What publishing feels like literally most of the time. 🤣 I've got a new newsletter out today: 10 Things I've Learned in 2025! mayaprasad.substack.com/p/10-things-...

The state library system of Hawaii has banned "banned" books displays, enforcing the phrase "freedom to read." Of course, we like that phrase too, but used without context it obscures the problem. You can't win a fight by pretending there isn't a fight

SFWA educates authors about industry matters through many venues, including Writer Beware®, a service helmed by @victoriastrauss.com. It is a gift to be in dialogue as writers and other industry participants about the issues that matter most to our genre's future thriving. Read WB's latest here:

Outline: And then they defeat the bad guys. Me: Thanks, past self. Very helpful.

There’s no way to ease into this news, so here it is. Today, I am announcing ConCurrent Seattle, a one-day SFFH con intended to be an alternative program to WorldCon, scheduled for Thursday, August 14, 2025, at the ACT Theatre in downtown Seattle at 700 Union Street, across from the Sheraton. 1/7

What if the boy next door turned into something you might have to kill? Abigail F. Taylor’s Maryneal 1962 is a Southern Gothic coming-of-age horror where full moons, small-town fear, and first love collide. We sat down with the author at #NightTideMag! nighttidemag.com/2025/05/23/s...

I thought I'd been kicked out of a couple of Slack groups that I mostly lurk in bc they were missing from my workspaces. I was like "Oh shit, am I in trouble?!" And then I remembered they were Discord groups, actually. 😜

One of my goals for this year was to take some time to work on short stories. They're so much fun, a sandbox where I think you can take more risks compared to novel-writing, and I think they really up my game in general. So I'm basking in having completed & submitted one this morning!

New Hampshire!! Time to call Governor Ayotte to demand she veto the deeply unpopular book banning HB324. Remind her that only 39 people have spoken in favor of it, while more than 1300 opposed it. The phone number is 603-271-2121. www.wmur.com/article/nh-s...

Movie you’ve seen more than six times, no Star Wars or Trek or LOTR

Writers, how do you mentally shift gears to a new WIP when you've been locked in a different manuscript for 6+ months? I'm curious if you have any particular rituals!

To the reader who thought DDLJ was out of place in Drizzle, Dreams, and Lovestruck Things: Raj and Simran are to be immortalized in bronze in London's "Scenes in the Square" movie trail!!! DDLJ forever!!! variety.com/2025/film/ne...

That feeling when you send a finished manuscript to your agent 🙈🙈

Yay for book mail! Thanks for the gifts @candlewickpress.bsky.social!! I can't wait to check out book 2 in the V. Malar series by @suma-subramaniam.bsky.social!!

Ugh, allergies make me want to nap. On the positive side I'm 20k into my revisions - 40k to go!!

Finally found it. The average book thief makes between 60k and 99K USD. The average author makes around 10k. Most pirates are stealing from people worse off than themselves. But they cosplay as poor or use poor people as a shield to justify their class warfare. torrentfreak.com/wealthy-olde...

FYI - Authors Guild has tools on what you can do if your book is on this list: authorsguild.org/news/meta-li...

Yay!! Gotta celebrate the wins in dark times!

OMG I DID IT!!! My WIP draft is complete!!!! At 60k and before my goal of April 1st!!!!

I made 55K on my WIP! (In fact, ended on the round number of exactly 55,000 words today, haha). I'm on track to finish this draft by early next week, with I think a little over 60k total. Wooooo!

Only 5 days left to apply to the Editor-Writer mentorship program! This year we have kidlit editors and adult romance mentors, so check for your genre and get your application in soon! www.thewordfordiversity.org/editor-write...

Call for volunteer readers for the Editor-Writer mentorship! Before the applications are sent to editors, our amazing volunteer readers review them and provide feedback to applicants. We are in need of readers for 2025! Form to volunteer: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Nearly 4k written today! I guess I really wanted to get to the end of this draft!!

I'm receiving multiple texts a day asking for donations from ALREADY IN OFFICE Dems. Dude, no. Actually freaking DO SOMETHING for us and then maybe we'll donate to help your next election.

It's my graphic novel and YA debut, y'all!

The Trump administration has fired 400 FAA workers in the past week. www.axios.com/local/chicag...

I've been resonating a lot with Susan Dennard's posts lately - the one about getting off social media and this one about being a fluid creator. Case in point, I decided to trash the last 1/3 of my draft, re-outline and rewrite. My word count has gone backward but I feel good about it!

Me: I need to follow more #booksky people and get more bookish content Also me: clicks "like" on another ragey (but salient and justified) political post. 🙈

Revising your outline counts as writing. Revising your outline counts as writing. Revising your outline counts as writing. 😓

Hurray! RICK KOTANI'S 400 MILLION DOLLAR SUMMER publishes today! My dedication in this book is “FOR THE TEAM" -- Team @harperkids.bsky.social, Team ACM, my editor Alyssa Miele, & agent @pennymoore.bsky.social have all helped make my book dreams come true. I hope you like Rick's story! #booksky

Writer friends, I highly recommend applying to this mentorship program to get feedback in your MS from an editor at a major publishing house!

god i love teens, this is why ill never give up writing ya

This is where we are now: An elementary school at Fort Campbell has removed all books from its library that so much as *allude* to slavery or the civil rights movement. The wholesale erasure of history in real time.

Re-upping this PW article about payment problems at Albert Whitman, because I just got another complaint about unpaid advances, and per Publishers Marketplace, AW is still acquiring books www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Made it to 40k in my WIP!!! Notwithstanding the fact that I literally stopped mid-sentence this Friday, this means I'm still on track to finish my ~60k draft by the end of March.

One of our supporters shared this with us—people are getting creative tonight!

This is the year where I will finish reading all the books I bought in 2022, or die trying.

Reminder for the #WritingCommunity. Wednesday, February 12th is Manuscript Wishlist Day. It’s NOT a pitch event, but seems to be a way to discover agents and editors / what they are currently seeking. Guidelines: www.manuscriptwishlist.com/2025/01/the-... ✨Happy finding everyone! #MSWL✨

Is it weird that sometimes when I'm trying to very diligently make progress on my WIP, I still get less word count than the days when I have a slow start, take lots of breaks, and allow myself to get distracted reading random shit on the internet?

I made it to just past 30K in my WIP, and I was aiming for that to be around the midpoint of the outline and it actually was! I'm on track!!

The brand new paperback edition of my #ya #sapphic #horror GORGEOUS GRUESOME FACES is coming Nov 4 with some super exciting ✨bonus content✨! More info to come! Aaaand it's also that time again, preorder on BN.com with code PREORDER25 for 25% off 2.5 - 2.7 😘 #writingcommunity #bookcommunity

I thought this was a thoughtful (and hopeful!) analysis about what Tr&mp is doing. It did sort of make me feel better - that he is not as in control as he wants to pretend. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/o...

After years of battling censorship and enduring personal attacks, school librarians traveled to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT, in January to screen The Librarians, a documentary that chronicled their fight.

Hey fam, I have a new substack that discusses writing commercial fiction as the world falls to dust. Do you like my graphic? Haha. mayaprasad.substack.com/p/writing-co...

As someone who has decided to step away from Meta and consider how best to recalibrate in the current climate of social media in general, the recent podcast "The End of the Social Media Marketing Era" from @printrunpodcast.bsky.social resonated SO MUCH. Absolutely a must listen for writers.

The problem with first drafts is that the book is way better in your head than it is on the page. I'm simultaneously vibing with my book but also not really generating a lot of words. 😭

Huh. Turns out we needed government regulation.