Sapling issue # 810
The one in which we talk to emerging author Nora Lange.
Hi writers.
In the latest installment of one of my favorite columns, “Am I the Literary Asshole,” Kristen Arnett answers your burning questions about phone etiquette during readings, the alleged “disposability” of contemporary literature, and idea theft. Enjoy—and debate away.
Now, here’s what’s happening in the small press world this week.
—Kit
Managing Editor / Sapling editor
Black Lawrence Press
Contest: Gival Press Oscar Wilde Award
Genre(s): poetry
Award: $500 and publication online
Entry Fee: $20
Deadline: June 27, 2025
Guidelines: givalpress.submittable.com/submit
Journal: The Phare
Genre(s): Short Fiction, Poetry, Creative Non-Fiction
Format: online
Website: thephare.com
Guidelines: thephare.com/submit
Open through July 28, 2025
Small Press: Parlor Press
Genre(s): poetry
Website: parlorpress.com
Guidelines: parlorpress.com/pages/new-measure-poetry-prize
Accepting submissions for the New Measure Poetry Prize March 1 - June 15, 2025
Feature: Sapling’s Five Burning Questions for Emerging Writers: Nora Lange
This week, Sapling spoke with Nora Lange, author of the debut novel Us Fools (Two Dollar Radio, September 17, 2024), a National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction Finalist and winner of The Academy of Arts and Letters Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction.
SAPLING: Tell us about the process of getting your first novel, Us Fools, out in the world. Did you enter both contests and open reading periods? What transpired between sending the manuscript out initially and its acceptance at Two Dollar Radio?
Nora Lange: I did not enter, no. The manuscript was submitted directly by my agent to various editors at the large houses. And when it was rejected by the “Big Five” (those large publishing houses), I felt like it was a gift in some ways. I have loved the books Two Dollar Radio has been putting out for years. I think there’s a tendency to go to the “Big Five” without listening to your inner poet. I mean, if that’s what your inner poet wants—more power to you. But small presses are gems. And should not be overlooked.
SAPLING: What was your experience with the editing of your manuscript after its acceptance? Did you have an opportunity to make revisions, either at your own suggestion or at the suggestion of your editor? How involved were you in the design aspects of the book’s production (cover image, interior design, and so on)?
N. L.: We had about a year of edits, between the acquisition of the novel by the publisher and when the book came out into the world. Eric [Obenauf] (publisher and editor at Two Dollar Radio) had some minor suggestions and while I made those edits, I ended up going even further, doing even more, because, as I now see it in hindsight, I think I felt freer knowing the novel had been acquired. It was a relief which allowed me to swim in the novel, pace myself, fall in love with it more safely, if you will. Like it could be trusted now that it had a home. Eric and I also had loads of fun. The book can be a sort of contagion, in that it’s fun to add details too. So, even Eric had to edit himself during the editing process!
Eric and I went through three versions of the cover. I loved the final one, which is the one that readers have. The few things that worked immediately were the pink and red, as I do see the novel as a love story, and the photograph, which is realist in “nature” as opposed to an abstract image. I thought the realist quality of the photograph lent itself nicely to what the novel was attempting to achieve in the way of intimacy by using first person POV. The major shift was in that I asked that the photograph be chopped as neither of the sisters are blond and I wanted something with more spark (less straightforward), hence the sidewise quadrilateral shape that you see on the cover today.
SAPLING: Did you publish any novel excerpts in literary journals or other periodicals before the publication of the finished book? Did this seem like a necessary part of the process for a first novel?
N. L.: Literary Hub had first serial. I do not think it’s necessary, though it doesn’t hurt, I suppose. I will say that some works are better suited to be excerpted and some not so much. I don’t think it does Us Fools any favors to be excerpted.
SAPLING: In what ways have you been involved in the publicity and promotion of Us Fools? In what ways has the publisher contributed to marketing and publicity efforts?
N. L.: I have been involved in every way. God, in every way! Brett [Gregory] who runs the publicity for Two Dollar Radio has really been there to meet me every step of the way. We were a team. A badass team, if you ask me.
SAPLING: What surprised you about the process of having your first novel published? Is there anything you wish you’d known beforehand about putting a debut out into the world and/or publishing with a small press?
N. L.: I think the speed at which things take place once the novel is out definitely surprised me. There almost isn’t any time to honor the novel, on your own terms, which for me would have been very quiet ones. Like entering a forest alone. Be ready to move and not stop to think about what you’ve done!
SAPLING: Bonus number six—Second novels are notoriously beastly, for myriad reasons. Of course, I hope this is not the case for you, as there are always exceptions to the rule! Are you at work on something new, or taking some time off following the publication of your first?
N. L.: I have been able to go back to my sophomore novel more fully in the last month, which I am grateful for. In my usual fashion, I’ve been taking notes throughout the publication process of this first novel, but I’m diving in to the second now without too much interruption (save for the paying rent, parenting, so forth part of life!).
Proofs, my second novel, is very different than Us Fools, which is great for me. I also think of it as an opportunity to apply all that I’ve learned from this first go-round—like to get as organized as you can in advance. For instance, I’ve been listing the various themes and “issues” I’d like the book to be speaking with. So, while I still honor fully the intuitive in my writing process, I’m making sure my handwriting is legible. I now know I will be asked to go back to it.
SAPLING: Thank you so much for taking the time to share your publication experience with us, Nora!
Nora Lange’s debut novel Us Fools was awarded the The Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Fiction, was named a best book of 2024 by The Boston Globe and NPR, a Los Angeles Times bestseller, and a New York Times Editors’ Choice. An earlier iteration of it was shortlisted for The Novel Prize from New Directions Press.
Nora’s writing has appeared in The Believer (forthcoming), BOMB, Hazlitt, Joyland, American Short Fiction, Denver Quarterly, HTMLGIANT and elsewhere. Her project Dailyness was longlisted for the 2014 Leslie Scalapino Award for Innovative Women Performance Writers. She has received fellowships from Brown University and is a fellow at USC’s Los Angeles Institute of the Humanities. She recently moved to Salt Lake City with her family.