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tortoisebooks.bsky.social @tortoisebooks.bsky.social · 13d

Super useful, tbh. (And no, that wasn't sarcasm, Average Reader!)

olive consumer's ambulatory skeleton @machete.gay · Sep 5

this is the most useful short-form video i've ever seen
www.youtube.com/shorts/aALT9...

What’s it mean “The average American reads at an 8th grade level?”?

YouTube video by GenericArtDad

www.youtube.com

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tortoisebooks.bsky.social @tortoisebooks.bsky.social · 19d

"The book business may be centred in New York, but the logic is pure Las Vegas." An excellent piece by @tajjaisen.bsky.social that perfectly captures the ethos we're trying to avoid.

Tajja Isen @tajjaisen.bsky.social · 20d

I spent the summer reporting this essay on why it seems harder than ever to sell a book right now—especially if it isn't a debut and comes with the dreaded "sales track." I'm grateful to the writers, agents, editors, publishers & experts who spoke to me for this piece: thewalrus.ca/the-publishi...

The Publishing Industry Has a Gambling Problem | The Walrus

Companies keep betting on the next bestseller. Literature is poorer for it

thewalrus.ca

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tortoisebooks.bsky.social @tortoisebooks.bsky.social · Sep 13

Went looking for this. Was not disappointed.

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Nicholas Whyte 白怀珂 ǝʇʎɥM sɐloɥɔᴉN @nwhyte.bsky.social · Sep 13

Your occasional reminder that Ursula K. Le Guin and Philip K. Dick were in the same year in the same high school, liked each other’s writing, but never met in person.

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Gabino Iglesias @gabino.bsky.social · Sep 13

I know people are pretending it’s not or like it makes you weak or something, but kindness is punk as fuck.

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Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · Sep 13

"On the last episode of his show before he was killed," Kirk told "his audience, falsely, that “one in 22 Black men will be a murderer in their lifetime” and that “by age of 23, half of all Black males have been arrested and not enough of them have been arrested.”

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · Sep 13

wrote on charlie kirk for the newsletter this weekend

Opinion | Charlie Kirk Didn’t Shy Away From Who He Was. We Shouldn’t Either.

www.nytimes.com

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Jared Pechaček @vandroidhelsing.bsky.social · Sep 13

fifteen years in and I’m still mad at anyone who described Inception as mindbending. “wow this flour is so spicy!” that’s how you sounded

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tortoisebooks.bsky.social @tortoisebooks.bsky.social · Sep 9

Absolutely awesome email we received from an Oklahoma bookseller about ALL TRAP NO BAIT. We are conquering the country, one state at a time! (Starting in the middle.)

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tortoisebooks.bsky.social @tortoisebooks.bsky.social · Sep 9

Absolutely awesome email we received from an Oklahoma bookseller about ALL TRAP NO BAIT. We are conquering the country, one state at a time! (Starting in the middle.)

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After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest, @megapolisomancy.bsky.social · Sep 8

The people cry out with a voice that is often still confused but is becoming ever louder and clearer:

death to the tyranny of the release date

Justin Taylor @justintaylor.bsky.social · Sep 8

Worst thing to happen to book crit was getting mercilessly synced to pub dates. writer gets 97% of the coverage they're ever getting by the end of week 2, & if the book is widely reviewed (positive or not) in prestige places some of your would-be audience burns out on takes & skips the book itself.

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tortoisebooks.bsky.social @tortoisebooks.bsky.social · Sep 8

Still catching our breath after the feeding frenzy of Printers Row Lit Fest! It's awesome when you have to throw out a huge amount of packing material because so many of the books--almost 200!--that were in boxes in your basement are now on bookshelves all over Chicagoland.

#indiepublisher

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Patrick Chovanec @prchovanec.bsky.social · Sep 7

Just wondering how many folks in the Pentagon are cool with the fact that the enemy is no longer Russia or China but non-Trumpy Americans.

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Tom McAllister @tmcallister.bsky.social · Sep 7

if I were one of Rodney Dangerfield's rivals, I simply would have shown him the appropriate amount of respect, thereby undermining his entire act

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Kathleen Rooney @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social · Sep 7

An awesome novel you blurbed for @tortoisebooks.bsky.social = a good mail day

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tortoisebooks.bsky.social @tortoisebooks.bsky.social · Sep 7

Super big thanks to everyone who came out to Printers Row...this was not only our largest sales day ever, we almost caught up to our largest Lit Fest weekend total! And if you missed it...we'll be back tomorrow! (The Small Press Tent, Tent GG, on Dearborn just a few slots north of Polk.)

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Jerry Brennan @jerrybrennan.bsky.social · Sep 6

Look, AA is cool and all, but have you ever tried...GG?

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tortoisebooks.bsky.social @tortoisebooks.bsky.social · Sep 5

Whoops, here's the link: www.metropolitanreview.org/p/to-go-big-...

To Go Big or Come Home?

On the Writing Life With Major and Indie Publishers

www.metropolitanreview.org

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tortoisebooks.bsky.social @tortoisebooks.bsky.social · Sep 5

"My grad students typically leave these meetings having processed the message that whatever you’re working on is wrong...I tell them to make the thing they believe in." Wonderful
@tmcallister.bsky.social piece about @rosemetalpress.bsky.social

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tortoisebooks.bsky.social @tortoisebooks.bsky.social · Sep 5

It's earning rave reviews from the likes of @ajc.com (The source of the above quote!) He'll be signing books from 11-12 and 1-2 tomorrow at the Small Press Tent on Dearborn a little north of Polk...be there!

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tortoisebooks.bsky.social @tortoisebooks.bsky.social · Sep 5

Author Joe Worthen is barreling through Kentucky to sell copies of his new book ALL TRAP NO BAIT to you, Chicagoland! In this "delightfully morbid and sardonically humorous debut," he looks at the travails of one terminally online and perpetually underearning and Xanax-fogged substitute teacher.

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tortoisebooks.bsky.social @tortoisebooks.bsky.social · Sep 5

Another new book for Printers Row...PLAY, REWIND by @johnvurrowriter.bsky.social! This book will warm and break your heart as it chronicles the struggles of a video store clerk whose mom suffers from Alzheimer's. (Plus, let's be honest, you need a good hit of video store nostalgia right about now.)

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Adam Kovac @boondock60mm.bsky.social · Sep 5

Gearing up to attend the Printers Row lit fest in Chicago tomorrow. I'll be signing copies of THE SURGE at the @tortoisebooks.bsky.social booth in the small press tent from 1-3 pm. Stop by, it'd be fabulous to see you.

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tortoisebooks.bsky.social @tortoisebooks.bsky.social · Sep 4

Making his Printers Row debut (in spirit) we have @davidlebrun.bsky.social and his extraordinary memoir, DELIRIUM VITAE! As a young writer, he went to Costa Rica to live cheaply while he wrote the book he was sure would bring him fame and fortune--only to run out of money far sooner than expected.

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tortoisebooks.bsky.social @tortoisebooks.bsky.social · Sep 4

We are thrilled to announce that we will be selling THE SURGE by @adamkovac.bsky.social this weekend at Printers Row! It's a fantastic war novel that's earning comparisons to Hemingway and Mailer and O'Brien. Adam will be signing books from 1 to 3 on Saturday at the Small Press Tent...be there!

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tortoisebooks.bsky.social @tortoisebooks.bsky.social · Sep 4

New to Printers Row...we have AFTERWARD by Bristol Vaudrin! It's an incredible debut, a darkly comedic novel about a woman coming to terms with an unspeakable tragedy. Bristol will be with us in spirit, signing books with her mind.

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