Books have reentered The Discourse, Gulliver's Travels turns 300, AI is not conscious, about that "Dad Books" decline, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

I overhauled my post on how to come up with good comp titles for your book, including the difference between vibes comps and market comps, pitfalls to avoid, and the best tools to utilize:

The publishing sky is falling again, the latest memoir controversy, Michael Crichton's hold over elder Millennials, publishers have been quietly updating cultural references for decades, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

The Bransforums will be closing on June 10, so please save anything youw want to retain. What do you want to see next?

I updated and expanded my post on how to research literary agents. There's no substitute for doing this research yourself, but there are more tools than ever:

Every single day I'm approached by an author who's in the process of getting scammed. The problem is absolutely immense.

An inevitable A.I. literary scandal, Google search changes could demolish blogs and newsletters, rampant writing scams, short stories the people really want, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

Amazon bricks old Kindles, how short attention spans are changing books, does traditional publishing really need to be this difficult, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

Re-reading Kavalier and Clay for the first time in years and wow does it hold up.

Wishing everyone a very happy #WeNeedDiverseBooksDay! 🎉📚❤️ Need some ideas for how to celebrate today? Here are eight easy ideas 🧵

Mozart was really cooking when he wrote Piano Concertos No. 20 and 21.

My blog will be on hiatus for the next month, but here are some of the best writing and books links from the past week!

New #WriterBeware blog post: I'm getting a lot of reports of a new impersonation scam using the names of prominent editors to make referrals to fake literary agents and "book doctors"--though it comes from a familiar source and uses tried-and-true scam techniques writerbeware.blog/2026/03/27/w...

The writers getting falsely accused of using A.I., OpenAI is shutting down Sora, the tech bros obsessed with "taste" (people always want what they can't have), and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

Hachette cancels book accused of being A.I.-generated, Dial Books for Young Readers shuttering, a win for unionizing at HarperCollins, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week:

Somebody in LA tonight is writing the next great American novel “The Year of the Grasshopper.”

Every time I eat a baked potato I’m like, you know what? Baked potatoes are pretty pretty good. Then I go back to not eating another one for a year.

Ironically enough, the most unhelpful times to seek feedback on a novel are often when you're most tempted to seek it out: when you're just getting started and when you've recently received an editorial critique.

A chilling book censorship bill, the industry loses two legends, the perils of writing when you don't read books, and many more of the best writing and books links from the past few weeks!

A.I. editorial feedback (particularly Claude Opus 4.6) has gotten genuinely helpful. But should you use it?

Writers pursuing publication without reading widely in your genre/category, this is how you sound: Author (basically): "I'm going to pitch an idea for a national burger franchise to investors." Me: "Have you ever been to McDonalds and Shake Shack?" Author: "No. Why would I need to do that?"

I spend drastically less time on social media lately, and let me tell you, reading the day's news in one undiluted dose at the end of the day feels like getting electrocuted.

Since everyone is (sigh) debating if writers benefit from reading books, I dissected a passage shared as “evidence” that non-readers can write great prose: countercraft.substack.com/p/what-not-r...

"If a book can make you understand a character’s wants, you’ll want them a little bit too, and you’ll follow the winding path of words to see what comes of it." will be thinking about this @jeannethornton.bsky.social interview probably forever www.publicbooks.org/conjuring-an...

Here come the A.I. slop novels. While some readers may well like their books written by author Sloppy McSlopface, I'm more worried about the deluge coming for the gatekeepers and publishing regressing into a walled garden (plus more writing and books links from the past week!)

VAR is a disaster. This was called offside.

Very Italian opening ceremony, I loved it!

New #WriterBeware blog post: the return of two "bewares" that I thought had been resolved: a short story contest conducted by Harper's Bazaar magazine with author-unfriendly guidelines, and a notorious scam name risen from the dead (though with different intent) writerbeware.blog/2026/02/06/u...

I appreciate this Stella Donnelly song because it demonstrates how the "o" in the Australian pronunciation of "don't" is composed of like 5,000 different sounds.

After 20 years, I've been laid off at The Washington Post. substack.com/home/post/p-...

So exciting that Bookshop.org is going to start offering self-published e-books via Draft2Digital. Ditch the Kindle store ASAP!!

Time to subscribe to @roncharles.bsky.social’s new Substack:

I've never been a conspiracy theory guy, but you're never gonna convince me that there hasn't been a specific cabal of ultra-rich dullards trying to buy, strangle, and bring to heel all of the most important reality-shaping machines since the uptick in power labor had during COVID

Please don't report this as a straightforward business story; it's a story about coercive social transformation being imposed by people so rich they've ceased to see the rest of us as legitimate stakeholders in our own lives

Today’s a great day to cancel your Amazon Prime, if you haven’t already.

Thank you to @nathanbransford.com for sharing his forebear's words and actions of honorable convictions 💙 nathanbransford.com/blog/2026/02...

I've been thinking a lot about what this moment demands of us and, as always, find inspiration in my many-greats grandfather Albert, who fought in the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War and left being stirring letters:

Two new scams to watch out for, ALA awards, the latest on BookTok, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

In solidarity with today's general strike against ICE, here are some organizations to support, including a great auction supporting Minnesota full of writing services and books! "This Week in Books" will run tomorrow.

Unbanned Book Network launched by @weneeddiversebooks.bsky.social, TikTok US now controlled by Trump allies, @katemckean.bsky.social on what to do when your category/genre/topic is out of fashion, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

January in L.A. is crazy because it's basically Fall and Spring at the same time. Some trees are finally losing their leaves and some trees are already starting to bloom.

The book banning chill over the publishing industry, bookstores serve as community hubs amid ICE raids, Wiley names an "A.I. Chief" executive, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

Things in publishing are taking longer than ever, and I updated my post on when to follow up with agents accordingly. But you should still follow up, unless otherwise specified:

What if readers actually like A.I. writing (or can't tell the difference), holiday sales were strong but distribution was nightmarish, two new guides to publishing, tips for fixing the middle of a novel, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

Aside from cost increases, my personal theory for this is that pizza has gotten so unbelievably salty (particularly pepperoni salt bombs) it satisfies an immediate craving, but starts feeling repulsive to eat more than once in a great while.

Ready to get your creative projects on track in 2026? Here's a roundup on some tips to spark (or even reinvent) your creative life:

Slop is an apt word of the year, but I'm still inspired by the (human) writers out there. My year in review:

As we wind down the year, here are some of my favorites from 2025:

Check out my workshop on all things first pages! First pages that worked, dos and don'ts, openings to avoid, and more.