Tom Nissley
@tomnissley.bsky.social
Owner of Phinney Books in Seattle, author of A Reader’s Book of Days
Pinned
Tom Nissley
@tomnissley.bsky.social
· Nov 16
Fun fact: the most euphonious phrase in the English language is not "cellar door." It is "Lorrie Moore."
Which makes the suddenly common plot revolving around a bestselling book idea being stolen even more absurd. (Although some of those books _have_ become bestsellers...)
I remember when my nemesis decided she was going back to school to get an MFA so she could write a book in which I was the villain, and the money would be used to save her farm. I laughed so hard I peed my pants.
almost every novelist you read who's not from the airport fiction or bestseller sections is working a full on day job, including multi-award winners and absolute legends, or they have a spouse or trust that supports them. virtually across the board. just normalize in your mind that's how it works.
November 26, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Which makes the suddenly common plot revolving around a bestselling book idea being stolen even more absurd. (Although some of those books _have_ become bestsellers...)
As others have said, at a store my (not large) size: 2, or even a well-placed 1, will get on my radar.
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 26, 2025 at 12:10 AM
As others have said, at a store my (not large) size: 2, or even a well-placed 1, will get on my radar.
Reposted by Tom Nissley
Canada is releasing a set of stamps celebrating the nation's graphic novelists.
These stamps feature Kate Beaton, Jimmy Beaulieu, Guy Delisle, Julie Doucet, Bryan Lee O’Malley and Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, alongside some of their famous works.
These stamps feature Kate Beaton, Jimmy Beaulieu, Guy Delisle, Julie Doucet, Bryan Lee O’Malley and Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, alongside some of their famous works.
November 21, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Canada is releasing a set of stamps celebrating the nation's graphic novelists.
These stamps feature Kate Beaton, Jimmy Beaulieu, Guy Delisle, Julie Doucet, Bryan Lee O’Malley and Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, alongside some of their famous works.
These stamps feature Kate Beaton, Jimmy Beaulieu, Guy Delisle, Julie Doucet, Bryan Lee O’Malley and Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, alongside some of their famous works.
Reposted by Tom Nissley
(1) Write genre from outside of it in, not the inside of it out.
(2) Try not to model yourself on the best of genre writers, only on the best of writers. Obviously your choices there will be subjective, but the risk with genre is it's a rabbit hole.
(3) Don't try to undo genre using its own tools.
(2) Try not to model yourself on the best of genre writers, only on the best of writers. Obviously your choices there will be subjective, but the risk with genre is it's a rabbit hole.
(3) Don't try to undo genre using its own tools.
November 7, 2025 at 11:40 AM
(1) Write genre from outside of it in, not the inside of it out.
(2) Try not to model yourself on the best of genre writers, only on the best of writers. Obviously your choices there will be subjective, but the risk with genre is it's a rabbit hole.
(3) Don't try to undo genre using its own tools.
(2) Try not to model yourself on the best of genre writers, only on the best of writers. Obviously your choices there will be subjective, but the risk with genre is it's a rabbit hole.
(3) Don't try to undo genre using its own tools.
Reposted by Tom Nissley
I had similar advice from Tom Disch in the early 1970s, about writing into a niche, changed my life & seems broadly applicable
November 3, 2025 at 11:05 AM
I had similar advice from Tom Disch in the early 1970s, about writing into a niche, changed my life & seems broadly applicable
Reposted by Tom Nissley
I know people are going to revel in the schadenfreude here, but this is really just an admission—given how close the House is split—that they’re just mad it didn’t work. Fewer than a dozen House GOPers could change America tomorrow. That they’re not proves this is just about losing, not principles.
PUNCHBOWL: “.. GOP members messaged us over the weekend saying that they, too, are considering retiring in the middle of the term. Here’s one particularly exercised senior House Republican:
@punchbowlnews.bsky.social
@punchbowlnews.bsky.social
November 24, 2025 at 4:02 PM
I know people are going to revel in the schadenfreude here, but this is really just an admission—given how close the House is split—that they’re just mad it didn’t work. Fewer than a dozen House GOPers could change America tomorrow. That they’re not proves this is just about losing, not principles.
I'm warning you, now! Never drink in your dreams.
November 23, 2025 at 11:58 PM
I'm warning you, now! Never drink in your dreams.
Reposted by Tom Nissley
A movie that takes place where you're from:
November 23, 2025 at 6:06 PM
A movie that takes place where you're from:
@iammilliam.bsky.social next episode, you can just use “completely unique”
completely outside of politics, this is so charming
November 21, 2025 at 6:07 PM
@iammilliam.bsky.social next episode, you can just use “completely unique”
Reposted by Tom Nissley
SEATTLE! SATURDAY! Want to buy some lovely books as holiday gifts? Want to meet 28 local authors in a mellow afternoon local bookfest? Then the Seattle Holiday Bookfest, SATURDAY 22 November, 2-4pm, is for you!
This Saturday: Holiday Bookfest!
Want to buy some lovely books as holiday gifts? Want to meet 28 local authors in a mellow afternoon local bookfest? Then the Seattle Holiday Bookfest, SATURDAY 22 November is for you!
nicolagriffith.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:59 PM
SEATTLE! SATURDAY! Want to buy some lovely books as holiday gifts? Want to meet 28 local authors in a mellow afternoon local bookfest? Then the Seattle Holiday Bookfest, SATURDAY 22 November, 2-4pm, is for you!
Reposted by Tom Nissley
I was his editor for LIBRA, the greatest experience of my working life and an honor unsurpassed in my lifetime. Don is not just a genius, he is a gentleman.
The novelist Don DeLillo turns 89 today. Throughout his career, the books of this perennial Nobel Prize favorite have overflowed with ideas, language, personas, and historical fragments that, released into the minds of readers, transcend their fictional origins and become part of the real world.
Don DeLillo - Library of America
www.loa.org
November 21, 2025 at 4:15 AM
I was his editor for LIBRA, the greatest experience of my working life and an honor unsurpassed in my lifetime. Don is not just a genius, he is a gentleman.
there are 4 types of guys online. no exceptions
November 19, 2025 at 2:35 AM
there are 4 types of guys online. no exceptions
Reposted by Tom Nissley
The reason we have laws* against bribery is that companies will absolutely bribe politicians at the very first opportunity if it is good for the bottom line, because they see it as a sound business decision, not a civilizational betrayal.
/1
/1
Coinbase donated to Trump's $300 million White House ballroom project as an appeal to the administration, Emilie Choi, the cryptocurrency exchange's president and COO, said at Axios' BFD event today.
Exclusive: Coinbase explains donation to Trump's ballroom
Tech firms like Google, Amazon, and Nvidia also donated to Trump's ballroom fund.
www.axios.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:28 PM
The reason we have laws* against bribery is that companies will absolutely bribe politicians at the very first opportunity if it is good for the bottom line, because they see it as a sound business decision, not a civilizational betrayal.
/1
/1
Reposted by Tom Nissley
😱🩸🧵it's what alt text was invented for
THREAD.
It is a little-known fact that, from 1978 to 1982, my family, their friends & I starred in some of Britain's most acclaimed, yet rarely-seen, low-budget folk horror films.
I've summarised the plots from these cult classics below in the alt text, beginning with...
1. Dragon Cottage (1978)
It is a little-known fact that, from 1978 to 1982, my family, their friends & I starred in some of Britain's most acclaimed, yet rarely-seen, low-budget folk horror films.
I've summarised the plots from these cult classics below in the alt text, beginning with...
1. Dragon Cottage (1978)
November 18, 2025 at 9:11 PM
😱🩸🧵it's what alt text was invented for
Reposted by Tom Nissley
Love that the same people who insist we don't need a childcare safety net because Grandparents can help out then come at Mayor-elect Wilson because her kid's Grandparents help out.
You guys realize that taxing people to pay for services isn't socialism, right? This is just how governments work.
November 17, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Love that the same people who insist we don't need a childcare safety net because Grandparents can help out then come at Mayor-elect Wilson because her kid's Grandparents help out.
Reposted by Tom Nissley
OTD in 680 CE Hild of Whitby died. Ever year I celebrate. This year by a) showing off my fabulous, specially commissioned snakestone cast in silver to wear as a lapel pin, silver jacket pin cast in silver, and her death
b) my imagined version of her grave marker
b) my imagined version of her grave marker
Celebrating Hild
On this day in 680 CE Hild of Whitby, patron saint of learning and culture (including poetry) died. I mark her feast day because she marked my life, and my writing, indelibly.
nicolagriffith.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:00 PM
OTD in 680 CE Hild of Whitby died. Ever year I celebrate. This year by a) showing off my fabulous, specially commissioned snakestone cast in silver to wear as a lapel pin, silver jacket pin cast in silver, and her death
b) my imagined version of her grave marker
b) my imagined version of her grave marker
Reposted by Tom Nissley
A new Harvard study—the first large-scale comparison of Amazon, UPS & FedEx drivers—shows what worker power really means:
🔴 Amazon: ~$19/hr, no raises, high turnover.
🟢 UPS (union): ~$35/hr, steady wage growth, long careers.
Same job. Different power.
Full study → buff.ly/rpn6H5E
🔴 Amazon: ~$19/hr, no raises, high turnover.
🟢 UPS (union): ~$35/hr, steady wage growth, long careers.
Same job. Different power.
Full study → buff.ly/rpn6H5E
November 17, 2025 at 4:57 PM
A new Harvard study—the first large-scale comparison of Amazon, UPS & FedEx drivers—shows what worker power really means:
🔴 Amazon: ~$19/hr, no raises, high turnover.
🟢 UPS (union): ~$35/hr, steady wage growth, long careers.
Same job. Different power.
Full study → buff.ly/rpn6H5E
🔴 Amazon: ~$19/hr, no raises, high turnover.
🟢 UPS (union): ~$35/hr, steady wage growth, long careers.
Same job. Different power.
Full study → buff.ly/rpn6H5E
Reposted by Tom Nissley
The disingenuous whiners at the Seattle Times ed board actually suggested that Katie Wilson—mayor-elect and the founder of the Transit Riders Union (who used to do outreach at the bus stop on Third and Union)—doesn't know that the county, not the city, runs the buses. Cry harder, losers
November 17, 2025 at 4:51 PM
The disingenuous whiners at the Seattle Times ed board actually suggested that Katie Wilson—mayor-elect and the founder of the Transit Riders Union (who used to do outreach at the bus stop on Third and Union)—doesn't know that the county, not the city, runs the buses. Cry harder, losers
Reposted by Tom Nissley
Easy choice if you're a deer deciding where to buy a house
November 17, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Easy choice if you're a deer deciding where to buy a house
Reposted by Tom Nissley
Basically saying "if you do crime for me, I won't only pardon you--I'll give you millions of dollars of public money." Truly unprecedented level of corruption
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Michael Flynn, DOJ in Settlement Talks Over $50 Million Claim
The Justice Department has been discussing settlements with two former officials from Donald Trump’s first term who — like the president — claim they’re owed major payouts from the US government as vi...
www.bloomberg.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Basically saying "if you do crime for me, I won't only pardon you--I'll give you millions of dollars of public money." Truly unprecedented level of corruption
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
I don't know, maybe it's more courageous _not_ to have an emotional affair with the psychopathic politician you're covering, and then _not_ to try to avoid paying back the gigantic advance you got with your ex by typing a memoir into your phone while hiking in Malibu
November 14, 2025 at 8:53 PM
I don't know, maybe it's more courageous _not_ to have an emotional affair with the psychopathic politician you're covering, and then _not_ to try to avoid paying back the gigantic advance you got with your ex by typing a memoir into your phone while hiking in Malibu
Katie wins the vote on Wednesday, Cal 🤞 on Thursday...
Seattle's Bryan Woo finished fifth in AL Cy Young voting, announced Wednesday, topping out at fourth on five of the 30 ballots.
Tigers’ Tarik Skubal wins AL Cy Young again - BBWAA
Left-hander Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers won the American League Cy Young award for the second straight season. Skubal becomes the 23rd pitcher to win multiple Cy Young Awards. The list features...
bbwaa.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Katie wins the vote on Wednesday, Cal 🤞 on Thursday...
Reposted by Tom Nissley
Okay, that's pretty good 😂
November 12, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Okay, that's pretty good 😂
FWIW, this is our exact experience (sometimes!) when importing from (some of!) our usual UK suppliers. With no advance warning of when and how the charges will be applied.
Paid a Colombian tea grower $1,500 for a shipment. Got billed $150 by the Trump administration at the border. *I* got billed. Not the tea growers. Not the Colombian government. Me. The American business owner. I paid the Trump tax.
November 12, 2025 at 12:25 AM
FWIW, this is our exact experience (sometimes!) when importing from (some of!) our usual UK suppliers. With no advance warning of when and how the charges will be applied.