A Post-Mortem of My First Book (Part One)
Do op-eds actually sell books? (And IG Live this Thursday)
In my tech life, I often conducted “post-mortems”: after-the-fact evaluations of a project. Usually, these happen when something goes spectacularly wrong — like Facebook crashing for three hours.
Publishing is a very different industry than Big Tech, where decisions are made based on “animal spirits” (the official economics term). What moves the needle? Who knows! Some think only celebrity book clubs, NPR, and literally three TV shows actually sell books.
When Acceptance came out last August, I decided I’d write a post-mortem about my experience. I spent one year, twelve calendar months, promoting my first book. This was my full-time job. I had a great team at Penguin and got the help I could pay for, (more on that later).
How did this work out for me? Well, let’s see! Because this is a HUGE topic, I’m tackling one aspect per newsletter. Future editions will discuss social media efforts, my massive email blast, and podcast campaigns. I hope this is useful for anyone with a passion or small business or who just wants a peek inside the weirdo world of books!
Baseline
I sold Acceptance in February 2021 to Penguin Press, five years after I started writing it. (Let me know if you’re interested in a publishing journey!) I had 200 Twitter followers, 500 IG followers, and 60 newsletter subscribers. I’d taken local writing classes, and after hundreds of submissions, I’d landed pieces at The Rumpus, Boulevard, and Longreads and one of VICE’s now-defunct health blogs. I knew a few non-famous writers. That was the extent of my connections to the literary world.
Two and a half years and a book later, my career is in a radically different place. Let’s see how!
Incident: Viral Essay
If you’re trying to break into publishing, people in the know will advise you to do one of two things:
1. Become an influencer
2. Publish a viral essay
Both are things anyone can do and are totally under your control! (Not!!)
In late 2018, despairing about the future of my book, I took an essay writing class and then started trying to write op-eds. One was headlined “I had a simple wedding to piss off my mom who wanted it at the Harvard Club”; another was about harassment at Google. My teacher advised me not to even try publishing the one about Google (I still worked there!). Over the next two and a half years, I changed companies and followed the news about the big G, waiting for something relevant to happen. Then it did: Google was pressuring people reporting mistreatment to seek counseling. That happened to me! I took a vacation day from my engineering job, wrote a pitch, and sent it to 10 places. The next evening, I wrote a draft and sent it to the New York Times. Out of the 11 places, only 2 replied at all: one magazine wanted a phone call, the New York Times said they wanted it!
I did not believe it was going to run. Big papers are notorious for killing pieces. My editor kept sending these really kind notes that sounded, to me, like “we will try to run it.” Fact check took an entire week. They asked if I’d agree to be photographed and then I thought it might run. Finally, I got a note saying it would publish in a few hours, followed by last-minute edits. Then, it came out.
To my surprise, the piece kept getting shared! Within two days, two million people had read it. It was the most read piece on the New York Times’ site until Prince Philip died. It was one of the most read op-eds of 2021.
It was the thing you dream of. And then it happened. Just imagine a scene from a movie - it was like that. (Including the part where a few people I love will never speak to me again.) I think I’ll be chasing that rush for my whole life.
Impact
Money: $1,200 from the New York Times. Book deals: $0. I published this after I’d sold my book, which was a shame, since I might have gotten a lot more cash!
Following: I grew my Twitter following by 1000%! From 200 followers to 2,200.
Book sales: 0 or all of them. Because I’d sold the Acceptance so recently, there was no pre-order link, no Amazon listing, nothing. I wish I’d asked if we could throw something up online. (Always ask.) I sensed, and felt, frustration that I had an essay go viral at a totally random time. Why couldn’t it have come out at the same time as the book and made it a bestseller? I wish that, too, believe me!
Overall impact: This can’t be overstated! After the op-ed, people knew me. Everything else I did to promote the book, and everything I do today, was built on the foundation of that one piece.
Learnings
Most of the impact in a writer’s career comes from just a few pieces. It’s worth really investing in those. The persistence pays off. All the time I spent searching for the right peg was absolutely worth it.
Writing for a huge audience has enormous benefits. Well, duh, but a lot of writers are opposed to writing op-eds because they’re not “literary” enough. Yes, they can be dry and boring, but they don’t have to be.
Which leads to… Make the writing shine. So often, conversations about “what sells” ignore whether or not something is good. But readers remember. And at the end of the day, why be an artist if you aren’t proud of your work? I promise you there are much more lucrative ways to make a living!!
Okay, but what about at publication time?
A week after Acceptance came out, I published a second essay with my editor at the New York Times.
I wrote a deep dive into how it came together on my Instagram. TL;DR: it almost certainly wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the first essay. In fact, my publicist pitched tons and tons of essays, very diligently. But having that relationship made it possible.
What was the impact of the essay? Well, it helped hold off the precipitous sales decline most books go through week after week. My second week sales stayed strong. And it opened up the door for tons of interviews in the following months.
Takeaways
A viral essay can change your life. And, honestly, I love the roller coaster of pitching, acceptance, and publication. Books take years; an op-ed can take hours. I only wish I’d been publishing essays the whole time, building up relationships with editors that would support my book launch.
I think all writers should invest in learning how to write essays. But, op-ed writing is a totally different skill than what is traditionally taught, and requires different strategies!
Op-Ed and Personal Essay Crash Course
This fall, I’m teaching my first ever public class: how to write essays that get published and find readers. Frustrated with time-consuming workshops that overlooked the realities of publication, I designed this class to be accessible to first-time writers while giving tips to help established authors level-up.
The class will be on Tuesday, October 3rd from 8-9:30 p.m. Eastern (with a recording available on-demand for those who can’t make it.) You can sign up here, with an early bird discount until September 4th!
I priced the class so that I can offer scholarships to people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend. If that’s you or someone you know, apply here.
Byron (my partner) has estimated that “five or six people” will come, so I would very much like to prove him wrong and have a full, fun house that leads to an epic community, many viral essays, and much-needed real-world change! Please spread the word!
IG Live
This Thursday at 12 Central/ 1 Eastern, I’ll be doing an IG live with Dr. Jessi Gold, the burnout doctor! I’m so excited to dish about mental health, psych meds, and more. You can join on my Instagram profile.
Recommendations
I tried Ghia non-alcoholic aperitif - and I’m obsessed! Not only is it yummy but it’s a beautiful bottle and a great go-to gift.
I’m officially 100 years old to recommend a shipping service, but Pirate Ship has transformed me from a Zillenial who can’t respond to texts into a real adult who mails packages.
For the last year, I’ve had a horrible intestinal saga. (Friends who’ve heard the details, I’m sorry.) Last week, I learned dishwasher rinse aid can mess up your gut. I stopped using it and I’m… better?! Fingers crossed.
This “Girlbosses of Fertility” article made me seethe. And also, after the year of my life I lost to rinse aid - let alone my own horrific egg freezing experience - I get the need for a guru. But what kind of nation is this where our health requires so much money, time, and vigilance?!
Song I’ve listened to 1000x this week: “Superfast Jellyfish” by Gorillaz. (“Just enjoy the gritty crunch, it tastes JUST LIKE CHICKEN.”)
And the winners to the last edition’s giveaway of We Were Once A Family are Miguel Wolbert and MacKenzie O'Kane. Thanks for reading!!
Thank you so much for joining me on part one of my wild publishing ride! What aspect of the publishing process would you most like to hear about next? Let me know in the comments and I’ll pick the most-liked answer.
If this felt useful to you, I’d so appreciate a share. And I hope to see you at the IG live on Thursday!
xx
Emi
I tried soooo much of what they're pitching in these Fertility coaching sessions- Chinese herbs, accupuncture, Watsu- shiatsu in the water, pineapple cores for some enzyme, hypnosis, every kind of meditation possible, reiki, Craniosacral therapy, couple's therapy, tango lessons, yoga, a psychic, journaling therapy, qi gong, Ayurvedic therapy and none of it made a goddamn difference.
The thing that helped me the most was my dad's first wife SherriMomma I'd emailed her some blanket rote "Pray for me" the last time I did IVF in 2012- and she wrote back that she'd pray for me because I'd asked her to but she didn't think it'd make a difference.
And I laughed and laughed and all this lightness came upon me- knowing all of it was BS- prayers are completely BS. Such a weird trap- my dad's sister my Aunt Sally is a cloistered nun Carmelite Order- and I'd think of all her prayers- what a waste- did she not pray hard enough? It's a trap like all self help because when you do the things they tell you to do and it doesn't work- you think (negative cognition) I must've not tried hard enough/ not prayed hard enough. There's something else out there that will make it right and if I just search and search and seek and find it then it'll work. Like some holy grail/ magical elixir.
And the worst goddamn thing people would say is "Just stop trying, then it'll just happen naturally." I really wished I'd punched them in the face every time someone said that to me. Or "Have you thought about adoption?"
Jesus Christ. How dumb do you think I am?! "No, I never thought of adoption, tell me more about how I can go to another country and take advantage of the shitty system that some child is born into!" Guatemala and Honduras they just human traffic those babies. Tell the mothers it's temporary, kidnap them and sell them on the black market.
Emi, thank you so much for sharing all of this. It’s so helpful. I remember your first viral piece. It’s what put you on my radar and made me eager to buy your book (loved your book). I hope you continue sharing your path to publication as well as what came next.