DEBUT NOVELS, $50 BOOKS AND GOODREADS SCANDALS

LIFE OF A BOOKMAN

Bookman: 1. a person who has a love of books and especially of reading. 2. a person who is involved in the writing, publishing, or selling of books. Oh, hi that's me!!

Country Dreams: A few months ago I was browsing through a pamphlet of upcoming publications and saw that country megastar, recording icon's recent book: DOLLY PARTON Behind the Seams would be selling for a cool $50...I had a reaction to that, which was mainly go Dolly but I probably won't be buying. Then yesterday I came home to find one of my dear friends had left a beautiful gift for me wrapped up and waiting for my delight – Dolly's book! It is pink. It is sparkly. It is beautiful. It is rich. It is Dolly. I'm just now working my way through it but I can say confidently: this is a beautifully bounded book for any coffee table with open space. Especially if you're a fan of this glittering star.

What I'm writing: I'm researching my little heart out on my next book. This looks like a lot of reading – biographies, autobiographies, reporting. And it looks like listening to a bunch of podcasts. This week I'm getting an outline down, also known as the outline framework from Jennie Nash's “Blueprint for a Book”. Wish me luck. I have no idea what the story is but I typically find the story on the pages with sticky notes all over my wall of possibilities and in the final steps of an outline. (And of course, scene by scene, eventually, on the page)

WOMEN’S STUDIES

What gets passed down becomes our history. A few for the canon:

I've personally never gotten into Goodreads. Mainly because I like to avoid reviews of my book – good or bad – and that's pretty hard to do on that platform. But I know women who live by Goodreads for their reading life (curious where you stand on this!). However, this Culture Study podcast about How Did Goodreads Get So Bad? was super interesting to me. It covers some recent Goodreads “scandals”, how the owners of Goodreads are part of the problem and ways we're failing the general reading community with a platform that didn't live up to its potential.

PASS IT ON

Stories are heirlooms. Here's one of mine:

Why Are Debut Novels Failing to Launch? in Esquire made me go woof. It's a deep dive into why new novelists aren't breaking out (or having their manuscripts picked up to begin with). As someone who has just finished her first manuscript and publishers are actively looking at it, this article did the opposite of making me feel good. BUT, it ended on a note that's relevant for any writer and for anyone trying to do something new – community is key to breaking out. This was a joy to hear because I've spent my career building communities and building a new one of my own.

Woman on xx