From Bowdler’s Shakespeare to Puffin’s edited Roald Dahl, publishing has often chosen to smooth away awkwardness rather than explain it. But sanitised texts, missing credits and silent rewrites do more than tidy the past — they erase evidence, authorship and the people who made books possible.

While writing The Short, Strange Life of Dr John William Polidori, I began to see a strange thread running from the machine-breaking of the 1810s to the current fight against AI scraping. The loom, the vampire and the algorithm may seem unlikely companions — but all three raise the same question: who profits when human skill is harvested by someone more powerful?

What makes a children’s information book worthy of prizes, readers and long shelf life? David Salariya looks beyond award formulas to explore curiosity, design, storytelling, enthusiasm and the real secret of memorable non-fiction: writing for children first.

Is coincidence fate, pattern, or just the story we tell ourselves? In this interview, Patricia Borlenghi discusses A Book of Coincidences — her literary memoir about memory, identity, and the serendipitous moments that shape a life — alongside publishing, belonging, and what it means to live between two cultures.

The Bologna Children’s Book Fair isn’t just an event — it’s where global children’s publishing decides what survives. From instinct-driven acquisitions to geopolitical tensions, here’s what really happens behind the scenes — and why, even in 2026, nothing has kept the industry away.

AI authorship has arrived — and publishing isn’t ready. Books can now pass through the entire editorial process without anyone being entirely certain how they were made. The question is no longer what we’re reading, but who — if anyone — truly wrote it.

What happens when decades of creative labour are repackaged as “the start of an idea”? An industry explainer on attribution, acquisition-led growth, and why visible human authorship matters more than ever — especially in the age of AI.

Publishing leaders offer predictions for 2026—AI, audio, BookTok, the Year of Reading. But what if we treated them like Roman chicken-liver omens: not certainty, but judgement? An essay on the real signs, the contradictions, and what growing up might look like for the trade

When a phrase like "after careful consideration" is deployed, you're meant to hear moral gravity. What you're usually hearing is the soft click of a filing cabinet closing. David Salariya examines the pattern behind British publishing's quiet erasures — and the revealing moments when it suddenly moves at speed.

Why is the Society of Authors criticised for neutrality while authors feel increasingly unsafe? Because publishers have abandoned cultural leadership. This blog explores how consultancy thinking, risk avoidance, and corporate amnesia have left the SoA carrying the weight of an industry too timid to defend its own creators.

Why does France defend authors while Britain backs “innovation”? The answer lies in two centuries of cultural philosophy: France treats creators as custodians of national identity; Britain views them as participants in a market. As AI reshapes publishing, these old instincts have re-emerged - with profound consequences for anyone who makes books.

Reading doesn’t begin with school. It begins with a voice and a child — a shared giggle, a quiet cuddle, the magic of “read it again.” As the National Year of Reading 2026 unfolds, we’re not just turning pages — we’re turning up the joy.

Horror books occupies a unique place on a children's bookshelf, a genre in which fear isn’t just for scares, but an invitation to emotional discovery, bravery, and empathy. I was spooked by stories in the dark: under the blankets with a torch, the delicious tension of not knowing what might happen next.

Illustrator/Author Jo Surman blends graphic flair, gothic imagination, and heartfelt storytelling. From picture books to middle-grade novels, she creates worlds steeped in colour, character, and curiosity.

Non-Disclosure Agreements in UK publishing protect trade secrets, manuscripts, and confidential deals — but they can also silence victims, bury scandals, and distort public narratives. Here’s how NDAs shape, protect, and sometimes poison the industry.

The rise of AI-generated 'slop' books on Amazon hasn’t broken publishing—it’s simply exposed the fault lines that have been there all along. If we’re serious about defending authorship, we need more than polite concern. We need credits, clarity, and structural accountability - across the board.

Unlike many careers in publishing, the path to becoming a literary agent is rarely linear, and seldom advertised. It’s a role more often grown into than applied for, shaped by instinct, connections, and a passion for reading and for books. Entry routes vary widely: some agents started as agency assistants, others moved across from editorial, bookselling, or publicity. But all develop a finely honed sense of what sells, and a deep familiarity with the publishing marketplace.

For Readers of Short Stories - and Writers Chasing the Magic of Compression (Beyond Neoprene) In the Beginning Was Six Words I’ve stood in the house where Ernest Hemingway was born, Oak Park, Illinois. An almost-too-respectable American home, perfectly preserved. You can still sense the stiff linen and maternal expectations. But what stayed with me wasn’t the legacy of the great man. It was a story from his childhood: how his mother dressed him and his sister identically, in

From Queen Victoria’s imagined love children to Princess Margaret’s speculative diagnoses, modern biographies are increasingly blurring the line between storytelling and speculation. But why are journalists letting them?

When Amazon withdrew a string of unofficial biographies of SNP politicians riddled with false claims, it exposed more than one publishing scandal. In an era of AI-generated misinformation, author anonymity, and disappearing credits, how do readers know who to trust? This article explores the new Wild West of publishing — and what parents, teachers and librarians can do about it.