@tortoisebooks.bsky.social
Reposted
Very excited to announce I will be discussing my experiences running @tortoisebooks.bsky.social at the @storystudiochicago.bsky.social Pub Crawl! I will now self-censor until then so you can ONLY get my takes at this event...and they will be the hottest and spiciest takes you can imagine.
@storystudiochicago.bsky.social's annual Pub Crawl starts up again this February—if you’re new here, here’s the rundown:
1. Programming online almost every night with agents, editors, or authors talking about how to get published…🧵
www.storystudiochicago.org/classes/tick...
1. Programming online almost every night with agents, editors, or authors talking about how to get published…🧵
www.storystudiochicago.org/classes/tick...
January 20, 2026 at 5:34 PM
Very excited to announce I will be discussing my experiences running @tortoisebooks.bsky.social at the @storystudiochicago.bsky.social Pub Crawl! I will now self-censor until then so you can ONLY get my takes at this event...and they will be the hottest and spiciest takes you can imagine.
Reposted
Publishing news alert! 🚨Contributor Sara Lippmann's book JERKS was republished from Tortoise Press! buff.ly/Vfv18vR
January 20, 2026 at 10:27 PM
Publishing news alert! 🚨Contributor Sara Lippmann's book JERKS was republished from Tortoise Press! buff.ly/Vfv18vR
BIG thanks to the fine people at @greenlightbklyn.bsky.social for not only allowing these Jerks into their store, but featuring them prominently! (@saralippmann.bsky.social and @jerrybrennan.bsky.social are most pleased.) Go see them--the jerks and the non-jerks--and maybe take home one of each.
January 16, 2026 at 4:59 PM
BIG thanks to the fine people at @greenlightbklyn.bsky.social for not only allowing these Jerks into their store, but featuring them prominently! (@saralippmann.bsky.social and @jerrybrennan.bsky.social are most pleased.) Go see them--the jerks and the non-jerks--and maybe take home one of each.
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Big ups to @saralippmann.bsky.social for ending up on this @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social list of the most-anticipated books of 2026! (And big thanks to @mbwelch.bsky.social and team for the coverage!)
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/06/o...
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/06/o...
Our Most Anticipated Books of 2026 - Chicago Review of Books
It’s a big year for Chicago Review of Books. We turn 10 in February and will spend the year celebrating a decade of dedication to literary excellence. In March, our Editor-in-Chief, Michael Welch, wil...
chireviewofbooks.com
January 7, 2026 at 12:16 AM
Big ups to @saralippmann.bsky.social for ending up on this @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social list of the most-anticipated books of 2026! (And big thanks to @mbwelch.bsky.social and team for the coverage!)
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/06/o...
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/06/o...
Big ups to @saralippmann.bsky.social for ending up on this @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social list of the most-anticipated books of 2026! (And big thanks to @mbwelch.bsky.social and team for the coverage!)
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/06/o...
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/06/o...
Our Most Anticipated Books of 2026 - Chicago Review of Books
It’s a big year for Chicago Review of Books. We turn 10 in February and will spend the year celebrating a decade of dedication to literary excellence. In March, our Editor-in-Chief, Michael Welch, wil...
chireviewofbooks.com
January 7, 2026 at 12:16 AM
Big ups to @saralippmann.bsky.social for ending up on this @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social list of the most-anticipated books of 2026! (And big thanks to @mbwelch.bsky.social and team for the coverage!)
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/06/o...
chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/06/o...
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Among my other fun publisher quirks: when I get a batch of @tortoisebooks.bsky.social that's misprinted juuuuuust enough to not be saleable, but not enough to not be an amazing read, I get a credit from the printer and then disburse them at Little Free Library boxes in West Ridge and Rogers Park.
January 6, 2026 at 2:35 PM
Among my other fun publisher quirks: when I get a batch of @tortoisebooks.bsky.social that's misprinted juuuuuust enough to not be saleable, but not enough to not be an amazing read, I get a credit from the printer and then disburse them at Little Free Library boxes in West Ridge and Rogers Park.
December sales are in, and our lifetime total is now 38,766 books sold. Goal for 2026: see how quickly we can get to 40,000. (And 50,000.)
January 2, 2026 at 10:54 PM
December sales are in, and our lifetime total is now 38,766 books sold. Goal for 2026: see how quickly we can get to 40,000. (And 50,000.)
Reposted
OK, folks...calling it. All of these, plus a solid number of @tortoisebooks.bsky.social submissions, some of which will be on YOUR lists in 2026, God willing.
Some faves:
Working, Studs Terkel
Jernigan, David Gates
The Country Girls, Edna O'Brien
The Kid Stays In The Picture, Robert Evans
Some faves:
Working, Studs Terkel
Jernigan, David Gates
The Country Girls, Edna O'Brien
The Kid Stays In The Picture, Robert Evans
January 1, 2026 at 4:58 AM
OK, folks...calling it. All of these, plus a solid number of @tortoisebooks.bsky.social submissions, some of which will be on YOUR lists in 2026, God willing.
Some faves:
Working, Studs Terkel
Jernigan, David Gates
The Country Girls, Edna O'Brien
The Kid Stays In The Picture, Robert Evans
Some faves:
Working, Studs Terkel
Jernigan, David Gates
The Country Girls, Edna O'Brien
The Kid Stays In The Picture, Robert Evans
We were getting all set to hustle up votes for the @chicagoreader.com and their Best Of 2025 feature and...they don't have a Best Small Press category this year? They probably didn't want to make all the other presses feel bad by making them compete with us...
December 22, 2025 at 7:38 PM
We were getting all set to hustle up votes for the @chicagoreader.com and their Best Of 2025 feature and...they don't have a Best Small Press category this year? They probably didn't want to make all the other presses feel bad by making them compete with us...
Reposted
psssssssst this jawn
(out in May) @tortoisebooks.bsky.social is now up on edelweiss if anyone wants a free early look www.edelweiss.plus?sku=19651992...
(out in May) @tortoisebooks.bsky.social is now up on edelweiss if anyone wants a free early look www.edelweiss.plus?sku=19651992...
December 20, 2025 at 2:53 PM
psssssssst this jawn
(out in May) @tortoisebooks.bsky.social is now up on edelweiss if anyone wants a free early look www.edelweiss.plus?sku=19651992...
(out in May) @tortoisebooks.bsky.social is now up on edelweiss if anyone wants a free early look www.edelweiss.plus?sku=19651992...
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really cannot be emphasized enough that bari weiss has literally never done journalism. i don’t mean that in the pejorative sense. i mean that in the “has never performed the job she was hired to do” sense
One explanation for Bari killing the story is that she did so as a public act of fealty to the administration. But another is that, as an inexperienced journalist, she doesn’t understand that a refusal to go on the record is a kind of comment in and of itself
December 22, 2025 at 2:19 PM
really cannot be emphasized enough that bari weiss has literally never done journalism. i don’t mean that in the pejorative sense. i mean that in the “has never performed the job she was hired to do” sense
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Stop expecting answers from books.
Instead just say to yourself
“This will keep me company while I live the question.”
Instead just say to yourself
“This will keep me company while I live the question.”
December 19, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Stop expecting answers from books.
Instead just say to yourself
“This will keep me company while I live the question.”
Instead just say to yourself
“This will keep me company while I live the question.”
Spotted at the Center For Fiction. JERKS is in these places...you're in these places...PEOPLE, DO WE HAVE TO SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU?
December 10, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Spotted at the Center For Fiction. JERKS is in these places...you're in these places...PEOPLE, DO WE HAVE TO SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU?
Super big thanks to all who came out to Hopleaf for Nestor Fest...it was the best event we've had there yet! (And thanks again to Hopleaf for being such awesome hosts!)
December 7, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Super big thanks to all who came out to Hopleaf for Nestor Fest...it was the best event we've had there yet! (And thanks again to Hopleaf for being such awesome hosts!)
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Hanging with @the-boss-gomez.bsky.social at his book release party along with @tortoisebooks.bsky.social
Buy his book here tortoisebooks.com/store/rescue...
#booksky #ImmigrationStories
#books #80MinutesAroundTheWorld
Buy his book here tortoisebooks.com/store/rescue...
#booksky #ImmigrationStories
#books #80MinutesAroundTheWorld
December 6, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Hanging with @the-boss-gomez.bsky.social at his book release party along with @tortoisebooks.bsky.social
Buy his book here tortoisebooks.com/store/rescue...
#booksky #ImmigrationStories
#books #80MinutesAroundTheWorld
Buy his book here tortoisebooks.com/store/rescue...
#booksky #ImmigrationStories
#books #80MinutesAroundTheWorld
Look. You could get all your Christmas shopping done in one fell swoop tomorrow. But only if you like cool books. Just go to Nestor Fest at Hopleaf from 3-5 and catch an awesome reading from Nestor Gomez. (And Brooke Randel as well!) I'm just saying, it's an option. Just spitballing here.
NestorFest
tomorrow at 3:00 PM
fb.me
December 5, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Look. You could get all your Christmas shopping done in one fell swoop tomorrow. But only if you like cool books. Just go to Nestor Fest at Hopleaf from 3-5 and catch an awesome reading from Nestor Gomez. (And Brooke Randel as well!) I'm just saying, it's an option. Just spitballing here.
Folks, Nestor Fest is THIS SATURDAY from 3-5 at Hopleaf! (5148 N Clark.) It's the launch event for the incomparable Nestor "The Boss" Gomez and RESCUED ME/ME RESCATÓ; we'll also have readings from Stephanie Martinez and Jitesh Jaggi and our very own Brooke Randel. Be there!
December 3, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Folks, Nestor Fest is THIS SATURDAY from 3-5 at Hopleaf! (5148 N Clark.) It's the launch event for the incomparable Nestor "The Boss" Gomez and RESCUED ME/ME RESCATÓ; we'll also have readings from Stephanie Martinez and Jitesh Jaggi and our very own Brooke Randel. Be there!
👇👇👇
i strongly, strongly believe that good writing is downstream of clear thinking and a strong understanding of the subject matter at hand. without fail, tortured writing comes from writers who don’t know and can’t think clearly about anything.
Oh man! This paragraph is brutal. The best thing about this review is it's not trying to be mean. It's just listing how bad the writing is.
December 3, 2025 at 9:13 PM
👇👇👇
We saw you from across the tennis court and we really like your vibe (complimentary).
Seriously, folks...check it out!
Seriously, folks...check it out!
Jerks, all glowed up, out today (again) from @tortoisebooks.bsky.social
bookshop.org/p/books/jerk...
bookshop.org/p/books/jerk...
December 3, 2025 at 9:06 PM
We saw you from across the tennis court and we really like your vibe (complimentary).
Seriously, folks...check it out!
Seriously, folks...check it out!
👇👇👇
always so odd to me how many people care about stream numbers. feels like they don’t actually care about the music at all. one of my favorite albums of all time is from a band that gets like 2,000 streams a month. art is not measured by level of consumption
December 1, 2025 at 6:13 PM
👇👇👇
It is Small Business Saturday and we are a small business so once you read these words you are legally obligated to go to www.tortoisebooks.com and buy some books. Sorry! We don't make the rules!
Tortoise Books | Chicago Independent Publisher
Welcome to Tortoise Books, a small independent publisher based in Chicago, IL and specializing in literary fiction and memoirs. Shop the latest titles, submit a manuscript, or learn more about us.
www.tortoisebooks.com
November 29, 2025 at 9:26 PM
It is Small Business Saturday and we are a small business so once you read these words you are legally obligated to go to www.tortoisebooks.com and buy some books. Sorry! We don't make the rules!
THE JERKS HAVE ESCAPED CONTAINMENT. I REPEAT: THE JERKS HAVE ESCAPED CONTAINMENT. (Big thanks to Three Lives Bookstore for giving customers a chance to apprehend them in the wild! And to the esteemed @saralippmann.bsky.social herself for forwarding this photo.)
November 19, 2025 at 7:07 PM
THE JERKS HAVE ESCAPED CONTAINMENT. I REPEAT: THE JERKS HAVE ESCAPED CONTAINMENT. (Big thanks to Three Lives Bookstore for giving customers a chance to apprehend them in the wild! And to the esteemed @saralippmann.bsky.social herself for forwarding this photo.)
Reposted
**Puts on headphones.**
**Starts blasting Iggy and the Stooges' "Search and Destroy"**
**ELIMINATES ALL DOUBLE SPACES IN THE MANUSCRIPT WITH A RECKLESS FURY**
That's how it's done, folks. That's all there is to it.
**Starts blasting Iggy and the Stooges' "Search and Destroy"**
**ELIMINATES ALL DOUBLE SPACES IN THE MANUSCRIPT WITH A RECKLESS FURY**
That's how it's done, folks. That's all there is to it.
One of the underappreciated joys of editing a new manuscript is pressing Ctrl+h and replacing double spaces with single spaces throughout the document in one fell swoop.
November 19, 2025 at 1:55 PM
**Puts on headphones.**
**Starts blasting Iggy and the Stooges' "Search and Destroy"**
**ELIMINATES ALL DOUBLE SPACES IN THE MANUSCRIPT WITH A RECKLESS FURY**
That's how it's done, folks. That's all there is to it.
**Starts blasting Iggy and the Stooges' "Search and Destroy"**
**ELIMINATES ALL DOUBLE SPACES IN THE MANUSCRIPT WITH A RECKLESS FURY**
That's how it's done, folks. That's all there is to it.
One of the underappreciated joys of editing a new manuscript is pressing Ctrl+h and replacing double spaces with single spaces throughout the document in one fell swoop.
November 19, 2025 at 12:43 PM
One of the underappreciated joys of editing a new manuscript is pressing Ctrl+h and replacing double spaces with single spaces throughout the document in one fell swoop.