May 5, 2026 3 min read

Make Me Better is almost here

…and I’m almost in your city

Just one more week until Make Me Better hits shelves!! I am SO excited for this book to be out in the world. It’s been a hell of a ride—over six years of research, study, writing, and rewriting. And rewriting. And rewriting. This is the hardest, most ambitious thing I’ve ever written—and now, at long last, I get to share it with you.

Celia is so tired of being alone. All she wants is to have a family—to belong to someone. That's why she's going to Kindred Cove for the annual Salt Festival held by the secluded community that lives there. They promise that healing is possible. They promise that transformation is inevitable. There is no grief at Kindred Cove, because there is no suffering. Nothing is ever lost.

Celia knows that, at that mysterious island surrounded by that impossible, ever-growing reef—she will find herself.

She’s ready to be healed. She’s ready to be transformed.

She's ready to believe.

—

If you haven’t already pre-ordered Make Me Better, I hope you will! It’s one of the best things you can do to support my work. Publishers take pre-orders and day-one sales extremely seriously. I know it’s a lot to ask—but I figure if you’re here reading this, you probably want me to keep writing. And this is how we make that happen. Here are all the places you can order your copy:

Pre-Order Make Me Better

Barnes & Noble | Bad River Website | Local Library | Find an Indie Bookstore

I’m hitting the road!

I get to go on tour to celebrate the release of Make Me Better!! If you live in or near Northern California, Southern California, Salt Lake City, St Louis, or Des Moines, I might get to see you next week. Here’s where you can RSVP and find all the details:

Tell your friends! Bring your friends! Most of these events are with independent bookstores and they are REALLY sticking their necks out, logistically and financially, to fly me to their events. I want to bring them packed houses. Independent booksellers deserve nice things and we can make that happen together!

I can’t wait to see you out in the world, my friends. I am so thrilled that I get to do this work, and go to these places, and I am so, so lucky that you are going to be there with me.

And now, if you’ll indulge me: Coverage for Make Me Better

"...Devastatingly compelling, with emotional and eerie images that will last long after the final page." —Booklist STARRED review 🌟
"Gailey creates an original body-horror book in which it is seemingly well-meaning humans who are the monsters." —Library Journal STARRED review 🌟
"Gailey is a chameleonic master of their trade...Make Me Better is weird in all the best ways. Go get lost in it. And put your feet in the water." —Locus
“Make Me Better lives up to Gailey’s stellar reputation from the get-go.” —CrimeReads
“Sarah Gailey writes haunting books, a phantasmagoria of beautiful prose and evocative character work that you sink into.” —Bloody Disgusting

And more…

If you'd like to support the work of the team that keeps Stone Soup running, you can subscribe here for as little as $1 per month, or you can drop a one-time donation into the tip jar.

In the meantime, remember: Do what you can. Care for yourself and the people around you. Believe that the world can be better than it is now. Never give up.

-gailey

I’m hitting the road!

And now, if you’ll indulge me: Coverage for Make Me Better

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