Publishing Ninja

I need to go out for a stupid walk for my stupid mental health and my stupid physical fitness and it's very, very windy and I am very, very reluctant.

I highly, *highly* recommend these books, truly excellent folklore-focused romances that are so beautiful that university theses have been written on them

This. And it's creeping out of Tiktok into other sites and media.

Dear hotels, don't splash that we will get the best rates when booking direct when, without fail, the booking sites you hate are consistently cheaper. Not just a couple of quid cheaper either - I've just booked a hotel for a full £100 per night less than on the hotel's website on Booking. Sheesh

Here's a photo of a helicopter landed on Joanne's 227 foot support yacht that follows around her 290 foot main yacht

The fact that 36% of the people polled think this demented malignant narcissist is doing a good job is just astonishing to me.

Keep a close eye on this. After disabling it, I suddenly got a notice from ebay about "Updates to our User Privacy Notice 2026." I checked this and found they had turned the AI exploitation toggle back on. I immediately turned it off.

I've mentioned before I've updated my contracts to make sure everything in the production of my books is done by humans and not "AI"; if you're wondering what such a thing looks like, here's a clause covering that from a recent contract.

Don’t pay to get published. Ever. Fuck vanity presses. Fuck “agents” who ask for money. Fuck “pay to play” anthologies. Don’t. Fucking. Pay.

Women, use your voices! #VoteEarlyOnNoKings

UK-based Osprey Games has let go of its entire board and card game development team and cancelled its booth at the upcoming Spiel Essen game fair - five months after parent company Bloomsbury began searching for a buyer for the operation: boardgamewire.com/index.php/20...

Yikes! Games company for sale. Talent not included. One indifferent owner. Bad times for those affected.

So she's out then.

Listening to some woman on this train complain about buses "they're just stop start, stop start - some people get on and then get off at the next stop!" Yes madam, because they're buses. If you want to go direct without any stops, take a taxi. FFS.

Drop a film you saw on a first date

As someone who went on various Reclaim The Night marches in the 1980s, I can't believe we're still having to make this point...

I am at a ver, ver posh country house hotel with mate for a spa break - except they also do stuff like axe throwing and I'd much rather do that than drift between barious saunas and steam rooms...

Every publishing house I know is experimenting with it, specifically encouraging editorial and marketing to use it to 'assist' in marketing and back cover copy as well as emails, admin tasks etc. They're still shying away from cover art though...

He's such a petty little man.

I love her

Workers at three major publishing houses tell WIRED that LLMs are being used for publicity, cover art, back cover copy, and emails, as some execs push junior staff to champion the tech.

“If you don’t like public executions just don’t watch it” says the crowd trying to ban drag shows and books

Now THIS is how you write a story. Devastating.

What the actual fucking fuck?!

I am currently reading a book with a protagonist who has the self esteem of a pudding (possibly suet) and they're really fucking irritating me. Unfortunately the plot is plotting so I can't just sling in the DNF pile but

This is so the sales numbers look much higher than they actually are, ensuring the book gets in the NYT bestsellers. I suggest anyone who gets these sends them back at the publisher's expense - if nothing else it will cost extra for postage and pulping.

Ooh, it's a bit nippy.

How I arrived on Bluesky

Don't mind me, I'm just over here in the corner, mourning the loss of Marina Hyde's column. Sob. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Disregarding the fact that, according to his doctors, his lackeys and himself, he's the healthiest president there has ever been,

New sofa arrives today - it was bold of the salesman to assume that I wanted to add slidey little wotsits to aid to the moving and cleaning behind thereof...

We close today heading for 2000 sign-ups! (That’s pretty good, isn’t it?) If we get there tomorrow morning I shall do a little dance. #Murderbot www.kickstarter.com/projects/cos...

We're repeatedly told that asylum seekers pose a threat to the good people of our country... Reading about the threatening and violent treatment of elderly and open minded locals in Crowborough I get the impression that the real threat comes from closer to home. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Incidentally if you are an artist in AA at a convention I'm at, and you have an AI wanker near you, HMU on discord and I will come over, creepshot your nearby AI wanker, and report them immediately.

The folk protest music scene is back

Trump Victim E. Jean Carroll finally has her damages. #FixedItForYou

I don't mind spiders usually but the one that just ran across the living room and stopped in front of the sofa is about the size of my cat. I think it's staring at me...

I am having EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE happening with something that was supposed to be done in March next year now has to be done by end-Oct, a wedding AND a funeral to attend in the next 2 weeks, new sofa being delivered, workman who was booked 4 months ago starting next week. Arghh

This. Mother. Fucker. He had the option when a billionaire put pressure on him to turn it all around. Give the stadiums the finger. Get a groundswell. Have concert venues falling all over themselves to be replacements. Get the people on his side. Instead he's whining about how his tour was hurt.