The Sun and the Starmaker came out a little over two months ago and it still feels brand new to me. I’m hearing from readers every day who loved the book, and to my absolute amazement and delight, you all have kept it on the New York Times bestsellers list for ten weeks (!!) at this point. I’m honestly floored, and so happy that Starmaker is resonating the way that it is.

Thank you so much to those of you who have talked about, read, shared, recommended, requested, or reviewed The Sun and the Starmaker. There are so many incredible books in the world and too little time to read them all—thank you for spending some of your precious time in Reverie.

Still need your copy? Get one here!

The Starmaker tour was beyond my wildest dreams, and it was incredible meeting so many readers, booksellers, and writers along the way. If you came out to see me, thank you so much! I really loved this tour and will cherish all the memories made for the rest of my life.

Since getting home, I’ve turned in two projects and am very eager to start talking about them as soon as I can! If you’ve been following along for a while, I started talking about the first project waaay back in 2018, so I’m particularly impatient to announce it. It’s different from anything I’ve written before and has been a really rewarding challenge for me—it felt like it was just beyond the stretch of my capabilities, and I tried my best to rise to the challenge. More soon!

I also went on vacation with my family, which was so lovely. I finished the second aforementioned project on my flight out and then didn’t open my laptop for an entire week. It was wonderful, and I arrived home feeling very rested and rejuvenated. I had three goals for my beach vacation: 1) read a ton, 2) eat delicious food, and 3) return home exactly as pale as I was when I left, and I’m happy to say I accomplished all three of those things.

While I was away, I read Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinnimin (highly recommend the audiobook for this one!), Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, and The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi. I can’t remember the last time I read so much, and it was an absolute JOY.

And that brings us to now. I’m expecting line edits on one project and developmental edits on another, and I’m truly enjoying this season SO much. I’ve felt so energized and inspired, I love everything I’m working on, and I wake up grateful every day that this is what I get to do.

I’ll have a few more events this year, which I’ll be sure to share about here and on Instagram, but otherwise the rest of this year will be devoted to the writing itself, and I’m so looking forward to it.

Now that we’re up to date on everything, you can expect this newsletter to resume its normal schedule (the first Friday of the month), with some deep dives into my writing process to come. I love connecting with you here, and if there’s anything in particular you’d like to hear more about, let me know in the comments!

A Moment of Gratitude

If you haven’t read Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir yet, please go do that. It’s one of my all-time favorite books, so I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about the movie, but it was an absolutely masterpiece. Once you finish the book (which I’ve heard is fantastic on audio), go watch the movie! I’ll be seeing it for a second time in theaters and will promptly purchase it once it’s available to own.

It’s been a long time since I’ve loved a movie so much (if you’ve been a subscriber of this newsletter for a while, you’ll remember the last one was Top Gun: Maverick which I loved so much I watched twice in one night 😂), and it just made me so grateful for stories in all their iterations.

Something I especially love about Project Hail Mary is that it’s an ultimately hopeful story. There are a lot of horrible things going on in the world, and Hail Mary (both the book and the movie) left me feeling hopeful and excited for the future. I also just really love watching humans (and rock-like aliens) do extraordinary things.

So here’s to writing extraordinary stories and doing extraordinary things. As always, thank you so much for being here. 🤍

Love,

Rachel

The Sun and the Starmaker is out today, and I’m completely overjoyed. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know this book was written during the hardest season of my life—while recovering from a brain injury—and on most days, I didn’t think I’d finish it at all (let alone publish it). Today feels like the sweetest victory lap, and I’m celebrating not only this book, but my health, my incredible support system, and my healthcare providers. The fact that I’m able to release this book and go on tour is such a huge win, and I’m approaching the whole experience with an abundance of gratitude.

There are many (many) more things I want to say about what it means to me that The Sun and the Starmaker is out in the world, but I’ll save that for another day when I have the time to truly reflect on the journey of this book. For now, thank you so much for all the encouraging messages and comments over the past 26 months; it is my absolute joy to celebrate this book with you. 🩷

If you haven’t purchased your copy of Starmaker yet and you’re planning on it, please don’t wait too long! The book has already gone into its second printing, and I’m not sure how long the deluxe limited edition is going to last on shelves. If it’s important to you to snag the first print edition, I wouldn’t wait too long!

Buy now from Barnes & Noble

Buy now from Bookshop

Buy now from Libro.fm

Buy now from Amazon

Buy now from Target

Buy now from Walmart

Buy now from Indigo

I’m heading out on tour today, and we still have some tickets left if you’d like to come to one of my events! I’m so excited to be hitting the road, and I hope you can join me.

Folsom, CA

Salt Lake City, UT

Nashville, TN

St. Louis, MO

Decatur, GA

Vancouver, BC

A Moment of Gratitude:

All the love today to the many, many people who got me to this point. It isn’t easy caring for a loved one with a brain injury, and I’m immensely thankful for my family and friends who showed up for me day in and day out, loving me the whole way through. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you all.

As always, thank you so much for being here, and happy The Sun and the Starmaker day!! 🤍✨

Love,

Rachel

Welcome to my first newsletter of 2026! I missed December and am late for January (it’s the 31st! It still counts as a January newsletter!) because I was on deadline, but I’m still holding out hope that one day these sorts of things won’t slip through the cracks when I’m on deadline. We’ll see. At the very least, it’s good to have goals.

My year has been off to a great start. I spent most of January at the Washington coast, where I turned in my next book, and I’ve been knee-deep in promo for The Sun and the Starmaker ever since. I always feel a bit chaotic in the lead up to release, and when a reader recently said to me that they’d see me on tour “in a few weeks,” it was like a jump scare. The time has gone by so quickly.

As I look toward the release of my fourth book, my main goal is to set myself up for a good tour. I haven’t had travel this demanding since before my injury, and while I’ve recovered from my concussion, I still have a constant headache that tends to get worse with changes to my schedule. I’m so excited to hit the road and meet readers (and I’ve been blown away by how many of you have already rsvp’d to see me!), and I’m doing everything I can over the next few weeks to keep myself healthy and energized.

An unexpected consequence of writing The Sun and the Starmaker with a brain injury is that I feel very calm about this release. It’s the exact book I want to put out in the world, and I gave it my absolute all. I couldn’t have made it any better unless I’d opted to wait until I was recovered to start writing again (but truthfully, I’m not sure it would be “better.” Just different.) I wrote the very best book I could, and I’m excited for it to find its readers.

I’m not sure I’ve ever been as proud of anything as I am of this book. It was so hard to write, and on most days, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to finish it, let alone get it in shape to publish. The fact that it’s going to be out in the world still feels a bit unbelievable to me, and I’m sure I’ll be crying lots of happy tears in the coming weeks. I already feel like Starmaker is a huge success because it exists—everything else is the big, beautiful cherry on top.

For Starmaker’s release, I’ve partnered with the Concussion Research Laboratory and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Concussion Program for my preorder campaign. Every preorder will help fuel the discoveries that improve the lives of brain injury survivors across the globe, and we have just over three weeks left in this campaign.

I always assumed that I’d stop talking about my concussion once I recovered, but that doesn’t feel true to myself right now. I’ve heard from so many people who have seen my posts on Instagram and were inspired to seek out new doctors/treatment and are finally on the road to recovery. It’s difficult for me to put words to how fulfilling that is for me, how deeply it affects me each time someone reaches out. I talked with my doctor a few weeks back and he said that dozens of people have made appointments at UPMC after seeing my Instagram posts, and I’m realizing that sharing my experience is making a difference. It’s raising awareness. And I feel very strongly about continuing with that, for now at least. 💜

I’ll be using the next few weeks to get lots of writing done, lots of Starmaker promo made, and gearing up for the release of my fourth book. I can’t believe it’s almost here.

In Case You Missed It:

I’m going on tour! Tickets are going fast, so please get yours sooner rather than later if you’d like to attend one of my events. Some events require paid tickets (that include a book) while others just need an RSVP—all of the details can be found on each event page, included below! I’m so, SO excited to hit the road and talk about The Sun and the Starmaker. I hope you can join me!

*Just a note about the California event: the location has changed, and the event will now take place at the Folsom Barnes & Noble. Stephanie will still be there with me, and the event is still at 6pm. I’m sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, and I hope those of you who were planning on coming to Roseville will be able to make it to Folsom!

Seattle, WA

Folsom, CA

Salt Lake City, UT

Nashville, TN

St. Louis, MO

Decatur, GA

Vancouver, BC

If you want a signed, personalized copy of Starmaker, February 10^th is the final day to get your preorder in! I’ll be heading into Elliott Bay that week to sign all your books, so the 10^th is a hard deadline. And just a reminder that if you do preorder through Elliott Bay, you’ll receive an exclusive art print as well as an enamel pin! And of course, a portion of all preorder proceeds will be donated to the Concussion Research Laboratory.

Please include how you’d like the book personalized in the order comments at checkout.

Preorder a signed, personalized copy

A Moment of Gratitude:

January has been calm, and I was able to spend most of the month at the coast, where I got a ton of writing and administrative tasks done. It’s so nice to have weeks at a time when I can work without distraction, and it’s also somewhat rare. I loved being able to start the year that way, and I’m grateful for all the inspiration and energy it gave me. I’ll definitely be carrying it with me into the busier months ahead!

That’s all for now, but I’ll be back on February 17^th with a quick email celebrating Starmaker’s release.

As always, thank you so much for being here. 🤍

Love,

Rachel

Happy November! Fall is officially upon us in the Pacific Northwest: lots of wind, rain, and colorful leaves piling up on the ground. We’ve already lost power once, and I suspect that will happen several more times before the season is over. I’ve got my candles out, my blankets close by, and more tea and coffee than my heart can handle (quite literally: I don’t tolerate caffeine like I used to 🤣)

It’s my favorite time of year, and I instinctively want to stay in and cocoon at home, but I’ll be making an exception next week when I fly to Charleston for YALLFest! I love this festival and am so looking forward to it. I love sharing the city with so many book lovers, meeting readers, seeing other authors, and getting to visit with the folks who help bring my books into the world. Also, I just really love Charleston as a city.

I’ll share my schedule below, and I hope to see some of you there!

Otherwise, I’ve been listening to a lot of classical music (I’ve been loving this playlist) and splitting my time between promo for The Sun and the Starmaker and revisions for REDACTED. For me, one of the trickiest parts of this job has been learning how to balance multiple things because that really doesn’t come naturally to me. I like to focus on one thing at a time, fully immerse myself in it, and not move on to the next project until the current one is done. But publishing often doesn’t allow for that.

Even if I only have one book I’m in the process of writing or revising, I typically have another that is gearing up for release, which means dedicating time to the marketing and promo side of things. Something that really surprised me when I started writing as a career is that promo can be a full-time job if I let it, and so I have to make sure that I’m spending the vast majority of my time on the writing itself, even with so many other competing things. It can be easier said than done, and it’s a constant work in progress for me.

(If anyone would be interested in a deep dive into how I structure my schedule when I have multiple things going on, just let me know! If you’ve read my past newsletters, I’m sure you’ve gathered by now that I love chatting about productivity, schedules, planners, etc!)

Sometimes I daydream about what it would be like to move to the coast and mail my manuscripts to my editor via FedEx and be completely disconnected from the internet. That side of me is in a struggle with my ambition and desire for community, nudging me to be present on social media and do events and go on tours and connect with readers and writers online. I think, for now at least, I’ve found a sustainable balance for both: I go to the coast when I can, trying my best to disconnect when I’m there, and those weeks away recharge me and refill the well so that I can show up for all the other things I want to do. I’m extraordinarily grateful that I can do both.

I have several updates to share below, so I’m going to cut myself off here to get to everything else. I’m wishing you all delicious-smelling candles, warm beverages, and lots of cozy evenings!

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In Case You Missed It

I revealed the first part of my preorder campaign! Every preorder of The Sun and the Starmaker will help fuel the discoveries that improve the lives of brain injury survivors across the globe. I’ve partnered with the Concussion Research Laboratory and the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program, and $1 from every preorder will go toward their incredible work.

As most of you probably know, I suffered a traumatic brain injury in December of 2023, and it is because of the research and clinical work of the Concussion Research Lab and UPMC that I was ultimately able to heal from my brain injury. This campaign means the world to me, and I appreciate each and every preorder more than you know.

Preorder your copy

Next up, if you’ve been wanting to get a signed and personalized copy, you can now do so through my beloved indie Elliott Bay Book Company! Please put your personalization request in the comment box at checkout, and make sure to get your orders in by February 10^th.

If you order through Elliott Bay, not only will you get the gorgeous deluxe limited edition of Starmaker, but you’ll also receive an art print done by the incredible artist Viv Tanner, as well as a pin of the Starmaker’s castle! These preorders will also contribute toward my campaign with the Concussion Research Lab.

Preorder a signed, personalized copy

And finally, if you’re going to be in Charleston at YALLFest next week, here’s where you can find me!

A Moment of Gratitude

This isn’t my normal moment of gratitude, but it’s important. I had a health scare recently (I’m okay!), and it has me reflecting on my incredible family and friends who supported me through a very uncertain time. I’m a big believer in preventative medicine, so I’ll use this time to gently remind you to please get your screenings when you hit the recommended ages: mammograms, colonoscopies, blood panels, etc. I’m fortunate to have health care that allows for these screenings, and if you are too, I’d urge you to get them. (If you’re coming to YALLFest and like to give out hugs—which is totally fine with me—I would just ask that you give a gentle one!)

There are so many stories I want to read and write, and I want to do everything I can to get to as many of them as possible.

As always, thank you so much for being here. 🤍

Love,

Rachel

Happy October, friends! I honestly can’t believe there are only three months left in the year, and like many of you, I’m hoping to keep my head down for most of it and tackle the projects I want completed before we roll into 2026.

I’m a big fan of Cal Newport, and his newsletter last week introduced me to the term “lock in,” which is apparently a TikTok phrase for refocusing on the goals you set out to accomplish at the beginning of the year for the last three months of it. So other than some upcoming travel I have (will I be seeing any of you at YALLFest?), my intent for the rest of the year is to lock in. I’m self-admittedly very into productivity, focus, and goal setting ideas (I’m sure many of you have heard me yell about my unending love for Deep Work, a book that single-handedly changed my entire work process), so it feels fitting to add “lock in” to my vernacular.

It makes a lot of sense to me that this is a popular conversation right now. The fall makes me want to retreat and stay in while simultaneously fueling my creativity; it makes me want to dive headfirst into something new and not come up for air until the new year. It both feels like a time to slow down and a time to obsess over a project, and somehow those two things seem to fit perfectly together in fall.

For me, my goals are to finish the YA proposal I’m working on, turn in edits on another project, and read six more books before the year ends. I’m also focusing on maintaining a regular sleep schedule and adding strength training back into my exercise routine after focusing so heavily on cardio since my brain injury.

So, what do I do in service of locking in? First, I adhere to my routine; for me, that’s getting up at the same time every day, working out, then making an Americano and sitting down at my desk. In the fall, lighting a candle with a scent reminiscent of whatever I’m working on is also highly encouraged.

I put my phone on focus mode and keep it in a different room. I try to add as much friction to getting distracted as I can, so I also use Freedom on my laptop to block certain websites that I visit whenever the work gets hard or I’m trying to procrastinate (I’m looking at you, Zillow).

I use the Pomodoro method. I set a timer for however long I want my focus sessions to be (traditionally the method is 25 minutes, but I tend to do better with sessions that are a bit longer), and I sprint for that time before taking a short (off-screen) break to walk around and stretch.

I plan my weeks. Every Sunday I sit down with my planner and prioritize my work and personal to-do lists, so that each morning I know what I want to accomplish.

I time block. Every morning when I sit down at my desk, I schedule out my day, decide what needs to get done, and then I block out time for each specific task in my planner.

I track my focus hours. I keep a log in my planner for how many hours of deep work I get in each day. This holds me accountable and serves as a check-in to make sure I’m devoting time to the things I care most about. (Someone once told me that thinking about work feels a lot like actual work, which can trick us into thinking we’re getting lots done when we’re actually just thinking about it—tracking my deep work hours makes sure I’m not just thinking about what I need to get done, but actually doing it.)

If you have any favorite focus methods, I’d love to hear them! Drop them in the comments below, and here’s to a wonderful season of slowing down and locking in. 🍂

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✨Giveaway!✨

I received my The Sun and the Starmaker ARCs, which means it’s time for a ✨giveaway✨! Enter for your chance to win one of three The Sun and the Starmaker ARCs, and I will sign and personalize however you’d like! All you have to do to enter is be an active subscriber of Furthermore. US only this time (I’m sorry, international friends! Shipping rates have skyrocketed. 🙁). Giveaway runs from today, 10/3, through Sunday, 10/12 at midnight. Winners will be randomly chosen and notified via email on Monday, 10/13.

Ready to enter?

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A Moment of Gratitude

This past weekend I was in Spokane for the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association’s fall trade show, and it was an absolute joy chatting with such enthusiastic champions of books. It was my first conference-style event since my injury, and it isn’t lost on me that I would not have been able to do that a year ago. It was emotional for me to be there, talking about the circumstance in which I wrote STARMAKER, marveling at the fact that I could even talk about the book in the first place. It’s a real book, it will be on shelves one day soon, and I don’t think I’ll ever truly get over that.

Also, we got a new Taylor Swift album today, so lots to be thankful for. ❤️‍🔥

As always, thank you so much for being here. 🤍

Love,

Rachel

I recently posted a Day in the Life carousel over on Instagram and shared that I take a class each morning over breakfast. I received a lot of messages about that particular part of my routine, so I thought I’d share more here for anyone who’s interested!

This routine started for me in July of 2024. If you’ve been following me for a while, you probably know that I’m a pretty big Cal Newport fangirl. I read his book Deep Work in 2017 and it completely changed the way I work; it’s one of my favorite books, and I go back to it often. I’ve since read all of his books (I’m a fan of productivity-type books in general), so when I heard he was doing a virtual class called Life of Focus, I knew I wanted to join.

I really loved the format of that class because it consisted of three weekly lessons that were short—typically no more than twenty minutes—and easy to fit into the workday. I watched the lessons as I ate my breakfast, and I absolutely loved starting my workday that way (SO much better than reading the news, which was how I started my workdays before this). Once the class ended, I knew I wanted to keep up with the routine, so I started looking into ways to do just that.

Around that time, a friend of mine told me about Skillshare, which is an online learning community for creatives. It has thousands of classes to choose from, from illustration to freelancing to video to writing to cooking to decluttering. It ended up being perfect for me, as I was interested in learning how to make more of my own content like reels, graphics, etc. Each class consists of multiple lessons, and most lessons are short and easy to fit into the workday.

Since joining Skillshare, I’ve taken a photography class, a class on CapCut, a class on filming reels, a class on marketing copy, and a deep dive into Canva. I’m also learning Photoshop, which is something I’ve wanted to do for years.

What I love about this routine is that I now start my workday by learning something, which makes me curious and eager to put what I’ve learned into practice. This has been great for me because I used to hate creating content for Instagram, and now I no longer think of it as “creating content” as much as practicing a skill I’m trying to learn. It’s really re-framed how I look at and approach my social media presence, and I find I’m enjoying it more.

It also tends to spark my creativity, and after I’m done taking my class, I feel energized to write even though the classes I’ve taken so far aren’t themselves about writing. It just puts me in a curious headspace, which is a great place to be for writing.

Skillshare isn’t free, but they do offer a free trial. After that, it’s $14/month or $168/year (though they typically run deals). I’ve heard that the classes can vary in quality since anyone can teach on the platform, but I’ve enjoyed every class I’ve taken so far.

Skillshare isn’t the only way to adopt this breakfast + class routine, of course. For example, Brandon Sanderson has a ton of free writing classes on his YouTube that I’ve heard great things about—they’re on my list of classes to take in the future. And if writing and publishing classes are what you’re looking for, The Writers Conservatory has some stellar ones in their library (I taught one on revision!). Or perhaps you’d like to start your day with a Ted Talk instead. Or if watching videos isn’t your jam, maybe you’d prefer to subscribe to newsletters that tackle some of the areas you’re interested in (Susan Dennard has a great one for writers!). Or if newsletters aren’t your thing (I am indeed aware that this is a newsletter) maybe you queue up some podcasts that focus on your areas of interest.

You get the idea. Just anything you can enjoy with your breakfast.

It isn’t really about the medium, more about the routine of it. And it doesn’t have to be writing-related at all, it can be about anything you’re interested in. Want to learn how to paint? How to change the oil in your car? How to clean your refrigerator? (this is an actual class on Skillshare!) How an engine works? How to write copy? How to garden? How to style your space? There’s probably a class for that.

The joy is in the learning. And as a side note, I strongly believe that one of the very best things we as writers can do for ourselves is to find a hobby outside of writing. Whether that’s playing a sport or exercising or growing vegetables or learning something new, having something you enjoy that isn’t related to writing is, in my opinion, crucial to finding balance and happiness in this career. The breakfast + coffee routine can absolutely help serve that purpose.

So there you have it! Let me know if you end up trying this routine—I’d love to hear how it goes for you!

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In Case You Missed It

We revealed all the stunning details of the deluxe first print edition of The Sun and the Starmaker! This book is gorgeous, like beyond-my-wildest-dreams gorgeous. I’m totally obsessed with it, and I hope you are too!

If you’d be sad to miss out on this edition, I highly suggest preordering—once this edition sells out, it’s gone for good. Today is the last day of the Barnes & Noble preorder sale, and you can get Starmaker for 25% off through the end of the day (just make sure you use code PREORDER25 at checkout!).

Preorder STARMAKER for 25% off

I also announced this week that I’ll be attending YALLFest this November! I’m extremely honored to be one of their keynote authors, and I can’t wait to wander around Charleston with so many book lovers. I would love to see you there!

A Moment of Gratitude

I told my husband the other day that there is a deep, strong undercurrent of gratitude that stays with me throughout each day. I’ve always tried to focus on gratitude, but since healing from my concussion, it’s gone into overdrive. I feel as if I’ve been given an entirely new lease on life, a second chance, and I hope I don’t ever take it for granted.

I spent a lot of time this past month figuring out the marketing and promotion schedule for The Sun and the Starmaker, and so today my moment of gratitude is around the fact that I even have a book to promote at all right now. And as someone who doesn’t love the promotion side of things, this has been a very welcome shift.

I can’t tell you how many times I thought I wouldn’t be able to get Starmaker across the finish line, and I’m infinitely thankful that I was (with the help of my very patient, very understanding, very supportive publishing team). I’ve never been as proud of a book as I am of this one, and I’m so, so excited for it to be out in the world. Less than six months to go. 💕

Thank you so much for being here.

Love,

Rachel

Happy August! (Side note: how is it already August?) This past month flew by between two trips—one to the Washington coast, and one to Santa Fe—and lots of quality time with family and friends.

Santa Fe in particular was a lovely retreat for me. My husband was heading there for a business trip and he suggested that I tag along and use it as a brainstorming retreat. If you read my last newsletter, you know I’m in the process of brainstorming some new ideas, and the change of scenery ended up being hugely inspiring for me. I filled page after page of my notebook and came back home with a full synopsis written.

The high desert is gorgeous… so much magic there, and I hope to be able to return one day.

Aside from brainstorming, I’ve been doing a lot of behind-the-scenes promo work for The Sun and the Starmaker. Writing essays, drafting pitches, coming up with marketing ideas, etc. It’s been nice to have the time to focus on that stuff because it’s the first to go when I’m on deadline. I’ve also been using the time to learn Photoshop, something I’ve wanted to do for years and just haven’t gotten around to. I’m still very much a beginner, but I’m really enjoying learning something new!

Part of gearing up for The Sun and the Starmaker has meant being more present on Instagram. It’s been so nice to connect with readers again after over a year of being mostly quiet, and if you happen to have seen my stories yesterday, I did an ask-me-anything and promised to answer at least one question here in my newsletter. I got many variations of the question below, so that’s what I’ll focus on today!

What I’d Go Back and Tell My Debut Author Self

It’s interesting for me to answer this question because I still feel like I’m just starting out. It will have been two-and-a-half years since Bring Me Your Midnight released when The Sun and the Starmaker hits shelves (what is time?), and so much of what I’m about to say is just as much a reminder for me as it is for anyone else.

For anyone who is new here, I have three published novels out in the world with my fourth releasing in February. My debut released in 2021, and I’m just over four years removed from that experience.

I would frame this more as “things that worked well for me” and/or “things I wish I knew” versus “advice.” We’re all different, and if you asked fifty different authors this question, you’d receive a lot of varying responses. These are mine and obviously extend from my own experiences in publishing, so your mileage may vary.

Without further ado, here are the things I’d go back and tell my debut author self:

1. You/your career is not one book.

(Assuming you want to publish multiple books, of course.) The publishing industry emphasizes debuts so much that it creates a ton of pressure, so it makes sense why so many of us feel like our entire career hangs on how well or not well our debut novel does. Which is kind of wild when you think about it.

If I were in research, I doubt I’d expect to make a huge breakthrough in my first year. If I were in ultrasound (which I was!), I would not expect my first scan to be as good as the ones that follow. Still good, of course, but not the indicator of success for my entire career. So why do we treat debut novels as if there are only two outcomes: a huge breakout or a total failure? Instead, shouldn’t we be treating them as the first entry into a (hopefully) long career?

I certainly hope my debut novel, The Nature of Witches, is not the best book I ever write. In fact, I kind of hope it’s the worst in the sense that I’d like to think I’m improving—at least on a craft level—with every book. There are a ton of things that go into how well a book does that have nothing to do with the actual writing, and almost all of them are outside our control. But I would love to see a shift in how we approach the debut experience from launching one book/series to launching a career.

There are many authors who don’t “breakout” until their fifth, tenth, fifteenth published book. There are also many authors who don’t have a “breakout” but have very successful, rewarding careers with consistent sales. So I would tell myself to try and take some of the pressure off my debut, and instead of looking at it as my “one shot,” I would try to look at it as simply the first step in my career (easier said than done, I know).

2. As far as promotion and marketing goes, do what you enjoy and forget the rest.

Or at the very least, pick one or two things you want to focus on instead of spreading yourself too thin thinking you must be present on every single app and say yes to every single ask.

I decided early on that Instagram and my newsletter would be my two main areas of focus when it comes to promoting my books. I enjoy my newsletter, and Instagram is my favorite of all the social media platforms. If I had to be on TikTok, X, Bluesky, Threads, and Instagram, I would completely burn out and end up not having much of a presence anywhere. Choosing one platform enables me to put effort into it in a way that feels sustainable for me.

The same goes for preorder campaigns and the like. If you’re running your own preorder campaign, it gets very expensive very quickly, not to mention how time-consuming it is. (And whether or not they move the needle is another question entirely.) So do a preorder campaign if you want to and think you’d enjoy it, but don’t do one just because you feel like you have to—you don’t.

Also, a tip here: if you’re going to do interviews with bloggers or other outlets, make a document of the most common questions you get asked (what inspired you to write this novel, what kind of research did you do for this book, what are your favorite books, etc) and save your answers. It will save you a ton of time.

3. Build community. Your writer friends will be your lifeline.

I know that “lifeline” sounds dramatic, but I have absolutely had days where my author friends were just that for me. Even after publication, this industry is full of rejection and disappointments, and it’s so important to have people you love and trust to work through those things with.

Alternatively, it is also true that one of the absolute best parts of this job is celebrating your friends’ wins.

This industry is full of wonderful humans. Put yourself out there and make those connections; you’ll be very glad you did.

4. Figure out what success means to you.

In service of this, I made a list in my planner called “author dreams”. You can add things like become a bestseller and/or get a movie deal on there (put it out into the universe and all that!), but most of my list included smaller moments that I had dreamt of as a child: walking into a bookstore and seeing my book on a shelf; hearing from a reader that they loved my book; being invited to do a signing.

Other things on my list were things like: have someone make character art of one of my characters; see a bookish tattoo inspired by one of my books; see a stranger reading one of my books out in public; receive a blurb from an author I admire; see one of my books mentioned in The Seattle Times.

Not all of these have happened but some of them have, and it’s incredible to look at my list and see the things I’ve been able to cross off.

The goalpost will inevitably move as your career grows; that’s normal. But it’s also so important to remember the things that felt like pipe dreams at one point.

5. Ask questions.

For a lot of us, we worked so hard and went through so many rejections to get to the point of seeing our book on a shelf that it almost feels like magic when it finally happens and we don’t want to rock the boat. I had this intense fear of being seeing as “high maintenance” if I asked too many questions, so I had a lot of meetings and email exchanges when I didn’t ask about things I didn’t understand or wasn’t sure of, all in service of not being high maintenance.

You are allowed to ask questions. Lots of them! You’ve never done this before—of course you’re going to have questions. Neither my editor nor my agent has ever made me feel bad about asking a question. You can be mindful of how you ask (like batching your questions into a single email versus sending a dozen different emails in the span of a week), but having questions does not make you high maintenance. Ask away.

6. Enjoy it.

I know this sounds silly to include, but it’s so easy to get caught up in points 1-5 that we forget to stop and consider how this is quite literally a dream coming true. Sometimes I will just sit and think about what it was like to be on the side of dreaming and hoping and aching to see my book on a shelf because that girl would be endlessly overjoyed by all that has happened. There have been disappointments and heartbreaks along the way. There has also been so much happiness, and there is nothing else in the world I’d rather be doing. And the fact that I get to? There’s nothing better.

Enjoy it. Celebrate it. Go to the bookstore and weep in front of your novel and bask in the wonder of your dream coming true.

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A Moment of Gratitude

Following point 6 above, I’ m endlessly thankful to be in the position of writing this newsletter about the debut experience. What an absolute joy. 🤍

There are lots of exciting things on the horizon, and I can’t wait to share them all with you! In the meantime, please consider adding The Sun and the Starmaker to Goodreads or preordering—it means the world.

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And if you want to follow along on Instagram, you can find me @TimesNewRachel.

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As always, thank you so much for being here.

Love,

Rachel

Today I’m writing to you from the Washington Coast. I’ve spent the last week out here, and it’s been absolutely lovely and so very needed. I’m between deadlines right now, and it has been so nice having time to rest and recharge and daydream. Especially daydream.

You know those writers who seem to have hundreds of ideas, who will never live long enough to write them all, who know what they want to be working on years in advance? That’s not me. Not at all. Most of the time, I think to myself how nice it would be to have so many ideas to choose from, but I’ve never been that way (and I’m starting to think I never will be).

I’m a one-idea-at-a-time kind of writer. I spend a lot of time brainstorming ideas, and once I land on one, I’m all-in. That does provide me with a kind of focus that I love—I don’t have the “shiny new idea” problem where I feel a pull to work on something other than what I’m working on—but it also means that I’m constantly worried that my current idea will be my last. I’m learning to let go of that fear since it has never been right before, but it still feels a little uncomfortable not knowing what comes next.

It's almost as if my brain needs permission to daydream and think about new ideas, which it doesn’t get when I’m already immersed in a project. Once I finish a book, though, my brain starts wandering, and I’m free to coax it along until I land on the next idea.

Because of this, brainstorming is a critical part of my process—and one that I love—so I thought I’d share a bit about how I go about it.

When I’m in between deadlines or have finished a book, it’s time to start thinking about the next thing. To do that, I grab a notebook, curl up in a comfortable chair with coffee or tea, and get to work.

I start by making a list of things that I love and/or would love to write about one day. My list includes some more general things, like: ghost stories, a haunting, vampires, sister stories, and marriage of convenience to name a few. I also include smaller things, like: love interest has to carry main character, dancing with an enemy, getting caught in a storm, and ballgowns. I don’t overthink it—anything that pops into my head, I add to the list.

This exercise works best for me away from my computer, handwriting in a notebook. Because I only ever handwrite during brainstorming, it seems to be a cue for my brain that we’re in idea-generation mode (and it just feel like a treat to curl up somewhere other than my desk).

As a side note, I always have a list going of the things that I love because it isn’t only useful when trying to come up with a new idea, but it’s also incredibly helpful during drafting and revision. Is there a scene you wrote that just isn’t working for you? What if you threw in something from your list, like the love interest carrying the main character or the enemies having to dance?

Okay, back to idea generation. Once I have my first list, I make another list of things I’d love to see more of, like: main characters in college, friendship breakups, and books that include a couple coming out of retirement for one more ____ (job, kill, heist, etc). These things exist in plenty of books, of course, but I’d love to see them in even more.

Once I have my lists, I stare at what I’ve written and see if anything can be combined: a story that follows twin sisters as they go off to different colleges, vampires in ballgowns, a ghost-hunter couple coming out of retirement for a particularly eerie haunting. From there, it’s me scribbling down idea after idea, drawing arrows and circling words, even things that at first thought feel totally ridiculous. It’s a place to dream, to follow winding paths and see where they lead. Over hours and hours of doing this, my notebook starts to look completely unhinged, and that’s a good thing.

I do this until I write down something that I keep coming back to, when instead of generating new ideas, I start daydreaming about ways to expand one specific idea. When this happens, I write down every single thing that comes to me, from little details I could add to big plot ideas and character arcs. Once I have it all down on paper, it’s time to decide if that idea is big/full enough to fill an entire novel. For me, that means getting out the Save the Cat! beat sheet and seeing if I can create a cohesive plot out of everything I’ve written down.

It usually takes me anywhere from a couple weeks to several months to land on what I want to write next, but the point is that I always find that next idea. It just requires a little coaxing to come out of hiding. And typically, it’s fun, an absolute blast to sit down with a notebook and just let your mind wander and daydream and follow “what-ifs”. I love it. So while I wish I had the security of knowing what comes next, I adore the process of discovery.

I can’t wait to meet my next idea.

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In Case You Missed It

Today is the last day of the Barnes & Noble preorder sale! You can get 25% off (plus another 10% if you’re a premium member) forthcoming books when you use code PREORDER25 at checkout.

Preorder STARMAKER for 25% off

I’ve received several questions about whether The Sun and the Starmaker will have a special case design, and while I can’t reveal details just yet, I can tell you that it is truly the most beautiful book I’ve ever seen. If you would be sad to miss out on the deluxe first-print edition (which I can’t WAIT to share with you), I highly suggest you preorder to ensure that you get it! Here’s a small teaser of what we have in store for you. 😍

I am truly obsessed and can’t wait to share the whole glorious design package with you!

A Moment of Gratitude

I’m grateful for nature and places I can go to be still, especially the Washington coast. Last November I began working with the doctor who would ultimately get me healthy again after my concussion (more on that some other time), and he put me on a very intense daily program of exercise, physical and vestibular therapy, and social exposures in busy environments. Because of that last point, it was difficult for me to visit the coast given how rural it is, so I wasn’t able to get out here while I was doing that.

I’m so grateful I’m here now, and more than that, that the program worked and I’m here feeling well and healthy. It is such a gift, and one I hope to never take for granted.

Thank you so much for being here.

Love,

Rachel

(Re)Launching My Newsletter

Welcome to the first installment of my newly revamped newsletter, Furthermore! I’m so happy to have you here.

This newsletter has taken me a while to get out because I’ve put a lot of pressure on it—too much pressure. I felt like it had to be deep and profound because it’s my first newsletter since I fell and suffered a traumatic brain injury; I kept putting it off because I had no idea how to distill the last year-and-a-half into one newsletter.

So I’ve decided that I’m not going to try.

In the words of Taylor Swift,

Long story short, it was a bad time.

Long story short, I survived.

This injury undoubtedly changed me, and I’m sure it will come up in many newsletters, social media posts, and events. Especially as I gear up for the release of The Sun and the Starmaker—that book is so intrinsically linked with my injury that I would have no idea how to separate the two, even if I wanted to (which I don’t).

But for now, what I want to say is that recovery is a full-time job, and it was so much harder than I ever thought it would be. When I was first diagnosed with my concussion, I assumed I’d take a day or two off work and then get back to my normal life. I was so wrong. The next year-and-a-half was the worst season of my life, and I worked SO hard to find my way back to myself. I’m exceedingly proud of the work that I did, and prouder still that I somehow wrote a book during that time.

All of my concussion symptoms are now gone except for the headaches, and even those have gotten much better. I never struggled with headaches before my fall, and I have now had one every single day since. But I no longer feel like a human with a concussion—I feel like a human with headaches, and my doctor is very optimistic that they will be gone in the next few months. Once that happens, I’ll probably write an extensive newsletter solely about concussion and treatment/recovery, but until then, I’m very happy to say I feel like myself again. What a journey it was to get here.

To all of you who sent me messages and left comments on my Instagram posts, thank you. I read every single one, and it meant so much to me to have that encouragement. I’m so excited to be back to posting about books and reading and life beyond my concussion, and this newsletter is another way of connecting that I’ve been very eager to start.

So here we are, at the start. The beginning of a new way to connect. It isn’t the profound or deep start I initially thought it needed to be, but it is heartfelt and genuine and landing in your inbox with a lot of enthusiasm and gratitude. There was a time I couldn’t even look at my screen without becoming violently ill, and now I’m writing to you after a full day of work and hours at my computer—I am so thankful.

Thank you so much for being on the journey with me. ♥️

Going Forward

Now that I’ve established Furthermore, here’s what you can expect from it: a semi-regular newsletter (once a month? Once every other month? I’ll see what works, but it won’t be too often) with book news, behind the scenes looks at the creative life, musings about craft and writing, sneak peaks, and life and writing updates.

In Case You Missed It

We have a cover and a release date for my next book! The Sun and the Starmaker is hitting shelves on February 16^th, 2026, and I couldn’t be more excited to share it with you. It’s now available for preorder, which you can do here if you’re interested.

I have been blessed with beautiful covers and have loved them all, but this one is my favorite. I just love how romantic and whimsical it is! Artist Viv Tanner did such an incredible job, and it perfectly fits the story inside. Stay tuned because I have a lot of exciting things on the horizon to share—this book is going to be my most stunning one yet. 👀

And for those of you who haven’t seen it, here is the official copy:

There once was a village so far north that most considered it the top of the world... and in that village, the Sun fell in love with her Starmaker. From the New York Times bestselling author of The Nature of Witches comes a whimsical and sweeping romantic fantasy.

Nestled deep in the snowy mountains of the Lost Range, the village of Reverie is a small miracle. Beyond the reach of the Sun, Reverie is dependent upon the magic of the mysterious Starmaker: every morning, he trudges across a vast glacier and pulls in sunlight over the peaks, providing the village with the light it needs to survive.

Aurora Finch grew up on tales of the Starmaker's magic, never imagining she'd one day meet him. But on the morning of her wedding, a fateful encounter in the frostbitten woods changes everything. The Starmaker senses a powerful magic within her and demands she come study under his guidance. With her newfound abilities tied to the survival of the village, Aurora is swept away to his ice-covered castle and far from everything she's ever known.

The Starmaker is as cold and distant as the mountain itself, leaving Aurora to explore his enchanted castle alone. Yet the more she discovers about the sorcerer, the stronger their attraction grows, pulling her closer to the secrets he refuses to share. But a deadly frost approaches and Aurora must uncover what the Starmaker is hiding before she is left in an endless winter that even the Sun cannot touch.

A Moment of Gratitude

I’d like to end my newsletters with something I’m particularly thankful for at the time, and this month (and the past year-and-a-half) one of those things is audiobooks. I’m SO thankful for them. I had never listened to audiobooks in the past, but when I fell, I lost my ability to read. Audiobooks became a balm for my soul during a very, very hard season. I shared some of my favorites over on my Instagram—you can see them here.

What a thrill it is to be back. Thank you for still being here. 💕

Love,

Rachel

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