Hi Reader, Last week, I went to PitchFest at ThrillerFest in NYC, and let me tell you... It was a whirlwind. For three hours, I met with as many literary agents and editors as I could, pitching Zoe’s Got Baggage again and again until I could probably do it in my sleep. The best part? Most agents said "yes" and asked to see more. Now we wait... This is what I learned that I can pass on to you: Don’t treat a pitch like a speech. Treat it like the start of a conversation. At PitchFest, we only...
1 day ago • 1 min read
Here's a quick update from the “trying to get a literary agent” trenches, because things are getting interesting. So far:- 51 agents pitched- 18 no’s- 7 full manuscript requests And yes, those 7 requests are included in the 18 responses… which means there are still a lot of agents out there silently reading, considering, or ghosting me. Seven full requests feels like real momentum. It means something about this story is working. It also means I’ve entered the part of the process where...
8 days ago • 1 min read
I’m off to Ohio this weekend to be in my sister’s wedding. Technically, I’m the matron of honor, but I reject that title on principle. “Matron” sounds old, and no one wants to be anybody’s maid. So I’m calling myself the best woman. Equal rights, etc. Also, I’m the minister. Which means it took me about two minutes and $35 to become legally qualified to marry them, so please wish me luck. Feels like a system with a little too much trust in me, but here we are. In other news, I was having a...
22 days ago • 2 min read
If you were anywhere near Bookstagram this week, you probably saw the drama. A major Bookstagrammer posted that some of the books she used to love are no longer books she supports because of her “biblical convictions.” Just one slide from what I'm calling religious psychosis And listen, people can change their minds. People can evolve and decide something is not for them anymore. But that is not why people got upset. What made everyone collectively go, girl... what? was the way it felt like...
29 days ago • 2 min read
A year and a half ago, I bought a vending machine off Facebook Marketplace and dropped it into our local community center because, apparently, I like turning random ideas into family businesses. At first, Landon was ALL in. Every week, he was ready to check inventory, restock snacks, and count the money. (Very CEO energy for a fourth grader.) Now? The novelty has worn off just a little. He is significantly less thrilled about weekly vending machine maintenance, which honestly feels like a...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
This went viral on LinkedIn, and based on the response, a lot of people have dealt with some version of this. A potential client once told me to choke on a chicken bone. Twice. This happened before he ever became a client. He had reached out about hiring my agency and seemed interested, but never actually moved forward. But that didn't stop him from copying me on emails with business updates, personal news, and political opinions. (He was very concerned about who used what bathroom. I...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
A teenage founder was introduced to me by Kristin Kenzy from Drunk Business Advice after building a new product called CoDuck. He described it as a tool for building enterprise-scale websites with advanced capabilities and the simplicity and ease of use people love. In his view, most current products make you choose between power and usability, and CoDuck is his attempt to close that gap. In the email intro, Kristin asked: How can he get attention for a tool like this? My answer was simple...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Bookstagram might look like chaos from the outside. And to be fair, sometimes it is. People are yelling about fictional men, spiraling over plot twists, and forming full-blown friendships in the comments. But there’s a reason it works so well, and honestly, brands should be paying attention. As someone who spends a lot of time on Bookstagram, I can tell you this: People don’t show up just for book recommendations. They show up because the content makes them feel something, gives them...
2 months ago • 1 min read
When people talk about “optimizing for AI,” they make it sound way more mysterious than it needs to be. A lot of what helps AI understand your business is the same stuff that helps actual humans understand your business. Clear messaging. Updated information. Specific language. Easy-to-find answers. I talked about this on a Storyblok webinar yesterday with three other marketers, and one thing kept coming up: AI cannot confidently describe, recommend, or surface your brand if your website is...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Airbnb is doing that thing where a brand makes one move, and the entire internet goes, “Wait… that’s actually genius.” Because they listed the Heated Rivalry cottage. And suddenly the book world, the TV world, the hockey world, and the “I don’t even read romance, but I’m invested” world are all standing in the same circle chanting: GET ME. TO. THE. COTTAGE. Airbnb turned a cultural moment into a real-life experience. When you do that, you don’t need a huge campaign because the fans become the...
3 months ago • 1 min read