DFW Writers Workshop retweeted
This is the most remarkable story Ray Bradbury ever shared with me. He told it late at nigh, sitting in his den of antiquities and mementos. Take five minutes to read this. It’s pure magic.
#Writing #Living #Creativity #RayBradbury #Book
DFW Writers Workshop retweeted
If you're unaware of the decline of nonfiction book sales lately, @janefriedman provides a quick and helpful overview of what's been happening in her just-released publishing industry update for the first half of 2026: youtu.be/Qsjd9cOCJN8?si=Bt3C…
DFW Writers Workshop retweeted
When claim notices in the $1.5 billion agreement went out last week, many authors were surprised to see they would not be receiving what they believed was their share of the settlement. Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger expects that “a lot of corrections” will be made within a week. buff.ly/YjYgxro
DFW Writers Workshop retweeted
After writing The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald had a complete meltdown about whether he'd ever write anything good again. Hemingway wrote him a letter that contains what's probably the best advice on imposter syndrome:
"For Christ's sake, write and don't worry about what the boys will say nor whether it will be a masterpiece nor what... You can write twice as well now as you ever could. All you need to do is write truly and not care about what the fate of it is. Go on and write."
This advice was given just last night, more or less. Wednesdays for the win!
"I don't want to work. I don't want to dissect your dialogue. I don't want to wait it out and see if you're going to get to the point. I want you to get to the point."
Anne Lamott will follow a writer anywhere…as long as they don't bore her or confuse her along the way.
"You can do anything if you can get away with it, if you don't lose me."
She then issues a warning: “A confused or a bored reader is an antagonistic reader."
What's this? Why it's a handy-dandy beat-sheet calculator. Have fun! beatsheetcalculator.com
Officially, you cannot read AI-generated stories at Workshop...and turns out you can't publish them either... nytimes.com/2026/03/19/books…
Drive time to Workshop? Here's a listen...
Jon Yaged runs Macmillan, one of the five biggest publishers in the world, so I asked him to explain the book publishing industry to me.
My main question: why should authors work with a traditional publisher, especially when self-publishing is taking off?
What I got was a full tour of how book publishing works. Everything from how authors make money, to how publishers choose which books to back, to the traditional vs. self-publishing debate.
Timestamps:
2:01 Consolidation in book publishing
4:01 Celebrity books
7:57 The scale of the publishing industry
9:48 How to get your book published
14:15 New York
16:25 Using data to find great books
29:33 How to work with a publisher
31:11 The economics of a book deal
36:42 How sequels work
42:21 Children's books
48:42 Books in Europe vs. America
50:25 Should writers use AI?
1:00:57 How printing works
1:04:52 Book marketing advice
1:09:48 What a publishing CEO does
1:11:06 Audiobooks
1:15:17 Are people getting stupider?
1:18:20 The publisher business model
1:19:08 Macmillan
I've shared the full interview with Jon Yaged below. If you'd rather watch or listen to the interview somewhere else, check out the first reply tweet where I've linked to the interview on YouTube, and also on Apple / Spotify.
Enjoy!
Another great title for someone's book! What's your working title for your work in progress??
OED #WordOfTheDay: blue hour, n.
The period of time just before sunrise or just after sunset when the sun casts a diffuse light from below the horizon, and the sky takes on a vivid blue tone.
View the entry: oxford.ly/40MQvch
ALT The OED definition of \u2018blue hour\u2019,\u00A0today\u2019s word of the day.\n
DFW Writers Workshop retweeted
We are BEYOND thrilled to announce the one and only Katherine Center as a DFWCon 2026 Keynote Speaker.
Katherine’s books are full of heart and if you’ve never heard her speak, you are in for a treat.
Here is a fantastic opportunity from @arthousedallas for someone with a worthy project: Grants, ranging from $250 to $5,000 for artists living in DFW area. arthousedallas.com/calendar/…
DFW Writers Workshop retweeted
Writing forces your brain to coordinate memory, reasoning, and meaning-making simultaneously.
Every time you write, you rewire toward clearer thinking. Every time you let an LLM do it, you rewire toward consumption.
ALT An editorial discusses the significance of human-generated writing in research, emphasizing its role in thinking and understanding.
Here’s to our freaky members!
