What Maggie Rogers Taught Me About Ambition and Joy

"Numbers do not matter. What matters is how you make people feel."

Last week while meeting up with author friends and chatting about recent publishing experiences, my friend described me as being Zen. And it occurred to me that was a surprisingly apt description of how I’ve felt about the release of my third novel—and a total 180 from my anxiety and dread when I released my second one.

A day later, I saw that Maggie Rogers had shared her NYU commencement speech on Instagram, and I remembered with sudden burst of clarity and gratitude that she was a major reason I experienced this huge shift in my mindset.

Maggie Rogers’ Instagram post, and the slide that resonated with me.

In April 2024, I was exactly one year away from publishing The Other Lata. At that time, Maggie Rogers was promoting her third album, Don’t Forget Me. Listening to her new music led me to watch Rogers’ interview with Zane Lowe, and I was struck by how much lighter and happier she seemed compared to her promo tour for her second album. This led me to her New Yorker interview, which further solidified that something within her had changed.

Here’s what I wrote to myself about her New Yorker interview. The first part is her quote from the interview, and the second part is my response to it:

As everyone with a pulse knows, we are in really troubling times. On top of that, while it’s never easy to publish a book, for multiple reasons (AI, book bans, media consolidation, systemic bias, it goes on and on), it has gotten harder and stranger than ever. We have so little that is in our control, and I didn’t want to relive a post-publication period that was the equivalent of biting my nails and tearing out my hair. Simply put:

I no longer wanted to feel bad about something that makes me happy.

Writing makes me happy; writing The Other Lata was one of the most purely fun writing experiences I’ve ever had. This feeling, combined with having insight into Rogers’ creative process and approach to her career, helped me decide that I wanted to approach publishing my third book by focusing on my own joy, and what I could do to help get the word out versus fixating on what I think should be done on my behalf.¹

And then there is also what Rogers said in her commencement speech, which she quoted in the above Instagram post:

Art is not an industry or a game; it is a practice. I’d tell that girl nine years ago² that, over and over again, it’s your artistic faith that will save you. I’d tell her it’s kind of punk to take the long road. I’d remind her that no two artistic careers will ever be the same, and that numbers do not matter. What matters is how you make people feel.

Numbers can matter in terms of career advancement, but in no way should it ever define your self-worth. And as she says, it doesn’t have to be about making a big, immediate splash. The goal is to build a body of work, one that you can be proud of and hopefully resonates with others.

That is what Maggie Rogers taught me last spring, and it is gratifying to know that I now exude the same lightness that I first saw in her a year ago.

Watch her speech below or read it here, and listen to her album here.

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A few recent things I’m proud of + recommendations:

**Inspired by Lata and

Sanjena Sathian

’s Goddess Complex (which I loved and highly recommend!), I wrote about the recent trend of doubles and doppelgängers in AAPI novels for

Electric Lit

. You can read it here.

**PEOPLE named my debut novel, Dava Shastri’s Last Day, one of the 10 books to read if you love Taylor Jenkins Reid! You can see the whole list here. (This comes just a few weeks after PEOPLE named Lata one of the best books of April.)

**

Kathleen Schmidt

and her invaluable Publishing Confidential newsletter was also instrumental in inspiring me to rethink my approach to releasing a new novel, so it was an honor to be co-interviewed with

Andrea Bartz

about our 2025 Authorstackers catalog. You can read our Q&A here.

**Speaking about what authors deserve, award-winning author

Nisha Sharma

has an incisive, must-read analysis at Nisha’s Notes App on publishing’s DE&I problems, and actionable steps readers and writers can take in response. One of those suggestions is to support marginalized authors by buying their books, and

Mishika & Sri

of Brown Girls Bookshelf is one of the best resources to learn about South Asian titles publishing around the world.

**Over at Ministry of Pop Culture, we published an interview with iconic director Amy Heckerling (Clueless, Fast Times at Ridgemont High), which is excerpted from Kevin Smokler’s forthcoming book of interviews with women filmmakers, Break the Frame. And if you’re craving more Clueless (aren’t we all?), my MOPC colleague

Erin Carlson

has a joyful interview with Elisa Donovan, who memorably played Cher’s frenemy Amber.

**Also, if you’re having feelings about the new season of And Just Like That (especially after that first episode), my other MOPC colleague

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

wrote a reassuring review that makes me hopeful about revisiting Carrie Bradshaw and company. (She also did a really fun Substack Live with Fug Girls’

Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan

about season premiere, which we’ll be posting Monday.)

**And finally, writing about Maggie Rogers reminded me of my friend

Liv Stratman

, who references her Maggie fandom in her wonderful novel, Cheat Day (ideal for a summer read!). She also has a great newsletter called A Reason to Live.

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Thanks for reading, and wishing you a wonderful week ahead.

1. And to be clear, there is a lot that published authors, especially POC and queer authors, deserve from the industry. But we’re a long way from that happening.

2. If you’re not aware of the amazing story of how Maggie Rogers went from NYU student to hit singer-songwriter, this video is the moment that launched her career.