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.

OpenAI has to hand over emails about pirated books, why does AI write like that, best of 2025 lists, the writing craft lessons of Survivor, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

I won't tell anyone I won the lottery, but there will be signs.

Will you ever buy mostly e-books? Do you already? Are you ride or die with paper? Time for my 19th annual poll!

For Giving Tuesday, I hope you'll consider Heifer Int'l and @weneeddiversebooks.bsky.social!

Don't force the reader to repeat what they already know.

I'm available for developmental edits on full and partial manuscripts for a limited time! Full details here: open.substack.com/pub/danieljo...

For next week's Office Hours for newsletter subscribers, we'll do a first pages workshop! And for Thanksgiving break, a roundup of posts that touch on "Information vs. Storytelling!"

Sourcebooks' print sales reach heavy hitter status, romantasy is the talk of the town (including some TMI), the latest A.I. publishing scams, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

I updated and expanded my post on phrases to find and delete from your novel. Terminate at will!

Wait how do they know it was an accident

JCO KO's Musk, fashion embraces the book world, A.I. songs are racing up the charts, how to accurately write about time travel, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

The New York Times is ridiculousing so hard this week.

In case you missed it, here's last Thursday's office hours! Topics include: querying agents during the holidays, subplots, A.I. in lieu of paid editing, publishing scams, and much more! You can straight jump to any topic of interest:

If you're going to set a children's book in the past, there should be a good reason for it (and struggling to imagine childhood with smartphones is not a good enough reason)

10% of Facebook's revenue comes from scams, the debate over posting publicly about your submissions, how bookstores decide what to stock, and more of the best writing and book links from the past week!

Authors, I think you might enjoy this long interview with a independent bookstore buyer about how bookstores decide what books to stock and display: countercraft.substack.com/p/interview-...

Characters in a novel don't need to be powerful. They don't even need to be clever. They do need to try.

The origins of Frankenstein, the class action lawsuit against OpenAI moves forward, Philip Pullman wraps up Lyra Silvertongue's story, and more of the best writing and BOOks links from the past week!

The problem is not that there are too many bad billionaires, the problem is that there are billionaires.

Dodgers win the base ball we go to sleep

The problems with the phrase "The last thing X wanted" run quite, quite deep.

Working out in your 20's: Oh no, I missed two weeks, I'm going to need a workout to recover. Working out in your 40's: Oh no, I missed a workout, I'm going to need two weeks to recover.

do u like stories about young ladies making very bad decisions in a gothic environment while under the nefarious influence of lesbian vampire novels? well boy do i have a treat for u

Tron: Ares (2025）

Distributor/wholesaler Baker & Taylor on the brink, National Book Award nominees, I'd hate to be a punctuation mark around the Nobel committee, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

Sometimes I stop and think about the fact that millions of people have read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and no two people have ever had the same mental image of the wardrobe. It's crazy that we're able to agree about anything when it comes to books.

Congrats to my friend Kristina Mancaruso and her sister Kelly on the publication of RUMOURED, out today! (And available with free shipping from Bookshop.org!) bookshop.org/p/books/rumo...

Instead of supporting the Amazon borg, buy your books at your local bookstore or Bookshop.org, which has free shipping today and tomorrow!

I may be losing this battle, but I still think the "nuts and bolts" (word count, comps, etc.) belong after the plot description in a query letter. Here's why:

The Anthropic settlement class is now searchable, an evergreen take on sales tracks in publishing, Reading Rainbow rebooted, a book with a side of garlic, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

How many of these CTE tragedies need to happen before everyone finally realizes it's unethical to have anything to do with American football and the game needs to go...

I'll be hosting my monthly office on Thursday, exclusively for newsletter subscribers. Drop by to ask me anything!

As "no response means no" takes hold at publishing houses, it's long past time to stop leaving authors' careers in limbo and reform industry submission procedures. Here's a modest proposal at a Publishing Submission Bill of Rights.

Trump allies are angling for an American version of TikTok, a judge approves the Anthropic settlement, AI slop Charlie Kirk assassination books spark conspiracy theories (what in the 2025), and more of the best writing and books links from the past week:

Imagine if your Instagram messages were searchable instead of being replaced by a worthless AI chatbot.