Enough with this fucking ignorance. 'Experts' do not believe this. Shills do. There's a difference.

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 12: In a world in which most agents and publishers may receive as many as 100 unsolicited manuscripts per day, some literally written in crayon, and have (if they're lucky) one member of staff to deal with them all, gatekeepers are essential. Don't take it personally.

It’s heartening to see that religious institutions like the Church in Wales carrying the torch for their values👇

I think one reason data center outrage is so pronounced is people spent decades recycling and composting and otherwise scrimping to offset energy use and protect clean water, and the second we hit an inflection point for cheap electricity the banking industry said we’re taking all of it, fuck you

My agent siblings @mkhardywrites.com have a new book out today! 👇

These parking companies (with the exception of Q-Park who I’ve never had a problem with) are absolutely enraging. I’ve fallen victim to this nonsense and it needs to be regulated.

TOMORROW! www.waterstones.com/events/an-ev...

I’ve just started reading this and it’s magnificent👇

Netflix’s biggest shows have been losing 30-70% of their audience between seasons 1 and 2. Executives are in a panic because they can’t figure out why, but the answer is probably pretty damn obvious to anyone who’s paying attention.

I once had an opportunity at a GW event to chat with Blanche and tell him how much his work inspired me growing up. Bottled it because I thought I would be imposing on his time, and regretted it ever since. Moral of the Story: if someone’s work has an impact on you, tell them if you have the chance

Another opportunity to share my ‘Free-to-use Picture Resources for Writers’ essay👇 Hat tip: @tadethompson.bsky.social for pointing out Fitzcarraldo Editions have no front cover art and stick figures will suffice.

A real bugbear of mine is e-book apps often skip the prologue and go straight to Chapter 1. I missed a really important prologue until about half way through and had to go and read it to learn some important context to the story.

Reading *your own* book is an absolute pleasure once it’s in good shape as a reader. A culmination of a *tonne* of hard work, research and process.

Looks pretty pretty pretty good @adrianmgibson.bsky.social 🍄

I think sleeping in my car air-conditioned for four days counts as sleep deprivation on the basis it’s a car and not a bed during the June heatwave👇

“That arrangement follows the "good neighbour" principle developed by art historian Aby Warburg, which Eco adopted for his own shelving: placing seemingly unrelated texts side by side so that unexpected connections between them could emerge.” I really like the idea of this.

This book is a riot👇

Thirteen years late on Broadchurch but called the killer halfway through Season 1. Feeling smug but I genuinely think being a writer can help spot the tells that the producers subtly throw in to make sure on a rewatch the clues were there all along!

@davewragg.com is a great author whose sharp, witty prose reflects the man himself. Congratulations on pub day!👇

New PlayStation marketing just dropped

When I think of Substack, I think of @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social's experience with them. I find it astonishing that a platform which ran for years championing independent voices could regress into a ‘content' factory for racists and misogynists so quickly. Deleted mine; now I have a no-frills blog👇

London Centre for Book Arts is an incredible place for learning how to make boxes, bind books, foil, letterpress & RISO print. londonbookarts.org/collections/... You can enrol in specific classes or pay for studio sessions. Their library of books and type specimens is also exemplary.

I wonder when we will collectively acknowledge that a sense of entitlement corresponds to the slow death of literature, one Grammarly-sanitised manuscript at a time. My own fiction has been described by many as ‘dense’, yet it’s nothing on much of the 19th and 20th century literature I read.

My latest cartoon for @newscientist.com

Further up the road heading to the town centre, I once encountered another ominous landmark in the form of a cardboard cutout of TV chef Ainsley Harriott glaring at me from an upstairs window. Nearly had a heart attack when I clocked it.

Note from my notebook (2017). Still true.

European heatwave is worst ever and impossible without climate crisis, scientists @wwattribution.bsky.social find - Study also finds high humidity means people in hundreds of cities are enduring worst ever heat stress - #climatecrisis "is running rampant" www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Or as @naomiaklein.bsky.social put it:

Huge congratulations to my friend and agent sibling @benedictanning.bsky.social on pub day for ATOMIC COFFIN! Details below👇

Verify you are a human to continue reading. Turn off your ad blocker to continue reading. Submit your email to continue reading. Subscribe to continue reading. Fuck off I'm not reading it then

Without a doubt one of the reads I’m looking forward to the most thus year👇

Gotta give it to Norway 🇳🇴. Incredible thread of video👇

I literally slept in my car last night because it was the only space that had an air conditioner. The UK is wholly unprepared for the effects of climate change.

What a kind and thoughtful gesture👇

'North London Kitchen, Still Life' (2025) by Eleanor Crow eleanorcrow.org

Rare red warning. Risk to life. Stay out of the sun. Avoid unnecessary exposure. Picture editor: "Counterpoint: Run the fun-on-the-beach shots?" We won't improve heat coverage until we stop illustrating public health emergencies with beach photos. www.independent.co.uk/weather/heat...

"But wehh wehhhh, the big conglomerates, they are too much the conglomerating" I HEAR YOU! Fortunately @bookshop.org is also having ANTI-PRIME DAYS from June 23-26 and you can get free standard shipping! DELICIOUS AND TASTY AND FREE here's my store btw bookshop.org/lists/premee...

Also, if you are a journalist, book reviewer, or podcaster, and you'd like an advance copy of SLEUTH-HOUND, please send me a DM and I'll put you in touch with my publicist. I appreciate your help spreading the word about my new book - which is out in October!

Wonky books are back for the last time! Just £3 for some of our books that have been a little battered through the distribution process but still have some life left in them yet! www.404ink.com/wonky-books

"You're an author? Would I know anything you've written?" "Have you heard of the book Eat Pray Love?" "Oh wow. I have, actually!" "Well, one of my books was printed in a typeface not totally dissimilar to the one in that."

3 HOURS TO GO!!! www.backerkit.com/c/projects/j...

My Nan took me to see this when I was 11 and I got turned away at the ticket booth for being too young to see it.

Austerity amongst other things cut vital youth services — my refuge growing up was always the library, truly one of the last bastions of civic pride and a vital resource for young people.

“In the fine print in the Adobe Help forums, however, Adobe also announced a new Creative Cloud Standard plan without the Gen AI features found in the Pro level plan. This Standard plan [is] cheaper than the original All Apps plan and includes the same features.” A silver lining here.

The crisis in higher education in the UK cannot be overstated, and folks like the wonderful @mkhardywrites.com are in the firing line. They write brilliant novels, and I encourage buying their books👇

Hi Alex, I’ve been truly mystified by your email. To answer your question, I stay motivated in the music industry by remembering [my company] has *nothing* to do with the music industry. Regards, Jordan

A thread of my favourite books on the craft of writing. Notice the subjectivity in the word "my" and "favourite". I have not used the word "best" or its synonyms. I may add to the thread daily or several times a day. Also, FAO: @glenatron.bsky.social @izom-chisom.bsky.social

Happy publication day to @adrianmgibson.bsky.social for A Murder Most Fungal! If you like your police procedurals with a speculative twist then his ever expanding series will be for you — his debut Mushroom Blues was a lot of fun and there’s much more coming down the pipeline. Congrats mate! 🍄

Because I know a bunch of you would be interested in this👇