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Nathan Bransford @nathanbransford.com · 2d

Congrats to my friend Kristina Mancaruso and her sister Kelly on the publication of RUMOURED, out today! (And available with free shipping from Bookshop.org!) bookshop.org/p/books/rumo...

Rumoured: The brand new twisty thriller that will keep you hooked from start to finish in 2025

The brand new twisty thriller that will keep you hooked from start to finish in 2025

bookshop.org

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Nathan Bransford @nathanbransford.com · 2d

Instead of supporting the Amazon borg, buy your books at your local bookstore or Bookshop.org, which has free shipping today and tomorrow!

Bookshop: Buy books online. Support local bookstores.

An online bookstore that financially supports local independent bookstores and gives back to the book community.

Bookshop.org

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Nathan Bransford @nathanbransford.com · 2d

As long as an agent reps your genre there isn't much that functions as an "automatic pass." I'd try to abide by an agent's guidelines, but at the end of the day you ultimately just have to go with your gut about what you think will work.

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Nathan Bransford @nathanbransford.com · 2d

I may be losing this battle, but I still think the "nuts and bolts" (word count, comps, etc.) belong after the plot description in a query letter. Here's why:

I still think the "nuts and bolts" belong after the plot description in a query letter

I’ve been connected to the publishing industry long enough to have some opinions about query letters that can charitably be described as Old School. For instance, I still think the industry standard i...

nathanbransford.com

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Nathan Bransford @nathanbransford.com · 5d

The Anthropic settlement class is now searchable, an evergreen take on sales tracks in publishing, Reading Rainbow rebooted, a book with a side of garlic, and more of the best writing and books links from the past week!

Anthropic settlement class now searchable (This week in books)

This week! Books! Anthropic Copyright Settlement Website – If your book was pirated by Anthropic and you or your publisher registered your copyright within five years, you may be in the settlement cla...

nathanbransford.com

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Nathan Bransford @nathanbransford.com · 7d

Football is bad and no one should watch it.

Norman Rockwell's "Freedom of Speech" painting of a standing speaker in a crowded room.

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Nathan Bransford @nathanbransford.com · 7d

How many of these CTE tragedies need to happen before everyone finally realizes it's unethical to have anything to do with American football and the game needs to go...

A Stranger Shattered Their Lives. At First, They Didn’t Know Why.

www.nytimes.com

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Nathan Bransford @nathanbransford.com · 8d

I'll be hosting my monthly office on Thursday, exclusively for newsletter subscribers. Drop by to ask me anything!

Office hours on October 2

It’s time once again for our next Office Hours on October 2, which, it has come to my attention, is this Thursday at 9pm ET / 6pm PT. Join the call to ask your writing and publishing questions, and I ...

nathanbransford.com

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Nathan Bransford @nathanbransford.com · 10d

Oh definitely...

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Nathan Bransford @nathanbransford.com · 10d

As "no response means no" takes hold at publishing houses, it's long past time to stop leaving authors' careers in limbo and reform industry submission procedures. Here's a modest proposal at a Publishing Submission Bill of Rights.

A publishing submission Bill of Rights

A modest proposal. The submission process in the publishing industry these days is increasingly broken. Many literary agents have long had a “no response means no” policy on query letters, but now the...

nathanbransford.com

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Nathan Bransford @nathanbransford.com · 12d

Trump allies are angling for an American version of TikTok, a judge approves the Anthropic settlement, AI slop Charlie Kirk assassination books spark conspiracy theories (what in the 2025), and more of the best writing and books links from the past week:

Trump allies buying TikTok (This Week in Books)

This week! Books! First up, a happy plug. It’s always so exciting to see a book I’ve worked on in manuscript form come to fruition, let alone when it becomes a freakin’ Jenna Hager Bush Today Show boo...

nathanbransford.com

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Nathan Bransford @nathanbransford.com · 16d

Imagine if your Instagram messages were searchable instead of being replaced by a worthless AI chatbot.

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Nathan Bransford @nathanbransford.com · 16d

Why would you want to outsource your life’s work to a digital parlor trick that can’t possibly capture your secret sauce?

Rely on A.I. at your peril

Here’s my problem whenever I try to play a game of chess against a computer. Inevitably, I start up a game and plug along just fine until, at a certain point, I get a bit stuck and feel unsure of my n...

nathanbransford.com

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Reposted by Nathan Bransford

Taylor Lorenz @taylorlorenz.bsky.social · 27d

I wrote about what counts and what doesn't count as "political violence" in this country

Let's talk about 'political violence'

+ The shooter's meme messages, Etsy witch trials, Rachel Dolezal on Charlie Kirk, post-op aesthetics, MrBeast's powerful lobbyists, 'media warfare', and a 25 year old YouTuber's Hollywood debut

www.usermag.co

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Nathan Bransford @nathanbransford.com · 28d

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.

A screenshot of a Gmail inbox with no emails.

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Nathan Bransford @nathanbransford.com · Sep 9

Google launched a cool feature where you can prioritize certain sources in search results. You can add my blog to your preferred sources and see my posts first when you're searching writing and publishing advice, if you're so inclined! www.google.com/preferences/...

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Nathan Bransford @nathanbransford.com · Sep 9

"Not so fast," judge says on the Anthropic settlement.

Judge skewers $1.5B Anthropic settlement with authors in pirated books case over AI training

A federal judge on Monday skewered a $1.5 billion settlement between artificial intelligence company Anthropic and authors who allege nearly half million books had been illegally pirated to train chat...

apnews.com

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Nathan Bransford @nathanbransford.com · Sep 9

Thank you so much!!

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Nathan Bransford @nathanbransford.com · Sep 8

If you missed office hours last week, you can now watch it! Exclusively for newsletter subscribers:

Office Hours Recap! (September '25)

Thanks so much to everyone who attended Office Hours last Thursday! In case you missed it, you can watch the video above (if you’re reading via the newsletter, please click here to see it). I forgot t...

nathanbransford.com

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Nathan Bransford @nathanbransford.com · Sep 6

I had a dream last night that Zohran Mamdani was filmed getting into an
extended late night argument and threw a guy down a stairwell, and in a city like NYC I honestly wasn’t sure whether it would help him or hurt him.

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