes and ticks.

Another nice bit of recognition for CROSSINGS — gratified to learn it was a finalist for the PEN/EO Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, which EAGER won in 2019. Thanks to judges and congrats to fellow finalists @jeffgoodell.bsky.social et al and very deserving winner @rosannaxia.bsky.social!

AALA’s stance on AI revenue & licensing is available on our website. It reads, in part, that, unless clearly and explicitly granted to the publisher in the author/illustrator’s publishing agreement, the right to license a work for the training of generative AI rests with the copyright holder.

Our most recent AI licensing alert to members is linked within this PW story. We ask agents to consider carefully: if you and your clients are willing to hand rights over to a publisher for them to administer, what is appropriate compensation to the publisher for their admin of those rights?

I don’t know what to say today, but fortunately I gave some answers in this that I stand by. glaad.org/nicole-maine...

Thrilled to see @authorsguild.bsky.social agree on this! "We believe that a 50-50 split for a mere AI training license gives far too much to the publisher. These rights belong to the author as they are not book or excerpt rights; it is the authors’ expression that produces value in AI licensing."

As a former librarian, THIS thread 👇🏻

When I was a buyer at a large indie, my rule of thumb was: 1 preorder: huh, let me take a closer look at this one 2 preorders: we need to stock this book 3 preorders: we should order enough to face this out 4+ preorders: this should be on front-of-store display

Hey authors! If your agent isn't an @aalitagents.bsky.social member, they (and you!) aren't benefiting from all the hard work we are doing behind the scenes, like the alert on the HC licensing deal that the AI Special Committee issued last night, mentioned in this story:

Hi There, Gentle reminder to opt the fuck out if you're a Harper author www.404media.co/harpercollin...

Something that I think is VERY important to emphasize is, regardless of the size of the offer, HarperCollins is acknowledging they do NOT have the right to use authors work for AI or LLMs without a new license.

In the time it has taken me to edit the first 240 words of a client's sample chapter the puppy has purloined a half full bottle of creamer and paraded it through the house, liberated a bag of crackers from the counter, and stolen a slipper off my foot. It's going to be a long Monday.

This is still my advice: Become a writer anyway. Fuck it, do it, it won't save you, but it's still a beautiful dream to write novels and short stories and poems and mingle with other dreamers and make art and laugh in the face of death. And writing is constant death. Live más.

Anyway, as a timeline warming present, here is a picture of one perfect dog and two more that could use a little more self-reflection and character development.

Yesterday a client broke it to me what you all call posts over here and it’s been haunting this elder millennial ever since.

In introducing myself to BlueSky, I don't think I can do any better than to let @lastweektonight1.bsky.social do the honors! vimeo.com/994715523/70...

I'm teaching a Queries 101 workshop this Sunday, free to all BIPOC, queer, disabled, and marginalized folks. Everyone else can attend with a small fee! 1 hour workshop on queries for novels + 30 minute Q&A. Please share www.eventbrite.com/e/queries-10...

I'm trying to work through my trust issues by joining yet another social platform that will for sure this time not become a ghost town by next month. After all, when in the last week has hope ever let me down?