Publishing Advice on Social Media and Other Ways to Scream Inside Your Heart

Mary Oliver didn't want this for us.

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

“No one is acquiring memoir.”

“Verse novels don’t sell.”

“[Insert Genre Here] is dead.”

“Poetry doesn’t get traditionally published.”

If there’s one thing I harp on social media about, time and again, and even at events in-person… it’s that the advice you get from someone in publishing is colored by their actual experience navigating it.

I tap the sign often.

I grow weary of Threads. Of BlueSky. Of the hot takes I see posted on Reddit that I have to wrestle myself away from before I send an unhinged response to a stranger. I see people who claim to work in publishing say the most outrageous things that make me feel like my mind might unravel like an old cassette in a broken Walkman.

The problem with social media these days and getting insight into publishing (or really, any industry), is that the advice that generates the most rage, is often what bubbles to the top. I usually see the worst sort of insight first, because everyone replies to it, instead of the valuable tidbits that float right by.

Sometimes it’s some of the most established people in the industry, shouting at someone with 32 followers and a profile picture of an anime character.

Why?

Surely this isn’t what Mary Oliver wanted for you, to spend your one wild and precious life yelling at an anonymous poster with a One Piece avatar.

I can’t believe I’m out here yearning for the days of Book Twitter (though Electric Lit sure did remind me how fun it was), but here we are.

Friends, please. When you’re taking advice on social media about publishing, this is me pleading… Google the person. Do they work in publishing? Are they an editor, an agent? Go check out their sales. Have they even worked on a “this kind of book doesn’t sell” before? Have they sold or worked on anything?

Before you dig into that random person, or take the advice of somebody as the end-all-be-all, make sure they are someone with advice that’s applicable to you.

“But who should I be listening to?!” You scream.

Here are some of my favorite people:

• Print Run: A podcast run by Erik and Laura at Headwater Literary. Brilliant.

• The Shit About Writing Team: A podcast and community run by Carly Watters, Cece Lyra, and Bianca Marais, who I’d trust with my life, as well as my career.

• Ashley Lopez: A literary agent who also writes, who I admire madly.

• Anna Sproul-Latimer: Another agent who I follow and listen to, especially when it comes to non-fiction.

• Sally Ekus: I hosted Sally here in Philly a few months back. You’ve never met someone who knows more about cookbooks, and she’s so generous with her time and advice.

I hope it helps.

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It was a busy month in the agent and author life.

We’re raising extra funds for the Philly Bookstore Crawl this year, to pay for printing and an artist. Join in if you can!

And speaking of, we’re bringing back our AMA event. I skipped last year due to (gestures at my new baby). I’m hosting some agent and editor buddies at Indy Hall, and M. L. Rio (yes, the M.L. Rio) is sponsoring the breakfast. You can register here, and as always, it’s free.

M.K. England hit the USA Today bestseller list and, as of writing this newsletter, was on there for an entire month with The Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous. I couldn’t be more proud of someone who works so impossibly hard. It’s been a long time coming.

In July you can catch me at Thriladelphia with Carlyn Greenwald. We’ll be talking about her latest, What Happened to Those Girls, on July 7th.

I’m hosting a discussion at Head and the Hand with Artress Bethany White (A Black Doe in the Anthropocene), Ali Trotta (Offerings for Ordinary Gods), and Cordelia Jensen (Lilac and the Switchback) to chat about poetry and traditional publishing on July 23rd. It’s free, come on out!

Several books I worked on were selected for the Obama Presidential Library. I genuinely have no words for that. What a joy, what an honor.

Karis Rogerson’s indie published Nat + Cami came out this month, and I was lucky enough to find the audiobook a home with Podium. Keep an eye out for that!

I wrapped up edits on both of my Middle Grade novels that are due out next year, and even saw a cover for one of them! The Adopted Kids’ Guide to Surviving Seventh Grade publishes with Crown in the Spring of 2027, and The Astronautics will be out with Chronicle in the Fall of 2027.

And maybe you’ll get to hear about what’s coming your way in 2028, soon enough.

Until then, go write good things.

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