Tajja Isen
@tajjaisen.bsky.social
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Author of SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS (2022) and TOUGH LOVE (March 2027) / tajjaisen.com
pinned post!
I spent the summer reporting this essay on why it seems harder than ever to sell a book right nowāespecially if it isn't a debut and comes with the dreaded "sales track." I'm grateful to the writers, agents, editors, publishers & experts who spoke to me for this piece:
thewalrus.ca/the-publishi...
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The Publishing Industry Has a Gambling Problem | The Walrus
Companies keep betting on the next bestseller. Literature is poorer for it
https://thewalrus.ca/the-publishing-industry-has-a-gambling-problem/
8 months ago
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Surprised to see this piece having a divisive lifeāI read the book, was confused about the finances, and this piece clarified exactly what didn't make sense to me.
www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...
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Whatās Missing from Belle Burdenās Best-Selling Memoir, āStrangersā
Belle Burdenās āStrangers: A Memoir of Marriageā tells the story of her divorce and resulting financial imperilment. A review of court documents complicates her narrative.
https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/whats-missing-from-belle-burdens-strangers
6 days ago
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Love this, and it's relevant to some uh news I'll have soon:
hyperallergic.com/the-painted-...
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The Painted Book Cover Is Back
The recent shift toward figuration on book covers may reflect a broader desire for physical presence ā proof of the artistās hand in the digital age.
https://hyperallergic.com/the-painted-book-cover-is-back/
12 days ago
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Did she ask ChatGPT about those dreadlocks too
13 days ago
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Helena Fitzgerald
13 days ago
if anyone has a useful link for how to turn these features off as comprehensively and as permanently as possible, I think that would be a great resource to share for people like me who have minimal technical knowledge in this field but do have a massive amount of their work stored in google docs
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Charlie Jane "Lessons in Magic and Disaster" Anders š³ļøāā§
13 days ago
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Phillip Maciak
19 days ago
WIDOW'S BAY is Matthew Rhys' best performance since The Americans. Creator Katie Dippold knows exactly how to use him, and how to do everything else, too, it seems. I wrote about the best new show of the year:
newrepublic.com/article/2100...
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Widowās Bay Is a Menacing and Hilarious Mash-up
At a time when much TV recycles familiar formulas, the Apple TV series feels like something new.
https://newrepublic.com/article/210089/widows-bay-apple-tv-series-menacing-hilarious-mash-up
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Really feeling the culture-industry churn of "do more with less" this week. Exhausting, disheartening, unsustainable and yet somehow still going.
19 days ago
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Matt Bell
26 days ago
Iām so thrilled to share the news that my new novel PENITENT will be published by
@doubledaybooks.bsky.social
, with Thomas Gebremedhin editing! Thanks as always to my agent Kirby Kim for his wise advice and for finding my book its best possible home. Coming Spring 2028! I can't wait.
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Phillip Maciak
26 days ago
We need to talk about the fact that the nonfiction stacks at Barnes & Noble are no longer alphabetized. I went in today to find a book that I knew was in stock.The bookseller and I walked around the store for 15 min before we found it. I've done some digging, this is on purpose.... 1/x
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Adrienne Celt
28 days ago
I have a new story up
@electricliterature.com
about art, childbirth, and being the mouth of the world. Grateful to have been edited by Halimah Marcus one more time!
electricliterature.com/oh-no-by-adr...
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A New Mother Hungry for the World on Her Plate - Electric Literature
āOh Noā by Adrienne Celt, recommended by Halimah Marcus for Electric Literature
https://electricliterature.com/oh-no-by-adrienne-celt/?fbclid=PAdGRleARljgRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAadCtA7GxWWTl_e7tooMIAZ2wFv19bH5hE1t_AzmaDdDf_lkwtl9HLSRF9wBnA_aem_f0iK8h4h3sQ2VNn-l1sQ2g
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Rachel Kambury
28 days ago
amidst all the doom and gloom re: the state of nonfiction, the morale boost I get seeing great books published by great colleagues win big canāt be understated
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The Walrus
about 1 month ago
The Walrus has earned twenty-five nominations at this yearās National Magazine Awards, a remarkable honour that speaks to the strength and range of our journalism, art, and client work. Congratulations to all of the nominees!
https://thewalrus.ca/the-walrus-leads-national-magazine-awards/
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Jaya Saxena
about 1 month ago
Thinking a lot about solidarity today and how much amazing support from other worker owned coops weāve gotten at
@weareravenous.com
, and how excited we are to share what weāve learned with anyone. Comrades not competition is the way forward!!!
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Niko Stratis
about 1 month ago
We are rapidly losing the outlets where new writers can learn to shape a voice, where they can cultivate skills beyond quick news hits and PR with the guidance and mentorship of strong editors and the benefit of a trusted name, and itās such a loss for writers and readers alike.
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Eva Holland
about 1 month ago
Another year, another wonderful roundup of talent in the NMAs noms.
@nickhunebrown.bsky.social
!
@royinori.bsky.social
!
@arnokopecky.bsky.social
!
@marcellodicintio.bsky.social
!
@alisonmotluk.bsky.social
!
@tajjaisen.bsky.social
!
@juliesobowale.bsky.social
!
@patkanephoto.bsky.social
! + so many more...
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2026 National Magazine Awards: Celebrating Excellence in Canadian Publishing
Discover the nominees for the 49th Annual National Magazine Awards, celebrating excellence in Canadian print and digital media. Join the gala!
https://magazine-awards.com/en/2026nominees/
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Rahawa Haile
about 1 month ago
Thank you to everyone who shared this piece yesterday, subscribed to Scratch, sent us a note, etc. The responses to it have been overwhelming. We hope to continue this reader-supported work for as long as possible.
www.talkscratch.com
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s. e. smith
about 1 month ago
Early reviews consistently say things like āthis book fucked me upā perfect this is going exactly as I planned, please preorder so you can be fucked up in July! (And I can feed my living cats.)
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All My Dead Cats and Other Losses: Practicing Good Grief in a Culture That Fears Mourning
Practicing Good Grief in a Culture That Fears Mourning
https://bookshop.org/a/118950/9780063445994
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Rainesford Stauffer
about 1 month ago
Still think about this by
@tajjaisen.bsky.social
a lot & if you haven't read it yet, you should: "Right now, when the industry is especially skittish, the obsession with finding the next blockbuster hit privileges the survival of the few at the expense of the many."
thewalrus.ca/the-publishi...
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Thrilled to share that my publishing essay is nominated for Best Essay at the
@canadamediaawards.bsky.social
. Huge congratulations to all the nominees, especially
@thewalrus.ca
, with a whopping *25* nominations!
magazine-awards.com/en/2026nomin...
about 1 month ago
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So grateful to
@rahawahaile.bsky.social
for this piece on the catch-22 of hardcovers, the expensive gauntlet a book must run before it gets a chance at paperback. I'm pushing for my next book to come out as a paperback original for many reasons described here:
www.talkscratch.com/list-full-of...
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List Full of Daggers
What we stand to lose when paperback nonfiction disappears.
https://www.talkscratch.com/list-full-of-daggers/
about 1 month ago
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Rahawa Haile
about 1 month ago
For my fellow writers and publishing people, I went long on how mad I am about nonfiction authors not getting paperbacks + the NYT moving its nonfiction paperback list from weekly to monthly.
www.talkscratch.com/list-full-of...
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List Full of Daggers
What we stand to lose when paperback nonfiction disappears.
https://www.talkscratch.com/list-full-of-daggers/
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Helen Rosner
about 1 month ago
Listen I read a lot, and a lot of it is dull as hell, and Iāll tell you one thing Iāve learned: tedious writing is almost always a product of the writer conveying, rather than discovering. When a writer is discovering, or sharing discovery, no editor on earth can scrub out the vividity & joy.
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I'm grateful my publisher asked my opinion on jacket copy when I'm literally the guy who wrote this
thewalrus.ca/the-case-for...
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The Case for Never Reading the Book Jacket | The Walrus
I donāt want to be told whatās going to happen and I definitely donāt want to be told what the book is āaboutā
https://thewalrus.ca/the-case-for-never-reading-the-book-jacket/
about 1 month ago
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Lincoln Michel
about 2 months ago
Helen DeWitt is a genius writer whose books everyone should read. That's my only contribution to this discourse.
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Tobias Carroll
about 2 months ago
As someone who really liked what MCD was doing, this is incredibly depressing to hear.
www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...
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FSG Closes its MCD Imprint, McDonald to Depart
The imprint was formed in 2016 by then FSG publisher and president Jonathan Galassi to publish experimental works. Under the direction of Sean McDonald, MCD published a range of bestselling and award-winning fiction and nonfiction titles.
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/100124-fsg-closes-its-mcd-imprint.html
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Michelle Cyca
2 months ago
on the cover of
@theglobeandmail.com
arts section today, my profile of the incredible
@tanyatagaq.bsky.social
; the original draft of this piece had a lot more "fucks" so you'll just have to use your imagination:
www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/musi...
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Tanya Tagaq isnāt here to make pretty things
On her sixth album, Saputjiji, the Inuk artist sings (and yes, sometimes screams) about the āfarcical clown showā of capitalism and its environmental harms
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/culture/music/article-tanya-tagaq-isnt-here-to-make-pretty-things/
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Laura McGrath
2 months ago
MIDDLEMEN will be published one month from today! Celebrating this countdown milestone with the book's first big review, over at HARPERS.
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New Books, by Dan Piepenbring
https://harpers.org/archive/2026/04/new-books-dan-piepenbring-laura-b-mcgrath-middlemen-agents-selling-opportunity-mary-kay-mary-lisa-gavenas-freezing-point-anders-bodelsen/
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This essay is incredible and this recognition so very well deserved!!!!
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2 months ago
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Josh Gondelman
3 months ago
The nice people at Playboy asked me to write something about the good parts about being married, and I was happy to. :)
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Love Can Look Like Anything, Even Marriage
Comedian and writer Josh Gondelman on choosing a "structurally vanilla" life.
https://playboy.substack.com/p/love-can-look-like-anything-even
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This is really smart and thoughtful and satisfying:
defector.com/fanfictions-...
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Fanfictionās Total Cultural Victory | Defector
In 2012, a self-published author of erotic Twilight fanfiction, whose books had gained a large fan base online, was offered a seven-figure contract by a major American publisher. E. L. Jamesās Fifty S...
https://defector.com/fanfictions-total-cultural-victory
4 months ago
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I can finally share that my next book will officially publish in 2027, and that the good folks at
@unmpress.bsky.social
will be the ones to bring it out in the US! Thrilled and grateful that I get to keep doing this. More soon!!!!
4 months ago
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Laura McGrath
4 months ago
First trade review! Thrilled to see some pre-pub praise for MIDDLEMEN from kirkus.
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Nicole Chung
5 months ago
Just a few spots left in this memoir workshop, which runs from February through November 2026 and is my favorite class to teach. Now holding off on new acceptances until the deadline so I can consider every application that comes in. Apply by Jan. 24!
@thewriterscenter.bsky.social
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Brandy Jensen
6 months ago
I read American Canto and I think itās wonderful. haha jk
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American Cant | Defector
Dante Alighieri thought he could write himself out of exile. In 1300, while serving on a governing committee in his beloved Florence, the poet was involved in a factional dispute among city leaders. T...
https://defector.com/american-canto-review
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I need a cross-show supercut of Walton Goggins saying "yo daddy"
6 months ago
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This is *so* good.
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6 months ago
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Niko Stratis
6 months ago
my 2025 has been defined by the release of my debut, The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman. I'm incredibly proud of the work that went into it, & everything that has come of it. Incredibly grateful for the team at
@utexaspress.bsky.social
for their wholehearted support of me and this project.
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Drew Broussard
6 months ago
Proud of the work I've done at
@literaryhub.bsky.social
and proud to be a human writer, aligned with other human writers. Times is hard, but your support for a site like ours does really mean the world.
lithub.com/its-harder-a...
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Itās Harder and Harder to Be a Magazine on the InternetāPlease Help
As we hurtle toward the end of a dismally eventful year (yes, we live in interesting times), those of us in what remains of Americaās independent media are poring over budgets past, present, and fuā¦
https://lithub.com/its-harder-and-harder-to-be-a-magazine-on-the-internet-please-help/
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Thank you
@literaryhub.bsky.social
for naming my publishing essay the 20th biggest literary story of the year!
lithub.com/the-50-bigge...
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The 50 Biggest Literary Stories of the Year
In 2025, we were surviving, if perhaps not always thriving. We sang along to āGoldenā in the grocery store and hung Labubus from our bags. We reheated nachos. We saw Sinners in multipleā¦
https://lithub.com/the-50-biggest-literary-stories-of-the-year/
6 months ago
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Maris Kreizman
6 months ago
I keep losing subscribers but I will not stop (for now) writing my damn newsletter! This week's offerings includes a very minor blind item, love for Jennifer Percy and Erin Somers, and a great list of Nuzzi-less newly published titles.
www.themarisreview.com/the-maris-re...
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The Maris Review, vol 82
Forgive me for skipping last week's newsletter! I've been reading submissions for for the NYPL Young Lions Fiction Award, and I didn't want to use this space to write about what I read. That will be u...
https://www.themarisreview.com/the-maris-review-vol-82/
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the Mountain Goats
6 months ago
you do have to do it in a couple of places but this tutorial makes it easy to go uncheck the boxes that otherwise lets Google's AI read all your shit. or move everything over to protonmail but moving everything over is a giant thing I know.
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s. e. smith
7 months ago
So uh. I've spent the last five years working on a book about grief, mourning, who is allowed to grieve and how, and where we go from here, and... you can now preorder it!
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All My Dead Cats and Other Losses: Practicing Good Grief in a Culture That Fears Mourning
Practicing Good Grief in a Culture That Fears Mourning
https://bookshop.org/a/109205/9780063445994
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Laura McGrath
7 months ago
Excited to reveal the cover of my book, MIDDLEMEN: LITERARY AGENTS AND THE MAKING OF AMERICAN FICTION, which is available for pre-order now!
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Lincoln Michel
7 months ago
"My agent in particular was like, There must be sex in this novel. Please put sex in this novel!'" I talked to
@somers.bsky.social
about comic novels, writing "like a worm," and her new novel THE TEN YEAR AFFAIR (out today!)
countercraft.substack.com/p/processing...
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Processing: How Erin Somers Wrote The Ten Year Affair
The author on comic writing, reading drafts aloud, and being "lower than a worm" while writing
https://countercraft.substack.com/p/processing-how-erin-somers-wrote
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"an entire layer of middle managers who need to have meetings to feel alive"
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8 months ago
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Nicole Chung
8 months ago
DC! Join me at
@politicsprose.bsky.social
on Saturday, 10/18 to celebrate š National Book Award finalist š
@meghamaj.bsky.social
and her hauntingly gorgeous new novel A GUARDIAN AND A THIEF
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Megha Majumdar ā A Guardian and a Thief - with Nicole Chung ā at Conn Ave
Welcome to our new website! We're excited to see you. *** RETURNING USERS WILL NEED TO RESET THEIR PASSWORD FOR THIS NEW SITE. CLICK HERE TO RESET YOUR PASSWORD.***
https://politics-prose.com/megha-majumdar-101825
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It's cool to see a trade outlet responding to the sales track piece in a substantive way. It would be even cooler if they credited the writer and/or linked to the pieceāespecially since the response basically re-reports the original thesis.
8 months ago
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