Read:

Engaging Audiences Through Twitter in Just 15 Minutes a Day (Kirsten Oliphant at JaneFriedman.com): Kirsten writes about platform-building and the creative journey at Create If Writing, but here she is on one of my favorite sites, Jane Friedman’s blog, sharing tips for how writers and bloggers can get more out of Twitter in just 15 minutes a day. Kirsten and I will be chatting on her podcast in the next few weeks about publishing and platform-building, so keep an eye out for that interview!

Hachette CEO Michael Pietsch on the Future of Publishing: How an Invention From the 1400s Will Fare in the Years Ahead (Michael Pietsch, The Wall Street Journal): “Ever-larger retailers and wholesalers bring significant margin pressure, which will lead to continued conglomeration. Social media will continue to expand the writer’s ability to connect with readers; publishers will deepen their relationships with writers, but they’ll also create content of their own. As runaway books sell ever-larger numbers, publishers will earn more on their biggest sellers—which will keep driving up the advances they pay for potential hits. At the same time, publishers will need to innovate and challenge assumptions about every aspect of the business.”

25 Outstanding Podcasts for Readers (Kate Scott on BookRiot): Perfect for those days when you’re pretzeled between three different sets of armpits on the subway and can’t reach your book. I think the Drunk Booksellers podcast may be my favorite: “Drunk Booksellers is–you guessed it–a podcast by professional booksellers (including Book Riot’s own Emma Nichols) who enjoy a good drink. Tune in for an hour of intelligent book talk, guest booksellers, and one seriously rad Jay Z/Kanye West parody theme song.”

16 Proven, Powerful Methods to Grow Your Email List: And Why List-Building Is the Best Way to Build Your Platform by Far (Chad R. Allen): “‘I’ve got a platform,’ writers sometimes tell me. ‘I’m on Twitter and Facebook. I’ve got a blog.’ But here’s the litmus test for whether you have a platform: If a publisher sent a pallet of books to your garage, how many of them could you move on the strength of your own connections? This question puts things in perspective.” Amen! Chad is the Editorial Director of Baker Books, so he’s a great source of insider knowledge on publishing. He also knows just how much it really takes to sell books, which is something we’re always trying to educate authors about.

Eat:

Let’s talk about fridge space. Because I don’t have any.

For the last two weeks–between buying our groceries early for Thanksgiving and then stockpiling leftovers–I haven’t been able to see the back of my fridge. Which is really quite upsetting, because nothing makes my heart sing like an organized fridge. (I am very aware of how pathetic this is, yes!)

But I love clean shelves, produce nestled in the crisper, bottles lined up in rows with the labels facing out, condiments organized by category, leftovers at eye level. Food waste is a terrible thing, and an organized, inventoried fridge is the only way to prevent it.

It also looks really pretty, and it relaxes me.

We all have our things, right?

The problem is that I was so ready to just get the damn leftovers into something else that I piled them into two dishes: lemon turkey noodle soup and Brazilian coxinhas. I didn’t even look around for new recipes to try and interesting combos for the ingredients. This is what happens when you choose efficiency over creativity! I am hanging my head in shame.

So in case the rest of you are a little bit more patient and still have piles of leftovers disturbing the serenity of your icebox, here is a list of the things I WISH I had made:

Turkey Cranberry Grilled Cheese
Recipe from my author Chung-Ah Rhee of Damn Delicious.

 

Yotam Ottolenghi’s Roast Chicken and 3-Rice Salad (but sub in turkey!)
From Ottolenghi: The Cookbook; photo via The Kitchn.

 

Turkey Avocado Flatbread
Photo and recipe from Chelsea’s Messy Apron.

 

A Quickie Strawberry-Cranberry Pot Pie
From my author Gabriel Cabrera of The Artful Desperado.

 

The Simple Trick to Turning Any Stew Into a Pie
From Josie Adams at Bon Appétit.

 

The good news in all of this is that our fridge is now beautifully organized, and all the leftovers have been eaten, frozen, or excommunicated. But could you take 2 tons of tukey noodle soup off my hands?