The publishing industry has something more complicated than "a gambling problem"
On chaos theory, Toni Morrison, Percival Everett, and the peril of neat explanations| How to Glow in the Dark
On chaos theory, Toni Morrison, Percival Everett, and the peril of neat explanations| How to Glow in the Dark
How to plan your career if you want to write literature and erotica and cookbooks and board books and history and and and. (Hint: it's a little more complicated than "just use pseudonyms.")| neonliterary.substack.com
On working, parenting, and writing when the world -- and your heart -- won’t stop breaking| How to Glow in the Dark
In publishing as everywhere else, most windfalls flow to those who already have plenty. Here’s how to cope if you don’t.| neonliterary.substack.com
What can the past tell us about the publishing industry of 2025?| How to Glow in the Dark
Originally published in January, this essay has come back to me many times this week as I watch the immiseration of my hometown from abroad.| neonliterary.substack.com
How a movie, a TV show, or even a cocktail can sharpen your pitch| How to Glow in the Dark
Among authors, I often encounter this anxiety: "Does my agent prioritize their in-house relationships over my independent needs?" My answer: maybe? But probably not.| How to Glow in the Dark
What do casinos and publishers have in common?| neonliterary.substack.com
Age-related anxieties are among the most common I field from people trying to sell a book. Here's my...uh...let's call it vaguely Buddhist counsel.| How to Glow in the Dark
Publishing is in the middle of a survival performance--a spiraling black cloud, beautiful and mysterious and pathetic all at once--and I can't look away.| neonliterary.substack.com
Reassurance seeking is addictive: it wastes your time, damages your craft, dims your light, and makes you feel progressively worse with time. So why is it so tempting to indulge?| neonliterary.substack.com
Hard truths about the industry support you want vs. what you might actually need.| How to Glow in the Dark
Trust in the spookiest parts of yourself; stop trying to understand them.| How to Glow in the Dark
If editors are interested in your book, they're going to want to meet you--and they might or might not still be interested afterward. (BUT NO PRESSURE, JANINE.) Here's how to prep.| neonliterary.substack.com
Fan letters aren't just meaningful to their recipients--they unlock seismic changes in your confidence and career.| How to Glow in the Dark
Oh no, you're climbing to a new career high--better go ahead and set the airplane on fire!| neonliterary.substack.com
Various ways of answering the most painful (and common) question I get from the #amwriting community.| neonliterary.substack.com
Publishing, books, life, celebrity gossip: ask me and each other whatever you'd like.| How to Glow in the Dark
Where authors should spend their conflict capital--and where they really, really shouldn't.| How to Glow in the Dark
The vibes at this year's London Book Fair were strangely crepuscular—gentle, searching—and I wasn't sure whether to feel hope or sorrow. No matter what, though, some fascinating trends are in bloom.| neonliterary.substack.com
