Reese W. Is Here to Boost My Writing Career

Either this is my big publishing break or somebody's scamming me.

What writer would not be thrilled to have this person show up unbidden in their email inbox?

I mean, at first I was skeptical, but look at that email address. I zoomed in on the photo, and yep, that’s definitely who I think it is.

What does Reese W. want? To talk about my book!

I’m beyond excited, but then I remembered I’ve published nine books and she didn’t say which one she was interested in. She got back to me pretty much right away!

Am I open to it? Reese W. wants to talk about my book about how to reform higher education? I mean, I guess it is still a hot topic these days, but the book is more than 5 years old. Heck yeah I’m open to it! Also, close readers will note that her regards have increased from “Best” to “Warm.” Could things be going better?

I’m a little concerned that she has dropped her regards and is only feeling warmly toward me now, but perhaps we have moved to more familiar territory. I do not want this opportunity to slip out of my hands.

Okay, so Reese W. isn’t making me an offer to be featured on her book club, but maybe this is still a great opportunity, and it’s only going to cost me $100. What kind of fool would let their gravy train roll by without jumping aboard for a mere C-note?

Thing is, I’ve got some problems.

Thankfully, Reese W. is absolutely as warm and approachable as she seems in her many roles on TV and film and she’s willing to dish on her co-stars!

I’m no fool, so I have another question as part of my due diligence. And since we’re hitting it off so well, I figure I can ask her for some advice based on her own past experience.

Can you even imagine a more world class human than this? Super busy, super wealthy, but also willing to write perfectly structured emails with bold headings on each major section so I don’t miss anything and doesn’t say anything about my embarrassing typo “copy” instead of “cop.” So gracious.

So, I didn’t want to screw the pooch, but this whole time I’ve been thinking that it might be smarter to promote my most recent book, More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI, rather than my five-year-old book about higher education. I’m worried that I’m taking up too much of Reese W.’s time, but I can’t resist one more burning question.

It’s disappointing that she can’t front me the fee, but you have to admire the integrity of treating every author equally. No matter, I’ve figured out some workarounds on the money issue.

I was about to say that Reese hasn’t gotten back to me yet as I sat down to write Saturday morning, but look who just showed up in my inbox:

Clearly this is now much more than a chance to promote a book. I think I’ve got a friend!

To be continued…

Links

This week at the Chicago Tribune I review Ben Markovits’ Booker nominated novel, The Rest of Our Lives, which I wasn’t going to read, but am glad I did.

At Inside Higher Ed I reflected on how C. Thi Nguyen’s interesting new book The Score: How to Stop Playing Someone Else’s Game explains why I had to quit playing Wordle, and also why we need to do some good hard thinking about what matters in higher education research and teaching/learning.

The big news in media this week is Jeff Bezos gutting the once proud Washington Post, including axing all of the books coverage, one of the last remaining stand alone books sections in the country. Before the exciting encounter with Reese W. I was going to offer my thoughts on where we are, but that will have to wait for another day. I can tide you over with my friend Perry Bacon Jr, who nails what this says about Bezos and news media going forward. Reflecting on the decline in outlets for book criticism and the contraction of the publishing industry, Lincoln Michel unleashes a call for literature to adopt a punk rock mindset.

It’s probably foolish for me to draw attention to the arrival of Ron Charles to this platform given that there’s only so many subscription dollars to go around for book commentary/reviews with a lightly humorous touch and Charles is a considerably bigger fish than your humble Biblioracle, but I’ve enjoyed his work for a couple of decades and he came here to say “he’s not done.”

And for any new arrivals to the platform, I'm reposting a piece from a couple of weeks ago on the promise and perils of Substack. TLDR: Don’t get too comfortable.

Via my friends at McSweeney's, Carlos Greaves writing on this weekend’s big event: “FAQs for This Weekend’s Bad Bunny Concert Featuring Football.”

Recommendations

1. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
2. Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
3. Independent People by Halldor Laxness
4. Buckeye by Patrick Ryan
5. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

A. Blair - New York, NY

A great list for me to recommend the criminally under read Tom Drury and his beautiful novel, The End of Vandalism.

If things develop further with Reese W., I’ll let you guys know in future posts. I’m going to send her this one once it goes live, so we’ll se how that goes.

JW
The Biblioracle