This time of year things in my garden get a bit chaotic, but there’s still plenty of bloom (with asters, eupatorium, Japanese anemone, and dendranthema still to come). The enormous lespediza plant is my fave fall-blooming stalwart

Scam alert: a scammer is soliciting authors in the name of the Crime Writers Association, offering "trend analysis" and other bogus services. I suspect this is another of the Nigerian PR scams that are so prevalent right now thecwa.co.uk/news/beware-...

Somewhere I saw initiatives like this called soft secession (I'm so grateful to live in Massachusetts, where government is generally sane.) www.nyc.gov/site/doh/abo...

New #WriterBeware blog post: Gen AI-driven Nigerian writing scams have arrived recently & spun up fast. Two new ones: book club impersonations (charge a "spot fee" for appearance) & fake private book review communities (reviewers are "tipped" w/ a minimum buy) writerbeware.blog/2025/09/19/r...

I've thoughts on the things we're not supposed to talk about along with the stories we tell. How we must push back on the justifications people use to ignore or embrace the wrongs around them. I also wonder why we let Alexanders and incendiaries hurt so many people. www.patreon.com/posts/139194...

Writer Beware expose coming tomorrow (spoiler alert: these scams are coming from Nigeria)

Interesting and concerning, for anyone who loves libraries

Such a turnaround from the early and mid-2000s, when the death of the bookstore was being widely forecast and & there was lots of schadenfreude over B&N's troubles since it was widely blamed for indie bookstores' demise www.usatoday.com/story/money/...

From @publisherslunch.bsky.social on publishers' failure to register copyright & impact on the Bartz settlement: Macmillan says it's been "communicating" w/ authors & agents about this & will make authors whole if excluded from settlement due to failure to register

I’ve hung on with the Post till now because it does do good reporting and I,ve wanted to keep access to one MSM source, but this is it for me. Just canceled my subscription.

My garden this morning. The world’s on fire but there are still butterflies and bees

This week on Planetside… Copyright confusion costs authors. Learn what’s true, what’s legal, and what actually protects your writing in “Protecting Your Intellectual Property: What You Need to Know About Copyright” by @victoriastrauss.com of WRITER BEWARE®: www.sfwa.org/2025/09/11/p...

As said below, knowledge is your greatest ally and your best defense--not just against scams, but misconceptions and mistakes. All writers need to be familiar with the basics of copyright.

If you're at the Baltimore Book Festival this weekend, don't miss out on the SFWA Stage closer! On Sept 13 at 7pm, join @isisasare.bsky.social & co. in rounding out a full day of vibrant SFF chats with @ektwrites.bsky.social, Be Steadwell, & Kellan McDaniel for SFWA AFTER DARK: WHAT'S YOUR FANTASY?

I feel virtuous. (I've made lots more than 300 posts, though. This must just look at a sample.)

A #WriterBeware thread! 🧵 1. Have you just received an email like the one below from Excalibre Writers' Hub, touting itself as a "learning platform" with webinars, workshops, and author services, inviting you to become a member? Here are some thoughts. www.excalibrewritershub.com

My most recent article for SFWA's Planetside! Copyright is a complicated subject about which there are many myths and misconceptions...in this article, I try to untangle some of them.

thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/Market/Index... Read the lengthy warning.

A thread of warning about a what looks to be a predatory promotional website, Readiln..com

One of the points of confusion that I am seeing in the Anthropic AI case is that people are confusing statutory damages with damages in general, so here's a brief explainer on what is meant by statutory damages.

Whoa. Did not see that coming.

Jason makes an excellent point about the (relatively) tiny number of books included in the settlement, compared with the total number Anthropic downloaded

Colleen is a good person (and her cats are characters)

SFWA's press release on the Anthropic class settlement www.sfwa.org/2025/09/06/p...

My blog post about the Bartz v. Anthropic class action suit, updated with details on the recent settlement and a link to the official class action website writerbeware.blog/2025/08/15/b...

AUTHORS: AG has prepared a detailed explainer on the Anthropic settlement and how it affects us. Full details:

Good thread.

Yup.

$1.5 billion sounds like a lot of money, but keep in mind that Anthropic just raised $13 billion in its latest fundraising round and is valued at $183 billion

1. Here's the motion for preliminary approval of the settlement in Bartz v Anthropic class action suit. Anthropic will pay $1.5 billion, an "estimated gross recovery of $3,000 per Class Work" & destroy the two datasets of pirated works once litigation ends storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

The Emily faceplant (how can this be comfortable?)

I get my masks here. Prompt and reliable.

MA residents, good news on vaccines--not just Covid vax, either, which MA residents can now obtain at pharmacies. Insurance carriers in MA are mandated to cover ALL vaccines recommended by the MA Dept of Public Health, rather than relying just on the CDC www.mass.gov/news/governo...

This reply is to my post today about a solicitation scam. I think he did not read my feed.

A detailed overview of the many unknowns surrounding settlement in the Bartz v Anthropic class action, incl. the impact of dissenting voices, challenges to the class, and a look back at the Google Settlement and the lengthy timelines that may be involved www.wordsandmoney.com/anthropic-au...

Authors: if you get an email invite from the Greater Hopewell Book Club, it's a scam: it charges an appearance fee (which it misleadingly describes as an honorarium) of $150. (If this reminds you of other AI-generated solicitations you've rec'd recently, that's not a coincidence)

For anyone imagining that the payout in the upcoming settlement in the Bartz v Anthropic class action suit will do more than slightly inconvenience Anthropic... www.anthropic.com/news/anthrop...

A good post on the growing menace of AI-generated PR scam solicitations (I wrote about this type of scam a couple of weeks ago). Included are helpful practical tips on identifying these scams and protecting yourself todnewman.com?p=1656

If you're wondering what the concern is over Audible's new royalty model, here's a good overview (in a nutshell: the royalty _rate_ is higher, but because of the way it's calculated, author _income_ is lower) selfpub.substack.com/p/audiblegate2

Two of the four monarchs on my Joe Pye weed today

Good info for short fiction authors looking to find whether their works are part of the Bartz v Anthropic class action

Brand-new publisher Acorn & Ink is seeking shorter works--10,000-15,000 words. But...its terms are horrible: a flat fee and no royalties for a 20-year (!!!) contract, or royalties with a back-end vanity arrangement (no royalties till £300 recouped) AND a 20-year contract

Jason's Grapevines are always well worth reading

The neighbors’ cat comes to my garden every day for a snooze in her special spot #Caturday

Speaking of horticulture, some scenes from my garden

And if you find errors in your registration (your name, your book's name, contact info &c), here's how to correct it: www.copyright.gov/eco/help-sup...

And here’s where to search: publicrecords.copyright.gov

Yes. And yes.

New #WriterBeware blog post: Did your contract require your publisher to register your copyright? Don't assume they did. writerbeware.blog/2025/08/29/i...

Authors: If you found out that your publisher(s) failed to register with the U.S. Copyright Office, we can help. We provide ongoing legal assistance to our members and advocate for their work, particularly in the face of ongoing AI-related theft.