New year, new book

Happy new year. I hope none of you made any resolutions, unless they were to eat the rich. Or more nachos. Both, I’d like to think.

My big news for the new year is next month’s launch of You Should Write a Book, which I coauthored with the ever-wonderful Katel LeDû. The title says it succinctly, but it’s a what-to-expect when it comes to writing and publishing a book (any book, really, though our expertise is in tech books). We’re hoping to demystify the pitching, drafting, editing, and marketing processes so that, fingers crossed, anyone who wants to write a book feels like they can. We're pumped as hell about it all, and hope you will be too!

So what should we read while we await launch day? The majority of my reading material lately has come in the form of newsletters. I’m less online now (read: avoiding the lit tarpit of Twitter), and so less likely to stumble across interesting journalism, but think I’ve made up for it by subscribing to (and often supporting) a bevy of excellent independent newsletters.

Some current favorites:

• Burnt Toast: necessary diet deprogramming from health-at-any-size activist and writer Virginia Sole-Smith

• Here for It: hilariously joyous living on the internet from writer and storyteller R. Eric Thomas

• She’s a Beast: remarkably practical approaches to physical activity from Swole Woman, aka Casey Johnston

• Behind the Book: insights and observations on authorship (and just generally being a badass) from Ijeoma Oluo

• Calm Covid: non-sensationalizing takes on pandemic data from the inimitable Erin Kissane 

And—I find this to be key—I use Stoop Inbox to read all that good good content. If newsletters are mixed in with my regular email traffic, I never open them; but sock ‘em all away in a separate app, and I’m good to go.

If you have any newsletters you adore, I’d love to hear about them! And as always: Be safe, be safe, be safe.

<3