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Katy Hershberger

@katyhersh.bsky.social

Work at Publishers Lunch. Writing at NYTBR, Washington Post, LitHub, Slate, Longreads, etc. KatyHershberger.com

2,057 Followers  |  321 Following  |  23 Posts  |  Joined: 17.10.2023
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Posts by Katy Hershberger (@katyhersh.bsky.social)

blue graphic with an outline of the United States. Red and white text reads: Call. National Book Banning Bill Proposed in US House of Reps. Tell your rep: Vote no on H.R. 7661.

blue graphic with an outline of the United States. Red and white text reads: Call. National Book Banning Bill Proposed in US House of Reps. Tell your rep: Vote no on H.R. 7661.

We've had a day to pull a few things together, so here's a thread some more targeted info opposing the potential national book ban just proposed in the House of Representatives.

27.02.2026 14:07 β€” πŸ‘ 104    πŸ” 107    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 4
Image showing Mayor Mamdani looking frustrated, with a text overlaid that reads β€œNYC Public Library Action Network” at the top, and in large bold letters text that reads β€œMayor Mamdani did not honor his commitment to allocate 0.5% of the city expense budget to NYC public libraries in his preliminary budget” and then in smaller font below, there is text that reads β€œvisit NYCPLAN.ORG for more information”

Image showing Mayor Mamdani looking frustrated, with a text overlaid that reads β€œNYC Public Library Action Network” at the top, and in large bold letters text that reads β€œMayor Mamdani did not honor his commitment to allocate 0.5% of the city expense budget to NYC public libraries in his preliminary budget” and then in smaller font below, there is text that reads β€œvisit NYCPLAN.ORG for more information”

While a candidate, @mayor.nyc.gov pledged to commit 0.5% of the city’s budget to public libraries.

Unfortunately, Mayor Mamdani has broken this promise in his preliminary FY27 budget, released yesterday, where he allocated 0.39% to libraries.

This amount is well below the promised 0.5%

18.02.2026 12:44 β€” πŸ‘ 239    πŸ” 110    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 23

I would not be a journalist without WaPo - their arts coverage, their local influence, their internships - starting as a teenager when they had a program for kids to write about high school theatre. Heartbroken for their staff, readers, the whole news ecosystem.

04.02.2026 16:00 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

serious aaWOOOOgah is right

22.01.2026 14:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks to Taylor and Travis for getting engaged today to help promote my piece about how wedding is a performance!

26.08.2025 17:32 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Writing Someone Else’s Autofiction… When They’re a Pop Star Turned Wedding Singer In the back room of a Brooklyn bar, a nonbinary performance artist named Skye is suddenly nervous before their show. Soon, they will pretend to marry their polyamorous partner, who they really do l…

For @literaryhub.bsky.social, I wrote about Jens Lekman as a wedding singer and becoming a character in your own story.

26.08.2025 17:20 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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Writing Someone Else’s Autofiction… When They’re a Pop Star Turned Wedding Singer In the back room of a Brooklyn bar, a nonbinary performance artist named Skye is suddenly nervous before their show. Soon, they will pretend to marry their polyamorous partner, who they really do l…

Writing someone else’s autofiction: how novelist David Levithan fictionalized musician Jens Lekman’s side hustle as a… wedding singer.

26.08.2025 14:30 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I have been looking for a jacket like this!

27.05.2025 19:15 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear

20.05.2025 17:34 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Log In | Publishers Marketplace

A cool, new feature we just launched (for members): You can search years of PM Job Board listings to see the posted salary information.
www.publishersmarketplace.com/jobs/salary....

09.01.2025 22:52 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Still Alive | A magazine for the living A magazine for the living, about the living. Preorder issue 3 now.

This spring I wrote about my kid's baffling inner life, the malleability of the self, and one weird old chicken.
stillalivemag.com/articles/spi...

12.11.2024 16:15 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Kids Media Is In Its Villain Era Storytelling for children is finally moving beyond the good guy vs. bad guy tropes, and we all stand to benefit.

For Romper I wrote about my goth child and finding humanity in the monsters and bad guys of children’s media. www.romper.com/entertainmen...

15.03.2024 15:39 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Freelance Publicists Keep the Stress of In-House Publicity But Earn Higher Paychecks - Publishers Lunch It’s a common fantasy. On a stressful day in the office, inbox overflowing, being pulled from meeting to meeting, while the work never seems to end: What if I worked for myself? In reality, is the fle...

Never not repping publicists. lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2024/02/free...

26.02.2024 20:47 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Antitrust Trial Archives - Publishers Lunch

lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/category/ant...

31.12.2023 23:02 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Behind the Minimum Wages at Indie Bookstores - Publishers Lunch Our reporting on compensation in different segments of the publishing industry continues with independent bookstores, where low pay seems like a foregone conclusion. Though indies have grown and diver...

lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2023/06/behi...

31.12.2023 23:00 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Non-Union Harper Employees Discuss Workload, In-House Morale, and Solidarity - Publishers Lunch As the Harper Union marks its 64th business day picketing outside of the company’s financial district headquarters, many non-union employees inside the building feel similarly disheartened and burne...

lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2023/02/non-...

31.12.2023 22:58 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Book Critics Build Careers, But Can't Make a Living - Publishers Lunch For this first in a series looking at compensation in different corners of the book business, we found that pay for book critics varies widely by publication and type of pieceβ€”but none of it is enou...

lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2022/10/book...

31.12.2023 22:57 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Publishing Workers Feel the Burn Out - Publishers Lunch Princeton University Press recently announced their U.S. and U.K. offices would close the week of Aug. 30. β€œThis has been a year of extraordinary new endeavors and collaborations, as well as unprece...

lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2021/09/publ...

31.12.2023 22:57 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

For work @publisherslunch.bsky.social, I've reported on burnout, unions, low morale, lower pay, and that time PRH tried to buy S&S. Proud of the work, hopeful for the future.

31.12.2023 22:56 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

I called Courtney Summers "a master of the bitch" and I stand by it electricliterature.com/this-book-an...

31.12.2023 22:53 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Why Aren’t Female Celebrities Writing More Novels? If Sean Penn and James Franco can publish novels, why not Reese Witherspoon or Constance Wu?

In Slate, I considered the sexism of celebrity vanity project novels slate.com/culture/2019...

31.12.2023 22:51 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Two Suicidal Teens, Four Possible Paths (Published 2020) Aaron and Tillie are strangers, until they meet on a bridge. Bill Konigsberg’s new novel explores where four different plotlines could take them.

For the NYTBR, I reviewed Bill Konigsberg's THE BRIDGE: www.nytimes.com/2020/09/05/b...

31.12.2023 22:50 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Rereading the Master of β€˜Dying Teen’ Lit I grew up on a Virginia cul-de-sac with two parents and a Super Nintendo. I thought myself serious and pensive; I considered the meaning of life, not just a grade on a spelling quiz. I was both pre…

"I was introduced to real life pain through imaginary people." Remember Lurlene McDaniel? I do! lithub.com/rereading-th...

31.12.2023 22:50 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Who Agrees That Swimming in the Ocean Is Scary? | Katy Hershberger β€œSwim!” he yelled, but it was too late for me.

This essay is about aging and fear and the beach. RIP Catapult catapult.co/stories/who-...

31.12.2023 22:47 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Losing My Religion at Christian Camp - Longreads Katy Hershberger recalls the way her decade at Christian summer camp both shaped and condemned her views of faith and girlhood.

Here's an essay for Longreads about summer and faith and girlhood longreads.com/2019/08/08/l...

31.12.2023 22:44 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Perspective | Learning how to parent in a world I cannot control We do it all to protect our children and have a sense of control. But how much can we do?

For The Washington Post, I wrote about parenthood and the pandemic and the myth of protection and my boobs. www.washingtonpost.com/parenting/20...

31.12.2023 22:41 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Feels like a good day to populate this place with some of my writing (not all from this year)...

31.12.2023 22:39 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0