New Publisher Listing: My Kind of Book
firstwriter.com – Friday June 19, 2026
Publishes sensory stories and picture books designed for children with profound and multiple learning disabilities, with a focus on creating engaging, accessible material supported by ongoing research and the development of innovative formats.
Words, words, words
aeon.co – Thursday June 18, 2026
Strong resistance to AI among writers is understandable. But it obscures what we share with the machines: language itself
Since artificial intelligence went mainstream a few years ago, it has done double duty as a political personality test: tell me what you think about AI, and I’ll tell you who you are. Those worried about climate change focus on energy consumption. Those who denounce late capitalism see it as the ultimate example of corporate monopoly. Those concerned about racism have warned about AI biases. Those studying the effects of colonialism see it as yet another form of exploitation. And those tending toward doom have seen ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok as the four riders of the apocalypse.
People in the arts and culture have felt particularly threatened by AI because the technology seems to be coming for the things they cherish the most: the creative use of images, words, and ideas. The latter two, words and ideas, have been in the centre of the storm because generative AI is based on language and because ideas are closely associated with the words in which they are expressed. In response, writers have largely opted for resistance, defending the genuine creativity of humans against the machines. My social media feeds have been flooded with AI-slop gleefully produced and circulated by colleagues hoping to prove that AI can’t be creative. Let’s call this the Creative Resistance.
How to Write a Novel in 33 Days
lithub.com – Thursday June 18, 2026
There’s a popular idea, fueled by countless Hollywood movies, of how writing a novel works. It goes something like this. Author is struck by inspiration. Author sits down and types in a frenzied montage, words flowing directly from the ether onto the page. Within a few hours/days/weeks, a book appears.
I used to think this was (charitably) an exaggeration, or (uncharitably) bullshit. My experience of the writing process always involved much more conscious effort, and much more uncertainty. I spent my time stumbling through first drafts, doubling back, second-guessing everything I wrote. I had accepted that even if the pure-inspiration model was real, it wasn’t something I would ever experience.
But then an image came to me: a young woman in the back seat of a car, returning to the burnt-out ruin of the house where she once lived as a member of a cult. Within a few days, the rest of the story coalesced around her: the charismatic leader she was going back to find; the power he had offered her, to control and manipulate what others perceive as reality; and the community she had lost.
You Have Permission: Elizabeth-Jane Burnett on Creating Space for Experimental Writing
womensprize.com – Thursday June 18, 2026
Through my career of teaching and sharing writing, the response I have heard most is “I didn’t know you could do that.” Too often, even without realising it, we restrict ourselves into categories, genres, forms, sometimes even thoughts, that were not of our own making. We have shrunk our writing even before picking up a pen or starting to type.
It’s an internal shrinkage that’s somewhat different to imposter syndrome, where we may know what we’re striving for but aren’t sure we have the right tools or accomplishments to achieve it. It is a diminishing that comes from not realising that alternative options even exist. If imposter syndrome is a hesitation to move forwards, then permission-giving is someone taking off the blinkers so that we can see, and move, in all directions.
One of my biggest early permission-givers was a literary scene rather than a person – in the transatlantic US and UK experimental poetry communities of the 1960s, I found a freedom in form and in the means of production that gave me a pathway – and permission – for expression that felt more fluid than more mainstream modes of writing. In the UK, a wide range of styles, including visual and sound poetries, were involved in what US poet Eric Mottram called the British Poetry Revival. A lot of this writing was distributed by way of the “mimeo revolution” that saw poets taking control of their own publishing.
Cheltenham Literature Festival sounds alarm over scam emails targeting writers
boringnews.co.uk – Tuesday June 16, 2026
Cheltenham Festivals has warned authors, literary agents and speakers to ignore fraudulent emails and messages that falsely claim to represent the Cheltenham Literature Festival. The urgent alert, published on 5 June, describes a wave of unsolicited communications that invite recipients to take part in the festival programme and, in some cases, ask for money.
How to write like a Booker-nominated author
thebookerprizes.com – Tuesday June 16, 2026
Behind every Booker Prize novel are routines and rituals that define the work. Here, 12 authors and translators reveal how they shape a story from beginning to end
‘A good writer needs a good rubbish bin,’ said Richard Flanagan, speaking backstage at London’s Guildhall after winning the Booker Prize in 2014. ‘I don’t think I’m much of a writer, but I’m a better re-writer,’ he added wryly.
Jokes aside, Flanagan’s sentiment captures something essential about writing life: it is rarely straightforward, but shaped by habit and a constant urge to improve.
Perhaps you are working on your own book and looking for inspiration, or simply curious about how real writers get words on the page. So, if you’ve ever wanted to get inside the mind of a Booker or International Booker Prize-nominated author, you’re in the right place. From silence and structure to cats, coffee, and carefully built routines, we’ve gathered 12 pieces of advice from fiction’s most acclaimed writers.
New Literary Agent Listing: Marc Gerald
firstwriter.com – Tuesday June 16, 2026
Represents writers, artists, creators and influencers for the book publishing world, developing material from original concept through to completion. Handles general fiction, mystery, suspense, thriller, biography, business, finance, history, religious, mind body spirit, health, travel, lifestyle, cookbooks, sports, African American and science. Places books with major houses and develops projects across platforms. Accepts submissions by email with the first 25–50 pages.
New Publisher Listing: Confingo Publishing
firstwriter.com – Monday June 15, 2026
Independent Manchester-based publisher producing new fiction, poetry and art in carefully designed editions, and issuing twice-yearly collections of previously unpublished work available through its online shop and selected stockists.
New Magazine Listing: Confingo Magazine
firstwriter.com – Monday June 15, 2026
Publishes a twice-yearly print-only magazine featuring new short fiction, poetry and art from around the world. Seeks original, unpublished stories in any style or genre up to 5,000 words, poems up to 50 lines, and artwork suitable for high‑resolution A5 print. May feature excerpts from accepted work online or on social media with full credit. Authors of accepted work receive payment.
New Literary Agent Listing: Lorna Hemingway
firstwriter.com – Friday June 12, 2026
Represents children’s books across the full range of formats, including board books, picture books, chapter books, highly illustrated fiction, graphic novels and nonfiction for all ages. Seeks illustration‑led projects with strong narrative hooks, warm storytelling, inventive use of format, laugh‑out‑loud humour, distinctive main characters with series potential, and quiet lyrical texts with emotional impact. Interested in graphic novels for teen and YA, stories drawing on non‑Western mythologies, and nonfiction that transforms educational subjects into engaging or giftable concepts. Particularly welcomes work from LGBTQIA+ creators and underrepresented voices.
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