
If you follow a particular slice of Media/Literary Twitter (I hesitate to overstate βLiterary Twitterβ here because I assume most Actual, Serious Literary Types eschew frivolous things like Twitter altogether), you have undoubtedly seen someone tweet a book-deal announcement. It usually includes some text thatβs either demure, like, βSome personal newsβ (although this is, by definition, professional news, not personal), or maybe something oddly flat, like, βIβm writing a book!!β
And then the Lit Shot: a screenshot that defies all best practices for posting successfully on Twitter. Itβs rarely a mobile-friendly size, since it's often screenshotted on desktop, making it impossible to read in-line. And if youβre seeing the tweet on your phone, you have to zoom in and pan across the image like a fiddler crab to read the text. Thereβs no link to follow to view the full article β you see just the snippet. The text itself is stark. A musty font, and distinct use of capitalization. A few blue hyperlinks to follow the author (or soon-to-be author). Itβs instantly recognizable, even from its tiny, unreadable in-line appearance in your feed. Congrats β youβve seen the Lit Shot.
PERSONAL NEWS: Iβm writing a book with @maxfrumes on the fall and the rise of the Caesars gaming empire. This is a story of a $5bn Las Vegas casino heist featuring the most famous PE firms and hedge funds in the world. Britney Spears involved too. Get in touch if you have info!
Sujeet Indap, a journalist for the Financial Times, announces his upcoming book on private equity with a screenshot of the Publishers Marketplace site.
so, uh, I have some news that I've known about for a while but can now share. @Lollardfish and me are writing a book. it's gonna be a banger. #twitterstorians #medievaltwitter
Matthew Gabriele, a historian, announces his upcoming book on the Middle Ages.
The Lit Shot comes from one of two places: The first (and more common) is a $25-per-month publishing industry website called Publishers Marketplace. Subscribers can get a daily newsletter called Publishers Lunch, which has various tidbits of industry news: people switching jobs, events, awards. The web design of Publishers Marketplace looks like it's from 2006 and not a great mobile experience.
Sure, it could use a redesign. But Michael Cader, founder of Publishers Marketplace, told BuzzFeed that it's designed for utility, and its database of 25,000 entries means "this isn't just another WordPress site that you can pop a new skin on." As for the linkless Lit Shot's ubiquity on Twitter, he said, "We're delighted that people enjoy creating and sharing their own deal 'tombstones' with screenshots, and we're happy to have the focus remain on the author and their deal rather than on us as the reporting site."
The other source of Lit Shots is another paid subscription site with a newsletter and outdated web design, Publishers Weekly, but Publishers Weekly announces only a few select deals. Within the book industry, these email newsletters are important. βEveryone reads both, every day,β said Allison Hunter, a literary agent at Janklow & Nesbit Associates.
O my little heart! Here's the official @PublishersWkly birth announcement for my forthcoming book, #WordcraftWitchery! So excited to be writing a second nonfiction book β this time on ritual and writing. This makes it so beautifully real (as does my deep sleeplessness).
Lisa Marie Basile uses a rare mobile-friendly screenshot of her deal announcement.
Of course, if youβre a celebrity or super-popular author, news about your upcoming books might even be written up in mainstream news outlets that you can actually link to instead of just screenshotting.
But for all the writers who arenβt Stephen King or a Kardashian, the Lit Shot is the only official announcement youβll get until the book is released. And it has all the relevant information: the title, a summary, and credits, like the agent and editors an author wants to give a shoutout.
βWhen you put in countless years or months working on a book, you exist in this space where it feels like itβs you and the text all alone,β said Lisa Marie Basile, an author and editor with a forthcoming book on writing and healing. βWhen an announcement about the book or a contract is made, it suddenly doesnβt feel so nebulous. It feels real.β
The Lit Shot is convenient, but itβs also a recognizable symbol to those who follow these things; many people will recognize that itβs from some sort of nebulous book website, even if they donβt know exactly which. Author Maris Kreizman, host of The Maris Review, a literary podcast, felt similarly: βI feel like β and this could be my own insecurity β Iβd want the screenshot because it adds some authority to the tweet.β
When it comes to subtle boasting, thereβs a secret code to the Lit Shot, perceptible only to those well versed in the book business. Publishers Marketplace has a legend at the bottom of its site explaining the terms of a βgood deal,β βbig deal,β and βmajor dealβ and their implied dollar amounts. Not all announcements include a coded money mention; typically, itβs up to the discretion of the agent, editor, or authors themselves (βI think βmajor deal,β etc., is gauche! A little thirsty, as the kids say,β Hunter said).

βSelf included, we are just so, so hungry all the time for validation,β author Emily Gould told BuzzFeed News. βEspecially because books take so long and you are just fumbling around solo with no feedback for months and years. So when youβre given the all clear to tell people that your book or next book will be published β¦ you canβt resist the opportunity to get Congrats Twitter.β (βCongrats Twitterβ is not a community of users like Weird Twitter or Media Twitter; itβs a temporal mode for the rare moment when a bunch of your followers tell you βcongrats.β)
Look, we all get it: It can be awkward sharing celebratory news on social media, whether itβs an engagement, a job promotion, a βmajorβ book deal, or simply saving 15% or more on your car insurance by switching to GEICO. Self-promotion feels weird and uncomfortable for many people, so itβs easier to let the Lit Shot do the talking while you tweet something humble and simple like, βSome personal news...β
The rules and mores of Twitter, especially in niche communities like People Who Write Books, are often impenetrable to outsiders. A screenshot of a website with no actual link is confusing, and thereβs no reason anyone would know that itβs from a specific paywalled publishing industry website. And while these rules can be confusing, they are also instinctive and often rigidly enforced through repetition.
Like many other writers, Matthew Gabriele, the historian who is coauthoring a book about the Middle Ages, doesnβt have his own Publishers Marketplace subscription. But he tweeted the screenshot his agent sent him because βthatβs the announcement style we saw happening with others on Twitter.β
CORRECTION
Lisa Marie Basileβs Lit Shot is from Publishers Marketplace. An earlier version of the story misstated the publication she screenshotted.