Lauren MacLeod

If you are a lit agent and aren’t a member of @aalitagents.bsky.social you just missed such a good webinar / Q&A with class council on the Anthropic case. The AI and copyright stuff our team is doing is worth ten times the dues I’m paying.

Second panel of the day is on the Creator Economy— a big common theme is engagement. (So, uh, like and subscribe for more content like this!) #peopleofpublishing

Happy @peopleofpublishing.bsky.social day to all those who celebrate! Absolutely nothing I love more than seeing all my friends and colleagues IRL. #peopleofpublishing #peopleofpublishing25

If you are an author and The Atlantic’s article on LibGen, pirated books, and AI/LLM training has you in a tailspin, might I recommend checking out Jodi’s fantastic newsletter about it?

Hahahahha that was also my experience.

I completely forgot that running into the tiny grocery store today would force me to bear witness to every kind of Nashville’s worst husbands and boyfriends.

All I can really say at this point is if everyone isn't watching how trans people have lost basic rights and protections on a scale that hasn't been seen in decades in the span of 72 hours and realizing that even if you aren't trans there's nothing stopping it from happening to you, you're a fool

I’m spending a lot more of my midlife than I’d anticipated focusing on acquiring increasingly warmer socks. Is that climate change or just aging?

A few weeks ago I was on the "Oddly Specific" podcast talking about how lost I felt after losing my literary agent.

What I didn't know was that the universe and @laurenmacleod.bsky.social was listening and I am happy to share that I am now reppedx by Aevitas Creative.

2025 - I am SOOO ready.

Query Tracker's Top 10 Most Rejecting Agents list

For the record, the reason I think I'm #1 is that I'm only open on Query Manager to a select few nonfiction subgenres (cookbooks, food, pop culture, true crime), and, despite that, MOST of what I get in this inbox are novels the novelist described as "pop culture." But I do sign clients from here!

I wonder how many hours of my life I’ve spent trying to get my favorite dog to understand that this restaurant doesn’t begin seating for dog dinner service until 5 p.m.

Devastated to hear the news that Anita Bryant was still alive.

I love the level of “wheeeee! It’s going to snow for real real!!!” in Nashville’s local news coverage today. The weather nerds almost never get to promise kids snowmen down here and they are loving it.

You’ll be minding your own business stirring some soup, and all of a sudden your Dad will enter the family group text to claim something wild and categorically untrue, like “in my day we only got five days off school for Christmas.” It is like texting with chatgpt.

Well, this year I turn 40, and per that promise to myself, my 2025 resolution is to dramatically increase my wearing of daytime sparkles.

When I was little my Mom once pointed out to me an elderly local gossip in the grocery store who was wearing all her jewelry and was draped in a rhinestones, fur, sequins, and several silk scarves. I told my disapproving mother I was going to dress like that when I was old.

a black and white photo of a man in a suit holding a box in his hand . ALT: a black and white photo of a man in a suit holding a box in his hand .

Time to watch the second best Christmas-centered movie about attempting to off oneself starring Jimmy Stewart!

Happy cookies for breakfast week to all who celebrate!

Y’all the publishing scams are wild this year. Writers take note!

I cannot say enough nice things about Regina, I’ve loved working with her to make @aalitagents.bsky.social bigger and better; she’s incredibly inspiring and generous and motivating! So well deserved!

Can confirm Jodi is one of the best at editing herself!

I’m worried I’m going to be hospitalized for dehydration if the algorithm continues constantly feeding me videos of people getting puppies for Christmas.

One of my favorite Hallmark movie tropes is signaling how much Christmas spirit the character has based on how much whipped cream and candy these adults order on top of their morning coffee.

Today I learned that if you mostly listen to books & podcasts on your phone, but then you spend one (1) Easter weekend slightly too into singing the original cast album of Jesus Christ Superstar to your three dogs, it REALLY makes an impression.

So happy to support LAOC this #givingtuesday -- the Fellowship Program encourages recruitment & the Mentorship Program focuses on the retention/promotion of agents belonging to historically underrepresented groups. As a mentor, I've had the pleasure of seeing how much impact this work has!

Extremely helpful! All the Reddit stuff and videos I’ve seen are people doing project management which is so much less helpful than Susan’s post.

Alas, I definitely can’t pick up Scrivener because @jodimeadows.bsky.social and the rest of my clients would become too soft and happy. Gotta keep them tough for publisher’s workflows!

Anyone want to talk me into or out of an e-ink notebook? Writers (or colleagues?), do any of you use one to edit your books? I’m itching to try something different than my current system of iPad word docs or taking notes on my phone while I read on an e-reader in 2025.

I've had a couple writers recently withdraw immediately saying they signed with another agent, so I thought I'd do a mini chat on what's expected once you receive an offer.

1) thank the offering agent. Let them know you still have materials out and ask for 2 weeks to make your decision.

On this morning, I can’t help but think about how Miracle on 34th Street starts with overprotective mother / Thanksgiving parade coordinator Maureen O’Hara being super chill with little Natalie Wood spending a bunch of time with the adult man across the hall whom she has not yet met.