Poets & Writers Magazine welcomes feedback from its readers. Please post a comment on select articles at pw.org, e-mail editor@pw.org, or write to Editor, Poets & Writers Magazine, 90 Broad Street, Suite 2100, New York, NY 10004. Letters accepted for publication may be edited for clarity and length.

Letters
Feedback from readers

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“Dismantling the Mother Shelf: Expanding Our Thinking About Women’s Stories of Parenthood” [1] (March/April 2025) by Nicole Graev Lipson struck a chord with me. I have been unsuccessful at finding an agent for my first novel, “The Mother Who Quit.” I spent almost a decade on it, and I think there is a good chance that if I had been quicker at learning the craft of novel writing it would have been more publishable. During those years, several other novels came out related to mothers leaving their children, and I suspect that agents feel the shelf is full. While my novel centers the struggle between self-actualization and motherhood, it is also about bisexuality, farming, commune life, Judaism, marriage, and much more. As Lipson wrote about her own book, Mothers and Other Fictional Characters: A Memoir in Essays, I believe “The Mother Who Quit” would have a much broader potential audience than the publishing industry predicts. Yes, I think sexism and the undervaluing of motherhood and other unpaid work underpin these assumptions. But I believe we need to create the future we want and expect more from society. 
Rebecca Rose-Langston
Northampton, Massachusetts

Thank you to Poets & Writers Magazine for Dan Sinykin’s “You Said You Wanted a Revolution: The Nonprofit Presses of the 1970s and the Start of a New Era in Literary Publishing” (November/December 2024 [2]), an inspirational chronicling of the origins of small/indie/micro publishing. As a relatively new and eager member of the publishing community, I think it is wonderful to know that we have been here before and can continue on [a well-defined] path. A helpful follow-up would be an article on how new independent nonprofit publishers can move forward—without needing to feel their way in the dark or reinvent the wheel. A road map of the formation of a press and business infrastructure, finding and applying for grants, and finding and connecting with distributers—nuts and bolts. The small, independent, and self-publishing industry is exploding. We would love to get more insight on taking the right steps and continuing this inspirational path. Thank you again.
M.I. Shokrian
Editor, the Thieving Magpie
Sherman Oaks, California