Forward through February

Hello all! Thank you, again, for being here. It’s been a weird past month or so, to be honest. It’s surreal to have so many publishing dreams coming true at the same time it feels like the world is falling apart.

If I may digress from writing for a moment. (Because yes, writing is inherently political, especially but not exclusively if you have any sort of marginalized identity.) I’ve been calling my representatives. A lot. If you live in the US, I highly recommend the 5 Calls app, which gives you a rundown on current issues, a script, and contact information on whom to call.

I also keep reminding myself that joy is resistance, and celebrating that I have a book with a queer, disabled main character coming out in three months (!!) is definitely resistance, too. Now is a great time to support diverse voices—and I feel awkward asking, but I assume you’re here because you’re interested in mine, so if you preorder Behooved I’d be so deeply grateful. Preorders really help books, and debuts in particular. If you can’t preorder, library requests are also incredibly helpful.

News

First, just a note to say thank you to everyone who entered the ARC giveaway! The winner has been contacted!

Now this month’s news! I actually have had quite a lot of good news in the last month or so on the publishing front.

First and most exciting—I am now allowed to share that there will be a special edition of Behooved for US readers! The Bookish Box has selected it as their monthly pick for May. This is open to the general public as well as subscribers—I believe orders open in April, and of course I’ll update when I know more details. This edition is going to be so gorgeous—I’ve seen a few sketches and truly, it is shaping up to be stunning.

Second, I was a guest on the Unfortunately… podcast! You can listen to my interview about my publication journey and the role luck plays here.

Third, CJ Subko and I are launching an anthology! It’s called Enter Here, and it’s a collection of thirteen speculative short stories celebrating marginalized writers. We’ll be launching a Kickstarter to fund our operating costs in April and opening to submissions in June, so please put it on your calendar and stay tuned for how to support it and get your hands on a copy!

Finally: I’m delighted to announce that I’m partnering with a few fabulous independent bookstores for a preorder campaign!

If you live in the US, you can order from Buffalo Street Books or Jay’s House Bookshop and Bakery to get a copy (either signed or with a signed book plate) that comes with a bookmark, a title sticker, and one of two adorable stickers featuring mythical creatures from the world of Behooved. The sticker art is by Marcella W.—definitely check her work out! Both bookstores will ship anywhere in the country.

If you’re not in the US, I’ve still got you covered! I’m also offering a preorder incentive that’s open internationally (including for US preorders). Submit your preorder receipt or library request via this form, and you’ll get a free digital bonus epilogue after the book releases.

I’ll also be bringing some stickers with me for any events I do, which I’ll be announcing closer to publication in May! I’m working on having some fun special swag for events and am excited to share more soon.

Writing updates

As mentioned in my last newsletter, I’ve turned in both my second contracted book and my YA fantasy heist, which leaves me between projects this month. I’ve been bouncing between projects since right now I feel like what I need is to keep busy with writing rather than take a break.

I started February by outlining a sequel to the YA fantasy, since the goal is to sell it as a duology. This is the first time I’ve fully outlined a sequel, and I had a lot more fun with it than I expected to—now I really hope I get to write this book! I’ll probably save the details of how I went about it for a different newsletter’s craft post.

I also spent some time this month writing a bonus epilogue for Behooved (yes, the one for the preorder campaign!). This is probably the last thing I’ll write in Bianca’s voice and, unless my publisher decides they want a spinoff novel, the last writing I’ll do in the world of Behooved. It’s a weird realization, but not a particularly sad one for me—I’m ready and excited to move on to other stories.

I also pulled out no fewer than six other projects in an attempt to decide what to work on. I’ve landed (at least for now) on finishing more edits on the YA to get ready for sub, and then revising the sapphic contemporary rom com that’s been sitting around as a first draft since September 2023 (I’m shocked it’s been that long, but 2024 was busy and this wasn’t a priority project). I was making myself laugh rereading the draft, which definitely feels like something I need right now.

Practically speaking, it’s also one of the few things that wouldn’t be languishing for a long time before I can submit it to editors due to contract and other reasons, so that’s also a motivating factor. And it isn’t on a deadline, so I can pause and return throughout the year as necessary. We’ll see how it goes, since I expect to have more deadlines this year that will take priority!

I’ve also worked on getting first round edits to my Round Table Mentees—not writing, strictly speaking, but definitely something that engages my editorial brain!

Crafty Corner

As I’m currently waiting for feedback on not one, but two projects and am in a lull between deadlines, I thought this seemed like a great time to talk about what to do while you wait!

There is a lot of waiting in publishing. Seriously, so much. You have to wait for feedback from beta readers. Responses to your queries. Notes from your agent. Responses from publishers. Notes from your editor… the list goes on. If one thing is guaranteed in publishing, it’s that you will be waiting for something at some point. Probably multiple. At once.

So… what do you do while you’re waiting?

What works for one person of course isn’t going to be a universal answer. Everyone works differently, so figuring out what works for you is going to be critical to your mental health. But here are some of the things I do:

Write the next book. This is my preferred route. I do best when I have an active project—when I don’t, I flail. I find that working on something new keeps me distracted in a good way—I genuinely love writing and find it invigorating, so it’s really nice to have something I’m excited about to fixate on instead of waiting to hear news.

Having the next book in progress also has the benefit of meaning you have the next thing on the way if a project doesn’t get agented or sell, and/or that you have something else to pitch if you have the possibility of a multi-book deal. The downsides are that you might end up with a backlog of unpublished books if you write fast (I have several, including the aforementioned rom com)… and if you actually need to take a break, obviously working on something new is not going to help with that.

Just to note, many people report being struggling to work on the next thing while they’re waiting for news, so if that’s you, you’re not alone and it’s not unusual.

Planning and research. Some books need a lot of research, especially if you’re doing heavy world building or are writing historical settings (though I’ve actually found that my contemporary settings need the most research, because I can’t just make stuff up like I would for fantasy). If, like me, you thrive on feeling productive, research also scratches that itch.

Sometimes when I’m between projects I’ll just do a lot of brainstorming and capture those ideas so the groundwork is laid when I’m ready to start outlining or drafting!

Take a break. This is probably the most logical and healthy thing to do. I rarely do it. Perhaps you are healthier than me and can spend some time refilling the well.

Work on something that isn’t a book. This is, in fact, what I’m doing right this moment. The craft sections of this newsletter take me the longest, so when I have a gap between deadlines I sometimes write a couple of these at once and save them for later. Deadline gaps are also a good time to catch up on author finances and/or work on marketing stuff if you’re at that stage.

Do you have questions or topics you’d like me to cover in this section? Leave a comment or hit reply!

Book recommendations

Sticking with my theme of recommending books from the previous month, I have two short ones for you this month!

First is The River Has Roots—a fantasy novella by one of the authors of This is How You Lose the Time War. It’s lovely, it’s lyrical, it’s about sisterly bonds and murder ballads and how language is its own form of magic. It isn’t out until March (sorry, it’s so good I ignored that part of my own rec guidelines) so I highly recommend preordering it now.

Second is The Serviceberry, a longform nonfiction essay by the author of Braiding Sweetgrass (one of my all time favorites). It talks about the power of gift economies and abundance mindsets as a way of combating climate change and more. It’s a gentle hug of a book, much needed for the current times.

To see all my newsletter recommendations, visit the full list here!

Stay safe, friends. If you’re in the US, call your representatives. Or email them. Or both.

~Marina