Kathryn Mockler's Blog, page 12
April 6, 2025
The world is a terrible place
“Do You Know What's Great?" is a commentary on our tendency to detach from the problems of the world and find solace in passive observation and indifference.
“Do You Know What's Great” is an experimental video composed of found footage and the text adapted from my flash fiction story of the same name from my debut story collection, Anecdotes (Book*hug Press, 2023), which won the 2024 Victoria Butler Book Prize and was a finalist for the 2024 Trillium Book Award, 2023 Danuta Gleed Literary Award, 2024 Fred Kerner Award, and 2024 VMI Besty Warland Between Genres Award.
"Do You Know What's Great?" has screened at REELpoetry Houston, TX (Houston, USA), Oxford Shorts (UK), Austin Micro Film Festival (Finalist, USA), So Limitless and Free International Film Festival (Finalist, Montreal), and received an honorable mention from the Croma Art Film Festival (USA).
Kathryn Mockler is the author of the story collection Anecdotes (Book*hug Press, 2023), which won the 2024 Victoria Butler Book Prize and was a finalist for the 2024 Trillium Book Award, 2023 Danuta Gleed Literary Award, 2024 Fred Kerner Award, and 2024 VMI Besty Warland Between Genres Award. She co-edited the print anthology Watch Your Head: Writers and Artists Respond to the Climate Crisis (Coach House Books, 2020). Her films have screened at TIFF, EMFA, the Palm Springs Film Festival and most recently at the Arizona Underground Film Festival and REELPoetry/HoustonTX. She runs the literary newsletter Send My Love to Anyone and teaches screenwriting and fiction in the Writing Department at the University of Victoria.Check out Anecdotes at Book*hug Press.
Support Send My Love to AnyoneSupport Send My Love to Anyone by signing up for a monthly or yearly subscription, liking this post, or sharing it
Big heartfelt thanks to all of the subscribers and contributors who make this project possible!
ConnectBluesky | Instagram | Archive | Contributors | Subscribe | About SMLTA
April 5, 2025
Didn’t you work too hard on this book to leave its success in the hand of a random subjective jury or a fickle industry?
Photo by Lukman HakimFor those of you wondering what it feels like to launch a debut book into the world—or any book for that matter—well it can feel like an exercise in exclusion.
Were the gym teachers sadists when they handed the bats to the best athletes in the class who also happened to be the most popular and anointed them team captains? Of course these boys chose their friends first (the system was rigged) and then the rest of us were either picked or passed over until we got to the final sad kid. Fortunately most stopped paying attention once the stars were selected—nobody else really mattered.
Because of my uneven abilities, my placement in the draft pick was never secure. While I generally was not good at sports and pretty terrible at catching, I could run fast and hit the ball decently, so I often was picked in the middle or second to last and sometimes last.
Worse than the order in which you were chosen was the anticipation of waiting to hear your name. The feelings of excitement and dread were something close to torture as you stood frozen in the silence between the humming and hawing of the captains looking at you then past you until finally fixing their eyes on someone they assessed was better than you.
I remember holding my breath and thinking pick me during these minutes that felt like years—not because I cared which team I was on, but so this excruciating public display of humiliation would end.
That we had to live through this a couple times a week in gym class and at every recess made it all the worse.
*
And that’s what book launch season can feel like only with higher stakes because this isn’t some random game that you most likely didn’t choose to play, but your most prized accomplishment—your book!
An author has a role to play in the promotion of their own book—particularly small or independent press authors. In the publishing world, the system favours those with big presses, big agents, private publicists, money, time, connections, and other resources.
You can throw your hands in the air and do nothing, and often it will be the case that nothing will happen—unless by some chance of luck you get shortlisted for an award, but even then you have to make the most out of that opportunity.
Didn’t you work too hard on this book to leave its success in the hand of a random subjective jury or a fickle industry?
As I discussed in part one of this series, the first step for me was figuring out what my goals were in terms of what I wanted my book to do. It’s ideal if these goals are connected to something you care about like your ideas rather than something you have no control over such as sales or awards.
Next I tried to develop a productive mindset to carry me throughout my book promotion which can last up to and beyond two years if you want it to.
Just because the publishing world moves on from your book within three to six months, doesn’t mean you have to.
Milk your book for all its worth.
But in order to milk it, you need a plan.
I’m writing now what I would have liked to have read when I was first promoting Anecdotes. It would have made me feel less alone to know that other writers felt shitty or insecure.
PlanningFor me, the best way to deal with the anticipation and lack of control of launching a book was to do some planning.
Acknowledge that during this time you most likely will not feel mentally great. In fact you will be on a roller coaster of emotions.
The literary world and our friends and family tells us that we should be happy when we get a book deal and launch a book. While this is of course objectively a good thing, it doesn’t always feel like a good thing from the point of view of an author.
In Anecdotes, not only was I writing about my concern for the world, but also I was writing about my most private and painful experiences—from living with a facial disfigurement to growing up in an alcoholic home to be on the receiving end of male violence all the while trying to add some humour into the mix. I had also stirred up some unresolved trauma. To say I felt vulnerable is an understatement.
One of the reasons I’m writing this series is to help other authors know that they aren’t the only ones with ambivalent feelings. Of course when we’re launching we might not want to share these feelings, but they are there nonetheless.
I’m writing now what I would have liked to have read when I was first promoting Anecdotes. It would have made me feel less alone to know that other writers felt shitty or insecure.
Life doesn’t stop when you launch a book so likely you’ll also be dealing with all your regular life shit such as mental health, family problems, financial problems work problems, relationship problems, and so on.
A therapist once told me that anxiety isn’t always a bad thing. Of course when you have too much it can be debilitating (which I’ve experienced) but also anxiety can be productive because it can force you to act and to prepare.
Rather than being overcome by the anxiety of book launch season, I tried to channel it into action. I wasn’t always successful, but at least when I felt at my absolute worst, I had plan and a path that I could choose to take.
Start the planning as early as possible before your feelings of inadequacy seep in because by then you won’t feel like doing a thing.
Meet with Your PublisherBefore you start to planning how you will self-promote your book, meet with your publisher and find out what they are able to do in terms of publicity and be clear about what you are willing and capable of doing.
Ideally your publisher should set up this meeting, but in the event they don’t, make sure that you do.
A quick look at your publisher’s website, newsletter, and social media accounts will give you a sense of how invested they are in their marketing. Ideally you will have checked into this prior to publication, but sometimes we don’t get to decide who will publish our book and you may find yourself with a publisher who might not be the best with marketing. If that’s that case, it’s not the end of the world, but good information to have because then you’ll know you have to take the lead.
Remember that your publisher is promoting more than one book a season. So there is going to be a limit on what they will be able to do—especially in the small press world. Your publishers and their teams are humans with a finite amount of time and resources.
Should You Hire a Publicist?For Anecdotes, Book*hug exceeded my expectations in all areas of marketing and promotion. They have an active blog and YouTube channel and create content to support their writers. They pitch to festivals, magazines, and literary outlets, they organize launches, help set up bookstore events, submit to awards, are active on social media, attend festivals and conferences, and of course they are doing a lot of other work behind-the-scenes. They also had a clear marketing plan that they executed.
Given that I knew they were good on the publicity side of things, I decided not to hire a private publicist. I’m not a huge fan of writers going into debt for their books or paying to play. I thought that I had a good enough idea about marketing that I didn’t need to hire someone.
However, I did get I burned out. So would I consider hiring a private publicist for the next book? I might. This would depend on how I feel about the book, how much money I get for an advance, and how much I’m able to save and willing to put out for it.
I didn’t pitch myself to podcasts or media, or festivals, and I didn’t get through my entire list of pitching outlets for essays. I just couldn’t keep up especially while having a full-time job.
In the end, I’m happy with how my book was received and I’m grateful for everything my publisher did. But for a next book, I would likely hire a private publicist to avoid some burn out and potentially get different opportunities.
TimelineThinking about publicity is overwhelming.
Be reasonable with yourself about what you can do given your particular situation.
I thought I had enough time giving myself eight months, but if I were to do it again, I would start thinking about publicity up to a year or more in advance.
In considering your timeline, think about a two or more year plan. You don’t have to do absolutely everything in the first six months. Spread it out.
Your publisher will likely have you fill out a publicity sheet where you list comparable books, places where you’ve published, names of people or outlets who should receive ARCs, blurb requests, and other publicity related questions.
They will have their own agenda for things that they get all their authors to do such as intro videos, blog posts, and round ups.
Below are some areas where I made lists and did some planning about what I would focus my time and energy on in addition to what the publisher planned.
Only Do What You Are Interested InMy main advice for all things self-promotion is don’t do anything you don’t want to do. If you hate social media, then don’t use it.
Don’t want to do a book tour? Don’t. Seriously don’t!
Book promotion is like exercise.
If you despise what you are doing and dread it, then you just won’t do it, and you’ll feel like a failure.
Don’t set yourself up for that.
Only do what you are interested and invested in doing.
Completing one thing well is better than doing a bunch of things badly or nothing at all.
When you invest in others, you are investing in yourself. Instead of seeing writers as competition, think of them as collaborators.
Social MediaAlthough I am a pretty heavy user of social media, I still decided where I was going to focus my attention which was on Instagram (since Twitter imploded) and then later Bluesky and Substack.
Your social media plan can’t just be screaming “buy my book” into the void. No one will pay attention to that.
I didn’t end up doing much different than I usually do—some jokes, some politics, supporting others with whom I share values in the literary community.
CollaboratorsIf you know you have a book coming out, start supporting others who have books coming out.
When you invest in others, you are investing in yourself. Instead of seeing writers as competition, think of them as collaborators.
If you want the literary community to be interested in you, you also need to be interested in them.
Focus on the community to which you are most aligned. Read books by your press mates or others who are writing within your subject matter.
I tried to support other small press fiction and especially short fiction writers, so when I saw that they were sharing their launches and other book information, I shared their posts, and they started sharing mine. We had this sort of unspoken understanding that we would lift each other up. It was sweet how that unfolded organically.
Take the initiative. Whose work do you admire? Share it! If you’re able—go to their events in person or online.
Show up for others how you’d like them to show up for you. But ensure that your shares and engagement are genuine.
Most likely those who you’ve supported will support you too. And some may not. That’s okay. Don’t be in this for a tit for a tat. You’ll be disappointed.
When I say start early doing this—start like two years early.
Lists of Previous PublicationsIf you do nothing else—do this!Make a list of magazines and journals that have published your work especially those in the last 5 to 10 years and send the editor a personal note with information about your book.
You want to make this as non-generic and non-spammy as possible.
Remind them what they published of yours and when, mention that you have a new book out, include the description and press release, and offer of an ARC. Of course your publisher will be doing this as well, but a personal letter goes a lot farther especially if it’s framed in the form of a thank you.
A journal that published you before is more likely to do something for you now. For example, a story from Anecdotes had been published in Vol. 1 Brooklyn, and I sent a note mentioning this to Tobias Carroll, the Managing Editor, and he put Anecdotes in a round up of their book of the month list. Other places where I had published my stories or poetry either did interviews, reviews, profiles, excerpts which included Geist, subTerrain, PrismInternational, 49th Shelf, All Lit Up, and CBC Books.
This is a very successful strategy because you are pitching a place that has already accepted your work.
I realized that this was a good idea when I was on the receiving end of these pitches for The Rusty Toque and Joyland. I was always happy for previous contributors new books and would attempt to do something for them if I could.
Pitching and Self-Publishing EssaysI knew that it was going to be hard to get review coverage since there are few outlets, so I thought I had better pitch some essays in hopes that I could get some pre-book launch activity going.
I pitched an essay “On Not Wanting Children” to Catapult Magazine, and it was published about eight months before my book came out. Even though it wasn’t an essay about my book, it was related thematically. This is where a literary agent would also be helpful (which I don’t have for fiction) because they would be able to pitch you to some bigger publications—although I was surprise at how many I could pitch to myself.
I tried to pitch other outlets on topics related to the book such as periods and shame and Judy Bloom but was turned down.
Once I realized no one was biting on essays related to my book, I used my newsletter and wrote and published my own. One of my more popular posts on Send My Love to Anyone was written about the time I wrote the most hated haiku in Canada, a piece is directly related to a story in my collection.
On a whim, I wrote another essay on why pre-orders matter. It was a question I was genuinely wondering about, and I ended up interviewing some booksellers and publishers online. It turned out this was topic that many writers were wondering about and was shared widely.
And then I wrote another piece on self-promotion—a kind of in-the-moment reflection.
So the lesson here is that if you try something and it’s not working (that is, you’re getting rejected everywhere as I was) then consider pivoting.
This is why having a newsletter can be valuable. Even if you don’t have many subscribers, your article can be shared around which reminds readers about you and your book.
Another option if you don’t have a newsletter or blog is to ask your press to publish your piece on their blog or website.
For every roadblock, I try and think about what I can do instead.
Pitching Literary PodcastsPodcasts are another great way to connect with audiences.
Well before your book launches, research what literary podcasts you’d love to be a guest on and that would be a good fit for your book.
I didn’t have a sense of this at all which was a missed opportunity.
However I got invited to a couple of podcasts based on my literary citizenship rather than direct pitching. Writers who I met online like Tim Blackett, Hollay Ghadery, and , and ended up inviting me to their podcasts through our online interactions.
While literary citizenship is important, it can be random, so direct pitching is a good idea. Get to know the podcast world well before your launch year.
Here are some places to start, but this is just scratching the surface.
12 Literary Podcasts for Writers and Readers, Electric Lit
10 of the Best Literary Podcasts, Book Riot
Short Story Today with Jon DiSavino
Canadian Podcasts
Getting Lit with Linda with Linda Morra
No Future No Cry with Dr. Syrus Marcus Ware
Reframables with Natalie and Rebecca Davey
What Happened Next: A Podcast About Newish Books with Nathan Whitlock
Podcast with
What are your favourite podcasts?
Where to Send ARCSMy publisher sent Anecdotes to many IG Book influencers which is a great way to get traction, excitement, and publicity for your book.
Each time an influencer shares your book, you and your publisher have something to promote about your book.
I initially thought this was just smoke and mirrors, but actually it really does drum up enthusiasm.
Next time I would be more intentional about sending friends or writers I admire ARCs in hopes that they will read it and share it on their socials. I didn’t do this, but I think it’s a good idea and would put more care and time into who received early copies of the book.
Book ToursI wrote about book tours in part three of this series, and I also outline some alternatives if you’re not able to do an in person book tour.
BlurbsI’ve written about how to ask for blurbs and how to write blurbs, but my quick tip here is to ask for more than you need because some writers might agree and then fall through for any number of reasons.
Good Luck!While planning can help offset the anxiety of book launching and provide you with some opportunities to share your work, know that you are not alone in your feelings.
I try to remind myself that it’s a privilege to have a book in the world, a publisher who supports it, and readers who connect with it.
And I’ve found having this path forward is the best way to deal with the uncertainty and stress that comes with launching a book.
I’ve love to hear your thoughts about book launching and your tips and tricks for surviving!My Adventures in Book Publicity Series
Curious about my debut story collection? Check it out at Book*hug Press.
Kathryn Mockler is the author of the story collection Anecdotes (Book*hug Press, 2023), which won the 2024 Victoria Butler Book Prize and was a finalist for the 2024 Trillium Book Award, 2023 Danuta Gleed Literary Award, 2024 Fred Kerner Award, and 2024 VMI Besty Warland Between Genres Award. She co-edited the print anthology Watch Your Head: Writers and Artists Respond to the Climate Crisis (Coach House Books, 2020). Her films have screened at TIFF, EMFA, the Palm Springs Film Festival and most recently at the Arizona Underground Film Festival and REELPoetry/HoustonTX. She runs the literary newsletter Send My Love to Anyone and teaches screenwriting and fiction in the Writing Department at the University of Victoria.Featured Campaign - The Sameer ProjectEach edition of series My Adventures in Book Publicity will feature a campaign or organization that I am supporting.
The Refaat Alareer Camp - by The Sameer Project
The Sameer Project, a grassroots aid organization led by four Palestinians in the diaspora, is proud to announce our first tent encampment project that provides shelter and specialized support to displaced families in Central Gaza.
Donate to the Rafaat Alareer Camp
Support Send My Love to AnyoneSupport Send My Love to Anyone by signing up for a monthly or yearly subscription, liking this post, or sharing it
Big heartfelt thanks to all of the subscribers and contributors who make this project possible!
ConnectBluesky | Instagram | Archive | Contributors | Subscribe | About SMLTA
For those of you wondering what it feels like to launch a debut book into the world—or any book for that matter—well it can feel like an exercise in exclusion.
Photo by Lukman HakimFor those of you wondering what it feels like to launch a debut book into the world—or any book for that matter—well it can feel like an exercise in exclusion.
Were the gym teachers sadists when they handed the bats to the best athletes in the class who also happened to be the most popular and anointed them team captains? Of course these boys chose their friends first (the system was rigged) and then the rest of us were either picked or passed over until we got to the final sad kid. Fortunately most stopped paying attention once the stars were selected—nobody else really mattered.
Because of my uneven abilities, my placement in the draft pick was never secure. While I generally was not good at sports and pretty terrible at catching, I could run fast and hit the ball decently, so I often was picked in the middle or second to last and sometimes last.
Worse than the order in which you were chosen was the anticipation of waiting to hear your name. The feelings of excitement and dread were something close to torture as you stood frozen in the silence between the humming and hawing of the captains looking at you then past you until finally fixing their eyes on someone they assessed was better than you.
I remember holding my breath and thinking pick me during these minutes that felt like years—not because I cared which team I was on, but so this excruciating public display of humiliation would end.
That we had to live through this a couple times a week in gym class and at every recess made it all the worse.
*
And that’s what book launch season can feel like only with higher stakes because this isn’t some random game that you most likely didn’t choose to play, but your most prized accomplishment—your book!
An author has a role to play in the promotion of their own book—particularly small or independent press authors. In the publishing world, the system favours those with big presses, big agents, private publicists, money, time, connections, and other resources.
You can throw your hands in the air and do nothing, and often it will be the case that nothing will happen—unless by some chance of luck you get shortlisted for an award, but even then you have to make the most out of that opportunity.
Didn’t you work too hard on this book to leave its success in the hand of a random subjective jury or a fickle industry?
As I discussed in part one of this series, the first step for me was figuring out what my goals were in terms of what I wanted my book to do. It’s ideal if these goals are connected to something you care about like your ideas rather than something you have no control over such as sales or awards.
Next I tried to develop a productive mindset to carry me throughout my book promotion which can last up to and beyond two years if you want it to.
Just because the publishing world moves on from your book within three to six months, doesn’t mean you have to.
Milk your book for all its worth.
But in order to milk it, you need a plan.
I’m writing now what I would have liked to have read when I was first promoting Anecdotes. It would have made me feel less alone to know that other writers felt shitty or insecure.
PlanningThe best way to deal with the anticipation and lack of control of launching a book is to do some planning.
Acknowledge that during this time you most likely will not feel mentally great. In fact you will be on a roller coaster of emotions.
The literary world and our friends and family tells us that we should be happy when we get a book deal and launch a book. While this is of course objectively a good thing, it doesn’t always feel like a good thing from the point of view of an author.
In Anecdotes, not only was I writing about my concern for the world, but also I was writing about my most private and painful experiences—from living with a facial disfigurement to growing up in an alcoholic home to be on the receiving end of male violence all the while trying to add some humour into the mix. I had also stirred up some unresolved trauma. To say I felt vulnerable is an understatement.
One of the reasons I’m writing this series is to help other authors know that they aren’t the only ones with ambivalent feelings. Of course when we’re launching we might not want to share these feelings, but they are there nonetheless.
I’m writing now what I would have liked to have read when I was first promoting Anecdotes. It would have made me feel less alone to know that other writers felt shitty or insecure.
Life doesn’t stop when you launch a book so likely you’ll also be dealing with all your regular life shit such as mental health, family problems, financial problems work problems, relationship problems, and so on.
A therapist once told me that anxiety isn’t always a bad thing. Of course when you have too much it can be debilitating (which I’ve experienced) but also anxiety can be productive because it can force you to act and to prepare.
Rather than being overcome by the anxiety of book launch season, I tried to channel it into action. I wasn’t always successful, but at least when I felt at my absolute worst, I had plan and a path that I could choose to take.
Start the planning as early as possible before your feelings of inadequacy seep in because by then you won’t feel like doing a thing.
Meet with Your PublisherBefore you start to planning how you will self-promote your book, meet with your publisher and find out what they are able to do in terms of publicity and be clear about what you are willing and capable of doing.
Ideally your publisher should set up this meeting, but in the event they don’t, make sure that you do.
A quick look at your publisher’s website, newsletter, and social media accounts will give you a sense of how invested they are in their marketing. Ideally you will have checked into this prior to publication, but sometimes we don’t get to decide who will publish our book and you may find yourself with a publisher who might not be the best with marketing. If that’s that case, it’s not the end of the world, but good information to have because then you’ll know you have to take the lead.
Remember that your publisher is promoting more than one book a season. So there is going to be a limit on what they will be able to do—especially in the small press world. Your publishers and their teams are humans with a finite amount of time and resources.
Should You Hire a Publicist?For Anecdotes, Book*hug exceeded my expectations in all areas of marketing and promotion. They have an active blog and YouTube channel and create content to support their writers. They pitch to festivals, magazines, and literary outlets, they organize launches, help set up bookstore events, submit to awards, are active on social media, attend festivals and conferences, and of course they are doing a lot of other work behind-the-scenes. They also had a clear marketing plan that they executed.
Given that I knew they were good on the publicity side of things, I decided not to hire a private publicist. I’m not a huge fan of writers going into debt for their books or paying to play. I thought that I had a good enough idea about marketing that I didn’t need to hire someone.
However, I did get I burned out. So would I consider hiring a private publicist for the next book? I might. This would depend on how I feel about the book, how much money I get for an advance, and how much I’m able to save and willing to put out for it.
I didn’t pitch myself to podcasts or media, or festivals, and I didn’t get through my entire list of pitching outlets for essays. I just couldn’t keep up especially while having a full-time job.
In the end, I’m happy with how my book was received and I’m grateful for everything my publisher did. But for a next book, I would likely hire a private publicist to avoid some burn out and potentially get different opportunities.
TimelineThinking about publicity is overwhelming.
Here are some areas where I made lists and did some planning about what I would focus my time and energy on.
Be reasonable with yourself about what you can do given your particular situation.
I thought I had enough time giving myself eight months, but if I were to do it again, I would start thinking about publicity up to a year or more in advance.
In considering your timeline, think about a two or more year plan. You don’t have to do absolutely everything in the first six months. Spread it out.
Your publisher will likely have you fill out a publicity sheet where you list comparable books, places where you’ve published, names of people or outlets who should receive ARCs, blurb requests, and other publicity related questions.
They will have their own agenda for things that they get all their authors to do such as intro videos, blog posts, and round ups.
So I’m only going to list things that I did myself here.
Only Do What You Are Interested InMy main advice for all things self-promotion is don’t do anything you don’t want to do. If you hate social media, then don’t use it.
Book promotion is like exercise. If you despise what you are doing and dread it, then you just won’t do it, and you’ll feel like a failure. Don’t set yourself up for that.
Only do what you are interested and invested in doing. Completing one thing well is better than doing a bunch of things badly or nothing at all.
When you invest in others, you are investing in yourself. Instead of seeing writers as competition, think of them as collaborators.
Social Media PlanAlthough I am a pretty heavy user of social media, I still decided where I was going to focus my attention which was on Instagram (since Twitter imploded) and then later Bluesky and Substack.
Your social media plan can’t just be screaming “buy my book” into the void. No one will pay attention to that.
If you know you have a book coming out, start supporting others who have books coming out.
When you invest in others, you are investing in yourself. Instead of seeing writers as competition, think of them as collaborators.
If you want the literary community to be interested in you, you also need to be interested in them.
Focus on the community to which you are most aligned. Read books by your press mates or others who are writing within your subject matter.
I tried to support other small press fiction and especially short fiction writers, so when I saw that they were sharing their launches and other book information, I shared their posts, and they started sharing mine. We had this sort of unspoken understanding that we would lift each other up. It was sweet how that unfolded organically.
Take the initiative. Whose work do you admire? Share it! If you’re able—go to their events in person or online.
Show up for others how you’d like them to show up for you. But ensure that your shares and engagement are genuine.
Most likely those who you’ve supported will support you too. And some may not. That’s okay too. Don’t be in this for a tit for a tat. You’ll be disappointed.
When I say start early doing this—start like two years early.
Start doing this before your book is even finished.
Make Lists of Previous PublicationsIf you do nothing else—do this!Make a list of magazines and journals that have published your work especially those in the last 5 to 10 years and send the editor a personal note with information about your book.
You want to make this as non-generic and non-spammy as possible.
Remind them what they published of yours and when, mention that you have a new book out, include the description and press release, and offer of an ARC. Of course your publisher will be doing this as well, but a personal letter goes a lot farther especially if it’s framed in the form of a thank you for supporting my work.
A journal that published you before is more likely to do something for you now. For example, a story from Anecdotes had been published in Vol. 1 Brooklyn, and I sent a note mentioning this to Tobias Carroll, the Managing Editor, and he put Anecdotes in a round up of their book of the month list. Other places where I had published my stories or poetry either did interviews, reviews, profiles, excerpts which included Geist, subTerrain, PrismInternational, 49th Shelf, All Lit Up, and CBC Books.
This is a very successful strategy because you are pitching a place that has already accepted your work.
I realized that this was a good idea when I was on the receiving end of these pitches for The Rusty Toque and Joyland. I was always happy for previous contributors new books and would attempt to do something for them if I could.
Pitch EssaysI knew that it was going to be hard to get review coverage since there are so few outlets, so I thought I had better pitch some essays in hopes that I could get some pre-book launch activity going.
I pitched an essay “On Not Wanting Children” to Catapult Magazine, and it was published about eight months before my book came out. Even though it wasn’t an essay about my book, it was related thematically. This is where a literary agent would also be helpful (which I don’t have for fiction) because they would be able to pitch you to some bigger publications—although I was surprise at how many I could pitch to myself.
I tried to pitch other outlets on topics related to the book such as periods and shame and Judy Bloom but was turned down.
Once I realized no one was biting on essays related to my book, I used my newsletter and wrote and published my own. One of my more popular posts on Send My Love to Anyone was written about the time I wrote the most hated haiku in Canada, a piece is directly related to a story in my collection.
On a whim, I wrote another essay on why pre-orders matter. It was a question I was genuinely wondering about, and I ended up interviewing some booksellers and publishers online. It turned out this was topic that many writers were wondering about and was shared widely.
And then I wrote another piece on self-promotion—a kind of in-the-moment reflection.
So the lesson here is that if you try something and it’s not working (that is, you’re getting rejected everywhere as I was) then consider pivoting.
This is why having a newsletter can be valuable. Even if you don’t have many subscribers, your article can be shared around which reminds readers about you and your book.
Another option if you don’t have a newsletter or blog is to ask your press to publish your piece on their blog or website.
For every roadblock, try and thing about what you can do instead.
Pitch Literary PodcastsWell before your book launches, you should have a sense of what literary podcasts you’d love to be a guest on.
I didn’t have a sense of this at all which was a missed opportunity.
However I got invited to a couple of podcasts based on my literary citizenship rather than direct pitching. Writers who I met online like Tim Blackett, Hollay Ghadery, and , and ended up inviting me to their podcasts through our online interactions.
While literary citizenship is important, it can be random what comes of it, so direct pitching is a good idea. Get to know the podcast world well before your launch year.
Here are some places to start, but this is just scratching the surface.
12 Literary Podcasts for Writers and Readers, Electric Lit
10 of the Best Literary Podcasts, Book Riot
Short Story Today with Jon DiSavino
Canadian Podcasts
Getting Lit with Linda with Linda Morra
No Future No Cry with Dr. Syrus Marcus Ware
Reframables with Natalie and Rebecca Davey
What Happened Next: A Podcast About Newish Books with Nathan Whitlock
What are your favourite podcasts?
List of Places to Send ARCSMy publisher sent Anecdotes to many IG Book influencers which is a great way to get traction, excitement, and publicity for your book.
Each time an influencer shares your book, you and your publisher have something to promote about your book. I initially thought this was just smoke and mirrors, but actually it really does drum up enthusiasm.
I would also send friends or writers you admire ARCs in hopes that they will read it and share it on their socials as well. I didn’t do this, but I think it’s a good idea and would put more care and time into who received early copies of the book.
Book ToursI wrote about book tours in part three of this series and I also outlined some alternatives as well if you’re not able to do an in person book tour.
BlurbsI’ve also written about how to ask for blurbs and how to write blurbs, but my quick tip here is to ask for more than you need because some writers might agree and then fall through for any number of reasons.
Good Luck!While planning can help offset the anxiety of book launching and provide you with some opportunities to share your work, know that you are not alone in your feelings.
But those feelings which can be negative don’t have to dictate how I proceed.
I try to remind myself that it’s a privilege to have a book in the world, a publisher who supports it, and readers who connect with it.
And I’ve found having a plan and path forward is the best way to deal with the ups and downs that come with being a part of book industry.
I’ve love to hear your thoughts about book launching and your tips and tricks for surviving!My Adventures in Book Publicity Series
Curious about my debut story collection? Check it out at Book*hug Press.
Kathryn Mockler is the author of the story collection Anecdotes (Book*hug Press, 2023), which won the 2024 Victoria Butler Book Prize and was a finalist for the 2024 Trillium Book Award, 2023 Danuta Gleed Literary Award, 2024 Fred Kerner Award, and 2024 VMI Besty Warland Between Genres Award. She co-edited the print anthology Watch Your Head: Writers and Artists Respond to the Climate Crisis (Coach House Books, 2020). Her films have screened at TIFF, EMFA, the Palm Springs Film Festival and most recently at the Arizona Underground Film Festival and REELPoetry/HoustonTX. She runs the literary newsletter Send My Love to Anyone and teaches screenwriting and fiction in the Writing Department at the University of Victoria.Featured Campaign - The Sameer ProjectEach edition of series My Adventures in Book Publicity will feature a campaign or organization close to my heart!
The Refaat Alareer Camp - by The Sameer Project
The Sameer Project, a grassroots aid organization led by four Palestinians in the diaspora, is proud to announce our first tent encampment project that provides shelter and specialized support to displaced families in Central Gaza.
Donate to the Rafaat Alareer Camp
Support Send My Love to AnyoneSupport Send My Love to Anyone by signing up for a monthly or yearly subscription, liking this post, or sharing it
Big heartfelt thanks to all of the subscribers and contributors who make this project possible!
ConnectBluesky | Instagram | Archive | Contributors | Subscribe | About SMLTA
April 2, 2025
with Khashayar “Kess” Mohammadi, Natalie Lim, and Kirby
Hello SMLTA Readers!
Hope you enjoy Issue 45 of Send My Love to Anyone!
Kathryn
Issue 45 ContentsA Special Thank You to SMLTA’s Paid Subscribers
Poetry by Khashayar “Kess” Mohammadi and Natalie Lim
Congratulations to Dale Martin Smith on the Giffin Poetry Prize Longlist
My Adventures in Book Publicity
Ignore Me with Kathryn Mockler
Books: Speech Dries Here on the Tongue
Where Do I Start? Writing Prompts (with a special invitation for paid subscribers)
A Special Thank You to SMLTA’s Paid SubscribersI’m so grateful to all the Send My Love to Anyone readers, but I’d like to take a moment and give a special thanks to the paid subscribers of this newsletter.
When I first started SMLTA, I wanted to share my own writing, but as a literary editor and publisher, I also hoped to create a space that supported other writers, which is why this newsletter is a hybrid personal newsletter and literary site which publishes the following:
original unpublished writing
excerpts of published work
interviews
writing prompts
craft advice
literary resources.
It’s a grab bag site and reflects my many interests and the communities I’m a part of under the big umbrella of writing.
When I started this project, I was committed to paying a $50 honorarium for original unpublished writing. I opened paid subscriptions on the site in hopes that if I raised enough money, I could increase the honorarium.
Thanks to the contribution of the paid subscribers, SMLTA now pays an honorarium of between $75 and $125 (depending on length of the work). That rate will continue to grow the more paid subscribers sign up.
Thank you for your generosity and your faith in this project.
As a way to express my gratitude, I’m offering more perks for paid subscribers:Paid subscribers are invited to share their creative work from the Where Do I Start? prompts. Select prompts will be considered for publication in a future issue of Send My Love to Anyone.
Paid subscribers are also invited to participate in a monthly discussion forum where they can share their literary news and events. Select items will be featured in Gatherings.
SMLTA Literary Amplifier (for all subscribers)Substack can feel a bit lonely for the literary writers.
There’s so much Substack hack and wellness content—I just want to find and connect with other other literary writers!
I’ve started a SMLTA Literary Amplifier where both free and paid subscribers can share their Substack notes and posts which other SMLTA community members can amplify by liking, commenting, or sharing.
A new SMLTA Literary Amplifier will go out every Monday, and subscribers are encouraged to share up to three items and support at least five members of the community per week.
Happy Poetry Month!in the end we're losing to our dreams, false textures of civilization dreaming up a new guise. “the bus is crowded.” ","size":"md","isEditorNode":true,"title":"if you look into the clouds, you’ll see that hell is our only inheritance.","publishedBylines":[{"id":21201715,"name":"Kathryn Mockler","bio":"Fiction writer, poet, experimental filmmaker. I run the newsletter Send My Love to Anyone and teach creative writing at the University of Victoria. ","photo_url":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazon... ","id":160311768,"type":"newsletter","reaction_count":0,"comment_count":0,"publication_name":"Send My Love to Anyone","publication_logo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f...
I read a poem today about a couple
on a winter morning, one baking bread,
the other shovelling snow,
and imagined us for the first time
in a different season. saw myself kneading the dough
with both hands.","size":"md","isEditorNode":true,"title":"I know so much more about tenderness than I used to.","publishedBylines":[],"post_date":"2025-03-22T04:37:40.555Z","cover_image":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f... ","id":157237086,"type":"newsletter","reaction_count":5,"comment_count":0,"publication_name":"Send My Love to Anyone","publication_logo_url":"https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f... to Dale Martin Smith for being longlisted for the Griffin Poetry PrizeThe First TimeMy Adventures in Book Publicity
A new series I’m writing in which I’m sharing how I promoted my short fiction collection and the honest ups and downs of launching a book into the world.
Ignore Me with Kathryn MocklerBooks Where Do I Start? Writing PromptsGatheringswith Liisa Kovala, Books & Shenanigans Book Club, Chelsea Wakelyn, Lilian Nattel, Mona Eltahawy, Kai Cheng Thom, Memoir Land, Aisha’s Story, and more
On April 11, 2025 I’ll be chatting with on her podcast! So looking forward to this conversation!
I’m Doing My First Book Club at Books & Shenanigans!I’ve been invited to the Books & Shenanigans Very Specific Book Club for Canadian and Small Press books hosted by Susan Sanford Blades to discuss my debut story collection, Anecdotes.
Any book club navigation tips welcome!
Kirby NewsDale Martin Smith’s book The Size of Paradise published by ’s press knife | fork | book has been longlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize!
Congrats to Dale and Kirby!
Read Dales notes on his book:
In this episode of NBN host, Hollay Ghadery speaks with the incomparable Toronto poet Kirby in an exclusive sampler of spectacular Kirby poetry.
Interview with CAConrad, Judge of the 2025 Queer Poetry Prize by Marcella Haddad, Palette Poetry
What I’m ReadingReading During a Genocide What Etel Adnan's novel taught me by Isabella Hammad in The Yale Review
Celebrating Queer Poetry in the New Age of Heterosexual Violence & Absolute Stupidity!
CAConrad has worked with the ancient technologies of poetry and ritual since 1975. Their latest book is Listen to the Golden Boomerang Return (Wave Books / UK Penguin 2024). They received the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, a PEN Josephine Miles Award, a Creative Capital Grant, a Pew Fellowship, and a Lambda Award. The Book of Frank is now available in 13 different languages, and they coedited SUPPLICATION: Selected Poems of John Wieners (Wave Books). They exhibit poems as art objects with recent solo shows in Tucson, Arizona, as well as in Spain and Portugal. They teach at the Sandberg Art Institute in Amsterdam.
Over the course of the past year, my reading habits have narrowed. As Israel’s genocidal war on the Palestinians in Gaza expanded to Lebanon with the complicity and support of many of the world’s great powers, I found myself passing over books that failed to offer me a route into thinking about the great brutality of the period through which we are living. I returned repeatedly to Ghassan Kanafani and James Baldwin; to Walid Daqqa, Primo Levi, and Natalia Ginzburg; to the poetry and diaries of Palestinians documenting the horrors they are enduring in Gaza, such as those by Atef Abu Saif, Doha Kahlout, Hossam Madhoun, and Mosab Abu Toha; and to accounts of asymmetrical warfare and genocide, such as the essays of Eqbal Ahmad, who participated in the Algerian Revolution, and The Jakarta Method, Vincent Bevins’s narrative of the 1965–66 U.S.-backed genocide in Indonesia. Something similar happened in my relationships: I have struggled with friends who aren’t looking at the live-streamed mass slaughter and calling it by its name—who won’t, in some sense, meet my eye.
Lest We Forget the Horrors: An Unending Catalog of Trump’s Cruelties, Collusions, Corruptions, and Crimes by Emily Greenberg and Cliff Mayotte in McSweeney’s
Early in President Trump’s first term, McSweeney’s editors began to catalog the head-spinning number of misdeeds coming from his administration. We called this list a collection of Trump’s cruelties, collusions, corruptions, and crimes, and it felt urgent to track them, to ensure these horrors—happening almost daily—would not be forgotten. Now that Trump has returned to office, amid civil rights, humanitarian, economic, and constitutional crises, we felt it critical to make an inventory of this new round of horrors. This list will be updated monthly between now and the end of Donald Trump’s second term.
on ketamine therapy and writing a new book.
Kingdom of SlobsDispatch from the UndergroundI’ve spent the last thirteen months underground. During this time, I’ve accomplished two things…Read more22 days ago · 8 likes · 9 comments · Chelsea Wakelynon “Control, Compassion & Social Change”
Kai Cheng Thom's NewsletterControl, Compassion & Social ChangePunishment & The Political Left…Read more20 days ago · 12 likes · Kai Cheng ThomOn collective resistance by Iris (Yi Youn) Kim from and
Literary LiberationThey Tried To Take My Words. I Fought to Get Them Back.Freedom Ways is an interview and essay series exploring the intersection of artistry and liberation, illuminating how art serves as both personal transformation and collective resistance. Learn more …Read morea month ago · 8 likes · Iris (Yi Youn) Kim, Literary Liberation, and Memoir Landin A Time for Giants for 100 Days of Creative Resistance
When the regime and its institutions do not work at the service of the people, when you know that the regime and its institutions consider journalists and media as enemies of the state to be curbed and controlled, when you know that the regime and its institutions use the criminal justice system not to protect you but to protect themselves from accountability and from you, then you throw all those things into a kaleidoscope and you turn it and you begin to see other ways to do, to be, and to survive.
FEMINIST GIANT100 Days of Creative ResistancePublished by 100 Days of Creative Resistance, Marc 1, 2025…Read morea month ago · 31 likes · 3 comments · Mona EltahawyOne of the best literary reads—a perfect roast of the scammy Narrative Magazine from
Lit Mag NewsQ: Can we talk about Narrative Magazine?Welcome to our weekend conversation…Read more2 months ago · 295 likes · 215 comments · Becky Tuchon Forms of Resistance
Books and LiliesForms of ResistanceI’ve been thinking a lot about resistance lately and noticing how persistent a theme it is in the books by women I’ve been reading, not only resistance writ large, but small acts, everyday acts. And as it happens, this is also the preoccupation of the Argentine author Maria Sonia Cristoff…Read more2 months ago · 10 likes · 4 comments · Lilian Nattel 📚♀🌏bookhugpress
A post shared by @bookhugpressWhat I’m Listening ToNicholas Mirzoeff discusses his new book, To See In the Dark: Palestine and Visual Activism Since October 7.
What I’m WatchingNick shares how experiences of domestic, political and sexual violence – in both his family history and his own childhood – have shaped his understanding of events since October 7th. He talks about what it means to identify as an anti-Zionist Jew in the current moment, and how we can find new anticolonial ways of seeing that reject the drone’s-eye-view of ‘white sight’. We also discuss the evolving visual politics of Palestine solidarity, from watermelon emojis and AI-generated images, to the torn canvas of a portrait of Arthur Balfour.
Sarah Galea Davis’ film The Players, will be kicking off its theatrical run next month at the Revue Cinema in Toronto!
Please join us on April 12 at 7:00 p.m. for the first screening
Aisha’s Story, receives its official world premiere at Toronto’s Hot Docs International Documentary Festival on April 26 and 28, alongside powerful films from 47 countries. Co-directed by Elizabeth Vibert and Chen Wang. As noted in Variety: “The Hot Docs ‘World Showcase’ program features Aisha’s Story, in which a Palestinian grain miller in a Jordanian refugee camp safeguards her culture and shares her people’s history through food.
Aisha’s Story was also just announced as the opening film for Vancouver’s Doxa documentary film festival on May 1. Elizabeth Vibert spoke to CBC Radio’s On The Island about the news on March 31.
Gatherings | April 2025
On April 11, 2025 I’ll be chatting with on her podcast! So looking forward to this conversation!
I’m Doing My First Book Club at Books & Shenanigans!I’ve been invited to the Books & Shenanigans Very Specific Book Club for Canadian and Small Press books hosted by Susan Sanford Blades to discuss my debut story collection, Anecdotes.
Any book club navigation tips welcome!
Kirby NewsDale Martin Smith’s book The Size of Paradise published by ’s press knife | fork | book has been longlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize!
Congrats to Dale and Kirby!
Read Dales notes on his book:
In this episode of NBN host, Hollay Ghadery speaks with the incomparable Toronto poet Kirby in an exclusive sampler of spectacular Kirby poetry.
Interview with CAConrad, Judge of the 2025 Queer Poetry Prize by Marcella Haddad, Palette Poetry
What I’m ReadingReading During a Genocide What Etel Adnan's novel taught me by Isabella Hammad in The Yale Review
Celebrating Queer Poetry in the New Age of Heterosexual Violence & Absolute Stupidity!
CAConrad has worked with the ancient technologies of poetry and ritual since 1975. Their latest book is Listen to the Golden Boomerang Return (Wave Books / UK Penguin 2024). They received the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, a PEN Josephine Miles Award, a Creative Capital Grant, a Pew Fellowship, and a Lambda Award. The Book of Frank is now available in 13 different languages, and they coedited SUPPLICATION: Selected Poems of John Wieners (Wave Books). They exhibit poems as art objects with recent solo shows in Tucson, Arizona, as well as in Spain and Portugal. They teach at the Sandberg Art Institute in Amsterdam.
Over the course of the past year, my reading habits have narrowed. As Israel’s genocidal war on the Palestinians in Gaza expanded to Lebanon with the complicity and support of many of the world’s great powers, I found myself passing over books that failed to offer me a route into thinking about the great brutality of the period through which we are living. I returned repeatedly to Ghassan Kanafani and James Baldwin; to Walid Daqqa, Primo Levi, and Natalia Ginzburg; to the poetry and diaries of Palestinians documenting the horrors they are enduring in Gaza, such as those by Atef Abu Saif, Doha Kahlout, Hossam Madhoun, and Mosab Abu Toha; and to accounts of asymmetrical warfare and genocide, such as the essays of Eqbal Ahmad, who participated in the Algerian Revolution, and The Jakarta Method, Vincent Bevins’s narrative of the 1965–66 U.S.-backed genocide in Indonesia. Something similar happened in my relationships: I have struggled with friends who aren’t looking at the live-streamed mass slaughter and calling it by its name—who won’t, in some sense, meet my eye.
Lest We Forget the Horrors: An Unending Catalog of Trump’s Cruelties, Collusions, Corruptions, and Crimes by Emily Greenberg and Cliff Mayotte in McSweeney’s
Early in President Trump’s first term, McSweeney’s editors began to catalog the head-spinning number of misdeeds coming from his administration. We called this list a collection of Trump’s cruelties, collusions, corruptions, and crimes, and it felt urgent to track them, to ensure these horrors—happening almost daily—would not be forgotten. Now that Trump has returned to office, amid civil rights, humanitarian, economic, and constitutional crises, we felt it critical to make an inventory of this new round of horrors. This list will be updated monthly between now and the end of Donald Trump’s second term.
on ketamine therapy and writing a new book.
Kingdom of SlobsDispatch from the UndergroundI’ve spent the last thirteen months underground. During this time, I’ve accomplished two things…Read more9 days ago · 8 likes · 9 comments · Chelsea Wakelynon “Control, Compassion & Social Change”
Kai Cheng Thom's NewsletterControl, Compassion & Social ChangePunishment & The Political Left…Read more7 days ago · 12 likes · Kai Cheng ThomOn collective resistance by Iris (Yi Youn) Kim from and
Literary LiberationThey Tried To Take My Words. I Fought to Get Them Back.Freedom Ways is an interview and essay series exploring the intersection of artistry and liberation, illuminating how art serves as both personal transformation and collective resistance. Learn more …Read more21 days ago · 8 likes · Iris (Yi Youn) Kim, Literary Liberation, and Memoir Landin A Time for Giants for 100 Days of Creative Resistance
When the regime and its institutions do not work at the service of the people, when you know that the regime and its institutions consider journalists and media as enemies of the state to be curbed and controlled, when you know that the regime and its institutions use the criminal justice system not to protect you but to protect themselves from accountability and from you, then you throw all those things into a kaleidoscope and you turn it and you begin to see other ways to do, to be, and to survive.
FEMINIST GIANT100 Days of Creative ResistancePublished by 100 Days of Creative Resistance, Marc 1, 2025…Read morea month ago · 31 likes · 3 comments · Mona EltahawyOne of the best literary reads—a perfect roast of the scammy Narrative Magazine from
Lit Mag NewsQ: Can we talk about Narrative Magazine?Welcome to our weekend conversation…Read more2 months ago · 295 likes · 215 comments · Becky Tuchon Forms of Resistance
Books and LiliesForms of ResistanceI’ve been thinking a lot about resistance lately and noticing how persistent a theme it is in the books by women I’ve been reading, not only resistance writ large, but small acts, everyday acts. And as it happens, this is also the preoccupation of the Argentine author Maria Sonia Cristoff…Read morea month ago · 10 likes · 4 comments · Lilian Nattel 📚♀🌏bookhugpress
A post shared by @bookhugpressWhat I’m Listening ToNicholas Mirzoeff discusses his new book, To See In the Dark: Palestine and Visual Activism Since October 7.
What I’m WatchingNick shares how experiences of domestic, political and sexual violence – in both his family history and his own childhood – have shaped his understanding of events since October 7th. He talks about what it means to identify as an anti-Zionist Jew in the current moment, and how we can find new anticolonial ways of seeing that reject the drone’s-eye-view of ‘white sight’. We also discuss the evolving visual politics of Palestine solidarity, from watermelon emojis and AI-generated images, to the torn canvas of a portrait of Arthur Balfour.
Sarah Galea Davis’ film The Players, will be kicking off its theatrical run next month at the Revue Cinema in Toronto!
Please join us on April 12 at 7:00 p.m. for the first screening
Aisha’s Story, receives its official world premiere at Toronto’s Hot Docs International Documentary Festival on April 26 and 28, alongside powerful films from 47 countries. Co-directed by Elizabeth Vibert and Chen Wang. As noted in Variety: “The Hot Docs ‘World Showcase’ program features Aisha’s Story, in which a Palestinian grain miller in a Jordanian refugee camp safeguards her culture and shares her people’s history through food.
Aisha’s Story was also just announced as the opening film for Vancouver’s Doxa documentary film festival on May 1. Elizabeth Vibert spoke to CBC Radio’s On The Island about the news on March 31.
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
Omar El AkkadPenguin Random House, 2025Stop what you are doing! Read this book!!
Every line, every paragraph
If you’ve been witness to Israel’s US-backed genocide of Palestinians that our government (Canadian) supports, this book will offer some sanity.
Put this book in the hands of everyone.
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
“There is an impulse in moments like this to appeal to self-interest. To say: These horrors you are allowing to happen, they will come to your doorstep one day; to repeat the famous phrase about who they came for first and who they’ll come for next. But this appeal cannot, in matter of fact, work. If the people well served by a system that condones such butchery ever truly believed the same butchery could one day be inflicted on them, they’d tear the system down tomorrow.
And anyway, by the time such a thing happens, the rest of us will already be dead. No, there is no terrible thing coming for you in some distant future, but know that a terrible thing is happening to you now. You are being asked to kill off a part of you that would otherwise scream in opposition to injustice. You are being asked to dismantle the machinery of a functioning conscience. Who cares if diplomatic expediency prefers you shrug away the sight of dismembered children? Who cares if great distance from the bloodstained middle allows obliviousness. Forget pity, forget even the dead if you must, but at least fight against the theft of your soul.”
•
“Toward the end of December 2023, the South African government brings charges of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice…
… Among those who have been calling for an end to the relentless killing, the development inspires a set of conflicting emotions.
First, there is the basic relief of watching some official entity—any entity-do something. Time and again, in conversation with friends, some of whom have lost family members in this killing spree, there is a sense that one must be going mad: to see so plainly the destruction, the murdered children filmed and presented for the world to look upon and then to hear the leaders of virtually every Western nation contend that this is not happening, that whatever is happening is good and righteous and should continue and that in fact the well-being of the Palestinian people demands this continue—it's enough to feel like you're losing your mind. As such, even were it a completely performative, hopeless act, the case brought before the International Court of Justice represents a brief respite from the bare-skinned duplicity, the Orwellian-ness of it all.”
—Omar El Akkad
Support Send My Love to AnyoneSupport Send My Love to Anyone by signing up for a monthly or yearly subscription, liking this post, or sharing it
Big heartfelt thanks to all of the subscribers and contributors who make this project possible!
ConnectBluesky | Instagram | Archive | Contributors | Subscribe | About SMLTA
April Literary News and Events from the SMLTA Community
A new perk for paid subscribers is the ability share their recent news and events with the SMLTA Community.
Send My Love to Anyone is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support this project, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Select events will be featured on Gatherings which goes out to the entire SMLTA community.
I’d love to hear about your book launches, publication, readings, and more.
Please use this format
Description of Event: Reading
Date: March 15, 2025
Details: [You Name] and description of event
Link:
So tell us what you’ve been up to!
Whose lives are you curious about? And why?
Where Do I Start? prompts are free for all readers.
Paid subscribers are invited to share their process of this writing prompt and/or post their creative work in the comments.
Select works will be considered for publication in a future issue of Send My Love to Anyone.
“When I used to teach creative writing, I would tell the students to make their characters want something right away—even if it’s only a glass of water. Characters paralyzed by the meaninglessness of modern life still have to drink water from time to time.” —Kurt Vonnegut
The Spectators, c. 1860-64, Honoré Victorin DaumierCharacter SketchesCreating characters out of thin air can be daunting for any writer, which is why many writers base their characters on people they have interacted with or observed or heavily researched or even on themselves.
When I'm creating characters, I always put a little of me in them, and then I bring in bits and pieces from people who are around me or who I observe. That way I feel like I know my characters intimately, but I have the freedom to develop them according to the needs of my story.
This is why I prefer writing fiction over nonfiction even though many of my stories begin with something that is real—a setting, a situation, a person.
Here is what Gabriel García Márquez had to say about character:
"In the end you should probably know your characters as well as you know yourself. You should be able to close your eyes and dwell inside that character’s body. The sound of her voice. The texture of her footsteps. Walk around with her for a while. Let her dwell in the rattlebag of your head. Make a mental list of who/what she is, where she comes from. Appearance. Body language. Unique mannerisms. Childhood. Conflicts. Desires. Voice. Allow your characters to surprise you. When it seems they should go right, send them left. When they appear too joyful, break them. When they want to leave the page, force them to stay a sentence longer. Complicate them. Conflict them. Give them forked tongues. This is what real life is all about. Don’t be too logical. Logic can paralyse us."
When you're trying to figure out how to develop characters, start by observing who is around you.
What do the people around you look like? How do they dress? How do they hold themselves? What does their body language say about the way they feel?
Listen to how you and your family members speak to each other.
Observe your friends and how they talk and act.
Eavesdrop on conversations in coffee shops, in grocery stores.
Listen to what people say and how they say it.
I speak differently with my best friend than I do with someone I meet at the bus stop.
All of these details go into creating character.
And once you have an idea who you want to write about, then you need shape your characters by giving them goals in your story and having them act according to their motivations.
Writing PromptMake a list of 5 to 10 people who interest you such as your children, your siblings, your dentist, the bus driver, etc. Whose lives are you curious about? And why?
Pick one of these people and write a paragraph describing all the objective details that you know about them such as their age, occupation, residence, financial situation, relationship status, etc.
Then write a paragraph including subjective details such as how they feel about themselves and their lives, their jobs, their relationships, the world. What makes them happy or sad? What baggage do they carry around? How do they move through the world? What do they believe in?
Put this character into a situation where they are either literally or psychologically trapped. Perhaps they are in a car and can't get out or they are in a relationship that is no longer good for them. This will be the premise of your short story.
Next describe how they got into this situation at this point in time. This will be your beginning.
Then describe how they try to get out of this situation. Who or what is preventing them from getting what they want? This will be the body of your story where the bulk of the action and conflict will take place.
And finally show us whether or not your character is able to achieve their goal of getting out of the situation in which they are trapped. This will be the resolution or end of your story.
Paid subscribers are invited to share their process of this writing prompt and/or post their creative work in the comments.
Select works will be considered for publication in a future issue of Send My Love to Anyone.
For Inspiration"The Hostage," by Amelia Gray, The New Yorker
“I Won’t Clean the Tub” from my story collection Anecdotes follows this structure. Original published in Geist Magazine.
About Kathryn MocklerAs a writerKathryn Mockler is the author of the story collection Anecdotes (Book*hug Press, 2023) which which won the Victoria Butler Book Prize, and was a finalist for the 2024 Trillium Book Award, the 2024 Danuta Gleed Literary Award, the 2024 Fred Kerner Award, and the VMI Besty Warland Between Genres Award. She is also the author of five books of poetry and several short films and experimental videos.
As an publisher, editor, and professorKathryn Mockler has been publishing and editing online literary journals since 2011. She published The Rusty Toque from 2011 to 2017, was the Canada Editor of Joyland from 2013-2020, and was the publisher of Watch Your Head, an online literary journal that published writing and art about the climate crisis and climate justice from 2019-2023.
Along with 13 other writers, she co-edited the print anthology Watch Your Head: Writers and Artists Respond to the Climate Crisis (Coach House Books, 2020) and she runs Send My Love to Anyone, a literary newsletter, which was a Substack featured publication in 2023.
She has taught creative writing in fiction, screenwriting, poetry, and nonfiction for over twenty years. Currently she is an associate professor in the Writing Department at the University of Victoria where she teaches screenwriting and fiction.
Support Send My Love to AnyoneSupport Send My Love to Anyone by signing up for a monthly or yearly subscription, liking this post, or sharing it
Big heartfelt thanks to all of the subscribers and contributors who make this project possible!
ConnectBluesky | Instagram | Archive | Contributors | Subscribe | About SMLTA
March 31, 2025
if you look into the clouds, you’ll see that hell is our only inheritance.
Support Send My Love to Anyone by signing up for a monthly or yearly subscription, liking this post, or sharing it
Big heartfelt thanks to all of the subscribers and contributors who make this project possible!
ConnectBluesky | Instagram | Archive | Contributors | Subscribe | About SMLTA
