Some quick thoughts on author newsletters as people start bailing from here ... I've had a newsletter for at least a decade now (I can't remember when I started). I started with Mailchimp, then tried Substack, then went to Squarespace (where my website is hosted). When I started my newsletter I obviously had no subscribers, but I had a website where I blogged regularly. In early days I did giveaways to get eyeballs and asked "would you like to subscribe to my newsletter (optional)" as well, and everyone who clicked yes got added.

People keep telling me not to "worry" about book banning because it's free publicity, but I'm not worried, and it's not free publicity. (thread) I'm not worried about my own books. Worry isn't the right way to frame this. If you think about it this way, I urge you to try to see it a different way. Book challenges are wrong morally and legally. They need to be resisted, not fretted over.

I’m one of many in the kidlit community who have donated items to the Kidlit Against Anti-AAPI Racism Auction, which is live now at kaaarfundraiser.wordpress.com. We're horrified by the intense rise in anti-Asian violence  after a year of xenophobic rhetoric and racist attacks. (1/4) I’ve donated signed and personalized copies of two of my novels, A LINE IN THE DARK and LAST NIGHT AT THE TELEGRAPH CLUB. Open internationally! You can bid on them here: kaaarfundraiser.wordpress.com/2021/02/25/146… (2/4)

I never read Goodreads reviews on my own books but sometimes I do go there to read reviews of other books, and it never ceases to amaze me that people are so invested in the idea that books must contain positive messages and have morally upright characters. I think it’s fine for a reader to *want* a book to teach “positive” lessons (note “positive” is in the eye of the beholder!) but I don’t understand why the perceived absence of “positive” lessons is a legitimate critique of a work of art.

There’s a thing going around where NYT bestselling authors talk about how their success was not overnight. It’s true, success is not overnight! But here’s a variation for you: (thread) I sent my first query in 2007.
Got an agent in 2007.
Sold my first book in 2008.
Quit my day job in 2008.
Got married in 2009 to my wife who supports me financially.
First book published in 2009.
Sixth book published in 2021.
I’ve never hit the NYT Bestseller list.

Today I'm kicking off my newsletter series on the research I did for Last Night at the Telegraph Club, and I'm starting with my favorite element of world-building: food! I take a deep dive into the food that Lily's family eats for Chinese New Year. loandbehold.substack.com/p/chinese-food… I also go on a Dumpling Tangent because ... because I'm me, and I had to.

Everybody’s still up in arms about that publishing article, so here are some thoughts on what I’ve learned about the book business after 15 years of being a “professional writer” (thread) Don’t spend money to bring yourself to library/teacher conferences. If your publisher isn’t bringing you, stay at home. They’re expensive and frankly I think useless unless your publisher is supporting you to go there. They’ll still promote your book. You don’t need to go.