Letters From Libby James

I have worked in a handful of libraries, and do you know how many indie published books we carried? Honestly, not many. And I want to tell you why—because most authors didn’t do the things that allowed us to use our budget on their books. I have worked in libraries in more than one state, inside systems with very different budgets and rules, and the fastest way to guarantee your book does not end up on a shelf is to place it in the return bin and hope someone discovers it. In most systems,...

Sometimes clients will send me articles they've read that they want me to read and give my opinion on. The other morning, I received one from a client, one he particularly liked. I felt myself starting to respond that this was a very basic article, and something that I've heard regurgitated in literary circles and classrooms for 25 years. I just felt like this was very beginner for someone who touted so much experience in their byline. In the article, he talked about breaking the rules, when...

Last year, the lit journal I work with had to pull a piece they had published after they received a cease and desist letter from someone who had been featured in someone else’s piece. Although we, as writers, did not believe the case would have succeeded if it had gone to court, that was not ours to argue. The agreement the journal has with writers is that if we receive a letter like that, we pull the piece. We cannot afford to open ourselves up to a legal battle. We do not have the funding...

Wasn’t it just last weekend I wrote you about some bullshit going on in the literary world? Well, I am back with some more. This is what is happening this week in lit news: https://substack.com/home/post/p-191583556 Now, the day the NYT article came out, I did a deep dive on Reddit about it and got really hot and bothered, so by today, by the time I read this piece, I am pretty much like, “This is the conversation we are going to be having for the next decade, isn’t it? I am over it already....

Back in November, at Author Nation, J.L. Birchwood and I sat down at a table and chatted with a few authors she knew from the Midwest. She suddenly realized that I did not know the man sitting across from me. “You don’t know Donovan? He is here every year. He owns a bookstore.” I was instantly on board with getting to know him. And he had a beard. And I would later find out he also plays D&D. Books, beards, and board games—all the things I like. I knew I had to begin a quest to make him a...

I have been following along with this ongoing story, and I thought you might want to know about it. You definitely want to know about this if you are an editor, or if you love your editor and want to support them. We all know that AI can be awesome and helpful, but that it is also horrible for the environment, and that the people running AI tend to be horribly unethical. So Grammarly boarded the unethical train and is in big doo-doo right now. Early in the week, Jane Friedman sent out a link...

I promised that I would go into more detail about my move across the country, and I guess now is that time. I think that it is very interesting that right after I left Minnesota, there was a major blizzard. I drove most of the way in 60-70 degree sunshine, and then when I reached my new state, I entered another blizzard. It was like a little sign. One of many: this place will feel like home soon enough. I recently traded the Northwoods of Minnesota for the White Mountains of Arizona. This was...