Bright, multi-colored graphic with a white card in the middle that says, “Happy We Need Diverse Books Day!” Beneath the title text is an illustration of four people quietly reading books together. At the bottom of the graphic is the official date for We Need Diverse Books Day: April 14th, 2026.

Bright, multi-colored graphic with a white card in the middle that says, “What is We Need Diverse Books Day?” Contains the following description: We Need Diverse Books Day was created to highlight the importance of reading books that reflect our beautifully diverse world. It’s a chance to uplift, celebrate, and take action to support diverse books and the diverse artists that create them! At the bottom of the graphic is the official date for We Need Diverse Books Day: April 14th, 2026.

Wishing everyone a very happy #WeNeedDiverseBooksDay! 🎉📚❤️

Need some ideas for how to celebrate today? Here are eight easy ideas 🧵

Mozart was really cooking when he wrote Piano Concertos No. 20 and 21.

Thank you!

Reach out to me for editing! (This week in books) This will be the last post for about a month, as I’m getting married to my lovely partner next week and taking a bit of time off. But! I am still available for editing, and am currently booking full m...

My blog will be on hiatus for the next month, but here are some of the best writing and books links from the past week!

Watch Out For This Scam Impersonating Editors at Major Publishing Houses - Writer Beware I’ve recently gotten a slew of reports of emails purporting to be from editors at Big 5 and other large publishers, in which the supposed editor expresses interest in the writer’s work and asks whethe...

New #WriterBeware blog post: I'm getting a lot of reports of a new impersonation scam using the names of prominent editors to make referrals to fake literary agents and "book doctors"--though it comes from a familiar source and uses tried-and-true scam techniques writerbeware.blog/2026/03/27/w...

Beware the anti-A.I. stampede (This week in books) This week! Books! Let’s start with some “A.I. getting chopped down to size” news. OpenAI Is Shutting Down Sora, Its A.I. Video Generator – Cade Metz, New York Times / Disney Exits OpenAI Deal After AI...

The writers getting falsely accused of using A.I., OpenAI is shutting down Sora, the tech bros obsessed with "taste" (people always want what they can't have), and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

Same!!

Publishers are unprepared for A.I. fiction (This week in books) This week! Books! First, a quick programming note, prompted by a personal note. I’m getting married in April, and, as you can imagine, things are a bit hectic! Posting may be a bit sporadic for the re...

Hachette cancels book accused of being A.I.-generated, Dial Books for Young Readers shuttering, a win for unionizing at HarperCollins, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week:

It is so unnerving!

Somebody in LA tonight is writing the next great American novel “The Year of the Grasshopper.”

CA governor's race is BLEAK bleak.

Every time I eat a baked potato I’m like, you know what? Baked potatoes are pretty pretty good. Then I go back to not eating another one for a year.

When to get feedback on a novel Getting good feedback on a novel is absolutely crucial to its ultimate success. We all have writing blind spots, it’s tricky to know what is and isn’t on the page, and we need to hear reactions from o...

Ironically enough, the most unhelpful times to seek feedback on a novel are often when you're most tempted to seek it out: when you're just getting started and when you've recently received an editorial critique.

Censorship comes to Congress (This week in books) This week! Books! Lots and lots and lots of links saved up. Limited captions, but enjoy the bounty. Also, a quick housekeeping matter. I’m having an issue with my discussion forums, which will likely ...

A chilling book censorship bill, the industry loses two legends, the perils of writing when you don't read books, and many more of the best writing and books links from the past few weeks!

A.I. editorial feedback is getting better. But should you use it? In order to distract myself from my most recent novel winding its way through the process, I decided on a lark to write a screenplay in six weeks in order to enter an annual competition at my alma mat...

A.I. editorial feedback (particularly Claude Opus 4.6) has gotten genuinely helpful. But should you use it?

Writers pursuing publication without reading widely in your genre/category, this is how you sound:

Author (basically): "I'm going to pitch an idea for a national burger franchise to investors."
Me: "Have you ever been to McDonalds and Shake Shack?"
Author: "No. Why would I need to do that?"

I spend drastically less time on social media lately, and let me tell you, reading the day's news in one undiluted dose at the end of the day feels like getting electrocuted.

In a spirited and at times meandering rebuttal to his critics, Trump took his case to midterm voters with a barrage of attacks on Democrats he labeled “[direct quotes with no challenge until 8th paragraph]”

What Not Reading Does to Your Writing More thoughts on "TV brain prose" and why reading is, yes, useful for your writing.

Since everyone is (sigh) debating if writers benefit from reading books, I dissected a passage shared as “evidence” that non-readers can write great prose: countercraft.substack.com/p/what-not-r...

"If a reader can understand a novel character’s want and the gravity of that want—what if feels like to be in that specific wanting body and mind—then they will catch some of that feeling themselves from the text, in the way that when you watch someone play sports, a tiny part of your brain is releasing sports endorphins into you too. If there is a material rather than spiritual substrate of empathy, this is it: Seeing pain we echo pain, seeing joy we echo joy. If a book can make you understand a character’s wants, you’ll want them a little bit too, and you’ll follow the winding path of words to see what comes of it. "

"If a book can make you understand a character’s wants, you’ll want them a little bit too, and you’ll follow the winding path of words to see what comes of it." will be thinking about this @jeannethornton.bsky.social interview probably forever www.publicbooks.org/conjuring-an...

Tammy Abraham offside

Just shocking from the linesman. It’s a dead ball, literally one job!!

And everyone wants to get rid of VAR…

Here come the A.I. slop novels (This week in books) This week! Books! Quick programming note that this will be the last post in February as I’m taking a quick break. See you in March! The New Fabio Is Claude – Alexandra Alter, New York Times – In an ar...

Here come the A.I. slop novels. While some readers may well like their books written by author Sloppy McSlopface, I'm more worried about the deluge coming for the gatekeepers and publishing regressing into a walled garden (plus more writing and books links from the past week!)

VAR in the Newcastle/Tottenham soccer game

VAR is a disaster. This was called offside.

Georgio Chiellini lighting the torch and pulling back Bukayo Saka

Very Italian opening ceremony, I loved it!

Unhappy Returns: Harper's Bazaar Short Story Contest, America Star Books - Writer Beware I always try to keep track of the stories I write, and to update my posts when new information comes to light. Sometimes, though, it’s worth re-visiting the stories themselves–as in the two cases belo...

New #WriterBeware blog post: the return of two "bewares" that I thought had been resolved: a short story contest conducted by Harper's Bazaar magazine with author-unfriendly guidelines, and a notorious scam name risen from the dead (though with different intent) writerbeware.blog/2026/02/06/u...

Stella Donnelly - Lungs (Official Video) YouTube video by StellaDonnellyVEVO

I appreciate this Stella Donnelly song because it demonstrates how the "o" in the Australian pronunciation of "don't" is composed of like 5,000 different sounds.

I’ve Been Laid Off. I’m Not Done. After 20 years at The Washington Post, I’m suddenly on my own — and still writing about books.

After 20 years, I've been laid off at The Washington Post.
substack.com/home/post/p-...

Same!!