FictionThe self-publishing routine of drafts, beta readers, editors and proofreaders can't turn a first novel into a professional book. Why the first novel is practice, what each step can and can't do, why second novels sag, and how to work…
CybersecurityIranian drones struck Amazon data centers in the UAE and Bahrain in 2026, and AWS now says the Bahrain region can't be recovered. Why defense analysts call data centers key terrain, why cloud redundancy didn't save everyone, and how a…
Artificial IntelligencePublishers can now pay to stamp a human-written mark on their books. Readers want a good read, the writers and artists who care are the ones paying, and a label that ends up on everything will mean as little as…
BusinessMicrosoft Office turned a typewriter into a subscription, then raised the rent for an AI I never asked for. I canceled it and moved my manuscripts to WordCraft, a free Word clone built with AI. What switched over cleanly, what's…
Writing CraftMemoir drafts are full of verdicts the writer hands down on himself, and readers trust a self-condemning line no more than a self-flattering one. How to replace each verdict with the scene behind it, using a copied ecology report from…
BusinessCopyright is automatic the moment you write your book, but in the United States you can't sue a thief until the Copyright Office registers it. When to register, how to file, and why the WGA Registry, the poor man's copyright…
Artificial IntelligenceA court ordered OpenAI to keep deleted ChatGPT conversations, then upheld handing 20 million logs to the other side of a lawsuit. Here's what that means for Claude users, and how writers and ghostwriters should protect client material.
BusinessI joined the Science Fiction Book Club about 30 times: take the introductory books, buy the minimum, quit, rejoin. The club printed hardcovers nobody else would, then turned into crap and stopped taking orders in 2025. Here's its story, and…
BusinessI've gotten hundreds of cold emails offering compensated board seats. They're 419 scams in a business suit: a faceless analysis team, no company, no role, a call and then a fee. Here's how to spot them and how real board…
MemoirsA memoir can cite research without reading like a journal article. Here's how I handle sources in memoirs and ghostwritten books: endnotes in Chicago style, footnotes for asides, citations collected as I go, and my rule on quoting.
BusinessMy mom pasted Green Stamps into books at Sage's in San Bernardino, back when stores paid you to come back. Now I pay Walmart $150 a year and it's still the best deal in town. Here's how Publix, Aldi, Trader…
BusinessEvery supermarket follows a plan: flowers at the door, produce, then the deli, staples around the walls, music and smells set on purpose. The bigger question is who writes the plan, and why Trader Joe's refuses to rent its shelves.
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