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.

Why would you want to outsource your life’s work to a digital parlor trick that can’t possibly capture your secret sauce?

I wrote about what counts and what doesn't count as "political violence" in this country

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.

Google launched a cool feature where you can prioritize certain sources in search results. You can add my blog to your preferred sources and see my posts first when you're searching writing and publishing advice, if you're so inclined! www.google.com/preferences/...

"Not so fast," judge says on the Anthropic settlement.

If you missed office hours last week, you can now watch it! Exclusively for newsletter subscribers:

I had a dream last night that Zohran Mamdani was filmed getting into an extended late night argument and threw a guy down a stairwell, and in a city like NYC I honestly wasn’t sure whether it would help him or hurt him.

The authors guild published an explainer on the Anthropic settlement. A database of the books in the suit is expected to be available in October:

"The settlement is largest payout in the history of U.S. copyright cases. Anthropic will pay $3,000 per work to 500,000 authors."

Sometimes writing and pursuing publication feels like dropping a pebble in the ocean. But does that miss the point of why we're doing it?

Restaurants really need to chill out with the salt.

Between burning down Altadena and its relentlessly horrendous service, Southern California Edison is singlehandedly radicalizing me about nationalizing the power grid.

Updated and expanded my post on the importance of priming the reader in order to build suspense and anticipation:

What I learned about creativity from Bob Ross:

A victory against book banners, AI companies are shocked shocked they may need to pay for the books they pirated, how to get your book made into film, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

The rapid-release self-publishing strategy might be waning, @charliejane.bsky.social's tips for being a resilient writer, PR ain't dead yet, a D&D joke turned bestselling romance novel, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

Reminder to my newsletter subscribers that my office hours (hour) will start in 10 minutes! You should have received a link to the Google Meet, but email me if you didn't receive it. Looking forward to chatting shortly!

Nothing you write has to be lost, and you're never wasting your time. To wit: the creative project I've been working on in various forms for most of my adult life.

Literary tourism is taking off, literary scams are rampant, how to take criticism, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

Publishing scams are absolutely rampant these days (including someone impersonating me). Spread the word to your fellow writers and be careful!

Got writing/publishing questions? I'm going to host office hours exclusively for newsletter subscribers on August 7! Drop by and ask me anything.

It can be tricky to know where to start off a novel. Here's some advice and what to do (and what not to do):

The unconscionable reason publishing scams often originate in the Philippines, Scholastic pivots to video, romantasy might just be getting started, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

Updated and expanded my post on thinking through what happens on and off the page in your novel. As Elmore Leonard famously said, “Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.” nathanbransford.com/blog/2025/07...

Tech bros have discovered calendars

Utterly depressing how many publications are pimping Amazon this week because the economics are so skewed by the affiliate revenue and Google's advertising monopoly.

A new "crossover" imprint, the latest legal rulings affecting publishing, you'll be shocked to learn there's BookTok drama, and more of the best writing and books links from the past few weeks!

Updated and expanded my post on how to weave voice in query letters, a crucial skill to make your story come to life.