iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Shen Tao

Chris Campbell @chriscampbell.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

I wrote this piece at @viableparadise.bsky.social and I owe a big thanks to @dragons.bsky.social @traewrites.bsky.social and @avani.bsky.social for staying up way too late with me while I finished it.

062

Shen Tao @dragons.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

word on the street (from the good folks at @gollancz.bsky.social ) that The Poet Empress is on sale in the UK for 99p! Please check it out if you've got a chance!

091

Shen Tao @dragons.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

word on the street (from my editor 😄) that The Poet Empress is on sale for $2.99 this week!

081

Reposted by Shen Tao

François Dominic Laramée, PhD 🇨🇦 @fdlaramee.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Well, I have just finished reading a masterpiece. The Poet Empress, by Shen Tao @dragons.bsky.social, is absolutely breathtaking. And also the kind of book that makes one think: "I'll never, ever be able to write like this, but I can't wait for tomorrow morning to try anyway." Magnificent!

Cover of the book The Poet Empress, by Shen Tao.

1165

Reposted by Shen Tao

Angela Liu @angelaliu.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

"It is not a weakness to be seen." Just finished @dragons.bsky.social's THE POET EMPRESS and man, I am not okay. This book was so addictive, so gorgeously written, and so utterly heartbreaking, I have no words. If you liked Apothecary Diaries (+ wished it were darker), you need to read this now.

1192

Reposted by Shen Tao

Odyssey Workshop @odysseyworkshop.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Only a few days left to apply! Scholarships galore!!

033

Reposted by Shen Tao

Fantasy-Faction @fantasyfaction.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Today JC Kang reviews Shen Tao's (@dragons.bsky.social) debut, The Poet Empress! - JI 🐉 "We sometimes read a book that makes us question whether or not we have any business writing...for me, most recently with Shen Tao’s debut, The Poet Empress." fantasy-faction.com/2026/the-poe... #booksky 💙📚🪐

The book cover sits in the center of the image. The cover shows a fiery red and orange Chinese dragon flying through a deep blue night sky. Clouds billow in the background and magical sparks surround the dragon as it flies. Shooting past him are blue meteors and near the bottom of the cover red petals (feathers? scales?) flutter around its body. The background of the image is a starry night sky highlighted by a blue nebula.

1237

Reposted by Shen Tao

Mina Li (she/her) @codenameminali.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

THE POET EMPRESS by @dragons.bsky.social is a stunner of a debut. I know it's only March, but it's one of the best books to come out this year, from the nuanced characterization to the moving prose to the way the Rashomon effect is used throughout the plot. I'm gonna preorder the paperback.

2112

Shen Tao @dragons.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Wow, 10k Poet Empress sold!! Thank you very much for your support, to all my brilliant readers!!!! #booksky

The Poet Empress sales chart showing 10,001 units sold since release

2171

Shen Tao @dragons.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Honored to be picked by a most excellent book club- Go get your Aardvark books now! - Goose approved :)

272

Shen Tao @dragons.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

My debut is officially out today!!! (I can’t believe I get to say that) Thank you to my publishing team, my writing friends, and all the wonderful ARC readers!! Thank you for taking a chance on a debut author!! #booksky

136320

Shen Tao @dragons.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

My debut is coming out TOMORROW!!! :) #booksky

BookPage starred review of The Poet Empress

37223

Shen Tao @dragons.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Thank you so much for having me! I really enjoyed our chat on Long Story Short!

040

Reposted by Shen Tao

Reena @reenamccarty.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Look at all the beautiful books! I can't believe I get to be part of this debut class.

172

Reposted by Shen Tao

Marley Rose-Teter @marleyroseteter.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

IT'S OUR YEAR, GEESE!!! Look at all these incredible first quarter books...including @sadieturner.bsky.social's TIDESPEAKER, which pubs TODAY!

053

Shen Tao @dragons.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

2026 is our debut year!! Here are some of the SFF authors I have the honor of debuting with early this year. I am really excited about these books so please check them out when you have the chance! #booksky

Tidespeaker
A Barista’s Guide to Love & Larceny
A Vow in Vengeance
Into the Midnight Wood
The Book of Blood & Roses
The Poet Empress
Godstorm
Once Upon A Song

February🌷
Heart’s Gambit
Queen of Faces
The Forest on the Edge of Time
The Faithful Dark
All We Have Is Time
The Iron Garden Sutra
Weavingshaw
Saltswept

The Last Starborn Seer
Midnight on the Celestial
These Shattered Spires
Child of the Dragon
A Wish So Deadly
Prodigal Tiger
Honeysuckle
Aicha
The Geomagician
The Celestial Seas

12813

Shen Tao @dragons.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

Do other writers have a different font for each book they write? My current WIP is an Arial book :p

320

Reposted by Shen Tao

Erin Rose 🍉 - Updates Only @authorerinrose.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

SPARRING PARTNERS is available for request on Netgalley! We so appreciate your early reviews as they help drive sales 😁 🫶🏼 Happy reading! #2026Debuts #RomanceBooks #BookSky #Netgalley

151

Shen Tao @dragons.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

SO excited about a second starred review for The Poet Empress! A world of thank yous to Library Journal 🥰

DEBUT Famine spreads across the land of Tensha, and young Yin Wei does the only thing she can think of to save her family—become a concubine to Prince Guan Terren. Heir to the Azalea Throne, Terren is a cold man, with poetry magic that he uses for cruelty and death. As Wei navigates the inner machinations of the court, she realizes that she may have to become just as self-serving as Terren to survive. Not only do the other concubines battle each other to secure the spot as future Empress, but Terren deals with attacks on his succession from his honorable older brother, and both Wei and Terren face treachery from other court members. To achieve her goals, Wei must kill Terren—and with one forbidden poem, she can accomplish it. However, the only way to write this poem of death is with love, and she hates everything Terren is. The novel’s unique magic system and character-driven plot create an immersive tale.VERDICT Tao’s debut is an intricate study of court politics and what a young woman will do to survive. Hand to fans of The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang or She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan.

030

Reposted by Shen Tao

Kemi Ashing-Giwa @kashinggiwa.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

On a planet damaged by rushed terraforming, a bodyguard-turned-reluctant rebel joins the last dregs of her parents’ failed uprising... THE KING MUST DIE is out today! If you love stories about found families, revolutions, and second chances, this book’s for you.

Cover for THE KING MUST DIE, illustrated by the amazing Eleonor Piteira.

28482164

Shen Tao @dragons.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

I'm so happy to say that The Poet Empress got a starred review from @publisherswkly.bsky.social !

Starred review for The Poet Empress from Publishers Weekly with quote "Tao’s prose gleams with poetic precision, and climactic revelations strike with devastating inevitability."

The Poet Empress
Shen Tao. Bramble, $29.99 (480p) ISBN 978-1-250-40681-1
Tao’s haunting debut immerses readers in a famine-stricken empire where poetry is power. In the final years of the Azalea Dynasty, Yin Wei, a peasant girl desperate to save her starving family, volunteers as concubine to the notoriously cruel Prince Guan Terren. This act of survival pulls her into a labyrinth of palace intrigue and rebellion, where each written word contains magic that can shape a person’s destiny, but where female literacy is illegal. Against the lush backdrop of Tao’s lyrical worldbuilding, which draws from Chinese history and myth to craft a court defined by both beauty and brutality, Wei’s transformation from naive villager to calculating courtesan is expertly rendered. Meanwhile, Terren emerges as a monstrous yet profoundly human prince. Their uneasy bond anchors a story less about romance than the corruptive and redemptive powers of language and ambition. The many political threads become fascinatingly tangled, Tao’s prose gleams with poetic precision, and climactic revelations strike with devastating inevitability. Fans of R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War and Shelley Parker-Chan’s She Who Became the Sun will be enthralled by this fierce meditation on love, power, and survival through art. Agent: Jennifer Azantian, Azantian Literary. (Jan.)
Reviewed on 10/31/2025

181

Reposted by Shen Tao

Kemi Ashing-Giwa @kashinggiwa.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

Just 3 days before THE KING MUST DIE comes out! I'm thrilled to share these very kind words from @hanalee.bsky.social, author of the Magebike Courier duology! Preorder TKMD: www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Ki... ...then grab a free digital poster by Eepz: www.simonandschuster.com/p/the-king-m...

Graphic with blurb snippet from author Hana Lee: “The world of The King Must Die is a shattered, starving place, and yet the scenery and culture are so lush with detail that every description felt like a feast. Fen, the novel’s protagonist, is friendless and alone–but the people she bonds with along the road to revolution are everything an SFF reader hopes for when they hear the words “found family.” ...The King Must Die begins as a whisper and swells into a war cry.”

092

Shen Tao @dragons.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

They are giving away 50 copies of my debut, The Poet Empress, on goodreads! I hope you'll enter 🥰 #booksky #ThePoetEmpress

1229

Shen Tao @dragons.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

The comps! The magic! The social commentary! ❤️

150

Reposted by Shen Tao

Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

A literary NeuroScifi that dives into memory, consciousness and control. #DVpit #SF #LF #A #IMM #OWN

111

Reposted by Shen Tao

Cassandra Jeanne Farrin @cassandrafarrin.com · 09/10/2025

Straith has a disarmingly charming narrative voice that takes you somewhere unexpected every time. 💙

121

Reposted by Shen Tao

Cassandra Jeanne Farrin @cassandrafarrin.com · 09/10/2025

I had the privilege of reading excerpts of this novel as part of the Clarion Novel Workshop. Uniquely voiced and so vibrant! Agent friends, I hope you’ll check this one out!

021

Reposted by Shen Tao

Cassandra Jeanne Farrin @cassandrafarrin.com · 09/10/2025

this sounds amazing as hell (complimentary)

122

Reposted by Shen Tao

Cassandra Jeanne Farrin @cassandrafarrin.com · 09/10/2025

Utterly in love with this pitch!

031

Reposted by Shen Tao

Cassandra Jeanne Farrin @cassandrafarrin.com · 09/10/2025

Loving this setting AND the music magic!

021

Reposted by Shen Tao

Ghabiba @ghabibaweston.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

ARCANE x #A SPICE ROAD An artist & an admiral conduct an impossible tea magic heist. Now they're being hunted by a sisterhood of deadly alchemists. 🗝unreliable narrator 🫀intergenerational muli-POV 🩸elements of horror 🫖creative power unlocked with tea magic 🗡colonial rage #DVpit #F #POC #OWN #WOC

722

Reposted by Shen Tao

Leah Ning @leahning.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

In the Tongue of Unbanished Ghosts: 🏜️ A desert full of war 🔪 A mother whose secrets lead to her murder 🩶 A clueless, clumsy widower who forges watches with soul 🩵 A war criminal who is, unfortunately, very attractive 🏍️ And there was only one dirt bike #dvpit #f #a

223

Reposted by Shen Tao

Wen Wen @muteddragon.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

JinYu Zhao is trying to save enough $ to restore her sister's illusion magic, while disguised, providing abortions. She won't be distracted by her sister mooning over her classmate crashing at their pharmacy #dvpit #a #f #own #poc #asian #nd #r friends to lovers, he falls first

223

Reposted by Shen Tao

Ash Howell @ash-howell.com · 08/10/2025

A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC x HOUSE M.D. 🏥 Blood magic, medical degree required 🎓 Graduate? In *this* economy? ✊ Best friend is a secret rebel 💰 Capitalist conspiracies 🗡️ That lesbian tried to stab me, and I think I liked it #DVpit #F #A #LGBTQ

101

Reposted by Shen Tao

Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Is lobotomizing a machine that has gained consciousness just routine procedure or equal to murder? Severance X Exhalation X Ishiguro #DVpit #SF #LF #A #IMM #OWN 💙📚🪐

101

Reposted by Shen Tao

Allison Pottern @apottern.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

@alecjmarsh.bsky.social you had me at glittering heist (the best kind). Attention editors and agents scrolling #dvpit don’t miss this!

232

Reposted by Shen Tao

Allison Pottern @apottern.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

I have had the distinct honor of reading this book in various draft forms and it. is. so. good. Nettle has gotten herself into a hot mess, but this book is a thrill ride. @ash-howell.com is a writer to watch (or, you know, rep! get on it agents!)

161

Reposted by Shen Tao

K.M. Veohongs @kmveohongs.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Listen Val didn’t get a story into Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy for nothing. Plus a dragon named Seafoam

261

Reposted by Shen Tao

Ash Howell @ash-howell.com · 08/10/2025

A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC x HOUSE M.D. Days before graduation, blood-magic medical student Nettle accidentally girlbosses herself into the middle of a murderous conspiracy. Her best friend has been hiding his radical political activism. And worst of all, she’s *really* broke. #DVpit #F #A #LGBTQ

315

Reposted by Shen Tao

Alec @alecjmarsh.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Scotland, 1925: A gentleman thief, a lonely demon hunter and a married sorceress embark on a glittering heist to destroy the English occult. Forbidden passions and their own ambition threatens to destroy them before the English get the chance. Bi rep, ace rep, mf, mmf, mm #dvpit #a #f #queer

8126

Reposted by Shen Tao

Mason T. Matchak @masontmatchak.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Two desperate women fleeing imprisonment. Two draconic artifacts bonded to them. A group of thieves who'll help them escape. A powerful noble who'll do anything to get them back. A secret that could ruin them. A bond that could save them. In a city where the sun never rises. #DVPit #F #A #LGBT #Q

A nine-panel square mood board to promote a book. Upper left square: blue fire on a black background. Upper middle square: the moon, barely visible behind clouds. Upper right square: dark pink scales. Middle left square: a blue-haired woman tying back her ponytail with a determined look on her face. Middle square: two hands held in silhouette in front of the sunset. Middle right square: a pink-haired woman with her hair partly braided and a downcast look on her face. Lower left square: blue scales. Lower middle square: a cluster of white candles, partially melted together. Lower right square: pink crystals viewed up close.

322

Reposted by Shen Tao

Millie Sun @milliesun.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

A Song to Drown Rivers x How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days in LADY HAN'S MANUAL FOR MATRIMONIAL MAYHEM, in which the mischievous bride fights for divorce with chaos: 😈 unlikeable heroine ⚔️ enemies-to-lovers 💑 marriage of convenience 👑 political intrigue #dvpit#A #F #R #RomCom #Asian #POC

Agent's guide to Lady Han's Manual for Matrimonial Mayhem: 89K Adult Fantasy Romcom with low spice

Pitch: What can a girl do to escape an arranged marriage, but to prank her husband to hell and back in the hopes that he will divorce her?

In the Dazhen Empire, twenty-year-old Wen Anling’s comfortable life is turned upside down when her father forces her to marry Han Shiyan, the wealthy Lord of Qinglan. In a desperate bid for freedom, Anling fights chaos with chaos, by transforming herself into the nastiest wife possible.

Shiyan only married Anling to honour his mother’s dying wish. Had he known his new wife would send his simple life straight to mayhem, he would have thrown honour out the nearest window. But when his wife continues to get under his skin, he cannot help but grow intrigued by her eccentric nature—once he sees her irritating antics as what they truly are: harmless.

In the face of deadly threats, Anling must embrace her role as Lady Han and turn her cunning mind to their common enemies, or grab the freedom offered to her and watch the empire fall.

Comps: The Darkness Within Us, A Song to Drown Rivers, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Extract: Shiyan’s eyes widened for a heartbeat before he forced composure back onto his features. Her face was powdered with a thick layer of white, as if she had simply dunked it into a bowl of flour. Her bright red lip-paint smudged at the edges and… Heavens forbid women dab their cheeks with uneven blobs of pink.

Even the most senile and stern of his guests held their hands to their stomachs, straining to hold back fits of laughter. He would have gladly joined them, too, if he wasn’t the one with the honour of marrying this… this… buffoon.

He swallowed and recited the wise sayings of his forefathers: one should not judge a book by its cover; a woman’s beauty runs deeper than appearances; virtues are lasting while beauty is fleeting.

Oh, to hell with wise sayings.

421

Reposted by Shen Tao

M. @msibook.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING x GHOSTS When an inquisitive 25yo secretary inherits an abandoned detective agency, she partners with the private investigator’s ghost to find her neighbor’s killer in a case that mirrors the PI’s own unsolved murder 60 years earlier. #DVpit #A #Mys #PR #Latine #WOC

943

Reposted by Shen Tao

Rajani Thindiath (Ruhj-ni) @rajanithindiath.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

ANIMAL FARM x THE GOOD PLACE When grief-ridden sub-editor Archa discovers that the Afterlife’s soul-sucking CEOs have set their sights on her beloved grandfather’s soul, she must decide: Damn her soul or save his. #DVpit #F #A #POC

8635