Jules Nickerson

Currently reading: Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and Other Stories. I'm a third through and so far my favorites are Like Mother Used To Make and The Daemon Lover. #BookSky

Rough Draft vs Final Draft

I love it when my critique partners leave the grimace emoji reaction 😬 in my gdocs. It means I've done my job! #WritingCommunity #Horror

Really enjoyed this one! #WritingCommunity

I love @bpl.boston.gov in Copley Square and any excuse to visit—it's my favorite library! Got my library card renewed today for another 4 years so I can continue borrowing on Libby. #BookSky

My dog and I visited the Brattle Book Shop today! A used bookstore with over 250,000 books, maps, and prints. The outdoor section is the sales area with books as low as $1. #BookSky

I finished self-edits for a project! This was a major revision where I shifted chapters around, added new ones, and clarified character arcs. In total I added about 15k words. Time to set it aside while I wait for feedback, and in the meantime, maybe dive into something new... #WritingCommunity

All the new horror books coming out in July 2026! One that I'm looking forward to reading is The Sea Hides Its Dead by Megan Bontrager about a group of academics trapped in an underwater cave. Links: - readjumpscares.com/2026/07/07/a... - bookshop.org/p/books/the-... #BookSky #Horror

What I'm reading this week: FIEND by Alma Katsu @almakatsu.bsky.social After @annahirsch.bsky.social recommended it to me, I borrowed it on libby and I'm loving it so far! Definitely a comp for the manuscript that I'm currently drafting. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/734363... #BookSky

What makes a good bookstore? These shops made The Boston Globe‘s Best of the Best list because they offer something extra, whether it’s a special tie to the community or a memorably cozy cafe. trib.al/O5UN888

Lots of great horror releases in May! I'm most interested in Nicholas Binge's Abyss (Severance meets Lovecraft). reactormag.com/new-horror-b... #horror #booksky

From the wise @zillawrites.bsky.social: "The cheerleaders aren’t the problem. The problem is when cheerleaders are all you have. When the loudest voices in your corner are the ones telling you you’re already good enough." Read more at zillawrites.substack.com/p/you-dont-n... #WritingCommunity

It's Independent Bookstore Day! Hooray! Among many other things going on, the Prison Book Program matching donation program starts today! A generous donor will MATCH the dollar amount of all purchases off our Prison Program Wish List from now until May 2nd

"Human creativity is not an efficiency problem that can be optimized. Treating writers’—and by extension editors’—work as a problem AI can solve misunderstands the qualitative advantages that book publishers have over tech giants." dearheadofmine.substack.com/p/dont-autom... #WritingCommunity

@annahirsch.bsky.social @zillawrites.bsky.social and I started a podcast! Join us for Episode 1 on Substack, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube! #writing #tradpub #querying #amquerying

First article from my series, The Life That Didn’t Happen, is live!!! It’s all true, all authentically me, and may include some cringe and humor in it depending on the reader. #writingcommunity #writers #writesky open.substack.com/pub/jademaso...

Some of the imagery coming down from the Artemis II crew is breathtaking...

Taking a break from the keyboard today ☀️

So many amazing horror reads in 2026. www.goodreads.com/blog/show/30... #booksky #horror

Good morning

An #editorsguide to 🌲THE LAND OF UNDYING SUMMER🌲 This romantic fantasy has: 🐻‍❄️ Canadian subarctic inspired setting 🌋Roots in animistic religion ⚡️A physics based magic system 👵🏽 Crotchety immortals 🏠 Complex family dynamics 🌎 Accessible worldbuilding #bluepit📖 #A #F #R #FR #OS soon 👀

NYT offers a survey of the state of book publishing that feels hopeful. Also a nice mention for the newly-launched horror store, Twisted Spine. This is a gift article. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/b...

Last Call for Mass Market Paperbacks "According to Circana BookScan, mass market unit sales plunged from 131 million in 2004 to 21 million in 2024, a drop of about 84%, and sales this year through October were about 15 million units." www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Congrats Zilla!! The blood and sweat was worth it🩸🩸🩸

Taking a break from the keyboard this week...

Excited to announce that Our Elsewhere has won the general fiction category for the 2025 Book Pipeline Unpublished contest! bookpipeline.com/winners Honored they recognized Our Elsewhere--a speculative fiction where a widow journeys across worlds via death to find and save her husband.

I'm going to do a little thread on how the money from books works for traditionally published authors because people have questions, and this is always useful info to share IMO. First, a big disclaimer that every contract is different, and there are a million factors that can change things. 1/

Sourcebooks is the fifth-largest trade publisher as measured by print books sold, breaking the dominance of the biggest conglomerates for the first time since Bookscan started> lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2025/11/sour...

Simon & Schuster Executive Fiction Publisher @phoebeannmorgan.bsky.social joins us to talk about the decisions that go into acquiring and marketing books. Plus, what happens in auctions and why she started The Honest Editor Substack! Watch now: youtu.be/SJXs6kut_EU Or listen: linktr.ee/ukpageone

“TWC Live! Literary Agents on Publishing in a Time of Unrest” premieres TONIGHT at 7:00 p.m. ET! See @frecklywench.bsky.social, of Aevitas Creative Management, Danya Kukafka of Trellis Literary Management, and @ericsmithrocks.bsky.social of Neighborhood Literary on AWP’s YouTube channel.

What I’m reading this weekend: Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield It’s a horror novel about a woman who returns from a catastrophic deep-sea mission but is no longer the same. #BookSky

Want to work on tension, character & querying - for free? Check out our #MSWL live replay from last week! One attendee said “I feel like I just had an entire MFA course. Except MFA programs get snooty about 'genre fiction.' " Check it out! manuscriptacademy.com/mswl-live-ag...

Manuscript wishlists are live! We recommend popping over to our website to peruse mentor profiles before mentee applications open on Nov 6th 👀 Important note: Contrary to previous rounds, we are only accepting complete manuscripts this year! www.roundtablementor.com/mentors

Not to be THAT dictionary, but… It’s ‘per se,’ not ‘per say.’ It’s ‘dog-eat-dog world,’ not ‘doggy-dog world.’ It’s ‘hunger pangs,’ not ‘hunger pains.’ It’s ‘one and the same,’ not ‘one in the same.’ It's 'buck naked,' not 'butt naked.'

Visited a castle yesterday for some writing inspiration... #WritingCommunity

The NYPL horror committee read more than 150 titles published since last Halloween to select their 20 favorites: #BookSky #horror www.nypl.org/books-more/r...

www.goodreads.com/blog/show/30... #BookSky

It's happening. variety.com/2025/tv/news...

What I’m reading this weekend: The Extra by Annie Neugebauer. 10 people head out on a backpacking trip, but the first night 11 set up camp. Everyone remembers everyone else. Who's the extra? #BookSky

I think I need this cafe where they harass writers until they finish their writing... japantoday.com/category/fea... #WritingCommunity

new horror bookstore opening in Brooklyn www.timeout.com/newyork/news...

What I'm reading this weekend: Leigh Radford's One Yellow Eye 👁️ A horror novel about a scientist seeking a cure for her undead husband. #BookSky

Mark your calendars! We have a US cover reveal date for LOVE GALAXY, my debut sapphic SF romantic thriller about murder on a reality tv show in space with forbidden romance and lots of yearning! Available to add on Goodreads now, link in the comments below 👇

Wrapping up the first draft of my WIP! Here's a chart of my daily word count since I started 2.5 months ago. #WritingCommunity

Was sent this. I dig it.

An informative post by Cathie on the various considerations an agent might go through while preparing editor lists for sub. What really stood out to me is the need for an excellent organization system!

Last Read: Hildur Knútsdóttir's The Night Guest, translated by Mary Robinette Kowal. I read this short horror novella in just two sittings. Set in Reykjavík, about a woman who wakes up with increasingly disturbing injuries. What I'm reading this weekend: Suzanne Collins's Sunrise on the Reaping.