That first day,

when it's cool enough for a jean jacket and light scarf in the morning, when it's cloudy enough to wear eyeglasses outside instead of sunglasses, when all one wants is to sleep deep into the daytime and cook stews and froth milk. That's autumn in coastal California, when it's nice. And when it's not nice, we get . . . the past few weeks. 

I'm in limbo in basically every area of my life and work, hence I don't have much to share about them in this here newsletter format right now. It's time to un-evacuate, kick that cold, dig into the next draft. Soon. In the meantime I'm just waiting for the humidity to rise and the Japanese maple tree to turn red and the sidewalks to stop smelling. Here's to rain, may it come. 

Shall we pass the time by playing a game of "true or false"? Category: literature and the arts. 

true or false: "events don't sell books"

The book I wrote with my dad came out, and we had an amazing book launch in a barn with a fruit-pie potluck and live music. It was a nice feeling, after working for so long through a rather difficult publication process, to see actual humans interacting with the book and showing enthusiasm for the slow process and hard work of growing food in the ground. And it is always great to see my dad talk in public; if you get a chance, do so. (January 14 at Omnivore Books in San Francisco!) But because I'm me, I want to talk shop for a moment about book events.

I think it's fairly common knowledge among publishing-y people that publishers often do not send authors on book tours. Most authors you’re seeing give a reading are paying their own way. For my last book, which was an anthology, I paid for the book tour and planned it around places where contributors lived, then the publisher's PR folks reached out to bookstores for me. For this book, our publisher discouraged us from doing any events at all, even local ones. But my dad and I have relationships with local bookstores. We know from his 40+ years of teaching workshops that he can turn out a crowd. And my dad is a first-time author at age 70! Like hell we weren't having a party. So we ignored our publisher’s advice and organized our book launch party without them—and with a lot of help from my dad’s employer, UC Santa Cruz, who donated a venue and put marketing muscle behind it, and local businesses, who donated cider, beer, food, and actual cash money to help hire a musician. We got the local bookstore to provide books and their Square reader and volunteers to helm the sales table. My sisters did the flowers and catering and instagramming. My stepmom displayed her artwork from the book. We secured local press coverage ourselves. And hundreds of people showed up. It was a proper community hoe-down. We sold more than a hundred books. We could have sold more, but we ran out.

I understand that book tours can absolutely be a waste of resources. We’ve all heard or experienced the horror stories about readings with no one in attendance. And it’s true that events don’t usually sell enough books to move the bottom line for a corporate publisher like Penguin Random CBS Whatever Inc. But events do other things too. As an author, events get you offline and interacting with real readers (assuming you can turn people out, which you should have some sense of your ability to do before planning an event). It means a lot for an author to see actual humans in person discussing their work, which gets them even more pumped to promote the book, thereby making their publisher more money. And events provide a valuable local intellectual activity for communities, especially in smaller towns and cities; books are culture, they're not only commerce. Most important, events get your book noticed by local bookstores.

To me, booksellers are the entire point of doing readings. The more booksellers who know about your book, the more a bookstore hears about it and sees customers get excited about it, the more of your book they will hand-sell. As a former bookseller myself, this seems so obvious to me. Fuck "bookstagram"; inclusive of Oprah, one human telling another human, "you've got to read this,” is still the most powerful way to sell books, and booksellers are the most powerful and well-positioned conveyors of that sentiment. And publishers know this; they actually do organize events and tours for their lead authors. It's okay to not be a lead title and not get that support, there's nothing embarrassing about that, which is why I'm sharing this with you. But it is frustrating to hear "events don't sell books" over and over again when it’s just not always true. 

Here's another happy event story: a few weeks ago a writer friend of mine back East emailed me and said "you have to go see Sarah Broome read from her very excellent memoir The Yellow House when she's in the Bay." It was a weeknight, I am an introvert, I didn't want to go out, and then the friend I was going with cancelled, but I was genuinely interested in the book and the topic. So I took myself out for a hot chocolate after work and rallied. And the event was great. While there, I ran into Noted Local Author Jasmine Guillory (and also someone I used to do drama with in high school who is now a Very Serious Journalist!). The author had family there, plus a gaggle of her grad school peers and profs, and I recognized a couple other local writers in the house, and it was just generally a really lovely, intellectual moment in my otherwise crappy work week. And the shopkeeper was visibly thrilled, not just because a bunch of people bought the book in hardcover but because he obviously genuinely loved the book and thought it was an important story to share and support. And I bet he still has it faced out on the front table. (Fairytale kicker: shortly thereafter, Jasmine recommend The Yellow House on The Today Show. Your mileage may vary.)

So yeah, I get that "events don't sell books." I get why authors are told that. But what I wish publishers and marketeers would admit is that events are not actually about books. They're about people. The book is the McGuffin. Don't @ me. 

true or false: "every writer needs an editor" 
Just because I don't always prefer to capitalize the proper nouns in my newsletter doesn't mean I don't know how. To that end, some good news: I am taking on new editorial clients for 2020. I'm looking for a handful of substantial projects involving:
—Book manuscript editing (developmental or line editing; no copy editing, please)
—Book proposal consultation and development
—Project consultation / amanuensis services / coaching

My editorial services are appropriate for authors at any stage of the writing and publishing process, and I focus on literary fiction and narrative nonfiction/personal essay. So, if you already have a book under contract and need an outside eye on it; if you plan to begin querying soon and want a solid editorial pass before you click "send"; or if you're staring down a shitty first draft and wondering what's next . . . I can help. I have twenty years of editorial experience in book and magazine publishing behind me and a keen eye for what makes a story and how to shape a sentence. If you want to work with me on a suitable project, reply to this email and if it's a good fit we'll set up a time for a free initial phone consultation. And if you're an editor or agent with an author who needs some help, spread the word and have them get in touch. 

true or false: "reading is sexy"
I'm feeling fatigued by email newsletters that feature long lists of links to articles. I do keep a going list of linkage to recommend to ye gentle newsletter readeres, but... eh, what if I just told you what books I'm reading instead? 

Now reading:
Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellman, which I refer to around the house as just "Ducks." I am fucking loving this book, and I love this interview with Ellman, and if the structure of the novel (1,000 pages, most of which is one sentence!) is intimidating I highly recommend reading the book out loud. It flies by (although you have to take breaks to catch your breath between comma clauses). The main issue I have with the length is that it makes the book very heavy and I have repeatedly dropped it on my face while reading in bed, but thus far have escaped serious injury.

Just read:  
Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams (if you think that "personal essay in fragments interwoven with larger topical fragments that all come together to express a common theme" is a distinctly post-internet genre, your literary memory is too short) 
The Yellow House by Sarah Broom 
The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth (also easier to digest if you read it out loud)
The Undying by Anne Boyer

Just abandoned: 
Still Life by A.S. Byatt
I am a Possession devotee 4 life, but I just couldn't get through the first third, which centers on a campus/intellectual romance. is it because I was a college dropout? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  I felt the same way about The Secret History! [ducks]

Next up: 
The Home Place by J. Drew Lanham
Milkman by Anna Burns

And on the World Wide Web: 
Most of the internet is total crap, tbh, but here is one story I strongly recommend: 
"When something is going to kill you, you run." —Emily Raboteau

sleeping with my running shoes by the bed,
-m. 

PS — if you're one of the people who's purchased Fruit Trees for Every Garden, thank you!! And would you mind terribly taking a moment to leave a review for the book online? Regular readers of this newsletter know my feelings about am*z*n (spoiler: evil!) but reviews on that website really help the almighty algorithm remember the book exists, and the book is not evil, so you're actually helping the right side of the force by reviewing it. You don't have to have bought the book from Bezos to review it on his website, so go for it! Life is a rich tapestry! Thank you!