April News
The Audacity of Novel Writing
April 2024
Vol. 264
Hello! I hope you’ve had a lovely April! It’s been a quiet month of writing, reading, and reflection here.
I have a lot of spinning plates, as always, but I’ve been endeavoring only to spin one at a time. That being the new standalone I’m writing, that will come out in 2025. It’s going well—at last—and I am cruising along. I’ve always been into what Cal Newport’s new book SLOW PRODUCTIVITY is based on—how can I not? Writing a novel is a marathon, not a sprint. It is the steady accretion of words over time, not something that can be accomplished in a day or two. But the slow productivity movement is about more than the steady pace. It’s about trying to do less. And we all know how great I am at that! (Not. Not great at all.)
I was thinking recently about how lucky I am to have such a robust readership to communicate with, both here in the newsletter, on my blog, and across social media, and it struck me that novel writing is an absolutely audacious choice of career. Being (so-called) successful takes a lot of work—but how can it be considered work to create characters and tell their stories? Is the real work the backend of publishing? The marketing and promotion and touring? The communication? I admit I struggle to keep up with the various platforms and have chosen not to pursue several simply because if I were to spend all my time communicating, there would be no stories for you to read. But there is so much that goes into being a modern writer now. No longer are we simply storytellers. We are the sum of our platforms.
That is not the definition of doing less. One could argue that to be a successful author in this modern age, one must do more. Much more. In a recent article floating around about the state of publishing titled "No one reads books anymore" (the topic du jour), there was, despite this silly claim, a salient component. In a recap of the DOJ trial on the Random House-S&S merger, Jonathan Karp, the head of Simon & Schuster, made this interesting statement during the Random House trial:
“These big advances, the authors have quite a bit of their own infrastructure with them. They have their own publicists. They have their own social media people. They have their own newsletters. So they actually are able—we are able to offload a good amount of the work, not all the time, but that is actually a factor in why we sometimes pay these big advances, because the authors are actually capable of helping us a lot.”
Obviously, I have thoughts. I disagree that no one buys books. I think book sales aren’t always accounted for in a way that publishers report. And I would argue that no matter the size of the advance, all authors are expected to find their own inroads to their readers. And with that responsibility placed squarely on our shoulders, publishing has shifted. Authors have so much more power to talk directly to readers now. This is why the indie book era started—some very enterprising authors realized they could cut out the middlemen and sell directly to their readers. They learned the business of publishing, they built their ecosystems of newsletters and select social media, they priced their books at a competitive level, and they were off to the races. (I, too, dabble in this because one must always have a Plan B.)
And because of how successful it's been for the publishers to offload much of the marketing, now all authors are expected to have this sort of infrastructure to maintain. It takes a lot of energy, a lot of creativity, and a lot of cooperation from you, the reader, to interact with us online. And you know what? You have! You join the Facebook groups, you like the Instagram posts, you comment on the blog, you come to the events—AND you buy the books when they go on sale (or get them from the library, which is good, too!) We do this extra work because we love our readers—and that goes doubly for me. You are the beating heart of this industry. The audacious choice of being a novelist doesn’t work without you.
So this is a long way of saying thank you for letting me come into your inbox and chat. Thank you for the preorders, the support, the likes, the retweets, the conversations. I see you out there, and I appreciate you. I’m happy to do the extras if you keep enjoying them. : )
If you would be interested in hearing from me more than once a month, I’ve got you covered here.
📙 Book News
After all that, I'd be remiss not to point out the big pink book is up for pre-order!
It's also high time I debuted the soundtrack I compiled while writing the book! Any favorite songs show up for you?
📊 Last month's results and a fun poll
Y’all are online news lovers, and I am right there with you. But more than I expected get news from social media. Thanks for answering!
This month, let’s talk short stories.
📚 What I'm Reading
I finished at last THE PEACOCK AND THE SPARROW by I.S. Berry. I have FEELINGS, people. It’s a wonderfully written book with a lead who is quite the byronic hero. I don’t know that I liked him at the end—and I think that was exactly the point.
I finished A KILLING COLD by Kate Alice Marshall and wow. I loved this book. Such a great story and a compelling character to root for. (We’re in character mode this month, obviously.) No cover yet for this one.
SPLINTER EFFECT by Andrew Ludington is absolutely amazing. I will probably suggest this one again closer to its release, but I am in love with this wildly inventive, super smart action-adventure story of a chrono-archeologist sent back in time to rescue a long-lost menorah from ancient Constantinople.
John Sandford’s TOXIC PREY is next up on my list, and I, for one, can’t wait! Do you like his Letty books?
👩🍳 April Recipe: Keto-Friendly Omelet
I have recently gone keto to see how it helps my hEDS. (Y’all. The first two weeks were torture. Then a switch flipped. No more cravings. No more snacking. I feel better, healthier, cleaner. It’s amazing!) But... finding delicious, satisfying meals took me a while. My absolute favorite go-to is the humble omelet. With this delight starting my day, I am fueled, my hunger is kept at bay for hours, and I’m getting all the right combo of fats and proteins and carbs. A good omelet is tricky to make, so here’s my recipe.
You can find all of my recipes here, and if you want some wine to go with the meals, The Wine Vixen has you covered.
🎉 Contest
Every month, I draw a name from those of you who open the newsletter and send that lovely person a $30 gift card to the bookstore of their choice. It’s my way of saying thanks for being here. Enter below!
Last month's winner: Congratulations to gingermcclintick! Check your email...
Another month gone, but another month closer to finding out who killed Columbia Jones! Peace, love, and soul, friends. Be careful out there.
xo,
Are you still here?
Here’s a kitten for your troubles!
Read Toxic Prey; excellent, as usual. And yes, I love Letty!