Introducing...

Let's talk books.

Welcome to my Substack debut!* Hey, no one ever accused me of being an early adopter—says the girl who got on Instagram in late 2018. Before getting to this (inevitable?) moment, I constantly asked myself: does the world need another newsletter? And I constantly answered myself (because myself and I tend to have very intense conversations)—“NO.” And that’s probably true.

But what’s equally true is that I love ( love, love, love) talking about books. I’ve gotten to do that a lot over twenty years working in the publishing industry as an editor, novelist, ghostwriter, teacher, coach, etc. Chattering enthusiastically about a story you’re excited about—your own or others— is maybe my favorite part of the work. As an editor, that moment begins as soon as a submission arrives in your inbox from an agent and you open that file. Especially if you fall in love with the manuscript (what a rush!) and want to acquire it…then you never shut up. You tell your assistant about it, then you tell your colleagues in ed board, then you maybe have an acquisitions meeting where you make your case for your imprint to acquire it. You get on the phone with the author and agent to blab about how much you love it. And if the book ends up becoming yours to publish, all that cheerful blathering is only the beginning. You have months, YEARS, more of it ahead of you as you champion the project to the sales team, to publicists and marketers, to booksellers, to readers, and on and on. It’s this passionate, extrovert’s dream: holding a proverbial bullhorn and offering the unbridled, pure, infectious enthusiasm that goes into celebrating a story and the author’s hard work and vision to bring that story to life.

I’m also the girl who likes to think about dinner when she opens her eyes in the morning, who plans her next vacation when she’s on her current one, who lives for the question, in books and in life: what’s going to happen next? Which is to say, anticipation might as well be oxygen, the vital source that powers me through my days (especially the tedious ones.)

Having exciting new books on the horizon to look forward to reading is a simple pleasure at the top of that list. And if that’s the case for you too, you’ve come to the right place. Consider this a word of mouth source from your trusted book loving friend. Yes, yes, taste is so subjective—obviously there are books I’ve fallen for that others haven’t and vice versa. But when you’ve spent your career learning to intuit what will resonate with readers, you develop a strong sense of books that will fit the bill. And it’s always nice to get recommendations for books you might not already have your radar. I would love you for to come here to find books /genres/authors that you might not have otherwise read, but will give a try based on my sincere and persuasive endorsement. It would be an honor for you to trust me with your next read!

And it won’t just be me making the case—you’ll also hear from the authors themselves in video interviews or Q&As because the only thing better than talking about authors is talking with them about their work. This is your destination for exclusive and intimate chats with your favorite writers or to fall in love with a new one. And, in some cases, you’ll hear from the publishing professionals behind the publication, too, for “peek behind the curtain” scoop.

How often will I post? I have no idea! At least once a month, maybe more over time.

Will I just be making reading recommendations? That’s the core, but so much is happening behind the scenes in the industry and I want to get into that, too. I also want to share what I’ve learned on my own publishing journeys, on both sides of the book so to speak, so you can expect some writerly dish and craft talk here and there along the way.

What else will I get here as reader/subscriber? BOOKS! I’m going to give away books to subscribers whenever I can, including ARCs. Isn’t the chance to get free reads enough of a reason to be anywhere?

I hope the comment section here will also give you a chance to talk about your own reading and TBR lists, to fawn over the authors who have Zoomed in (leave them a message!) and to ask me anything at all about writing and publishing that I promise to address one way or another.

With all that said, I welcome you to…

FIRST OFFICIAL POST AND RECOMMENDATION COMING SOON. I HOPE YOU’LL SUBSCRIBE AND SPREAD THE WORD.

(*OR IT’S VERY EASY TO OPT OUT BY “UNSUBSCRIBING” IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE ON THIS MAILING LIST!)