The author of Yesteryear—already optioned for an Anne Hathaway adaptation—on making deadlines, reconnecting with ambition and the importance of networking
thecreativeindependent.com/people/autho...
Click through to check out the directory of eligible bookstores and post your favorite local spot in the comments!
The National Association of Black Bookstores has declared today — Tuesday, April 7 __ National Black Bookstore Day in honor of the more than 300 Black-owned bookstores operating in the U.S.
May Syeda: "I'm now in my last semester at Columbia. I'm almost done with my thesis, a memoir. I'm over $100,000 in debt."
Timmy Straw: "There is no money in poetry. There is not even the fantasy of money such as might bedevil the novelist."
Bud Smith: "I was standing in a metallic tomb, knee-deep in polypropylene powder, reading and rereading this bizarre text message that said an editor was excited to work with me." @budsmith.bsky.social
Chris Rose: "I don't know how to do anything but write. I am uniquely unqualified for any other kind of work."
Sara Nović: "Someone with more shame might've been deterred, but I'm a person fueled mainly by spite." @novicsara.bsky.social
Bertrand Cooper: "I have no idea how much money I would need to accumulate before I could believe writing was safe for me. I wish it could be, because I'm not sure I can stop doing it."
Philip Connors: "Once upon a time I thought of myself as a writer with a side hustle. Now I think of myself as a fire lookout whose income subsidizes a dilettante's interest in scribbling."
One common notion most writers seem to share is there’s simply nothing else they’d rather be doing, no matter what it takes to make that possible.
With that, a few highlights from this excellent @thebaffler.com piece🧵
“According to the Authors Guild’s most recent income survey… the median book-related income for traditionally published trade authors was between $15,000 and $18,000. When combined with other writing-related income, the total climbed to a measly $23,329.” — @thebaffler.com
This week @thebaffler.com asks whether you can still make it financially today as a writer—citing our Authors Guild income survey.
(The answer is yes… but at what cost??)
Very excited for @joshgondelman.bsky.social to host the upcoming @authorsguild.org gala partly because I have so many questions I want to ask Cord Jefferson about his The Corrections adaptation.
authorsguild.org/foundation/g...
Calling all Authors Guild members! Join @franklinleonard.bsky.social and Randy Winston for a FREE virtual event with @authorsguild.org on April 14 at 4PM PT/7PM ET. Learn more here: authorsguild.org/event/the-bl...
We are monitoring the case and will provide updates.
The author-plaintiffs seek at least $200,000 in unpaid royalties, without factoring in interest, and payment for attorney fees. Topps has not responded to the complaint.
The suit was filed in August 2025, with little movement since. The outcome of the suit and whether the publisher "strong-armed" the authors as described in the complaint remains undetermined.
The suit includes upwards of ten yet-to-be-named defendants who are alleged to have committed "wrongful practices" and benefited from the deprivation of authors' royalties.
The plaintiffs allege that Topps
"intentionally refused" to pay royalties
and provide an accounting for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024. They assert that they carried out their obligations in line with their agreements, but the publisher failed on its end—a breach that they say is continuous.
The lawsuit points out that at least two entities held the rights through assignment before Topps—FASA Corporation and WizKids, both in the games business.
Topps entered into new agreements with the authors in 2016 for various works in the BattleTech and Shadowrun series, some of which date back to the 1980s.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Topps lawsuit.
*If you are an Authors Guild member who wrote in one of these series and have not been paid, please reach out to us by sending in a legal request.
We mourned the death of the Washington Post’s book section, but another more recent cut has gotten less attention.
You can't sue millions of people. Holding the companies that profit from the problem was the point. That just got a lot harder.
We're calling on Congress to fix this.
