Jami Attenberg and the business of writing

A chat about craft, newsletters and community

It’s rare that you find a literary novelist who is also a savvy self-promoter. Some, understandably, go offline once they hit the bestseller lists. Others don’t bother with the messiness of it all. Many try and are clumsy with it.

I imagine this is because many writers loathe the idea of exhibition. And writing fiction is tremendously exposing. With journalism and non-fic, you have a fixed subject to write about. You also wield greater control; even a personal essay has its boundaries, which the writer largely sets. But when writing fiction, you cannot foresee all that bubbles up. You may think you reveal nothing of yourself when, in fact, a half-dozen small truths lie in your concocted realities.

Jami Attenberg is a writer I read faithfully both on Substack and in print. She wears many hats - she’s a New York Times bestselling author whose tenth book A Reason To See You Again comes out on September 24 (pre-order it here). You’ve likely heard of her breakthrough novel The Middlesteins or her glorious memoir I Came All This Way to Meet You.

In 2018 Attenberg launched 1000 words, which started life as a writing challenge between herself and a friend to write a thousand words a day. This snowballed into a popular literary movement (to write 1000 words a day for a fortnight each summer), a book of the same name and her Craft Talk newsletter.

In that weekly newsletter, Attenberg never strikes a false note. She is serious about her craft but she wears that seriousness lightly. She advocates for her work but you never get tired of her mentioning her books or her signings. I admire her integrity and I was thrilled when I got to ask her a few questions, laid out below, ahead of her new book’s release.

Attenberg’s 10th book is out on Sept 24

When researching your career several things stand out to me - one is the turning point you had when you moved to Grand Central and published The Middlesteins and another is you launching 1000 words in 2018.

Can you talk a bit about both career points? Does one feel more pivotal than another?

The Middlesteins was really the result of 8 years of work. Meaning I had worked on my craft as a novelist for that long, and also that I had spent 8 years building professional and creative relationships. So while it feels like a turning point because a lot of doors opened to me all at once, I had really been knocking on all of them for a long time.

I suppose the same could be said for 1000 words. I had been developing community and relationships for a long time so that when I needed to ask for favors--when I asked different authors to contribute letters to the project, for example--people really showed up for me, and quickly contributed their inspirational words to the project. It has been refreshing to have a new angle to my writing career, though.

But you're right to see that they both took me in new directions. Not that I could have planned either of them. In a creative life we are often stumbling through it all, making our art as best we can. The Middlesteins allowed me to write full-time though, and that feels extremely pivotal. My priorities lie with making my art.  And I still see 1000 Words as the kid sister to my novel-writing focus.

What is the most useful thing you've learned about the business side of writing?

I think that there is only one me, meaning I am the best representative of myself in the world. (If I choose to represent myself in the world because plenty of writers are happy to hide themselves, which I respect). My voice is my voice, my gaze is my gaze, and all my output--including my social media presence--is an extension of who I am.

And I am the one who is going to care the most about how I am doing, how my books are selling, how I am being reviewed or interviewed, how much effort is being put into promotion.

Not to say that people on my team don't care about me and my work, because they do, both in a human way and from a business perspective. But they also have plenty of other writers to look after. So I'm the one who has to focus on my career the most. I have to believe in myself and fight for myself first. I can't count on anyone else to do it for me.

One thing that really stands out when reading your newsletter is how you've built authentic relationships with many other American writers. Did you go about building this strong literary community with awareness or was it an accident of fate and profession?

Well..I'm a lifer. Ha. I do really love my writer friends. They are my people.

Over the years I have been to dozens and dozens of literary festivals, given hundreds of readings, and also gone to many, many readings given by other people. So I've been out there, being a part of the community, because this is what I'm interested in, intrigued by. Books, art, literature, creativity, entertainment, humor, performance, presentation. This is my subject matter. My milieu.

And I genuinely like to connect with other people, and particularly other writers. So it was no accident, but nor was it a calculation. Everything has always been organic for me. I'm glad I get to meet all these cool people. We're all in it together. And it's nice to feel less alone in the world. Every little bit of friendship helps.

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What a note to end on. Enormous thanks to Jami for her time and her generous answers.

Happy writing all,

Z x