Publishing Wrapped

December 2023

Hi friends,

It’s been a while! Where have I been since my last newsletter in—checks watch—September?

October— I went to Japan with my family for two weeks for one of the best vacations of my life. Here are just five (out of, like, five hundred) photos:

November— I went to Highlights for a writing retreat with four authors I knew well and one author I met for the first time. All of them LOVELY. And while it’s not a competition, I got the smallest word count of any of them! I also spent time with family during Thanksgiving week.

December— Here I am. At the end of an era… or, like, just another year. But WHAT A YEAR it’s been. Enjoy this picture of me trying not get smushed by publishing and the many balls I’m juggling:

Just kidding, that’s another picture from Japan!

Anyway, welcome to my Publishing Wrapped recap of the good, the bad, and the what’s up next:

Three good lessons I learned this year:
1) Having a good agent is worth an elephant’s weight in gold. This is my #1 takeaway of 2023. Every author need a strong advocate in their corner. And most importantly, having an agent who’s a fighter is everything—someone who will go to bat for you and champion like hell. I can’t even count the number of times my agent swooped in to save the day this year. Shoutout to Alexandra Levick, the world’s greatest!!!
2) Patience is everything. My brain does really well with certainties, and not so well with situations that are up in the air… or times where I have to wait for an answer. But this year, I learned that I need to remain calm. I should stop jumping to the worst-case scenario in brain, especially long before I need to. Patience is sometimes the answer. Patience, Lauren, my god—remember this lesson!
3) Coming out online (something I had been torturing myself over with two years of nonstop anxiety) is a weight off my shoulders, both personally and professionally. In fact, it went so well that I’ll wonder why it ever kept me up at night. Thanks to everyone who made that a breeze!

Three hard lessons I learned this year:
1) It’s damn hard to have an industry built on the marriage of creative and business. In the publishing industry, ruthless decisions get made with the “it’s not personal, just business” rationale all the time. But to quote my favorite holiday movie You’ve Got Mail: “It is personal; it’s personal to me.” And it’s personal to readers too. I don’t have a fix or solution for this lesson. I’m not even sure it’s a lesson as much as it is a realization. But it’s one that hit me hard in the gut this year.
2) No one can buy a book they’ve never heard of. Even if someone would enjoy your book, getting them to know that your book even exists is one of the biggest challenges. And to expand on that: if a book doesn’t have publisher support and/or marketing+advertising dollars, then the only way for it to “succeed”—in the traditional sense of having high sales numbers—is with time (via word of mouth).
3) Creative risks seem like they’d be a great thing in publishing (“I’ve never seen this before!” and “A gap in the market!” seem like they would be assets), but risks are actually a challenge. Publishing really likes to put things into well-defined, easily-categoried boxes. Creative risks can absolutely succeed, but it’s often an uphill climb.

Three of my 2023 highlights:
1) Something absolutely INCREDIBLE happened literally last week. Huge and exciting and (I hope) game-changing. I really think it’s something you will love. I can’t talk about it yet, but I am itching to, and I promise I will have so many details in 2024.
2) Series expansion!!! Spain decided to continue the Case Closed series in Spanish and Catalan through book 7. Italy decided to continue the Case Closed series in Italian through book 5. It’s been an absolute BLAST to continue to work on more Carlos, Eliza, and Frank adventures.
3) Mythics 2—Hailey’s story was one that I adored writing. I was so proud and excited to release Hailey and the Dragon this year. If you read it—first of all THANK YOU—and I hope it was a highlight for you too!

Three things I’m looking forward to in 2024:
1) The Mythics 3 and The Mythics 4 come out next year, and I swear this is a series that gets better and better. I can’t WAIT to share all the twists and turns with you—and reveal all the secrets of Golden Jumpsuit. Stay tuned.
2) I have a piece of news (see #1 of my highlights) that I am just BURSTING to share.
3) Going on submission again. I have two projects that I think could make the cut for a 2024 sub, and I’m so excited about both of them. (See the “What I’m Writing” section for more details on Horror Project and Trauma Project.)

Thank you to everybody who helped me get through my year of 3/4ths angst (aka January through September) and 1/4th bliss (at the tail end). So grateful for trustworthy author pals, loyal readers, and supportive family and friends. <3

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What I’m writing

The Mythics series (books 1 and 2 out now): I’m basically obsessed with these books. My first series that builds on each other… and my first alternating POV story… and the first time I have a villain who is just effortlessly cool, while also being evil (no offense to Dean Dean Deanbugle, my second coolest villain). Golden Jumpsuit is tops.

Gorgeous illustrations by Mirelle Ortega in each one. Owning one of these books is like possessing a mini-art gallery from Mirelle:

The Mythics 3 (May 14, 2024): We’ve got 5 months until this story hits shelves. 5 months to catch up—start with Marina (#1) then Hailey (#2). Or, if you’ve already read them, 5 months to reread and re-collect all the clues about Golden Jumpsuit. 5 months until Kit’s snarky, sarcastic voice makes a showstopper of an appearance. And I can’t even begin to tell you how much I ADORED writing Kit’s voice; her acerbic internal monologue is just golden.

The Mythics 4 (December 3, 2024): ← Did you see that?! We have a release date!!! December 3, 2024 for the final book in The Mythics series, Ember and the Phoenix!!!!!! Less than a year away! I’m so excited to share this story with you, where all the secrets are revealed and everything comes crashing toward a cataclysmic climax! We’ve been working toward The Mythics ~ Ember’s version ~ the whole time, and it will be so worth the wait.

Case Closed series (out now): “The perfect gift doesn’t exis—” YES IT DOES. It’s Case Closed. For 3rd graders through 6th graders. Half mystery book, half escape room, half puzzle-packed game. For 150% fun:

Horror Project: If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you may have noticed I’m working on a horror book. It’s taken me in expected places and unexpected places. It’s made me laugh, and it’s scared me. (Personally, I love when my horror is funny sometimes. I operate on the writing principle of peaks and valleys: you can’t have everything SUPER SCARY all the time, or it will start to feel like one note.) Anyway, it’s definitely almost time to send it off to my agent!

Trauma Project: I’ve mentioned this puppy before—but I feel like I’m perpetually working on a book about my greatest childhood scar. It’s been so hard to sneak in time to work on it with a few more pressing deadlines this year, but getting Trauma Project into shape is my top writing priority for 2024. It’s a book that’s so important to me… and I am eager to tell it right.

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What I’m reading

Simon Sort of Says: This was both beautiful and very hard to read. I got choked up at multiple spots. Raw, heartbreaking, hopeful. It’s getting a lot of awards buzz, and I can see why!

Small Spaces: This book scared the living daylights out of me. It gave me literal nightmares, and I loved every second of it!!! I’ll definitely never look at scarecrows the same way again!

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Where to find me

February 7, 2024: World Read Aloud Day Virtual Visits. If you’re a 2nd grade through 6th grade classroom who wants me to pop in sometime this week with either The Mythics or Case Closed, please send me an email: laurenmagazinerbooks@gmail.com.

At your school: I’m in the process of scheduling in-person school visits for the spring. If you’d like me to come visit, I’m working with Authors Unbound on author visits. Here’s a link to my page with more details, and there’s a form you can fill out below to request me at your school!

With two Mythics books coming out next year, stay tuned for more events coming!

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Saying goodbye

Wishing you a marvelous holiday and a happy new year. (I’ll be celebrating with dim sum and a movie, the Jewish way.) See you back here in 2024, friends!

xoxo,
Lauren