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!

Excited to reveal the cover of my book, MIDDLEMEN: LITERARY AGENTS AND THE MAKING OF AMERICAN FICTION, which is available for pre-order now!

"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...

"an entire layer of middle managers who need to have meetings to feel alive"

DC! Join me at @politicsprose.bsky.social on Saturday, 10/18 to celebrate 🎉 National Book Award finalist 🎉 @meghamaj.bsky.social and her hauntingly gorgeous new novel A GUARDIAN AND A THIEF

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 piece—especially since the response basically re-reports the original thesis.

Pushing writers to "braid" cultural criticism (or whatever other genre) into memoir has been a net negative for nonfiction and is out of touch with what readers want

"If buying the debut is a rollicking night at the craps table, then the sophomore project is the sober morning after. Gone is the clean slate." @tajjaisen.bsky.social for @thewalrus.ca: thewalrus.ca/the-publishi...

"If buying the debut is a rollicking night at the craps table, then the sophomore project is the sober morning after. Gone is the clean slate." Hoo boy, did this @tajjaisen.bsky.social piece ever hit me where I live.

I’m really grateful writers are talking about this. The experience of selling books after a big success v books that didn’t do the same numbers was heartbreaking. I know you’re only as good as your recent booknet numbers but it was still super weird to be treated differently by the same people.

Good, if depressing, piece on the industry here.

If I'd read this piece 10 years ago I'd have understood my career very differently. If I'd read it 12 years ago I might not have agreed for my first book to be published in the way it was. We still don't talk about this stuff because it can feel embarrassing, but the author always picks up the bill

"The book business may be centred in New York, but the logic is pure Las Vegas."

One of the best pieces I've read about the state of the industry. Absolutely spectacular stuff and aiming at a problem we *desperately* need to solve (and which is, thankfully, an easy problem to solve... if the industry simply puts its muscle to it)

I have a downright unwieldy number of thoughts but mostly I just think everyone in any corner of publishing should probably read this

“Publishers, as McGrath says, have always been risk averse. But with higher pressure to find a sure thing, more writers who may have been able to sell a book five or ten years ago, whether to a corporate or an independent press, are being left out in the cold.” @tajjaisen.bsky.social @thewalrus.ca

All of this. If you never see another book from me, it won't be because I haven't written one.

love love to see friend / client @invisibooks.bsky.social here making the case for the role small presses play in making writing careers (if not piles of money)

Lots of good reporting here from @tajjaisen.bsky.social, as always.

Tajia is always right. Literature is an art (sometimes) that is entirely dependent on data.

Tajja's pieces always hit

Oof. Feeling this in my marrow.

I’m always game to follow the data in publishing, and so grateful when the smartest folks (like @tajjaisen.bsky.social) want to hop in the weeds with me. A brilliant piece of reporting.

I spent the summer reporting this essay on why it seems harder than ever to sell a book right now—especially 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...

I went on the record with @tajjaisen.bsky.social to talk book sales and the infamous “track”: thewalrus.ca/the-publishi...

Anyone in Las Vegas? 😊 Tonight with @tajjaisen.bsky.social!

Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye sold just 2,000 copies in its first year. Today, it’s a number many authors can’t recover from. Writer @tajjaisen.bsky.social examines how the publishing industry’s sales track can make or break careers before they even begin: thewalrus.ca/the-publishing-i...

Why don’t more establishments sell movie theater-style popcorn

I'm such a fan of @nicolechung.bsky.social and @tajjaisen.bsky.social, and this conversation for @whichistosay.bsky.social's Awakeners podcast about mentorship, the relationship between writing and editing, and more is a gem. Loved listening & came away with much to think about:

I texted a friend yesterday "I wonder what it’s like to work in a field that is thriving and I worry I will wonder that for the rest of my life"

Las Vegas 9/26 at 7 pm PT: The Writer's Block & Black Mountain Institute with @tajjaisen.bsky.social! Free to attend: www.thewritersblock.org/events/47665

I forgot to share my book tour info for WHERE ARE YOU REALLY FROM (@penguinpress.bsky.social)‬! I still have events in San Francisco and Las Vegas, as well as a virtual event with @aaww-nyc.bsky.social. Hope to see some of you there! I'll post details and links in the comments 💕

SUCH A JOY to chat about writing, editing, publishing, and mentorship with @tajjaisen.bsky.social @whichistosay.bsky.social for the Awakeners podcast! (feat. a dramatic reenactment of our very first pitch exchange) @literaryhub.bsky.social

Today's Polygon Exit Interview is with @nicoleclark.bsky.social, who ran Polygon's culture section, led the charge on many of the site's book recommendations, and did so much more behind the scenes. Always a pleasure to chat with Nicole! pvguide.ghost.io/polygon-exit...

Things are bad but the books will continue to be good. Here’s a visual preview for fall 2025 as evidence.

Now that it's been a few days, I wanted to share some of my favorite pieces I wrote for Eater over the 6+ years I was there. First off, I got to write a lot about the intersection of food and queerness, culminating in this piece that got me a JBFA nomination www.eater.com/24162871/foo...

whenever the bio is a bit long

i talked to my sister-in-sloppy @raxkingisdead.bsky.social about her latest magnum opus for @electricliterature.com ⚡️❤️‍🔥

15 people. 15 incredibly talented journalists and media workers who are experts at what they do, who have won awards for this work, gone and with very little direction given as to what comes next. I'm completely furious.

Got somebody's OOO until *October* for the company's sabbatical program to prevent staff burnout and I want to weep

“There’s a Kreizman piece for every mood and personality and, I don’t know, astrological sign, if that’s your thing. Tag yourself. (I’m “The 10 Horniest Men In Literature” sun, “Where Did My Ambition Go” rising.)”

As a longtime fan, I was thrilled to interview @maris.bsky.social about her new book!!!! orionmagazine.org/article/afte...

Mutual! As I told Tajja, I learned you could criticize your publisher in your own book by watching her do it first.

As a longtime fan, I was thrilled to interview @maris.bsky.social about her new book!!!! orionmagazine.org/article/afte...

I made the Bookshop.org bestseller list!!! And they’re doing their anti-Prime sale with free-shipping this week. So many wins! bookshop.org/lists/booksh...

Jess was the first person ever to edit my work and she set a bar that most people, frankly, haven't been able to match

[my brain when it sees the word "romantasy"]: "roman-tussy"

I predicted this when it was announced. Still, lol www.thebookseller.com/news/tiktok-...

For @thewalrus.ca, I wrote about the narrow ways we tell the story of marriage (and a few books that think outside of it really well). Certain details needed to be fact-checked with my husband :) thewalrus.ca/are-women-al...

Regular reminder that it doesn't have to be like this and you can deactivate AI overviews in your Google searches!