Kathryn Mockler's Blog, page 37
February 24, 2023
Alex Leslie | Words Count
On Writing and Word Countsby Alex Leslie
I was never a believer in word counts. When writer friends told me how many words they’d written — I wrote three thousand words today, someone told me over elk burgers at Banff once — a door in my brain quietly closed.
It wasn’t a feeling of superiority on my part, just difference. I was devoted to the short form, until my writing was taken over by the process of writing a novel. I’m not ashamed to say I was a purist (I still am, in a way) about short form writing.
In my early twenties, I fell in love with compressed, crowded paragraphs that carried the weight of poetry — Amy Hempel, Edmond Jabes, Jayne Anne Phillips’ Black Tickets. So I measured my writing progress in scraps of dialogue I copied down on public transit, webs of details for short story structures, prose poems to turn into short story conclusions, and your average amount of daily random observational writing crap.
Operating on the basis of word counts felt almost sacrilegious to me because I needed to maintain a certain aleatory distance from my process, keep the pieces moving, before locking them into place. That isn’t how everyone writes short stories and prose poetry, but it was my time-consuming, frustrating, sustaining process.
I started working with a daily word count, a quota, when it became clear that the process for short prose did not function for the novel I was writing. For years I’d resented writers who said the short story is a training process for writing long form. It isn’t — it’s a form in its own right, with its own logic.
I finally figured out that in order to write long form, I needed to change my process, to switch out my tools. I did what alienated me for years: I started to count my words. Counting my words — writing blocks of one thousand words — freed me from the learned metabolism of short form writing.
It felt weird. Shapeless. Here I was, writing on and on…and on? Where was the rhythm? Where was that familiar jolt of structure, the sign that it was time to start to wind down? There were no cliffs and fences — in a sense, no form, only space.
For me, adopting a daily quota turned out to be the opposite of what I expected. I believed it would be an obligation, would dampen my process. Instead it turned out to be a container, all the more helpful in the context of the pandemic’s foggy boundlessness, a way to continue, one thousand words at a time.
Thank you for reading Send My Love to Anyone. This post is public so feel free to share it.
Alex Leslie has published two collections of poetry and two collections of short stories, People Who Disappear, shortlisted for a Lambda award for debut LGBT fiction, and We All Need to Eat, shortlisted for the BC Book Prize and the Kobzar award. Alex's fiction has been published in the Journey Prize anthology, Granta, Best Canadian Stories 2020, Catapult, and many journals. web: alexlesliewriting.ca.
Issue #24 of Send My Love to AnyoneOn Writing and Word Counts by Alex Leslie
Why I Start a New Writing Project Before I Finish My Current One by Kathryn Mockler
Sign up for Where Do I Start? | Writing Prompts by Kathryn Mockler
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On Writing and Word Counts | Words Count
I was never a believer in word counts. When writer friends told me how many words they’d written — I wrote three thousand words today, someone told me over elk burgers at Banff once — a door in my brain quietly closed.
It wasn’t a feeling of superiority on my part, just difference. I was devoted to the short form, until my writing was taken over by the process of writing a novel. I’m not ashamed to say I was a purist (I still am, in a way) about short form writing.
In my early twenties, I fell in love with compressed, crowded paragraphs that carried the weight of poetry — Amy Hempel, Edmond Jabes, Jayne Anne Phillips’ Black Tickets. So I measured my writing progress in scraps of dialogue I copied down on public transit, webs of details for short story structures, prose poems to turn into short story conclusions, and your average amount of daily random observational writing crap.
Operating on the basis of word counts felt almost sacrilegious to me because I needed to maintain a certain aleatory distance from my process, keep the pieces moving, before locking them into place. That isn’t how everyone writes short stories and prose poetry, but it was my time-consuming, frustrating, sustaining process.
I started working with a daily word count, a quota, when it became clear that the process for short prose did not function for the novel I was writing. For years I’d resented writers who said the short story is a training process for writing long form. It isn’t — it’s a form in its own right, with its own logic.
I finally figured out that in order to write long form, I needed to change my process, to switch out my tools. I did what alienated me for years: I started to count my words. Counting my words — writing blocks of one thousand words — freed me from the learned metabolism of short form writing.
It felt weird. Shapeless. Here I was, writing on and on…and on? Where was the rhythm? Where was that familiar jolt of structure, the sign that it was time to start to wind down? There were no cliffs and fences — in a sense, no form, only space.
For me, adopting a daily quota turned out to be the opposite of what I expected. I believed it would be an obligation, would dampen my process. Instead it turned out to be a container, all the more helpful in the context of the pandemic’s foggy boundlessness, a way to continue, one thousand words at a time.
Thank you for reading Send My Love to Anyone. This post is public so feel free to share it.
Alex Leslie has published two collections of poetry and two collections of short stories, People Who Disappear, shortlisted for a Lambda award for debut LGBT fiction, and We All Need to Eat, shortlisted for the BC Book Prize and the Kobzar award. Alex's fiction has been published in the Journey Prize anthology, Granta, Best Canadian Stories 2020, Catapult, and many journals. web: alexlesliewriting.ca.
Issue #24 of Send My Love to AnyoneOn Writing and Word Counts by Alex Leslie
Why I Start a New Writing Project Before I Finish My Current One by Kathryn Mockler
Sign up for Where Do I Start? | Writing Prompts by Kathryn Mockler
Support Send My Love to AnyoneThis newsletter is free, but you can support it by making a one-time payment to PayPal, signing up for a monthly or yearly subscription, or sharing it!
Big heartfelt thanks to all of the subscribers and contributors who make this project possible!
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Why I start a new writing project before I finish my current project | Words Count
Photo by Yannick Pulver on UnsplashI’m often admonishing myself for not living up to some idea I have of how I should write or be a writer.
However, I recently did something that I’m pleased about: I started working on a novel two months before I finished my story collection.
In January, I began doing daily word counts for a new horror novel, and while I had to pause that book so I could finish up the edits on the story collection, I’m already 5000 words in on the new book!
I find having a gap between writing projects is a terrifying place to be.
The pressure of what to work on next haunts me, and I can’t relax. I can’t enjoy the accomplishment of having finished something unless I know what I will be working on next.
Part of the problem is that I work on many different projects and genres at once, so picking the next one feels insurmountable. I’m mean it’s a good problem to have—so many ideas you don’t know what to work on next, but also it’s overwhelming and can lead into a writing block.
Now that I know what I’m working on, I can take some time off in order to recharge but without the stress.
What is your writing process? Do you take a break between projects or do you jump right into the next one? Let me know in the comments.
Issue #24 of Send My Love to AnyoneOn Writing and Word Counts by Alex Leslie
Why I Start a New Writing Project Before I Finish My Current One by Kathryn Mockler
Sign up for Where Do I Start? | Writing Prompts by Kathryn Mockler
Support Send My Love to AnyoneThis newsletter is free, but you can support it by making a one-time payment to PayPal, signing up for a monthly or yearly subscription, or sharing it!
Big heartfelt thanks to all of the subscribers and contributors who make this project possible!
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February 23, 2023
Gatherings | Issue 24
Where you can donate in Canada and the US to help earthquake survivors in Turkey and Syria.
The audiobook of my sister’s memoir Fractured is out.
New dates and group bookings available for Kirby’s Behold, written & adapted for the stage by Kirby from their book Poetry is Queer (Palimpsest Press)
You + What If? Writing Prompt from Where Do I Start?
Congratulations to Farzana Doctor who is the recipient of the 2023 Freedom to Read Award
Check out Draft’s hybrid reading series February 26, 2023 with featured readers Lorri Neilsen Glenn, Pamela Mordecai, Gabriel Osson and Ayelet Tsabari.
Read an excerpt from Trynne Delany’s forthcoming book, A House Unsettled, Open Book
BookTok is Good, Actually: On the Undersung Joys of a Vast and Multifarious Platform by Leigh Stein, LitHub
What is AI up to now? It’s de-aging stars, The Guardian
Shani Mootoo reviews Madhur Anand’s Parasitic Oscillations in Canadian Notes & Queries
Anne Boyer doesn’t fuck with the term “lyric essay”.
Jen Sookfong Lee's memoir Superfan looks at her life through pop culture lens by Dana Gee, Vancouver Sun
What Causes Déjà Vu?, Scientific American
Georgia O’Keeffe on the Art of Seeing, The Marginalia
Everyone in Canada is mad at Netflix, BlogTO
Elisa Gabbert on Beginnings, New York Times
Sophie Calle: Dumped by Email, The Tate (2008)
Excellent lecture from The Tyee Founder David Beers on The War on Journalists
Wise words from Lynda Barry:
thenearsightedmonkey
A post shared by Lynda Barry (@thenearsightedmonkey)
Paul Fairie @paulisciA List of Things People Blamed on Women🧵11:16 PM ∙ Feb 16, 20238,802Likes2,828RetweetsIssue #24 of Send My Love to AnyoneOn Writing and Word Counts by Alex Leslie
Why I Start a New Writing Project Before I Finish My Current One by Kathryn Mockler
Sign up for Where Do I Start? | Writing Prompts by Kathryn Mockler
ICYMI from Issue 23An Excerpt from The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself : Myths and Our American Narratives by David Mura
The Return of the Owl by Kirby
Relearning the Book Business: All about pre-orders by Kathryn Mockler
Support Send My Love to AnyoneThis newsletter is free, but you can support it by making a one-time payment to PayPal, signing up for a monthly or yearly subscription, or sharing it!
Big heartfelt thanks to all of the subscribers and contributors who make this project possible!
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February 2, 2023
Anecdotes Cover Reveal
Hello friends,
I’m really excited to share the cover of my debut story collection Anecdotes which will be published by Book*hug in September 2023.
Send My Love to Anyone was originally created because I had terrible writer’s block in 2020-2021.
Showing up for Send My Love to Anyone allowed me to show up for my own writing, and now Anecdotes has a cover and can be pre-ordered!
Designed and Edited by Malcolm Sutton | Book*hug 2023I haven’t had a solo book out since 2015, and I feel like a brand new writer on this front.
The cover was designed by Malcolm Sutton who also edited the book.
It’s a maxi pad on the cover, so, yes, there will be blood and periods, but also flashers, creepy professors, parks that hate hippies, climate grief, and the end of the world.
To my knowledge, the maxi pad had never graced the cover of a book of short stories before, so I’m happy we’ve given the humble pad it’s due!
Thank you for reading Send My Love to Anyone. This post is public so feel free to share it.
Pre-order AnecdotesAnecdotes can be pre-ordered at your favourite local bookstore in Canada and the US.
Consider requesting Anecdotes at your local library!
In Canada writers get paid when books are taken out from libraries through the Public Lending Rights Program.
Read my post in Send My Love to Anyone about why preorders are important.
About AnecdotesAnecdotesShort StoriesBook*hug PressSeptember 19, 2023With dreamlike stories and dark humour, Anecdotes is a hybrid collection in four parts examining the pressing realities of sexual violence, abuse, and environmental collapse.
Absurdist flash fictions in “The Boy is Dead” depict characters such as a park that hates hippies, squirrels, and unhappy parents; a woman lamenting a stolen laptop the day the world ends; and birds slamming into glass buildings.
“This Isn’t a Conversation” shares one-liners from overheard conversations, found texts, diary entries and random thoughts: many are responses to the absurdity and pain of the current political and environmental climate.
“We’re Not Here to Talk About Aliens” gathers autofictions that follow a young protagonist from childhood to early 20s, through the murky undercurrent of potential violence amidst sexual awakening; from first periods to flashers; sticker books to maxi pad art; acid trips to blackouts; creepy professors to close calls.
In “The Dream House,” The Past and The Future are personified as various incarnations in relationships to one another (lovers, a parent and child, siblings, friends), all engaged in ongoing conflict.
These varied, immersive works bristle with truth in the face of unprecedented change. They are playful forms for serious times.
This newsletter is free, but you can support it by making a one-time payment to PayPal or by signing up for a monthly or yearly subscription.
Big heartfelt thanks to all of the paying subscribers who help make this project possible!
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January 30, 2023
Send My Love to Anyone | Issue 23
Hello friends,
Happy new year! We’re starting off 2023 with an exciting issue!
For Issue 23, David Mura shares the excerpt “The Absence of Racial Identity for White Characters” from his new book The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself: Myths and Our American Narratives, published by the University of Minnesota Press.
Marlon James calls Mura’s latest book “a reexamination of the American imagination itself and the myths we need to dismantle for a proper foundation to finally grow. It’s fearless, illuminating, and revolutionary.”
Kirby writes about The Return of the Owl.
I have a book coming out in September. My last solo book came out eight years ago, and I feel like I’m learning the book business all over again. So I’m inviting you to learn along with me in a new series called Relearning the Book Business.
First up is All About Pre-orders where I gain some new perspectives on book pre-orders from publishers, publicists, booksellers, authors, and readers.
And finally check out Issue 23’s Gatherings, a list of my recommended readings, viewings, calls, events, and more.
Tell me what you’ve been up to and introduce yourself and/or share your Substack or blog link.
Hope you’re having a great start to the new year!
Kathryn
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.
Issue #23 of Send My Love to AnyoneAn Excerpt from The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself : Myths and Our American Narratives by David Mura
The Return of the Owl by Kirby
Relearning the Book Business: All about pre-orders by Kathryn Mockler
Sign up for the Send My Love to Anyone Writing Prompts (free)
Sign up for the Watch Your Head Newsletter (free)
ContributorsHey Send My Love to Anyone contributors, drop me a line and let me know what you’ve been up to so I can share your news!
I’m also inviting past contributors to record their posts.
If you’d like to do this, please this let me know and send me an mp3 of your post.
Recommended SubstacksNew year, new Substacks. There’s a burst of newsletters coming out, and this year more than any likely because of the Twitter’s decline. I started Send My Love to Anyone in January 2021 as a part of a new year reset, and I’m happy to say I’ve stuck with it.
I recently did a workshop on writer newsletters for the Federation of BC Writers, and I plan to write a post reflecting on running a newsletter over the past two years with tips for those new to the newsletter game. Look for this post later in the spring.
I thought I would share some of my favourite Substacks.
Tajja Isen (author of Some of My Best Friends) has a new Substack called the Creative Practice on finding the time to write.
Creative PracticeOn finding the time and trying to keep it.By Tajja IsenKathy Fish’s The Art of Flash Fiction has been a longtime favourite of mine. It’s a great newsletter for those looking for prompts and craft articles.
The Art of Flash Fiction Free Monthly Flash Fiction Craft Articles & Prompts by Writer & Teacher, Kathy FishBy Kathy FishMy Trainer Phil is literally my trainer, but he also has a great newsletter on health and fitness and offers group classes and personal training.
My Trainer PhilEverything health and fitnessBy Phil Hynes-GueryThe Audacity by Roxane Gay is a newsletter I always look forward to in my inbox.
The Audacity.Writing that boldly disregards normal restraints. By Roxane GayWhat are your favourite newsletters?
Support Send My Love to AnyoneThis newsletter is free, but you can support it by making a one-time payment to PayPal or by signing up for a monthly or yearly subscription.
Big heartfelt thanks to all of the paying subscribers who help make this project possible!
Funds go to paying contributors.
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David Mura | Issue 23
In The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself, I analyze a basic contradiction in the American story: From its very beginnings America had two irreconcilable goals. One was to seek equality, freedom, and democracy. The other was to maintain white supremacy and the domination by white people over any people of color. White America is fine with telling our tale through the lens of the first goal. But it is still decidedly not fine with telling the second story of America’s treatment of people of color and America’s desire to maintain white supremacy. All the recent ridiculous distorting, disparaging, and damning of Critical Race Theory are just the latest manifestation of this repression.
Instead, this second tale, the tale of BIPOC America, is regarded as un-American, unpatriotic, a smear on the past, an abomination to the present—or at best, a minor element. According to some, this story can never be integrated with the story of America’s noble pursuit of its ideal goals. And this is an essential way white America has lied to itself: it has denied the voices of people of color as an essential and defining part of America’s tale; it has denied their validity as Americans; it has denied that their history is also the history of white America—however white America wants to deny that fact. For the story of white America cannot be understood without comprehending how inextricably and intrinsically that story is intertwined and united with the story of Black America, of Indigenous America, of Americans of color.
In the history of America’s racial ontology, white people have created the categories of Whiteness and Blackness, and those categories continue to structure white identity. That identity is in part based on a belief in the myths, false histories, and racially segregated fictional stories white people tell themselves about themselves—that is, the stories Whiteness tells itself, especially about our history, are not an accurate portrait of our history and yet they continue to structure white identity (white psychology) in the present. That identity is a psychological distortion based on a denial of what white people have done in our past and what they continue to do in the present.
Part of that distortion involves the creation of unblemished white heroes and a version of our history that ameliorates, downplays, or excludes the depths of white racism and white supremacy in our history. But that distortion also involves the ways in which white history diminishes or excises Blackness from our history. In other words, that identity distorts and occludes the actual lives and consciousness of Black people in our history, what Black people have done and accomplished, what they have suffered and continue to suffer, how they tell their stories. This occurs not just through the content of the stories Whiteness tells itself, but through the structures of these stories, structures that often function more at an unconscious rather than conscious level. In both conscious and unconscious ways, white identity and the stories it tells segregate and separate, wall off white people from the reality of Black people, their history and experiences, the truths Black people have to tell about who we have been as a country and who we are now….
In The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself and my book on creative writing, A Stranger’s Journey: Race, Identity and Narrative Craft in Writing, I examine a distinct difference between the way white fiction writers and fiction writers of color introduce their characters: In general, white fiction writers do not identify their white characters as white. Thus, if the characters are named, say, Bill and Bridget we are to assume tacitly that those characters are white. In contrast, more often than not, fiction writers of color identify their characters by race and/or ethnicity.
By implication then, white fiction writers assume whiteness is the universal—and unremarked or un-denotated—default. It is writers of color and their characters of color who are an exception to this rule and this universality. Moreover, by implication, this practice of white fiction writers also assumes that they and their white characters do not see their race as essential to their identity. Their characters being white is not a significant factor in their experience or the ways they think about themselves.
These are assumptions that few writers of color make about race and their characters—and also, about white writers and their white characters. At the same time, white writers often accuse, or assert that, many writers of color substitute politics for art, or that we write in ways that are overly or overtly concerned with politics.
But this practice of white writers not remarking upon or indicating their characters’ racial identity—that is, their avoidance of any question of what whiteness has meant to their characters identities and lives—is in itself a political position. Indeed, it is a position much closer to a conservative take on race—race is not essential or important for whites and is no longer a live issue for our society—than a progressive political position on race. Moreover, making whiteness both invisible and the universal default, leads to instructive differences in the ways white authors envision their work to be evaluated and the ways the work of writers of color are evaluated.
For white writers, some of these implications are:
White authors start with the premise that their characters are primarily individuals and not members of a racial group. Underlying this is a belief that a character’s membership in a group negates or obstructs seeing that character as an individual.In upholding these premises, the white writer does not have to indicate openly the race of their white characters. If no other racial designation is assigned to these characters, the reader is to assume they are white.The lack of racial designation for white characters makes certain tacit assumptions: Race will generally be considered not to play an important factor in the identity of these white characters or the ways they think of themselves. Nor does their whiteness and race play a significant factor in their experiences or the course of their lives.For most white authors and their white characters, the questions of race and white identity can only come up when those white characters encounter characters of color. Otherwise, unlike Blackness, to reverse DuBois’s phrase, Whiteness is never a problem—or even a question.In this literary practice, the white writer is not considering how people of color might view their white characters or the fact that people of color would consider their characters to be white and that racial designation is part of the way people of color would contextualize those characters….For writers of color, a different set of assumptions are at work:The writer of color does not see a contradiction between viewing their characters as individuals and as members of a group….Given the fact that whiteness is considered the universal default, the writer of color must identify her characters in terms of ethnicity and/or race if the characters are not white.Many characters of color possess an awareness of how whites view that character and not just how people of the character’s own race view that character—i.e., The character of color possesses an awareness of the gaze and judgment of the racial/white Other, and the racial hierarchy which structures the society to the benefit of that racial/white Other.For many writers of color, the lens of race is essential to understanding their characters as well as the way the writer herself views her characters and the society in which we live.The writer’s ability to read her characters and the society through the lens of race and her ability to convey the complexities of that reading, often constitute significant criteria through which readers of color evaluate writers of color.But most white readers do not possess this knowledge. It goes against the white aesthetic—and political—assumption that race is not a significant and necessary lens through which to understand characters in literature, whether they are white or people of color. In a similar fashion, most white fiction writers do not think very often about or want to be conscious of their own racial identity—which naming white characters as white would force them to do….Given all these contrasting assumptions by white writers and writers of color, it is therefore impossible to argue that race is not a factor in the aesthetic judgment of works by either white writers or writers of color…[Here] it is useful to note the political implications of this aesthetic rule for white authors: One current practice of Whiteness is to erase Whiteness as a group identity or render it invisible or non-essential when Whiteness benefits from such a view.
In other words, the practice of white authors not identifying their characters racially is very much in keeping with the beliefs and practices of Whiteness as an ideology … And yet most white authors are not aware of the political implications of this practice or their larger general avoidance of the issues of race in regards to their white characters….
Two different literary practices—separate and unequal. Excerpted from The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself: Racial Myths and Our American Narratives by David Mura. Published by the University of Minnesota Press. Copyright 2023 by David Mura. Used by permission.This post is public so feel free to share it.
David Mura is a poet, writer of creative nonfiction and fiction, critic, and playwright. He is author of A Stranger’s Journey: Race, Identity, and Narrative Craft in Writing and the memoirs Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei and Where the Body Meets Memory: An Odyssey of Race, Sexuality, and Identity. He is coeditor, with Carolyn Holbrook, of We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World (Minnesota, 2021). He lives in Minneapolis.
The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself: Racial Myths and Our American Narrativesby David MuraUniversity of Minnesota Press, 2023Uncovering the pernicious narratives white people create to justify white supremacy and sustain racist oppression
From the country’s founding through the summer of Black Lives Matter in 2020, David Mura unmasks how white stories about race attempt to erase the brutality of the past and underpin systemic racism in the present. Mura shows how deeply we need to change our racial narratives to dissolve the myth of Whiteness and fully acknowledge the experiences of Black Americans.
Upcoming Events with David Mura
More than anything, David Mura reminds us that history is still just a story, and life and death lie in who gets to tell it and what’s been told. This is a reexamination of the American imagination itself and the myths we need to dismantle for a proper foundation to finally grow. It’s fearless, illuminating, and revolutionary.
—Marlon James, winner of the 2015 Booker Prize
Launch: February 8, 2023, 7:00 PM CT, Minnesota Humanities Center, 987 Ivy Avenue East, St. Paul, MN 55106 (in-person event) Register for the launch
February 15, 2023, 7:00 PM CT, Hamline Midway Library, 1558 West Minnehaha Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55104. Virtual registration.
February 27, 2023, 6:00 PM CT, Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 Snelling Ave S, St. Paul, Minnesota, 55105. (in-person event)
April 27, 2023, 7:00 PM CT, East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier St, St Paul, MN 55106 (in-person event)
Support Send My Love to AnyoneThis newsletter is free, but you can support it by making a one-time payment to PayPal or by signing up for a monthly or yearly subscription.
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All About Pre-orders | Words Count
My debut collection of stories is coming out this year. The last time I had a solo-authored book published was 2015—eight years ago. In that time, so much has changed. It feels like I’m learning the book business all over again, and I am.
So I’m inviting you to learn along with me as I research, ask my friends and colleagues basic questions, and figure out tips and tricks to navigate the current publishing landscape as a debut short fiction author.
First up is the question of pre-orders. It’s that time in the spring publishing season when writers and publishers are asking (sometimes begging) readers to pre-order their books.
My book is coming out in September, so I thought I would research pre-ordering books and find out what it’s all about.
Should I be pushing for pre-orders? How, why, and who benefits? And are there any drawbacks?
Many writers myself included don’t understand how pre-orders impact them, their publisher, or booksellers. Author Fawn Parker says that she only started pre-ordering when she learned why it's important, but before that as a reader she didn’t preorder books.
I also never pre-ordered books. Why would I buy a book that isn’t out yet and won’t be out for months? I’ll order it when it comes out, I used to think or I’d buy the book at the launch and get the writer to sign it.
Once I became a published poet, I still didn’t understand the point of pre-orders and never pushed them for any of my books.
However, many people in the publishing industry think pre-orders matter a great deal—particularly for debut or small press authors and indie bookstores.
I crowd-sourced about pre-orders on social media and got responses from authors, publicists, presses, and bookstores, which I’m excited to share.
It turns out that pre-orders are a little more complicated than I realized.
Print Run DecisionsOne practical reason pre-orders are important is that they give publishers a sense of how many books to print.
Kirby—poet, essayist, SMLTA columnist, and publisher of knife | fork | books—has this to say about pre-orders:
From a publisher’s point of view, pre-orders give us an idea of how something might be received. They give us an idea of how many copies to print. They help pay the front money towards the publishing of the book. With enough pre-orders, a publisher might print a larger run, which will make a book more available to readers.
Luciana Erregue-Sacchi, who founded and runs Labernito Press, also thinks pre-orders are important. Speaking from the point of view of a micro press, Erregue-Sacchi says, “Post pandemic printing costs and supply chain issues make it critical to calculate printing runs.”
Book Ordering Decisions“I have seen countless times an author get excited, tweet/share the Indigo page for their book and the indies are left in the dust.” —Anjula Gogia, Bookseller
Bookstores appreciate pre-ordering because it helps them decide how many books to have available in their stores once the book is published.
“Pre-orders help indie shops know which books will be in demand,” says author, publicist, and editor, Heather J. Wood. Without pre-orders for instance, "Indigo won’t order copies of the book.”
Toronto bookseller Anjula Gogia says Another Story Bookshop loves pre-orders because it drives business to their store that is actually guaranteed. Another Story uses Bookmanger software which means they don’t receive the money in advance, they charge when the book arrives. But the guaranteed sales are important.
Gogia is frustrated when authors direct their pre-orders to Indigo when they first share their book. “I have seen countless times an author get excited, tweet/share the Indigo page for their book and the indies are left in the dust.”
Sales and Publicity for AuthorsFor writers pre-orders not only help with sales, but also they can create a buzz around the book, which could lead to more publicity down the road and once the book is launched.
Heritage House’s Marketing & Publicity Coordinator, Monica Miller, asks authors to promote preorders among their friends/family/interests. Miller has been told by sales reps that it can help move the dial when a bookseller (or chain) gets requests for a book pre-release. “I don't know if there is a threshold at which these numbers change,” she says, “but for me, it is something tangible I can tell the author to do early on to promote their upcoming book.”
What’s in it for the Reader?Writer and editor, Sanchari Sur always pre-orders books by their favourite authors, “I want to have that writers' new work in my hands asap.”
For readers, pre-orders also ensures you get the book. I recently had the frustrating experience of wanting to read (and still want to read!) Hannah Black’s much buzzed about novella Tuesday or September or The End that isn’t available as an e-book, at the library, or in any store. I have no idea if there will be another print run, and I wish I had preordered or even ordered it when I had the chance!
Author Alexander Chee pre-orders as a reader and mentions pre-ordering to readers. “It’s like getting presents from future me.”
Another benefit for the reader is price. Pre-orders are often listed with a pre-order sale price, so you can get a better deal if it’s a book you are planning to purchase anyway.
The Problem with Pre-ordersPoet and KPU Associate Dean, Billeh Nickerson, doesn’t love pre-orders. For Nickerson, they take some of the fun out of the launch. “I find it so anticlimactic. You have a book launch, but folks have already ordered.”
For his own books, Nickerson doesn’t push pre-orders because he makes more money on the book if he sells books directly at readings and events. “Why should I subsidize big book chains or online stores?”
Nickerson would feel more comfortable about pre-orders if he know more indie bookstores were benefitting and getting the sales.
As an events organizer, Angula Gogia says that Another Story Bookshop doesn’t sell nearly as many books as they used to during launches — partly because people are pre-ordering and purchasing elsewhere.
Pre-orders are even impacting how events operate. Gogia explains that the whole question of pre-orders and events is tricky and some booksellers are reconsidering hosting events because sales are low, and they end up losing money after staffing.
Gogia doesn’t expect all events to make money. Independent bookstores across the country have a deep commitment to supporting small presses, local authors and are rooted in community. “But it would be nice to make some money … If you are an author and are launching your book at an indie bookshop please drive your orders to that specific bookseller. It means a lot to us.”
Sometimes pre-orders aren’t always available on the publication date which is why novelist, blogger, and reader Kerry Clare doesn’t tend to pre-order books unless they might not be in stock otherwise. “I'd much rather go into a shop and just pick it up.”
Library RequestsAnother option that is free (we can’t pre-order everyone’s book) and very helpful for authors and presses is requesting an author’s book at your local library. This helps ensure that there are copies available when the book comes out and libraries will have a sense of the numbers that they need to order.
Not only does requesting a book help an author get copies into a library but also borrowing an author’s book at a library turns into actual cash (in Canada) for the author through the Public Lending Rights Program.
If you are a new author, be sure to sign up for for the PLR program as well as for Access Copyright.
Where Can I Buy Your Book?“Where can I buy your book?” was the number one question I got from friends and acquaintances about my pervious publications. In the past I was very nonspecific and would just say you can order online or at your local bookstore and left them to figure it out on their own. However if an author wants people to buy their books and have readers support independent bookstores, I now think it’s important to be more specific.
Thanks to all the tips and information that everyone has shared, this time around I’m planning to do the legwork for readers by providing links to my favourite indie bookstores on my website as well as a link to Bookmanger, a platform for bookstores that readers can use to find local indie bookstores in Canada and the US.
I will also be reminding readers that requesting a book at their local library is another free way they can support authors they like!
Thank you for reading Send My Love to Anyone. This post is public so feel free to share it.
Authors: How to use Bookmanger to Direct Readers to Independent BookstoresAuthors can use Bookmanger to direct readers to local bookstores by searching for their own book on the site and using that link (instead of Indigo or Amazon) in all their social media bios, Linktr.ee, etc.
When readers click on that link, a SHOP LOCAL button appears which will take readers to their local bookstores that have or can order your book.
I’m planning more posts for my Relearning the Book Business series.
Please let me know what other aspects of the publishing and book world would you like to know about?
Issue #23 of Send My Love to AnyoneAn Excerpt from The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself : Myths and Our American Narratives by David Mura
The Return of the Owl by Kirby
Relearning the Book Business: All about pre-orders by Kathryn Mockler
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Gatherings | Issue 23
Gatherings brings together a list of recommended readings, viewings, calls, art, events, posts that I come across over the month.
Hope you enjoy!
Have you come across something good, cool, interesting?
Let me know!
Kathryn
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.
NewsI’m so thrilled for Téa Mutonji who has won the Journey Prize with two stories—one of which I edited for Joyland Magazine.
You can read the story on Joyland or order the anthology!
@JoylandMagazine, brilliantly ed. by @themockler. I wrote it at @utsc_engdept for class and reimagined it as a novel in my first yr at @NYUCWP. Ty to all the people who’ve entered this story at different stages, recently @AnitaChong9🍬 ","username":"teamutonji","name":"HOT FUNNY GIRL","date":"Wed Jan 25 15:37:18 +0000 2023","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FnVBn_...
HOT FUNNY GIRL @teamutonjiProperty of Neil was originally published in @JoylandMagazine, brilliantly ed. by @themockler. I wrote it at @utsc_engdept for class and reimagined it as a novel in my first yr at @NYUCWP. Ty to all the people who’ve entered this story at different stages, recently @AnitaChong9🍬 
3:37 PM ∙ Jan 25, 202313Likes1RetweetContributor News
Farzana Doctor 📖🔥 (she/her) @farzanadoctorHey friends, could you help spread the word about this event, and more importantly, the injustice Dawn is facing.If you’re not aware, all the information and a petition link is in the event listing below. Thanks! 💗 
Matthew Behrens @MatthewBehren11On February 15, join a beautiful online evening of amazing writers reading in support of award-winning Okanese First Nation writer & activist Dawn Walker, who faces decades in prison for trying to save herself and her child from abuse. Drop ALL charges! https://t.co/RgvarIOLuQ1:54 PM ∙ Jan 27, 202329Likes29RetweetsA Zoom Workshop on Writing Through Climate Anxiety for Ages 13-18 with Sydney Hegele - Starts March 28, 2023
Art I Likega_hee_park_
A post shared by @ga_hee_park_cutler_amy
A post shared by cutler_amy (@cutler_amy)EventsDraft Reading Series invites Charter Subscriptions.
What I’m ReadingCheck out Lynn Coady’s new story in The Walrus! So good!
@Lynn_Coady’s latest short #fiction, a middle-aged woman with a bad hip searches for emotional release. ","username":"thewalrus","name":"The Walrus","date":"Sun Jan 29 16:00:32 +0000 2023","photos":[],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":0,"like_count":4,"expanded_url":{"url":"https://thewalrus.ca/the-money/"... Money | The Walrus","description":"Ever since childhood, words would desert Helen when she got angry—if she felt any kind of strong emotion, really","domain":"thewalrus.ca"},"video_url":null,"belowTheFold":true}">
The Walrus @thewalrusYoga, bodywork, giant leeches. In @Lynn_Coady’s latest short #fiction, a middle-aged woman with a bad hip searches for emotional release. 
thewalrus.caThe Money | The WalrusEver since childhood, words would desert Helen when she got angry—if she felt any kind of strong emotion, really4:00 PM ∙ Jan 29, 2023Moving essay by Matthew Salesses:
Matthew Salesses loves you @salessesI put a whole lot into this essay and I wish more people would read it. On wanting to live:
ti.meHow I Found My Desire to Live After My Wife Died“Sometimes I feel as if my wife was teaching me how to live”3:30 PM ∙ Jan 30, 20231,035Likes212RetweetsEliza’s Gabbert’s book is so relevant to the times. You have to read it.
themockler
A post shared by Kathryn Mockler (@themockler)My first read of 2023:
@themocklerMy first read of 2023 is DUCKS by Kate Beaton! #BookTok #RecommendedReads #GraphicNovels #Books #Writers #WritersOfTikTok [image error]Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
100 Ways to Slightly Improve Your Life Without Trying, The Guardian
Can an artist be happy? Jean Marc Ah-Sen Interviews Arizona O’Neill, Esoterica Magazine
Just subscribed to Noted a newsletter all about diary writing. I’m shitty at keeping regular diaries, but I like reading about those who do.
Noted12 Ways to Use a DiaryHappy 2023! I’m not necessarily one for new year’s resolutions—but, the one resolution I come back to again and again is to keep a written record of my life. Keeping a diary is a gift you give to your future self. I’ve been writing in the same diary since January 2004. It’s a gorgeous, large, pink leather journal that my mother gave me for Christmas that year…Read morea month ago · 89 likes · 68 comments · Jillian HessThe golden age of non-alcohol beer.
What I’m WatchingLand-based Strategies for Generating Poems with Liz Howard:
Salesman (1969) on the Criterion Channel. Directed by Albert Maysels, David Mayseles,and Charlotte Zwerin.
Sad to hear about the death of Michael Snow. Here’s a Michael Snow video from 1982.
Why we all need subtitles
The Book of Leaves
What I’m MakingThis soup will be a part of my life forever. So easy and so good.
hungry.happens
A post shared by Stella Drivas 🇬🇷🇺🇸 (@hungry.happens)Thanks to Carleigh Baker for sharing this recipe on IG. It was a big success! I used walnuts instead of pine nuts.
smittenkitchen
A post shared by smitten kitchen (@smittenkitchen)Calls for Submissions
McClelland & Stewart @McClellandBooksMark your calendars! McClelland & Stewart will receive unagented and unsolicited submissions from March 1st-31st, 2023. We look forward to reading your submissions!4:23 PM ∙ Jan 27, 2023243Likes129Retweets#BertonHouse is an amazing initiative, and the @writerstrust has just announced the 3 writers who will head north this year: \n #Yukon #CanLit #WritingRetreats ","username":"OpenBookON","name":"Open Book","date":"Mon Jan 30 17:48:35 +0000 2023","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FnvPgT... of the three resident writers for Berton House 2023: Charlie Petch, Maria Saba, and Gord Grisenthwaite. Orange header and footer bars with white text reading \"Writers Trust Announces 2023 Berton House Writers\". White Open Book logo bottom right corner"}],"quoted_tweet":{},"retweet_count":2,"like_count":3,"expanded_url":{},"video_url":null,"belowTheFold":true}">
Open Book @OpenBookONOne of the most unique writing opportunities in Canada... #BertonHouse is an amazing initiative, and the @writerstrust has just announced the 3 writers who will head north this year: #Yukon #CanLit #WritingRetreats 
5:48 PM ∙ Jan 30, 20233Likes2Retweetswescreenplay
A post shared by WeScreenplay (@wescreenplay)Issue #23 of Send My Love to AnyoneJanuary 2023 Gatherings
An Excerpt from The Stories Whiteness Tells Itself: Myths and Our American Narratives by David Mura
The First Time: The Return of the Owl by Kirby
Words Count: Relearning the Book Business: All about pre-orders by Kathryn Mockler
Sign up for the Send My Love to Anyone Writing Prompts (free)
Sign up for the Watch Your Head Newsletter (free)
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Big heartfelt thanks to all of the paying subscribers who help make this project possible!
Donated funds go to paying guest authors.
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January 8, 2023
Switching it Up | Words Count
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At the beginning of 2023, I decided to have a lofty goal of writing 1500 words a day. I said that I would fail at this and I did, sort of.
Of course I haven’t been able to keep up with 1500 words a day while having a full time job and working on the final edits of my short story collection.
However my new accountability writing partner and I have decided to kick it up a notch and meet three times a week instead of once. And we came up with this new schedule because I was complaining about not meeting my lofty writing goal.
So I think this is a win, not a failure because having an accountability partner to write with three times a week will ensure I meet my more realistic goal of 500 to 1500 words, three days a week.
Kel Weinhold, who is an excellent writing coach advises, writers touch their work-in-progress at least five minutes each day on the days they aren’t writing. For me, what is difficult about writing is getting into it. By touching your project in some way each day (could be reading something related to it, opening a doc, doing a to-do-list, sending an email, researching something) you’re in it, so it’s not as big of hurdle to get going on the days and times you’ve actually set aside to write.
Yesterday I “touched” my project by reading 1972 novel The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin. Next I’m going to rewatch the film.
I’m writing a horror, so want to immerse myself in the genre.
Let me know if you have any horror recommendations.
Having an accountability writing partner and a clear goal in terms of a word count has been a game changer for me so has being diagnosed with ADHD. At one time I would have thought I was a failure because I needed a writing partner. I can’t help it if my brain goes every which way and I can’t sit still; however, I can put some structures in place so that I can do the work I genuinely want to do.
How have you switched up your goals? What is your game changer?
Kathryn Mockler's debut short story collection is forthcoming from Book*hug in 2023. She is an Assistant Professor in Writing at the University of Victoria.
Support Send My Love to AnyoneThis newsletter is free, but you can support it by making a one-time payment to PayPal or by signing up for a monthly or yearly subscription.
Big heartfelt thanks to all of the paying subscribers who help make this project possible!
Donated funds go to paying guest authors.
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