Jeff O'Neal

a retail GAME. nothing like pressing send to find your mistakes.

An Agent's View on Publishing and Writing a Book Podcast Episode · First Edition · 06/10/2025 · 51m

Publishing is a retail.
Writing is hard.
Sometimes you should give up on a book.
A winding journey for your project is normal.

@katemckean.bsky.social on FIRST EDITION to talk about her new book, WRITE THROUGH IT: AN INSIDER'S GUIDE TO PUBLISHING AND THE CREATIVE LIFE

Barnes & Noble is Ready to Name the Best Books of the Year...So Far B&N's best of the year so far, IMLS gets zeroed out in new budget proposal, Han Kan's latest on super sale, and more in Today in Books.

"If I were the Ombudsman for Common Sense in Books, July 1 would be the earliest date you were allowed to publish (Best Books of the Year So Far lists)."

1000 percent agree. Thank you, @jeffoneal.bsky.social!!!!

bookriot.com/barnes-noble...

Broccoli Rabe The quick-thinking that led to you even knowing what Broccoli Rabe is

I wrote about why you know what broccoli rabe is.

This is an unbelievably great tip, especially if the agent isn't mention in the acknowledgments. Wish there was an equivalent hack for figuring out the editor. (Maybe there is?)

"Getting the reps in, in the form of bad drafts, sunken soufflés, buggy code, or whatever tossable widget you produce is an unskippable track that you must play. Probably a couple of full albums, honestly.”

kindagenius.substack.com/p/there-has-...

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We're doing a live recording of the @bookriotpod.bsky.social on March 13th at 7pm at @powells.bsky.social. Topic? The Most Recommendable Books of the Century.....so far. Come if you can!

How THE MILLIONS' Seasonal Previews Get Made with Sophia Stewart Sophia Stewart of The Millions and Publisher Weekly talk about what goes into previewing a season's worth of book releases.

The seasonal previews that THE MILLIONS publishes have become an indispensable part of the bookish world. @sophiastewart.bsky.social, who makes them happen, talks about how it's done.

Tried to write something interesting about AI.

kindagenius.substack.com/p/the-one-th...

Now here is a just-announced pairing I would not have gotten if you had given me a thousand guesses.

Oh, the dizzying and mystical blend of erudition, eroticism, and good-old fashioned play of Tom Robbins. Vegetable homages, absurdist near-Zen aphorisms, and tequila ribaldries: with him, you could be more playful & holy than you thought possible. Smooth sailing into the great whatever, TR.

Shot in the dark here, but anybody know anybody (or is anybody) who worked with Tom Robbins? Or just really like Tom Robbins? Want to talk to someone about him for a BR podcast, but am unusually light on ideas about who to approach.

This is what happens I guess when I watch TV and have feelings about it.

kindagenius.substack.com/p/thank-you-...

Been awhile since I read a book where it genuinely made me feel like I understood something new, but which I had long felt, like LIFE IN THREE DIMENSIONS. And it is super-bookish to boot. The interview I did with Prof. Oishi for First Edition was a real treat:

bookriot.com/listen/life-...

Human Writing, LLMs, and the Challenges and Opportunities of Living in the Age of AI - BOOK RIOT John Warner joins Jeff to talk about his new book, More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI. We talk about the teaching of writing,

Really enjoyed talking with @biblioracle.bsky.social about his new book MORE THAN WORDS. Relate to the suspicion, but find myself more interested in what LLMs reveal about what the use of writing, versus just production of text, are for thinking, creating, and just being a person.

Video Rebecca Kuang unveils 'Katabasis' book cover "GMA" reveals the cover of the bestselling author's new novel, where two rival students journey to the underworld to save their professor's soul.

Katabasis by R.F. Kuang cover reveal!

It's described as a "dark academia fantasy in which two graduate students must put aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul—perhaps at the cost of their own."

Y'all excited?

#booksky

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If there is one thing you can definitively say about blurbs it is that they have a 0% approval rating among authors. In an author hate-off between blurbs and Goodreads, blurbs win, no?

Libraries are Good in Ways You Might Not Expect Libraries are good for you in ways you might not have thought of, an overdue translation comes to English, dystopian novels pop (again). All in today's book news.

Laughed (in a laugh or I'll cry way) at @jeffoneal.bsky.social raging about the dystopian book sale bump in today's edition of Today in Books.

Have we learned nothing? We have learned nothing.

#books

bookriot.com/libraries-ar...

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7 Kinda Genius Links of January, 2025 Stop scrolling.

A museum of stuff, the manifold uses of craftivism, a factory for prestige architecture, Humanity’s Last Exam: all make the cut for my most memorable reads of January.

The Sail & The Anchor Or, When to Be Flexible and When to Take a Stand

"I struggle with this in most new projects. Which parts shouldn’t move because they are indeed crucial to success? What can go into the “we’ll figure it out later” pile? A creative intransigence can sink something that has potential, just as a lack of clarity can lead to a rudderless muddle."

The Oscar Nominations Are Out—7 of 10 of the Best Picture Nominations Are Adaptations The majority of the movies up for the Best Picture Award are adaptations, but not just of books.

I shout about this every year, but the number of the most-awarded movies every year that started out as books is under-appreciated. Literary and book culture matter.

bookriot.com/the-oscar-no...

Power Ranking the Books of 2015 - BOOK RIOT Jeff and Rebecca look back and power-rank the books of 2015. Ten picks each, minimal cheating.

2015 was a pretty amazing year for books. This was a tough one.
bookriot.com/listen/power...

Do You Let Yourself Have Good Ideas? It's harder than it looks.

Like most things that are fun to write, I started out this one intending to write about something completely different.

"To Whom I Can Tell My My Precious Candy-Making Secrets": The Ending of WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (1971) A compact on creativity, in brief

Wrote about one of my favorite childhood memories and the adaptation addition that I still think about. Also included: Hall & Oates' "Man-Eater," early VHS life, and the real-life chocolate spies that inspired the book.

If you know Jeff, you know this will be absolutely fascinating.

very kind, greg. Will endeavor to live up to that.

This was a ton of fun to do. Sometimes, the interviewee coming in cold can actually be a better interview. Thanks to @nnedi.bsky.social for being so game. And go check out DEATH OF THE AUTHOR, out now!