New Publisher Listing: Sweet Hearts Press
firstwriter.com – Monday November 24, 2025
We design thoughtfully crafted products that invite you to pause, reflect, and reconnect – whether it’s through the meditative art of puzzling, the joy of journaling, or the playful magic of gift wrapping. Our products are designed with you in mind, offering a space to escape the constant noise of digital life, embrace your creativity, and express love in the most personal ways. From our mindfulness puzzles that offer a quiet moment of peace to our fun and vibrant gift wraps that transform a simple gesture into something special, everything we make is crafted with the intention of bringing a little more joy and heart into your world.
Island Publisher launches Figmentum Books
iwobserver.co.uk – Friday November 21, 2025
Two years ago, I founded the Isle of Wight-based press to champion the work of local writers, and celebrate the Island’s vibrant creative community. Since then, we’ve published fourteen books, including poetry collections, chapbooks, and a guide to the wild orchids of the Island. The fifth issue of our popular literary magazine, The Figlet, is out in January, once more featuring more than 50 IW contributors.
As we move into our third year, Naked Figleaf Press is taking a natural next step with the launch of its new imprint, Figmentum. If the parent press champions the Island’s distinctive storytelling, Figmentum reaches toward the experimental writing that crosses thresholds and explores the spaces between genres, forms and histories. It will be open to submissions from across the UK.
A troubling question has been raised around human authors vs AI
independent.co.uk – Friday November 21, 2025
More than half of the UK’s published novelists agree that it’s likely artificial intelligence will displace their work entirely, prompting fears of a two-tier market in the literary world where only the rich can afford author-penned books. What on earth does that mean? asks Annabel Nugent
On the morning the truth began to unstitch itself, Leonard felt a faint, traitorous thrill, as if the world had agreed to tilt a fraction in his favour.
If you’re thinking, well that sounds a lot like the opening sentence of a new Ian McEwan novel, you would be half-right. Rather it is a sentence written in the style of Ian McEwan, as generated by a free-to-use artificial intelligence platform. Admittedly, the prose is a little too florid for an author who wields his pen more like a scalpel. And yet on the surface and to your average reader, it’s a passable approximation of his work.
You can understand why, according to a new study by Cambridge University, more than half of published novelists in the UK agree that it’s likely AI will displace their work entirely. This isn’t anything new: for months if not years, novelists have expressed their growing unease about the speed and scale of AI’s trespass into the literary world. Plug in a prompt for any author with a back catalogue and you’ll get a sort-of satisfactory imitation of their writing: Margaret Atwood, Stephen King, Sarah Maas, Haruki Murakami, etc, etc. Not only does this happen in a matter of seconds, but it’s completely free. A whole book, 10 books, 100 books, 1,000 books for a grand total of £0.
Obviously, there are myriad problems with this – not least the financial repercussions on authors and the theft of their intellectual property – but one particularly troubling question was raised by Dr Clementine Collett, the lead researcher and author of the Cambridge report and a novelist herself: Could the prevalence of AI-generated novels create a two-tier system in the literary world? “That is a real concern from literary creatives,” she said on Thursday’s episode of Radio 4’s Today programme. “Where human-written work will be a more expensive luxury item, and AI-generated content will be cheap or free.”
Admittedly, the idea that everyone but the rich will be doomed to a black hole library full of fake books, bereft of human thought, feeling and heart feels a little far-fetched. But so too have many things that have come to fruition in recent months: the prevalence of AI relationships, the AI-facilitated mediums for grief counselling. Concepts that once seemed so Black Mirror are on the fast track to becoming run of the mill.
New Magazine Listing: The Masters Review
firstwriter.com – Friday November 21, 2025
Publishes fiction and nonfiction from emerging writers, offering a platform for short stories, essays, and book reviews alongside craft-focused commentary and interviews. Work is welcomed from those without published novels or collections or with limited circulation, with an emphasis on new voices and diverse perspectives. Submissions may be made year-round, with payment for selected pieces, while contests and an annual anthology judged by an expert highlight the strongest work. Both online and print formats are used to showcase selected material, with a mission to support writers who can benefit from wider exposure.
About half of UK novelists fear AI will take their work entirely – study
ealingtimes.co.uk – Thursday November 20, 2025
About half of published novelists in the UK fear that artificial intelligence will replace their work entirely, a report has suggested.
Cambridge University researchers surveyed 258 published novelists, 32 literary agents and 42 professionals who work in fiction publishing, doing so on condition of anonymity, earlier this year.
In responses, 59% of novelists said they know their work has been used to train AI large language models (LLMs) without permission or payment.
More than a third (39%) of novelists said their income has already taken a hit from generative AI, for example due to loss of other work that facilitates novel writing.
Most novelists surveyed (85%) said they expected their future income to be driven down by AI and 51% fear that “AI is likely to displace their work entirely”.
New Literary Agent Listing: Mark O'Brien
firstwriter.com – Thursday November 20, 2025
Open to submissions across genres and age groups, this agent seeks lyrical prose with strong wordplay and humor, and is especially enthusiastic about projects from queer, neurodivergent, BIPOC, and disabled creators. Graphic novels for all ages with heart, whimsy, and wit are welcomed, alongside young adult fiction that is contemporary, realistic, or realistic with a twist, as well as science fiction and fantasy. In adult fiction, the focus is on queer romance in all its forms, while nonfiction should be accessible, queer, and neurodivergent in perspective.
New platform BookBindr launched to 'connect publishers and authors with freelancers'
thebookseller.com – Wednesday November 19, 2025
A new platform, which aims to connect publishers and authors with "skilled, vetted industry freelancers", has been launched by Simon Appleby, founder of Bookswarm, alongside Justine Solomons, founder of Byte the Book.
The new dedicated website platform will feature a "carefully collated" database, enabling users to search for and contact freelancers who are currently open for work, covering essential services such as editing, publicity, design, marketing and more. To be included on the site, freelancers must meet defined criteria, including having a business that does the majority of its work for authors, publishers, agencies and other publishing-related clients.
Other features include search and filter functions, allowing users to choose options based on skill set and genre expertise, and direct contact, so they can reach out directly to freelancers through the platform.
A global publishing scam assisted by AI has targeted Australia. Here are 5 tips to avoid scammers
theconversation.com – Tuesday November 18, 2025
Aspiring authors in Australia are among those who have been scammed by a global network of publishing houses using cloned websites and AI tools. Some boast testimonials using the images and names of real authors, or listing real books they didn’t publish as their own. Several target the Australian market, trading under names such as Melbourne Book Publisher, Sydney Book Publishing, Aussie Book Publisher and Oz Book Publishers.
I’m a publishing expert, and looking at what happened, I can spot red flags in how these publishers operated and targeted aspiring authors, vulnerable to exploitation in their desire for success.
David Tenenbaum, owner of trusted publishing house Melbourne Books, established in 2000 (and specialising in nonfiction), was the first to sound the alarm. He’d received calls from authors who believed they had been dealing with his business – but had actually been speaking to the similar-sounding Melbourne Book Publisher (which even gave out his ABN).
One of the scammed authors, “Andrea”, an aspiring fantasy romance novelist recovering from cancer, told the Guardian she had a video conference with a publishing executive, “Marcus Hale”, who outlined detailed publishing and promotion plans for her novel, down to getting “a presence on TikTok” and a launch at her local bookshop. She realised what had happened when she called Melbourne Books.
Both Andrea and another Australian author, Peter Ortmueller (who also dealt with Marcus Hale), found Melbourne Book Publisher on Facebook. Ortmueller, who lost A$150 he believed was a first down payment on a publishing package, said he thought it was a traditional publisher. Andrea lost A$88, which she was told would buy her an ABN.
Eve White Literary Agency and Spread the Word launch programme for non-fiction writers
thebookseller.com – Tuesday November 18, 2025
Spread the Word, London’s literature development agency, is launching There Is Only Narrative: Non-Fiction Demystified with the Eve White Literary Agency. The aim of the programme is to find and develop new non-fiction writers from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in UK publishing.
There Is Only Narrative will launch on 18th November 2025 with an online survey to better understand the barriers to writing non-fiction and the support writers require from the publishing and agenting industries. The survey will also include a sign-up link to a document helping writers develop a book proposal.
A free online panel event with editors Beth Eynon, Assallah Tahir and Shammah Banerjee, chaired by Eve White and Ludo Cinelli, will be hosted on 9th December. The session will explore opportunities in the non-fiction market, with the aim of demystifying the processes of acquiring and commissioning non-fiction books. A further agents’ online panel event will take place on 22nd April.
"We have followed Spread the Word’s crucial work closely for many years and we are delighted to partner with them on this project," White said. "We aim for it to be a springboard for many future non-fiction classics."
New Literary Agent Listing: Kieron Fairweather
firstwriter.com – Monday November 17, 2025
Actively seeking both fiction and non-fiction, the agent welcomes narrative-driven work that blends personal stories with cultural, historical, or expert insight, as well as projects that uncover hidden meaning or cast new light on familiar events. Interest extends to music history from the mid-century onwards, storied accounts from the world of sport, and practical narratives in arts and craft. Writing that explores the emotional and psychological impact of environments, cities, and landscapes, or challenges the mapped nature of the urban experience, is also encouraged. In fiction, preference is given to literary and upmarket-commercial crossover, with a taste for darker, unsettling worlds whether dystopian, speculative, or rooted in gritty realism. Atmospheric and unconventional voices, quirky narrators, horror elements, and gritty urban realism are all welcomed, alongside stories that amplify working-class perspectives and regional voices across genres.
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