It's my birthday!
It's actually tomorrow but close enough.
Illnesses, stickers, and a fundraiser
Dear Readers,
I don’t mind birthdays! OK, wait, I mean, I don’t mind aging. It might be weird to mind birthdays; after all they are about cake and gifts and nice attention, three things I love. But also getting older, whatever, there are some extremely bad parts, but all in all I feel lucky for it.
As a child who read a lot of Melodramatic Illness Books by the likes of Lurlene McDaniel and such, I spent a lot of time assuming I would die young, very young, and so I didn’t think much about being middle-aged. But here I am, not dead from a childhood illness, and middle-aged indeed. For the most part I find this very good (I mean, the not dead from a Lurlene McDaniels illness part I find VERY GOOD ENTIRELY); I do hate that I legit just am tired at night earlier than I want to be and sometimes parts of my body hurt from, apparently, sleeping? My neck is dumb but Nora Ephron already covered that extensively (not mine specifically, imagine). The rest, though, is good to great.
Amy, do you want anything for your birthday? Sure, yes, please!
First, as is my annual tradition, I am running a fundraiser for Trans Lifeline. With trans rights threatened, I want to do SOMETHING to help my trans friends and the overall trans community. I am trying to raise $2,500 total! Here is a link to the fundraiser on Facebook. If you are a non-Meta person and would like to donate anyway, you can Venmo me your donation at thatames and I will apply that full amount to a donation! Help me help a great organization!
Next, you should totally feel free to buy or preorder one of my books! Here’s something exciting (?? I think it is?)! I just announced an exclusive preorder for At Her Service: a custom sticker sheet designed by Simini Blocker featuring characters and some important items from At Her Service and For Her Consideration! Check this out!
Y’ALL. I cannot tell you how much I adore these. Nina, Ari, Max, and Sadie all are such BABES. And the little details! Max’s regular drink, Nina’s MacBook, Steve the invisible cat! Ari’s Oscar is a weirdly large size because the sticker company said “the award is too small” and I responded “how big do we have to make THE OSCAR”, anyway, it’s now nearly as large as Max is, and I think that sums up Hollywood well.
How, you ask, do you get one of these incredible sticker sheets? The easiest way is to preorder the book through Skylight Books! Everyone who orders will receive a free sticker sheet AND I will sign the book! Amazing!
Next, if you were an early bird who already preordered before I announced this campaign on 10/30, just send me proof of preorder at amyspaldingwrites@gmail.com and you’ll get one too.
Finally, if you come to one of my release week events (not officially announced yet but I can tell y’all that it’ll be 2/19 at Skylight Books in Los Angeles, and 2/24 at Left Bank Books in St. Louis) I will have stickers for you!
Below, I have some great advice from Susie Dumond who took on some questions I hear from writers but hadn’t gotten around to answering here yet. Thank you, Susie!!
xoxoAmy
Consumption
Reading
I tore through Tim Murphy’s Speech Team which was such a Gen X read that hit so many of my sweet spots.
Watching
I was not prepared for how hugely emotional I would feel watching the Milli Vanilli documentary, but the film is thoughtful and nuanced and incredibly moving. (It’s on Paramount+)
Listening
I’ve dipped in and out of You Must Remember This over the years but lately dipped back in to listen to the Erotic ‘90s series, and, y’all, it couldn’t bring together more of my interests. I can’t get enough.
Chugging
It’s eggnog season! I miss the glass bottles but I still love Broguiere’s.
Get Your Ask On
Today we’ve got advice from Susie Dumond, author of Queerly Beloved.
How do I determine which agents to query?
SD: Here's a really helpful piece of advice I got early on. You might think you want the high-power agent with a long list of wildly impressive bestselling authors. But the truth is, that agent is probably battling a mountain of queries, and those big, famous authors are probably always going to be their first priority. Instead, consider working with a newer up-and-coming agent, maybe someone who was an assistant for a big-name agent but now is building their own list or someone at the same agency as those big-name agents who can still learn from their expertise. A greener agent may be more of a risk, but they're likely highly motivated to get you a great deal because they're trying to make a name for themself and show what they're capable of, just like you.
How do I meet other writers/find a writing community?
SD: The place I have consistently made the most meaningful connections with authors and aspiring writers is my local independent bookstore. I've met published authors at book events who have been incredibly kind and generous with their advice. And even just sitting in the audience, I've learned so much about craft and different approaches to storytelling. I've also met lots of other writers at my bookstore's book clubs and author events. You can also check with your local library for writers' groups, or see if your area has a regional NaNoWriMo group.
If you have any questions about writing, publishing, revising, genres, querying, being on submission, etc., reply to this email and ask! Your question may be featured in an upcoming newsletter!
At Her Service is coming in February!
(And it’s on NetGalley now!)
A sweetly sexy, thoroughly modern new novel about single life, social media, career goals, and making the bold move to grab your own happiness—and write your own love story.
Max Van Doren has a wish list, and a great career and a girlfriend are at the top. But despite being pretty good at her job as an assistant to one of Hollywood’s fastest rising talent agents, she has no idea how to move up the ladder. And when it comes to her love life, she’s stuck in perpetual lust for an adorably perfect bartender named Sadie. Her goals are clear—and Max has everything but the self-confidence to go for them. Even her mother seems to assume she’ll be crawling home to her childhood bedroom at some point . . .
When Max’s roommate, Chelsey—an irritatingly gorgeous and self-assured influencer in plus-size and queer spaces—offers to sponsor her for a new self-actualization app, Max gives in. If she can’t run her own life, maybe an algorithm guiding her choices will help? Suddenly Max is scoring big everywhere, and her dreams are achingly close to coming true. But when one of Chelsey’s posts reveals Sadie’s part in the app’s campaign, Max is poised for heartbreak on all fronts. Tired of the sponcon life with its fake friends and endless selfies, Max realizes that to have true influence, she’ll have to find the courage to make her own, totally authentic way in the world.
“Spalding brings her twentysomething protagonists to life in this romance that delivers on both the heroine’s self-actualization journey and her happily-ever-after. A must buy” —Library Journal
Lois Lowry’s A Summer to Die often gets slotted into that illness-porn genre but it’s so much more than that and I will probably talk about it in a future newsletter! This feels vaguely irrelevant but I just thought I’d put this thought somewhere.
I HOARDED those Broguiere glass bottles! I threw out like 10 when I had to do some purging but kept a few. They're so PLEASANT to hold and make great vases. Also, those stickers!!!! So cute. -J