This week's Book Pitch Doctor's Surgery takes us back into trope-land. Link here: mailchi.mp/1d24ef8c1f20... #booksky

From tomorrow, @jamesbluecat.bsky.social will be coming to a @waterstones.bsky.social near you! Swipe through to see the full list. Do pop in to say hello, not least because he is bringing *multiple* Muppets t-shirts with him and we need photographic evidence: www.waterstones.com/events/searc...

why are templates in Outlook so shit? Why is *everything* in Outlook so shit? In fact, why is everything microsoft so shit? Accursed software.

My mate Stef and the amazing @xobikes.bsky.social (plus their new barbers' shop) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Waterstones, where I used to work as a bookseller, have made Pagans their Science Fiction/Fantasy book of the month (with two quid off). THE MOTHERSHIP HAS CALLED ME HOME. www.waterstones.com/campaign/boo...

This was ACTUAL FUN.

This week's Book Pitch Doctor's Surgery is all about the joy of tropes! Link here mailchi.mp/c00176d5dc2a... #booksky

The one thing I would definitely wear if I was on The Traitors: *quiet shoes*

This week's Book Pitch Doctor's Surgery is all about the self consciousness of team pitching mailchi.mp/91e79b716d58...

Caught up with this. So good. Need to re-read a few of these for the names alone (think there was a Roman athlete called Gluteus Maximus??) ... and pretend I understood the satirical subtext all along 👍

So good!

So lame of Labour politicians to adopt the Tory messaging tactic of using the word 'clear' as though it has magic properties.

Dear X, This is a message from The Traitors. The Traitors have murdered you, by order of The Traitors. Signed, The Traitors

Benoit Blanc is so Shelby Foote 👌

I use Amazon more than I'd like, so I was pretty chuffed to get a Kobo reader for xmas. Now it's ebooks from them (and hopefully via @bookshop.org in future) and audiobooks from @xigxaguk.bsky.social hurrah.

Amadeus ep1: reet good imo

Back from xmas shopping, pleased to report King's Road booksellers are nailing it. Staff at Sandoe and Waterstones ultra helpful (and speedy, and well-informed). Didn't buy anything at Book Bar but the vibes were welcoming and I'll be back there soon. Handshakes all round. Keep it up lads. #booksky

This year’s card :)

Check it out!! Hodder & Stoughton have an open submission window for all fiction genres. Get in quick. Details in link. Please share :)

As a children’s bookseller I spent quite some time every week explaining two things - why visual literacy is important and why comic books are ‘real’ books. And why certain books are better read when a child is older and more able to understand the emotional complexity on the page.

This week's Book Pitch Doctor's Surgery is all about different types of publishing enthusiasm. Link here: mailchi.mp/ae28d1738360... #booksky

Weird to hear I Live You by Spacemen 3 on the soundtrack of Malice. Same side (crucially 🤓) of the same album as Big City, used in Succession.

I read a lot of opinions about AI and the future of work, and this post by @naomialderman.bsky.social is the best I've come across in a long time. It was written for young people the same age as my daughters, and the best compliment I can give it is that I immediately shared it with them.

WHYYY has nobody created a category shorthand for the stuff that can’t be categorised (my three: The Supernatural Enhancements, The Library At Mount Char, and ultimately Little Big, because WHAT IS IT apart from amazing but indescribable)

What are your Unpitchables? Books you love but can't seem to get across to other people ... I've nominated three. Let me know yours! mailchi.mp/d86b588872a9... #booksky

Here's #Autumn2025 with box fresh #ShortStories from Helon Habila, Ephameron, @cclarklewes.bsky.social Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall and Kasimma – plus Chadwick Allen on the classics of #Indigenous #literature Catch them at fictionable.world #books #reading #writing #fiction #comics #translation #blog

I know nothing about Dr Who, but, for Londoners, the phrase "Going For Dinner With Billie Piper" is the absolute best way to remember the order of the vertical streets running east to west in Soho (Greek, Frith, Dean, Wardour, Berwick, Poland) and has saved many a late night out

Morning terrace. A rare private commission.

In which I visited Milton Keynes, and committed a faux pas. And had some thoughts about the city's 200 miles of cycle routes, known as the redways lauralaker.substack.com/p/milton-key...

I had expected Riot Women to be cringey (based only on the press photos I think) but it’s blimmin’ excellent!

This week's Book Pitch Doctor's Surgery is about thinking about other people (so you can sell them books, obvs, not just for fun). Link here: mailchi.mp/e6392b2e93ad...

Absolute dad moment earlier, as daughter played me the new Raye song. I predicted ‘this is going to be a big hit’. Oh. 👇

The circle line can do one.

House of Guinness is pony imo

Final Days to fill out the survey! Help them understand comic creators work/finances & help grow their case for supporting comics. DO IT ASAP! Please! (UK based creators only)

This week's Book Pitch Doctor's Surgery is all about The End (of your pitch). mailchi.mp/95970fb10f1a... #booksky

A hugely important update for authors and publishers: you may not be eligible, it's a defined list of titles based on US copyright registration and date eligibility, not everything in LibGen. But take five minutes to be sure 👉

🚨FINAL FEW DAYS!🚨 The UK Comics Creator Survey will close forever at midnight on Monday 6th! Have you submitted your response yet? Or were you, like me*, waiting for the last minute? The last minute is now, lads! Get in there! ukcomicscreators.org.uk *I thrive** on pressure **Exist painfully

An indy bookseller speaks! Bookshop.org is AMAZING and frankly, without it, a lot of us would have struggled even more during lockdown. WAYYY better than Hive (if you’re picking the book up from a bookshop, why aren’t you ordering it directly from them in the first place??)

I'm on the Always Take Notes podcast, talking Pagans and scriptwriting. Enjoyed this one as lot as it's quite into the process end of things as well as covering how you actually make a living and balancing writing with childcare stuff. open.spotify.com/episode/2OOb...

Unimprovable publisher-acknowledgment

This week's Book Pitch Doctor's Surgery is all about how to *start* a book pitch ... mailchi.mp/7feec4ba13d4...

Thanks GW! And thanks @alisonjones.com :)

A short thing about music. Please indulge me. My son and his girlfriend did a pub gig this afternoon. Here they are. Voice and keyboard. Jazz standards. They were good, but that’s not the point. (1/n)

This week's Book Pitch Doctor's Surgery answers the vexed question 'where should I look when I'm pitching?' mailchi.mp/edb7022d342f...

As a regular (albeit mediocre) racing track cyclist, I can report that *nothing* is more terrifying than the Embankment bike lane at 0845 on a sunny tube-strike day.

Thank you to one of my publishing heroes, Hilary Murray Hill for this endorsement of How to Pitch a Book (available here - www.bookpitchdoctor.com )

Think I’ll check out the score in the cric- Fucks sake.

🔊 PODCASTERS!! 💬 THE THING WITH FEATHERS is out this Autumn & features Cumberbatch playing a comic creator (with art by me) The director Dylan Southern & myself would love to chat to you about the film, comics, the art & more Drop me a line if you’re keen! www.imdb.com/title/tt2777... Pls share!