Royal Literary Fund’s hardship grants for writers see applications increase by 400%
Charity cites AI and cost of living among reasons for a nearly fivefold increase in grant applications between last year and this year
The Guardian view on ‘words of the year’: lexical snapshots of a moment in time
Editorial: From ‘selfie’ to ‘slop’, internet culture is changing our language
‘Significant’ drop in racially minoritised characters in children’s books, report says
Share of children’s books featuring characters who fall into this category fell from 30% in 2022 to 17% in 2023, CLPE survey finds
Writers condemn startup’s plans to publish 8,000 books next year using AI
Publisher Spines will charge authors between $1,200 and $5,000 to have their books proofread, designed and distributed with the help of artificial intelligence
X marks the bitcoin: the treasure hunt book is back – and it’s bigger than ever
Hidden in five chests across the US, the bounty includes everything from a Picasso pendant to Jackie O’s sapphires and a spot of crypto currency. We meet Jon Collins-Black, writer of the book behind the hunt – and a searcher himself
Not quite religion, not quite self-help: welcome to the Jordan Peterson age of nonsense
Unintelligible as it is, new book is part of a ‘manifesting’ trend offering the young and spiritually lost an illusion of control
Surrealism, cafes and lots (and lots) of cats: why Japanese fiction is booming
From tales of alienation to comforting novels set in bookshops, Japanese authors have written nearly half of this year’s bestselling translated novels in the UK. What’s their secret?
TikTok owner ByteDance to publish print books
8th Note Press, an imprint launched by ByteDance, will print novels in genres popular on BookTok including YA and contemporary fiction and ‘romantasy’
Microsoft launches imprint that aims to be faster than traditional book publishing
Named after an Intel microprocessor, 8080 Books aims to ‘shorten the lag between the final manuscript and the book’s arrival in the marketplace’
Author Kamel Daoud sued over claim he used life of wife’s patient in novel
Woman says French-Algerian writer’s prize-winning Houris uses her story as she told it to therapist Aicha Dehdouh
Samantha Harvey’s Booker-winning Orbital tops UK bestseller list
The short novel narrating a day in the life of six astronauts on the International Space Station becomes the first book to top the charts in the week of its win
HarperCollins to allow tech firms to use its books to train AI models
Some nonfiction backlist titles will be used to train artificial intelligence with authors’ permission
Hachette employees protest and quit over launch of conservative imprint
Basic Liberty, a publishing imprint launched in the wake of Trump’s election win, will be helmed by Thomas Spence, an editor associated with Project 2025 thinktank The Heritage Foundation
Granta publisher Sigrid Rausing: ‘Working while grieving was consoling’
The editor and author on completing the memoir by her late friend, Swedish writer Johanna Ekström, where she stands on the assisted dying bill and what she’s reading
Sales surge for dystopian books after Trump election victory
The Handmaid’s Tale has risen more than 400 places on bestseller charts since Wednesday with a similar rush for copies of On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder