Laura McGrath

I've preordered yours! (But wouldn't say no to an ARC ;)) And yes, let's chat about ways that we can be in conversation, as I think there's probably a lot of overlap.

Pub date pals!

My editing & publishing class at Temple will be opening soon for submissions for a special online issue of Barrelhouse, with the theme "The Dirty Issue." Fiction & nonfiction up to 2,500 words, and up to 5 poems. Usual @barrelhouse.bsky.social contract & payment.

How the “New York Times” Covers Black Writers - Public Books There has long been a fear that media only makes room for one Black writer at a time. But that’s always been difficult to prove—until now.

Teaching this banger, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to remind you that @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social and I always welcome pitches for the Culture Industries section of Public Books! Bring us your wonkiest, your galaxy-brainest, your in-the-weeds-iest!
www.publicbooks.org/how-the-new-...

Thank you! (And what illustrious company!)

Could not be more excited for this book to come out! If you’re interested in the history of American literature, or why the current literary scene looks the way it does, or how publishing actually works, MIDDLEMEN should be top of your list for next year!

Baby’s got a pub date! And some juicy catalog copy. MIDDLEMEN coming your way on April 26!

(Cover reveal soon!)

Would love to hear about your experience. And I’m so excited for you, Roopsi!! Congrats!!!

(Will add the caveat that nonfiction is super different from the fiction world I cover here.)

Baby’s got a pub date! And some juicy catalog copy. MIDDLEMEN coming your way on April 26!

(Cover reveal soon!)

When I tell you that this song plays on repeat in my head almost every day…

Sure thing! Will send when it’s done. Would love to hear what you’re up to, love it when you start scheming…

I agree! I’m teaching a YA class this spring and we’ll be skipping HP (for all the reasons).

YouTube video by Griefcat - Topic Faeries F*cking

Also play them this song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqN8...

Why Magic, Dragons and Explicit Sex Are in Bookstores Everywhere

Me!!! Not in my bestseller class, but in a YA class I'm launching this spring. Direct line from YA to Romantasy (so I'm arguing, to get students to re-enroll): www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/s...

Lolsob

Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye sold just 2,000 copies in its first year. Today, it’s a number many authors can’t recover from. Writer @tajjaisen.bsky.social examines how the publishing industry’s sales track can make or break careers before they even begin: thewalrus.ca/the-publishing-i...

The Publishing Industry Has a Gambling Problem | The Walrus Companies keep betting on the next bestseller. Literature is poorer for it

“Publishers, as McGrath says, have always been risk averse. But with higher pressure to find a sure thing, more writers who may have been able to sell a book five or ten years ago, whether to a corporate or an independent press, are being left out in the cold.” @tajjaisen.bsky.social @thewalrus.ca

Always!!

I’m always game to follow the data in publishing, and so grateful when the smartest folks (like @tajjaisen.bsky.social) want to hop in the weeds with me. A brilliant piece of reporting.

If my book were about, say, literary agents and the making of NONfiction, Barnett would be the main character. Will be fascinating to watch this vacuum fill, to see how the field rearranges to fill it.

Wowowowow

Hivemind: there is a new nonfiction book, either just or about to be released, about libraries. I can picture the cover in my mind, but the title has entirely escaped me. Googling failed. Anyone have any leads?

Still buzzing after the fantastic workshop on Transnational Perspectives on Literary Agents and Agencies organised by @cecilecottenet.bsky.social, @corinnanorue.bsky.social and Anna Ferrando at @univ-amu.fr. So many ideas and brilliant scholars, and just the perfect location. Thank you everyone!

18-19 September. Very much looking forward to hosting a workshop on Literary agents and circulation of texts: research perspectives, organized with @corinnanorue.bsky.social and Anna Ferrando (U. of Pavia) in Aix-en-Provence.
@lerma.bsky.social @univ-amu.fr
#BookHistory
@sharpnews.bsky.social

It says a lot about who I am, as a person, that yesterday I asked a clerk at Sephora if she could point me to the Philip Roth eye patches.

Yes, I got basically this email!! And my book isn’t even out yet!!!

This is such a wonderful resource from Long Le-Khac and the @post45data.bsky.social: The Canon of Asian American Literature.

I wept! I got my covid jab in the same mall where I bought my prom dress, inside a repurposed JC Penney.

Mellon Foundation The Mellon Foundation makes grants to actively unlock the power in the arts and humanities that helps connect us all.

“American Academy of Arts&Sciences reports 96.3% of humanities grads age 23-32 fully employed. Earnings in humanitiess comparable to social/life sciences, job satisfaction levels too. A serious mismatch bw actual employment for hum grads +general perception."
www.mellon.org/voices/human...

Thanks, Maris!