What I Want To Do
I have a lot of thoughts about books and about publishing. Twitter threads feel inadequate to say what I want to say, as does freelance writing. We’re at a point where it feels like most book coverage is subject to the whims of media companies and whether, they feel that writing about books is working or not, or is important or not. Fewer and fewer media outlets are doing book coverage at all, let alone the kind that I want to do. So here I am.
I’m writing a weekly newsletter about books: the ones I’m excited about and maybe a few of the ones I’m not so excited about. I want to be a guide through the literary world for people who love to read but who don’t feel inspired by celebrity book club selections or BookTok trends or Amazon charts. I also want to offer a glimpse behind the scenes into the worlds of book criticism and the publishing industry as a whole. I also want to be silly at times; there’s simply not enough silliness in book coverage today.
Here’s what you can expect from The Maris Review:
guide to new releases
thoughts on publishing gossip or scandals or even just party photos
backlist title spotlights
analyses of various film adaptations and casting news
Paid subscribers will also get:
author profiles and conversations
my specialty: hyper-specific and personalized book recommendations
I hope you’ll join me!
About Me
[Takes a long drag on a cigarette] I’ve seen it all. I started out wanting to be a book editor, which I was for a few years in the early aughts before I was laid off, never to return to those hallowed cubicles of major publishing houses. I’ve been working in and around books in various capacities ever since.
Some highlights include being the editorial director of Book of the Month, doing book outreach at Kickstarter, a stint editing the Books section at Vulture/NY Magazine, and freelancing for a variety of publications, some of which still exist! Most recently, I spent 4 and ½ years hosting a weekly podcast for Lit Hub in which I had in-depth conversations with authors. I loved doing that. I’m currently a columnist for Lit Hub, and I love that too.
When you work in and around books it is so incredibly easy to become disillusioned. There are so many problems with media, with the publishing industry, with feeding into the apparatus that I’ll call the art-versus-commerce-blues. But despite it all, I still love books. And I am still constantly thrilled by so many of the authors working today. I want to talk about them here so that they might thrill you, too.
