Long Overdue Newsletter - April 2026
- Chris OBrien
- Apr 28
- 4 min read
Well, the two-month newsletter drought is officially over.
Our new daughter, Addison, is just shy of 12 weeks old, and I am finally, somewhat, getting back into a working groove. I tell ya, she's the perfect little baby. Sleeps surprisingly well. Has the biggest, gummiest smile. And she's starting to realize, "Hey, I'm connected to this hand. I can move it left and right." I proudly hummed the 2001 Space Odyssey theme during this big discovery.
Caleb is adjusting well as an older brother, and she smiles a little extra whenever she hears his voice. Crash is in full protector mode, going berserk when I bend over the crib to pick her up. Our solution: throw treats down the hallway, which worked... a little too well. Pretty sure he started hamming it up for extra treats. Five or six pounds later, we've abandoned the treat throw, and we're counting Crash's kibble like a couple of strict personal trainers.
Anyways, let's dive in. We've got a significant new book release. A couple of events I'm really excited about in May. And then a podcast episode/YouTube video hosted by our very own author, Rick Tabor.
New Release: Heart & Sole
I have a connection with each book we publish, but a few titles along the way have taken on extra significance.
Example: Safe Landing. This book turned Long Overdue from an editing hobby to a full-on publisher and online bookstore. The experience of meeting and working closely with the Borchers siblings, experiencing their love for life and their family, the major historical significance of their story, especially here in Chicago, the whole project felt larger than life, and I'll always consider it our flagship book. So proud of it every time I look over at the cover.
Latest example: Heart & Sole. Last year, when Omar and his team reached out, this was one of those "stop and look back at the trail" moments. Six years ago, we'd published a couple of books, but Long Overdue was pretty much still a dream. Now I looked back at that same trail, 30 books down the road, about to work with a legend in the sneaker industry.
Omar is the Founder of FCTRY LAb. He's designed shoes for Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, and several professional athletes. He's the former Head of Yeezy Innovation Lab at Adidas. These are iconic shoes that he's turned from ideas into reality. He'd just been featured on a Roku show hosted by Keanu Reeves and had a quote from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell ready to go for the back of his book. Forgive me, because that's a lot of name-dropping for one paragraph, but I was extremely honored that Long Overdue had the opportunity to work on this project.
Heart & Sole is perfect for anyone going after big dreams. I found it very motivational. Omar always had his north star, and the chapters show his refusal to quit, making bets on himself, and taking smart risks to build a name for himself as a shoe designer. I loved the behind-the-scenes looks at places he has worked, especially the Adidas chapters. If you happen to be a sneakerhead, or you know someone who can spot a pair of Air Jordans and tell you exactly which number it is, you'll love this book.
Available for sale here on Long Overdue Books or over on Amazon. Also at Barnes & Noble or ask at your local bookstore.
Tuesday Night Silent Reading Club: Starting May 12th
Starting May 12th, we'll be hosting a weekly reading night over at Barrel Cheese & Wine (this cocktail lounge is owned by Long Overdue author, Ahmet Ergun).
Bring a book. Grab a drink. Enjoy a silent reading hour every Tuesday night.
Upcoming Event:
Physical Media Crawl Lakeview, Chicago
Inspired by last weekend's Independent Bookstore Crawl, we're rolling out a "Physical Media Crawl" at the end of May in the Lakeview/Wrigleyville neighborhood.
Unabridged Bookstore: Books
Reckless Records: Music, but also a massive Blu-ray and DVD collection
The Exchange: Video Games, Movies, Music
Felt like the perfect ending to the physical media crawl would be heading over to Music Box and see whatever's playing on 35mm or 70mm. Did you know Music Box Theatre is a Top 10 movie theater in the entire world? Seriously. Check it out. On Sunday, May 31st, they just so happen to be screening The Terminator on 35mm. Feels like a perfect fit: fans of physical media holding onto books, and Blu-rays, and records, fighting off all the streaming and doom-scrolling future.
Long live physical media!
Interested in joining the crawl? Email - chris@longoverduebooks.com.
Two Authors Talking About Their First Novels
Long Overdue author, Rick Tabor, has launched a podcast called "Authors Learning Something New."
I joined Rick for a recent episode where we talked about our first novels, Meet the Godfreys and Children of the Scroll.
"You give me more kibble. I give you the book.
Simple as that."
-Crash, Team Dog
Best place to keep up with all things Long Overdue is a tie between our monthly newsletter and our Instagram page. If you enjoy this newsletter and know someone who might enjoy it as well, let us know, we'll make sure to add them to our subscriber list. We also got back on Facebook recently, you can follow us here.
And check out our website - Long Overdue Books. Long Overdue Books is a community for creating books. It's a place for authors (and soon-to-be-authors), readers, editors, artists, and designers to come together and move their stories from ideas to finished books.
Also, if you have any questions, ideas, stories to tell, you can reach Cal the Librarian at - library@longoverduestories.com
Overdue newsletters that open with honesty about the gap always land better than ones that just pretend the silence never happened. Life gets in the way and readers respect transparency over a forced publishing schedule that delivers hollow content just for the sake of consistency. Recently helped hire ebook writer usa for a client who had the same struggle with maintaining regular updates and the solution was simply batching content during productive weeks rather than forcing output during slow ones. An authentic voice showing up late will always outperform a robotic one that shows up on time with nothing real to say.
The Love Live Physical Media Crawl sound awesome!