The Authors Guild is proud to join major publishers, authors, students and parents in suing the state of Florida over a bill that restricts books in school libraries.

I’ve had so many teachers say, “No, you can’t do this. You can’t do that.” I got deeply shat on once in my writing group for personifying trees. My friend looked skeptically at me and said, “Susan, trees don’t speak.”

That is a notable statement in part because the past few years have not been kind to critics. And yet there’s a world where the art of the review is alive and well—and printed on cheap, single-color newsprint.

“That’s what the newly released proposed amended complaint from the Authors Guild against the US government reveals about how DOGE actually decided which National Endowment for the Humanities grants to kill.”

While small actions sometimes feel insignificant, the things you do to lift your spirits will have a positive influence on the other parts of your life.

“I began to build up my stamina for rejection. Within the first year, I stopped being fazed by a rejection in my inbox.”

Two editors and two agents share what they’re looking for (a good laugh in troubled times), give advice for creators (be open to feedback), and open up about their feelings about diverse literature (keep writing it).

The deadline to file an Anthropic claim is fast approaching. Here’s everything you need to know before the March 30 cutoff:

We think we need space to be creative—but that might have it exactly backward.

The books section of a newspaper plays an altogether different role. It does not cater to aficionados; it seeks new recruits. The New Yorker on what dies when the book section goes dark:

“Go for the voice that you can’t get out of your head. Go for the heat. Once I’m obsessed, once I can’t stop hearing the mysterious thing, I follow it."

These three book proposal sections work in tandem to help you gain clarity on your slant, audience, and proof of salability

Simon & Schuster has never, in the century since its founding, not had a crossword puzzle book in print.

I always feel the magic as I enter, feeling how each day, the entrants agree to participate in the continuation of the space, asserting the importance of focused study and quiet writing.

What accounts for print’s unshakeable traction? Or to reverse the question, why haven’t ebooks conquered the paper world as the technology’s progenitors predicted? A few theories:

“Here’s a thought many of us have these days: if only we weren’t on our damn phones all the time, we would surely unlock a better self—one that went on hikes and talked more with our children and felt less rank jealousy about other people’s successes.”

“Quite often, like when I opened up my 1099 tax form, I ask myself: why am I doing this? And then I recall the glimmers.”

"Publishers don’t want to take a risk on something that might not sell, so they stick with what already sold well, limiting the options for writers."

Why is science fiction so bad at predicting the future, even as we continue to use science fiction terms to describe reality?

“In 2026, fanfiction's power over published genre fiction is arguably stronger than ever. Fanfiction's influence is no longer most discernible in specific, singular megahits. It has deeply shaped some of the highest-selling genres”

The mass market paperback, light in the hand and on the wallet, once filled airport bookstores and supermarket media aisles. You may never buy a new one again.

We’ll discuss claiming deductions, lowering your taxable income, setting money aside for retirement, whether you need to be making estimated tax payments, and more Register here: authorsguild.org/event/tax-ti...

"My idea of success when I was young meant recognition and a level of public awareness, I guess, about myself and my work. Now, I think success much more means being completely true to myself and achieving what my inner self knows to be my potential."

“For authors, the loss cuts even deeper. When journalism shrinks, arts and culture coverage disappears first, and with it, one of the last spaces where books and ideas can reach readers outside the grip of algorithms and corporate marketing." www.ifj.org//media-centr...

Hemingway used one of these when he wrote “A Farewell to Arms” lithub.com/five-steps-t...

Mark our words, everyone suffers when the cultural conversation is cut off like this. It is a loss of shared cultural space—of our collective literary conversation.

“John Irving once told me, as we chatted about journalists writing fiction, that IF a journalist is going to make a mistake in fiction, it will be that the journalist thinks that just because something happened in a story, it is enough. It’s not.”

“The main reason I don’t have a brand is because I can’t. I’m not put together that way. Demand a lifelong consistency of syntax and diction and watch me produce nothing.”

"Every book has the potential to stay with a reader; every story has the potential to change and shape us. But these long-running stories, the ones we spend years alongside—they make for a different kind of experience, and one I find hard to put into words."

“I wanted to write, but I never wanted to go back to those days at the magazine, starving and scrounging and so desperately worried about how I’d eat or pay the rent. I’d yet to see a model of creative success I could emulate, where someone like me was able to do what I wanted to do.”

Today at 4 PM ET/1 PM PT. Register here: authorsguild.org/event/build-...

The @authorsguild.org mission is to protect authors and journalists’ rights, and today we stand by writers and journalists on the ground in Minnesota and elsewhere who are calling power to account, as writers have always done. authorsguild.org/news/ag-and-...

An update on Crookshanks v. Elizabeth (Colo.) School District, featuring our general counsel Cheryl Davis

Minnesota's indie bookstores are standing up for the right to speak, assemble, and be heard. Here's how readers everywhere can stand with them:

Register here!

Nine tips from professional editors and bestselling writers on tackling scenes with sensitive material

“The design enunciates a truth that avid bookworms and curious minds have long known but big interior design has periodically tried to suppress: a simple stack of books is pretty fucking chic.”

The president of the Authors Guild on teaching writing in prisons:

Today at 4 PM ET!

From the stranger than fiction files: “I Quit Writing and Then I Wrote My Debut Novel”

Looking for a way to fight book censorship? Book Riot put together 60 of them!

Congrats to Mary Rasenberger, @authorsguild.org CEO, on being named one of the 2025 "50 Most Influential People in IP" AND a "Publishers Weekly Notable Person of the Year.” Learn more about Mary's work!

The Authors Guild has significant concerns with Amazon’s new “Ask this Book” feature, which has been available since December 11, 2025. The Guild is looking into whether the feature, which was added without permission from publishers or authors, might infringe authors’ and publishers’ rights.

“Because bookshops make everything better, don’t they? The smell of them, the silence of them, the sense of possibility that each and every one of the books they house promises. A great book has the power to change your way of looking at the world.”

As the sun sets on the coldest, shortest days of the year, we’re looking to get cozy with a warm book. What titles do you turn to when temperatures drop?

Merry Christmas cuties 🎄📚

“Take away our ability to speak, and we can still think, reason, form beliefs, fall in love, and move about the world; our range of what we can experience and think about remains vast. But take away language from a large language model, and you are left with literally nothing at all.”

“Even though I would not yet be able to apply it to my own practice, I learned that students produced their strongest work while working within constraints.”

This year’s FISH List is live. Unlike traditional rankings, the FISH List champions independent publications. It’s a nifty resource for authors and readers alike 📝