Taylor Tomlinson is officially an author. The new Taylor Tomlinson debut book, Actually, Nevermind, hits shelves Tuesday, September 22. Still, the comedian can’t quite believe it.
Tomlinson shared the news in an Instagram video over the weekend, holding up a finished copy for her followers. “I wrote a book. I wrote a whole book,” she said. “Can you believe it? I can’t.”
Inside the Taylor Tomlinson Debut Book
Tomlinson calls the collection “essays about everything I’ve changed my mind about over the years.” In other words, the topics run wide: marriage, sex, mental health, coming out and God.
“It’s my thoughts and feelings on all of it,” she said. “I definitely over-shared. Trying not to think about that too hard or I’ll panic.”
The Taylor Tomlinson debut book has been two years in the making. Gallery Books announced the deal in October 2024, billing the collection as her literary debut. Back then, she said she wanted to explore “all the topics I’ve changed my mind about.” That meant both the serious ones and the ridiculous ones.
The 304-page book traces her path from strict religious beliefs to a more open mind. Along the way, she revisits the early loss of her mother and her slow move toward nuance. An early Kirkus review calls the essays “seriously funny.” It also praises how she digs deeper into her stand-up themes instead of repeating them.
Meanwhile, audiobook listeners get a bonus: Tomlinson reads the audiobook herself. And the book was first announced alongside plans for signed copies at Barnes & Noble and Third Place Books.
Book Tour and Stand-Up Tour
Tomlinson will mark publication day in New York on September 22. The event takes place at Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center. She then heads to Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and Lake Forest Park, Washington. Next, the Lake Forest Park stop at Third Place Books lands on September 25. Every ticket there includes a pre-signed copy of the book.
She calls Third Place Books “one of my favorite bookstores in the entire world.” In fact, she told fans she worked on some of the essays there.
The book arrives in the middle of an already packed schedule. Her new stand-up tour, Nobody Asked You To Do That, opened in Brooklyn. Four sold-out shows at Union Hall ran September 18–19. Dates run through early December. Since demand stayed high, she added a 2027 extension: a 22-city first leg starting February 4 in Spokane, Washington.
A Career at Full Speed
Tomlinson has become one of the biggest stand-up comedians of her generation. She has released four Netflix specials so far. They include Quarter-Life Crisis (2020), Look at You (2022), Have It All (2024) and Prodigal Daughter (2026). The streamer is clearly on a hot streak. This week’s new release, Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, also lands on Netflix.
In 2023, she headlined the seventh highest-grossing comedy tour in the world. She was the only woman in the global Top 10, playing 132 shows and selling 296,000 tickets.
She also spent two seasons hosting CBS’s After Midnight, the @midnight revival. She took the job in January 2024. At the time, she was the youngest network late-night host by roughly two decades. She was also the only woman hosting a network late-night show. The same network’s flagship newsmagazine made headlines this weekend with a 60 Minutes interview with Patrick Clancy.
Her work has brought big honors. They include Forbes’ 30 Under 30, the TIME100 Next and Variety’s “10 Comics to Watch.” She also made The Hollywood Reporter’s “100 Most Powerful Women in Hollywood.” The New York Times calls her “a comic with the confidence of a star.”
Why This Book Matters
Tomlinson’s material has always run on honesty. She mines her religious upbringing, her mother’s death when she was eight, and her struggles with depression and anxiety. In Look at You she discussed her 2022 bipolar disorder diagnosis. In Have It All she came out as bisexual.
So a book of essays about changing her mind feels like a natural next step. For example, one early review notes the essays share journals and letters from her mother. They also dig into the self-awareness behind her jokes.
Finally, pre-orders for the Taylor Tomlinson debut book are open now. And she knows exactly how much of herself she has put out there. “You can pre-order it now at the link in my bio, so please go do that,” she told fans. “Or don’t, I don’t care. I wrote a book.”