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Jana M. Perkins, PhD @janajm.com · 28/10/2025

For Women of Letters, I had the great pleasure of talking with @emjsmith.bsky.social. We discuss her debut novel, her background in tech, how she navigated the transition to writing full-time, what she’s working on next, & so much more. 📚💙 womenofletters.substack.com/p/emily-j-smith

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Pushing against the pull: In conversation with Emily J. Smith

"Part of me wishes I’d opened my eyes up to writing earlier, but in a lot of ways I'm grateful that I had a different experience than most writers I know."

WOMENOFLETTERS.SUBSTACK.COM

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Fast-forward to today. How did the path to what you’re doing now unfold?

EJS: It’s been about ten years since I took my first writing class and allowed myself to pursue writing seriously. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. I essentially rearranged my life around writing.

“It felt like I might be throwing my entire career away, something I’d worked very, very hard to establish. But it did not get thrown away. It was reshaped.”

I had always conflated my identity with my career—working in tech and nonprofits—but when I began writing I started to view my job as simply that, a job, and poured my energy into writing. Through classes and workshops, I made writer-friends, which shifted my social circle. Forming close relationships with other writers allowed me to keep going, to not feel completely insane taking my writing seriously despite frequent rejections and the daily struggle to coherently form thoughts. Exchanging work with these friends, having someone to send a draft to, to toss around an idea with, was life-changing.

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With her debut novel, Emily has accomplished the rare feat of writing a book that is timely, incisive, and deeply affecting — all while being the kind of impossible-to-put-down read that audiences dream of finding.

The book, along with its author’s Substack, draws on Emily’s years of experience as a woman working in tech to offer cultural commentary that is both intellectually rigorous and emotionally honest. In one exchange, for example, we see one character confronting another, saying, “You’d think a woman that smart would know better.” The book’s main character, Edie, responds without hesitating: “Not at all,” she says. “Smart women look for challenges.”

She’s one of the few writers whose latest work I never miss. I’m thrilled we were able to connect over this interview.

Jana M. Perkins 
Founder, Women of Letters

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Jonathan Wlodarski @jonathanwlodarski.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

This book was a banger. I ate it up in one go!

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Nikki Summer @nikkisummer.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

So much fun to do this Q&A with @emjsmith.bsky.social about her new book, NOTHING SERIOUS! Women in tech, career ambitions, feminism, dating, relationships -- we hit it all! nikkisummer.substack.com/p/q-and-a-wi...

nikkisummer.substack.com

Q&A with Emily Smith, author of the new book Nothing Serious

We talk career ambitions, dating, female friendships, women in tech, male approval, and more

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

I wrote about my decade-long journey to publish a novel and what helped me keep pushing through the grueling process. open.substack.com/pub/emjsmith...

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Behind the Shiny Publication Post

It took over a decade to get my book on the shelves—some thoughts on the process and how to keep going.

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

Just a cloudy Saturday, walking around Brooklyn, popping into local bookstores and.... SEEING MY DEBUT NOVEL ON DISPLAY!!!!

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

The past few weeks since NOTHING SERIOUS came out has been a whirlwind but I have been LIVING for messages like these from readers💕💕

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The Rumpus @therumpus.net · 06/03/2025

"I was very interested in exploring this tension between caring for a man and also wanting to see him face consequences for his privileges." @emjsmith.bsky.social discusses the publication of Nothing Serious (@wmmorrowbooks.bsky.social) for the The First Book. ➡️ buff.ly/UZDHbZ2

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Novels Alive @novelsalive.com · 26/02/2025

4.5-STAR REVIEW⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫: NOTHING SERIOUS by Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social @wmmorrowbooks.bsky.social @harpercollins.bsky.social 👉NOTHING SERIOUS pairs obsession with online dating for an explosive story that threatens to break the bonds of friendship. buff.ly/3X7PQkp #bookreview

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

My debut novel is out in the world!! I stopped by my local bookstore, which I lived above 11 years ago when I first moved to NY, the year I decided (at 32) to try writing. The amount of rejection btwn then and now is unfathomable, but now I have a book on their shelves and I’m so very proud of it ❤️

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

This was such a great interview about the process of getting an agent and publishing a book, what inspired NOTHING SERIOUS, and surprises in the writing process along the way. Thank you so much @writersdigest.bsky.social for the feature! www.writersdigest.com/write-better...

writersdigest.com

Emily J. Smith: I Allowed the Writing To Be Terrible

In this interview, author Emily J. Smith discusses wanting to write a coming-of-age story for women in their 30s with her debut novel, Nothing Serious.

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Green Apple Books on the Park @booksonthepark.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

Love this review of @emjsmith.bsky.social's debut! Join us for the launch on 2/27 here at Books on the Park (details in the thread) datebook.sfchronicle.com/books/emily-...

datebook.sfchronicle.com

Review: Emily J. Smith’s ‘Nothing Serious’ is a dark, wry takedown of online dating

Smith’s debut novel explores many themes — relationships, a stagnating career and a murder.

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Loved creating this list for @electriclit.bsky.social of my favorite kinds of stories!

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

This is one of the most personal essays I’ve written, thank you so much @literaryhub.bsky.social for publishing!

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

So happy to see NOTHING SERIOUS on this list of upcoming debuts! Thank you @crimereads.bsky.social!! "Nothing Serious is brutal, complex, and necessary, and joins the growing number of novels in which Silicon Valley is not an object of admiration, but of disgust." crimereads.com/the-best-deb...

crimereads.com

The Best Debut Novels of the Month: February 2025

The CrimeReads editors select the month’s best debut crime novels, mysteries, and thrillers. Neena Viel, Listen to Your Sister (St. Martin’s Griffin) Neena Viel’s well-titled debut takes us i…

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

So excited for this event with Rough Draft! If you’re in or around Kingston, I’d love to see you!!

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Tracy Chou @triketora.com · 25/01/2025

finished reading @emjsmith.bsky.social’s debut novel! the cover makes it look like a romance novel but it’s not. it hits uncomfortably close to home if you’re a tech worker, the way that you sometimes poke a sore spot to feel the satisfying twinge of pain. if you’re a fiction reader, check it out

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Over here crying my eyes out after just receiving the box of final hardcovers. Thinking about how ten years ago I had an insane dream of writing a book, telling a very specific story of self-discovery about a single, childless 30-something woman in tech. Feels WILD to now hold it in my hands 🥹❤️📖

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

So honored to be on this list from @crimereads.bsky.social and LOVE their review, which nails so much of what the book is about. Also, not my name next to Megan Abbott?? 🫠💕 crimereads.com/the-most-ant...

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

Baby's first "most anticipated" list!! And from one of my all-time favorite publications, @literaryhub.bsky.social, so honored! lithub.com/lit-hubs-mos...

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

Djuna Barnes, from her short story "Indian Summer."

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

My first Publishers Weekly review!!! 2.5 months from pub date and it's starting to feel real 😊 💕 If you need me, I'll be rereading this all day 🥹 www.publishersweekly.com/9780063385832

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

Sometimes you're at a coffee shop staring blankly at your essay-in-progress, hating yourself for what feels like a constant lack of focus, but then Fiona Apple's I Know comes on the speaker and nothing else matters.

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

The way Bojack captured MeToo really was outstanding. Such a great show.

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

I have five book events scheduled for my February release so far (NY, SF, Boston, Baltimore, Cleveland)! 😮 Please tell me that counts as "tour"? I've been dreaming of referencing "my book tour" for YEARS.

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

GREAT Q! IMO it speaks to a core diff btwn science (driven by curiosity of the larger world) and engineering (driven by problem-solving/making). They relate and use similar skills, but attract VERY diff personalities. Successful engineers, espesh coders, can get very righteous and expect control.

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Hii from your friend who is exactly THREE MONTHS from her very personal and very dark debut novel being out in the world and going a little bit insane with anxiety around the launch and also, of course, the world 👋😵‍💫🫣💃🫠 #writers #books

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Emily J. Smith @emjsmith.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

My debut, NOTHING SERIOUS, is out Feb 18! It explores online dating, obsession, childlessness, and more thru the lens of a 35 yr old woman in tech. It's a literary thriller of sorts, but the heart is a coming-of-age story about untangling from internalized misogyny. Pls consider checking it out!

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