December Endnotes
Thanks for a wonderful 2024
Hello from the eve of a new year! I didn’t even know if I was going to have time to send this out - my Christmas holiday has been very full with visiting friends, bonding with kiddos, catching up on house projects, cooking new recipes, and now taking care of my sick husband and myself. I’ve spent less time on my phone and on my laptop than I have probably since before college - and I love it!! I literally had to go hunting for my laptop the other day because I couldn’t remember where I had last had it. (May we all get such breaks from our devices!)
But here I am with a little reprieve and space and time on my hands, so I’m excited to send this final end-of-year round up, because there’s some good stuff here. Enjoy, and Happy New Year!
On Reading
Be Careful When Buying Classic Literature
Apparently, a lot of the “editions” you’ll find on Amazon are just clever entrepreneurs making a buck off these public domain classic texts. I have nothing against this (I’ve actually thought of doing something similar!), but the AI-generated commentary is disappointing. Read more about it here.
Get Ready for the Remix
Speaking of classics… It’s always fun to see what’s coming into the public domain at the start of each year. Here’s a fun advent calendar-style reveal of 2025’s public domain works—just please don’t use AI if you plan on doing your own spin-offs!
New York Times’s Best Books of the Year
I always love to see what books made the list.
On Writing
What makes ideas interesting?
Friends, for some reason this month I just haven’t read anything particularly interesting about writing. Am I reading the wrong things? Did I just miss it? Usually, I have more in this section to share! Please tell me the great writing articles you’ve read lately so I can catch up.
On Publishing
Taylor Swift Didn’t Disrupt the Industry Like Everyone Said She Would
T. Swift’s “revolutionary” decision to self-publish was purported to be a reckoning for the publishing industry. None of us were shaking in our boots, though, and it looks like we were right. Read more about it here. (Note: I did get my copy for posterity - and I haven’t noticed any egregious errors - yet!)
Kathleen Schmidt’s 2025 Publishing Predictions
Kathleen always has great insights into the world of publishing, and I’m definitely taking note of her predictions for 2025! I think she’s spot on about tariffs impacting all four-color books. For authors, it’s probably best to lead with your text-focused books next year. Read all of her predictions here.
Bragging on my new company!
Sourcebooks has been one of my favorite publishers for over a decade—and I’m so grateful to work there now. I loved this article from the NYT about how one of our imprints has been so incredibly successful. This is not the imprint I work on, but we are building up a similar business model and feel confident of future successes! Read “How a Scrappy New Publisher Landed 25 Books on the Bestseller List in a Year.”
Publishing Used to Be Crazy
Early in my career, I heard stories about the “glory days” of publishing, when editors and authors would vacation in the Hamptons together to hash out their next manuscript and publishing houses would throw extravagant parties all the time. It’s not like that anymore; nowadays everyone stays in their slippers at home and conducts business over Zoom. Check this out for a fun behind-the-scenes look at publishing back in the 80s/90s.
(Full disclosure, though—I have experienced some amazing things in my publishing career, like getting to travel to Sweden and staying in some gorgeous hotels. So, not all of the glamour is lost.)
On Life
Don’t Miss the Good Stuff
The Story Behind Handel’s Messiah
As I was practicing for my local Messiah Sing Along this year, Christianity Today’s The Bulletin put out this podcast episode on the story of Handel’s Messiah. Historical fiction and narrative nonfiction writers take note… this story needs to be a book!
How to Show Up for Your Friends—With Kids & Without Kids
As I’m a new-again mom, I’ve been thinking a lot (again) about what it means to ask for help and receive help. I’m thinking about how to know when friends without kids want to spend time with you and your kids, and how to respect their wishes and maintain the relationship even when they are not kid people. Mostly, I want to know: where’s this “village” we all talk about and how do we build it with the actual people in our lives?
How to Make Friends With a Kid
At Thanksgiving, my cousin and his wife had their 16-month-old daughter, whom I’ve only met once before several months ago. Obviously, she had no clue who I was, and also didn’t remember most of the people in the room. She was appropriately skeptical about all the strangers in front of her. Yet, in short order, she was sitting in my lap and we were having fun together—because I followed most of the tips in this article.
Wishing you a very happy New Year, friends!
Ariel
I say we bring back our own broke-ass versions of these publishing parties 😆