#91 A Slow Sunday Scroll ☕️
a trip to barcelona - a new book - what I'm reading
To receive these round-ups in full every other week, sign up to be a paid subscriber. <3 A recent paid subscriber said: “One of my all-time favourite Substacks, I love getting an insight into Emma’s creative career and she has the best recommendations in her Sunday scroll!”
This week, I spent some time in sunny Barcelona. I said yes to an invitation from the gorgeous indie bookstore Backstory to do a Q&A and signing with my friend Donna Freitas. (Side-note, you must read Donna’s new novel, it’s a thriller about a woman who regrets having a baby. It’s a page-turner.)
Apparently Table for One is selling well at the indie bookstore which is always nice to hear! It is a story, after all, about a woman learning to love time alone—and I wonder if Barcelona has quite a few single or solo travellers. Also, the evening before the event, there was a book club dinner dedicated to Table for One. I saw pictures on Instagram. How lovely is that? (It’s been part of many book clubs and supper clubs. It might have themes about dining alone, but it is a book that also brings people together.)
The wonderful team at the Almanac Barcelona hosted my stay. Wonderful location, super friendly staff, a stone’s throw from the Passeig de Gràcia: a boulevard of shops, bars, restaurants. It has the Azimuth rooftop bar, a pool, an atmospheric restaurant. The rooms are simple and clean, with crisp white bedding and marble bathrooms. I enjoyed my sunny view of the bustling streets below.
Immediately upon arrival I wandered to my (other) favourite Barcelona bookstore La Central del Raval, which has a café, garden and fountain out the back, perfect for reading. In the evening I had dinner alone—the hotel’s restaurant is called Virens. I can’t help but judge a restaurant on how good the bread is—and it was delicious green tea bread! Laid back vibes but everything was beautifully presented: plant-based, nourishing, delicious and special. I read Mary Oliver’s essay collection Upstream in silence. HEAVEN.
Thank you to my readers in Barcelona for coming to the event, it was so nice to see you and talk about books and writing together.
For more information on Almanac Barcelona visit almanachotels.com/barcelona. Instagram: @AlmanacBarcelona. Other hotel properties include Almanac X Alcron Prague and Almanac Palais Vienna almanachotels.com.
I’m going against the usual advice and not having a slow January. My new book, A Year of Nothing, publishes on 22 January — next week. I’m nervous, excited, and feeling reflective. This little book has been on a journey. I first released a summer 2024 edition with The Pound Project, and people really connected with it. So I decided to make it more widely available. With a new team at Whitefox Publishing, it’s been slightly reimagined — new cover, new page design, a fresh introduction, and a book jacket and illustrations I’m obsessed with.
This release marks a turning point for me: choosing to do things my own way again.
Some unexpected things have happened: I sold some translation rights directly to a bigger publisher that will end up recouping some of my initial investment costs. I had a phone call with Waterstones regarding directly selling them some books (pre-pub) for an event. I worked out how to take payments via my iPhone (it’s so easy!) if I ever want to sell copies directly at festivals or events. I’ve enjoyed trialling the life of an indie author after a decade inside the mainstream publishing machine. Here’s the thing: I LOVE TO LEARN.
Not all authors want to get all techy and entrepreneurial like this—or have the upfront investment to make. Many authors just simply want to write, and I don’t blame them. But I’ve loved the experiment. I’ve loved learning about how books are ACTUALLY sold and HOW. I have not said goodbye to the traditional publishing world by any means, I’ve just put my fingers in different pies, because that is what I find interesting and enjoyable (and always have done since The Multi-Hyphen Method days). I’ll take everything I’ve learned from this experiment and it will inform all of my work going forward. Knowledge is power, people. 🤘
A Year of Nothing: Live Events!
I’ll be in East Croydon on Tuesday evening with the brilliant team at ‘Lit Nights’ at Croydon Town Hall. Get your ticket here, if there are any left.
The Observer Book Club have, excitingly, picked it as part of their event series and I’m doing an event on Feb 2nd here.
Slow Sunday Scroll Picks
Every other Sunday, I share some links, including book, podcast and article recommendations. All my link recommendations are below the paywall. A big part of being a writer is being a reader too — and I love to share what I’m consuming with you. I recommend becoming a paid subscriber :)
— What’s it like to start your career again at 43
— Can we normalise the “career break”?
— Another top editor leaves legacy media
— A conversation about first lines with Jon Batiste
— The AI revolution is here. Will the economy survive?
— Thoughts on the Golden Globes podcast category
— How to avoid burnout without compromising your goals
— Everyone Is Talking About being Phonesick
— January’s peculiar cruelty by Kate Bowler
— How to prepare for bed
— How to make a vision board and spend less time online
— You can now print your favourite Substack
— Working at Balthazar in 1997
— What it’s like to appear on Desert Island Discs
— Sally Rooney on Ronnie O’Sullivan
— A Year of Progress for Kids Online
