The hottest Publishing Industry Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Culture Topics

We're Losing the Battle Against AI

Writerly Things with Brooke Warner • 1924 implied HN points • 13 Oct 24
🕹 Technology Publishing Industry
  1. The Authors Guild and Created by Humans are teaming up to fight against the risks AI poses to writers and their work. They want to find ways to make sure AI companies pay for the content they use.
  2. There’s a new badge for books that are 'human authored' to help readers know that real people created the content. This move emphasizes transparency and aims to distinguish between human and AI-generated works.
  3. Many in the writing community feel overwhelmed by the AI threat, but actions taken by organizations like the Authors Guild are small steps in a much larger battle for creative rights and standards in publishing.

The YA Novelist Destroyed by a #MeToo Frenzy

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 2202 implied HN points • 20 Jan 26
🎭️ Culture Publishing Industry
  1. Anonymous online allegations can destroy a person's career, reputation, finances, and relationships even when there are no formal accusations or investigations.
  2. Someone can admit to personal wrongdoing like infidelity while still denying more serious misconduct, yet face severe and lasting professional and social consequences.
  3. The episode highlights a tension between holding people accountable through movements like #MeToo and the dangers of rumor-driven, anonymous accusations that bypass due process.

Happy New Year

Story Club with George Saunders • 128 implied HN points • 01 Jan 26
📚 Literature Publishing Industry
  1. Decide first whether you really want to be published and let that honest desire guide your choices about how much time and energy to spend on it.
  2. Keep the business of publishing separate from your creative work by setting aside a small, regular block of time (for example, one afternoon every two weeks) and tracking submissions with a simple list or spreadsheet.
  3. Treat submission and rejection as useful feedback: trying to publish can motivate better work, reveal when an approach isn’t engaging readers, and free you to change direction toward originality.

On Hatereading as Method

The Future, Now and Then • 152 implied HN points • 13 Dec 25
📚 Literature Publishing Industry
  1. Ridicule can be a powerful tool for critiquing elite ideas; reading what powerful people actually say and pointing out how it makes no sense is a useful way to push back when other levers are limited.
  2. Short, screenshot-driven live threads let readers react in the moment, riff on tangents, and work out critical analysis more spontaneously than formal reviews, making them both method and entertainment.
  3. Hatereading works best when selective and balanced: aim it at books that punch upward, keep it to a small portion of your reading, and complement it with careful, positive criticism elsewhere.

Joe Iovino: Neoliberal Children's Books

Do Not Research • 0 implied HN points • 15 Feb 22
🎭️ Culture Publishing Industry
  1. Children's books have changed, with a rise in books by political figures for kids, often serving propaganda-like purposes.
  2. Two major categories include the Hagiographic Style that glorifies figures and the Friendship Style that simplifies morals in a cartoonish way.
  3. Conservative figures have created their own publishing ecosystem for children's books, more focused on influencing young minds compared to their liberal counterparts.
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