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Margot Atwell

Goodreads Author

Born

in New York

Website

http://www.margotatwell.com

Twitter

MargotAtwell

Genre

Nonfiction, Sports

Member Since

June 2007

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/em_dash

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Margot Atwell is a writer, editor, publisher, and creative community builder, once called “Book Biz Cassandra” by Publishers Weekly. Her books are Absolute Pleasure: Queer Perspectives on Rocky Horror (Feminist Press, 2025) Derby Life: A Crash Course in the Incredible Sport of Roller Derby (Gutpunch Press, 2015) and The Insider’s Guide to Book Publishing Success (Beaufort Books, 2013). She writes On the Books, a newsletter about writing, publishing, and money.

She was the Executive Director and Publisher of Feminist Press, and Head of Publishing and Director of the creative outreach team at Kickstarter. She played roller derby under the name Em Dash for over a decade, skating with the world champion Gotham Roller Derby, and co-founding Derb ...more

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Margot Atwell's Blog

Going it on your own: the story behind Wool

I just finished reading Wool, a claustrophobic, terrifying, brilliant novel (or collection of stories) by Hugh Howey. The story behind Howey’s success with the book is just as interesting as the book itself. He originally wrote the first section of the novel as a short story and self-published it as an e-book. InThe Insider’s Guide to Book Publishing Success, I talk about publishing in e-book form

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Margot Atwell’s books

Average rating: 3.79 · 405 ratings · 108 reviews · 10 distinct works • Similar authors

	Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 115, April 2016 by Neil Clarke (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Kate Baker (Narrator), Carolyn Ives Gilman (Contributor) 3.49 avg rating — 183 ratings — published 2016 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Derby Life: A Crash Course in the Incredible Sport of Roller Derby 4.41 avg rating — 79 ratings — published 2015 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Absolute Pleasure: Queer Perspectives on Rocky Horror 3.92 avg rating — 48 ratings — published 2025 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Torchbearer RPG by Thor Olavsrud, Luke Crane, Annelisa Ochoa;Ben Morgan;Christopher Moeller;David Peterson;Jeff Dee;Jordan Worley;Kurt Komoda;Mich (Illustrator) 3.80 avg rating — 44 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	SURVIVAL MODE by Zak Zyz (Goodreads Author), Clark Huggins (Illustrator), Margot Atwell (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 4.36 avg rating — 36 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Insider's Guide to Book Publishing Success by Eric Kampmann, Margot Atwell (Goodreads Author) 3.47 avg rating — 38 ratings — published 2013 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Color Jam Roller Derby Coloring Book by Margot Atwell (Goodreads Author), Em Dash, Shinta Ayu Dewi (Illustrator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Derby Life: A Crash Course in the Incredible Sport of Roller Derby by Margot Atwell (2015-07-18) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Labrys Literary Magazine, Volume 1, December 2002 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Labrys Literary Magazine, Volume 2, April 2003 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Margot is now friends with Gemma Seltzer
Apr 20, 2026 06:32PM · like
Margot wants to read Hell Bent (Ninth House Trilogy, #2) by Leigh Bardugo (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Margot entered a giveaway Monster, Monarch, Maiden by Rae Carson	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 20, 2026 06:30PM · like · see giveaway

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Quotes by Margot Atwell (?)

“When I first started playing with Gotham in 2008, I learned that my team wanted me to jam in my first bout, when we’d be facing off against the Queens of Pain—the team that included Suzy Hotrod, Donna Matrix, and many other legendary skaters. I was so nervous that I was feeling a little queasy every time I thought about it, even a few weeks before the bout. Finally, I asked myself what skills I’d need to be able to face off against Suzy and win. I decided that I’d need to be fast, agile, and fearless. So I started to tell myself that I already was. Every time I thought about the bout and started to get nervous, I’d repeat those words. I’d repeat them in my head when I took the line at practice. I’d say them out loud before I went to bed. The day of the bout, I was nervous, but not quite as much as I expected to be.”
― Margot Atwell, Derby Life: A Crash Course in the Incredible Sport of Roller Derby

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Margot’s Quotes

“It was like this all up and down the river and many of the young people, the way they accepted their lack of prospects, it was like watching sparks die in the night...He didn't see how the country could survive like this in the long run; a stable society required stable jobs, there wasn't anything more to it than that. ”
― Philipp Meyer, American Rust

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“Male fantasies, male fantasies, is everything run by male fantasies? Up on a pedestal or down on your knees, it's all a male fantasy: that you're strong enough to take what they dish out, or else too weak to do anything about it. Even pretending you aren't catering to male fantasies is a male fantasy: pretending you're unseen, pretending you have a life of your own, that you can wash your feet and comb your hair unconscious of the ever-present watcher peering through the keyhole, peering through the keyhole in your own head, if nowhere else. You are a woman with a man inside watching a woman. You are your own voyeur.”
― Margaret Atwood, The Robber Bride

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