Long Overdue - Summer Newsletter 2025
- Chris OBrien
- Jul 30
- 8 min read
11 New Books?
This time last year, we were at 17 published books. And that took us five years to reach.
Now we're on pace to debut a whopping 11 new books at this year's Printers Row Lit Fest.
Three are already done:
Three are almost at the finish line:
Ug - The latest children's book from the Ice Cream Fine Storybooks team. This is an impressive 6th (!) Long Overdue book from author/illustrator Kate Buss
Meet the Godfreys and Tour de Bathroom - by yours truly (Chris O'Brien). These were my first two (and only two) novels I published back in 2017. Finally, eight years later, and 17 years after I first had the story idea, I'm bringing these over to Long Overdue. I'll have a longer story to share about how I wrote, rewrote, published, unpublished, and then republished my first novels.
So, that puts us at six. Four manuscripts are heading into production. And then one more, we're attempting to go from finished Feedback Circle to published book in about 35 days.
Yeah... August is gonna be one heckuva ride. The whole thing has me feeling like a librarian version of Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible...
But we can do this! And we have Diggypod, the best book printer in the game, who specializes in these fast-paced, "your mission, should you choose to accept it" scenarios.
Still a lot of work to do, but I look back at a dream I shared in the January 2025 newsletter.
But you know what, we're at 19 published books. Our current goal of 20 would feel embarrassing not to hit. And once you hit 20, then 50 is doable. And so is the jump from 50 to 100. And once you're at 100, well, one of those probably lands a movie deal. Right?
Now that 30 published books are in sight, it's exciting to look ahead and imagine those next milestones. Let the Tom Cruise sprint begin!
Let Your Books Become Chapters
And Your Chapters Become Books
I might develop this into a longer blog post, but I'd like to share the early concept.
As an author, I have no shortage of book ideas. I have a couple of different running lists on my phone. I even have an idea for a book called "Please, Take These Ideas."
What I've found, though, is when I pursue one of these ideas, the 3,000-word mark is often the cliff. That's when I run out of gas and, ultimately, give up. Move on to something else.
For the longest time, I was looking for advice on how to power through from 3,000 to 10,000 words. I figured if I could just get over the hump, then maybe from 10,000 to 30,000 words would be easy. It'd be like reaching the 3rd or 4th week of a New Year's Resolution.
But it hit me the other day: Maybe those ideas run out of gas at 3,000 words because they were never meant to be a book. It was meant to be a chapter or a scene.
Two examples from my idea list. One is for a book called '97-98. It'd be a look back at sports, movies, TV shows, music, technology, etc., from those two iconic years. It's a daunting task as a 300-page book, but it could be a great 10-page chapter.
On the other hand, I had one chapter/short story idea about someone who serves as the "pinch driver" at the Mackinac Bridge. This is a real thing. If you're scared to drive over the bridge, you can call bridge services and have a driver take you across. Thought that'd be a really cool concept and an interesting character.
I haven't started writing that story, but I think it would have more potential and more momentum to become a full book than '97-98. Why? Because you have the driver's story. You have the different stories of characters calling for help. You have this compelling conflict of overcoming fears. There's a lot to dig into. A lot to fuel that chapter idea into a whole book.
If you're evaluating which idea to pursue, maybe that's a good rule of thumb: If the idea is very plot-driven or "this would be a cool topic," that might be more of a chapter than a book. But if it's character-driven, or conflict-driven, that's one that can get a hold of you, and next thing you know, you've written 200 pages.
Formula One, the Savannah Bananas, a Potential New Basketball League, and Why I'm Taking Books on the Road
I think I've arrived at a theme for this summer newsletter: Chris's not fully baked ideas. Or as Kimberly Galitz would say: That first pancake.
Something I'm noodling on right now. Formula One racing, they pick cities all around the world and essentially go on tour. The Savannah Bananas (think Harlem Globetrotters but baseball), they travel the entire country, selling out professional baseball stadiums. And now there's talk of a new basketball league that would follow the F1/LIV Golf model. Top talent. Global cities. Go on tour.
My goal was, and still is, to have a Long Overdue bookstore in Chicago and one in Traverse City. But as I look at those examples above, the touring concept, and when I think about those giant crowds at Printers Row Lit Fest and the Texas Book Festival, I'm starting to think a better bet would be a mobile bookstore. Picture a VW Bus, or a Honda Element, or heck, why not a school bus, converted into a bookstore on wheels, driving to literary hot spots in the Midwest like Chicago, northern Michigan, Lansing, Ann Arbor, Columbus, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Madison, Iowa City, Lawrence.
Big idea, big dream, but maybe there's some smaller advice in there for authors. Don't think of your book launch as a national social media campaign. Start locally and then expand to those 5-10 literary hotspots. Follow the readers.
Three Thoughts from Recent Feedback Circles
We've had a few Feedback Circles lately, and every time I'm part of these, it energizes me. Three recent observations:
The talent of the everyday reader
When writers go through our Feedback Circle process, they pick 1-2 readers from Long Overdue and then 3-5 readers from their own network.
Sometimes people are concerned because they don't have an English professor or editor in their immediate network. But that is truly nothing to worry about.
Here's the simple recipe that works really well: find a friend who cares about you and wants to help.
If they're also an avid reader, that certainly helps, but I've now seen several groups where a reader will say to the author, "I really don't read a lot of books, but I read yours in two days," and then proceed to give them incredible notes.
And these readers aren't doing it as a paid assignment. Not getting school credit. Nope. Never underestimate the talent of your immediate network, who would love to read your book and help you out.
"I got to know more about my friend."
That was a really cool quote I heard on a recent Feedback Circle call. Whether it's a novel, memoir, poetry, or non-fiction, your friends and/or family members are seeing another side of you, learning more about you, reading stories or struggles maybe they've never heard about yet. It's a great way to connect and is a really meaningful part of this process.
Favorite chapter / least favorite
We sometimes include this question, asking the group to list their 3-5 favorite and 3-5 least favorite chapters. There are times when the same chapter appears on both lists. It's a reminder that every reader will experience your book differently. And it's also a big help in the revision process when you can say, "Alright, this chapter is working for a few people, but these readers brought up a few points of why they didn't like it as much. Let's see how I can fix those aspects and make this an even stronger chapter."
10 Pizza Places and 5 Hot Dog Spots
That I Love in Lakeview*, Chicago
Alright, I think I'm just hungry now. It's about midnight as I'm writing this, and I need a good late-night snack.
But for anyone visiting Chicago in August or September, or coming down for Lit Fest, or seeing a Cubs game, I want to share a few pizza places I like in Lakeview (aka walking distance from Wrigley Field). This is a chance to go even more "insider local" than some of the well-known Chicago institutions, like Lou's or Giordano's.
Zaza's - thin, New York style
Slice Shop - Phenomenal "Grandma" style
Nancy's - Love their deep dish
Roebuck - Wood-fired pizza, cool toppings, and great beer at the attached brewery
Bonci - Chef/founder was featured on Netflix. Cool topping combinations (pictured above with Team Dog, Crash)
As I was doing that top five, I couldn't help but expand the map. Journeying a little out of Lakeview here, but still not far away from Wrigley.
Copa di Volpe - Ranked #44 in the 2025 best pizzas USA. One of those spots that are so good you end up going twice in seven days. Be ready to cut your pizza with a pair of scissors, though
Michael's - Another great deep dish spot
The Art of Pizza - If you're okay with a 4-hour nap afterwards, give their deep dish a try
D'Agostinos - Love this spot. They do both deep dish and thin crust. I think I prefer their thin. Dog-friendly patio. Great family spot
Coalfire - Hides a little in Copa di Volpe's shadow on Southport, but goes toe-to-toe (pepperoni to pepperoni?) with its neighborhood rival. Love getting Coalfire pizza before or after a movie at Music Box Theatre
And then why not, let's get some Chicago dogs into the mix.
Flub a Dub Chubs - Might be polarizing because they don't have poppy seed buns, BUT they do have a wall of shame with photos of people putting ketchup on their hot dogs
Wrigleyville Dogs - Right by Wrigley Field, saves you money vs. buying in the stadium (and a better hot dog)
Clark Street Dog - Across the street from Zazas, if you're feeling ambitious with a slice of pizza + hot dog combo
The Wieners Circle - Gotta get that char dog. This place is a Chicago institution
Devil Dawgs - Great hot dogs. Great fries. Don't shortchange the Maxwell Street Polish here either
But if you're looking for lunch or dinner during/after Printers Row Lit Fest, you gotta go with First Draft, which is right by the festival. First Draft and Galway Bay are my favorite spots in the city to get a Guinness. And First Draft might have my favorite Reuben to go with it.
"Do you have any idea what it's like to dream about those pizzas and hot dogs, then wake up to a bowl of kibble?"
-Crash, Team Dog
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