Beware Paul Theroux! in The Republic of Letters

I can’t believe my essay “Beware Paul Theroux!” was selected for inclusion in The Republic of Letters Substack. I’m a true fan of Sam Kahn’s publication. This, his most recent Substack, has only been around since March 2025, but it has already published many of my favorite reads of the year. I’m honored to have my essay placed alongside them. And I’m stoked to be getting paid for my writing.

More importantly, I experienced a personal first shortly after publication. A handful of readers not only liked my essay, but quoted and shared their favorite lines. The sentence, “And likewise, we also learned the much harder lesson that there is no such thing as going home, for the home that we carried in our hearts stopped existing the moment we left it behind, ” connected with a number of readers.

I would also add that working with Sam Kahn was a great experience. You would think that being a one-man operation would slow things down. On the contrary, I’ve realized that working with publications run by a single individual are the smoothest experiences. Sam sent an acceptance within 72 hours and posted my essay exactly a week later. Working with a professional who has a vision for their publication makes for a fantastic experience.

I should add that I had the same great experience when I worked with Becky Tuch at Lit Mag News to publish “Transparency, Promotion and Design: Tools for Building Strong Lit Mags.”

What these experiences have shown me is that the frustration many authors feel when waiting months for acceptance or rejection is a completely unnecessary part of the lit mag publishing experience. I know that I can read and make judgments about the quality of writing incredibly fast. I also love reading, so it doesn’t feel like a chore. It really ought not to be such a slow process.