Happy holidays!

The four of us here at Upstart Crow are taking a sabbatical from December 12 through January 15, 2010.

What, you ask, will we be doing during that time?

Part of it will be spent clearing our desks and catching up on all the work that has gone undone. Much of the rest of the time will be spent in celebration—both with our families for the holidays, and for our first eighteen weeks and the many domestic and foreign sales we've made. (Among them, sales for Martha Brockenbrough! Kurt Cyrus! Bree Despain! Christina Mandelski! Matt Myklusch! Jeff Sampson! Rinsai Rosetti! Bridget Zinn!)

The rest of the time, we’ll be reflecting on where we are and where we are going, looking at the industry and what’s happening, reading current books, thinking about where, exactly, we want to be in twelve months—both professionally and personally. It’s been a tremendous time since we launched, and we want to be certain we’re doing this right and not falling into habit and thoughtlessness. So we’re going to step back for a spell and reorient ourselves.

And then, once January 15 has rolled around, we’ll raise the shades and open the gates and be back at our desks, reinvigorated for the year to come.

Yrs, Michael Stearns Upstart Crow Literary