Josh Bernoff
How the AI content deluge will make decisions harder
Generational dialogue; the end of infinity; NEH grants restored: Newsletter 13 May 2026
How to make your book shorter
Who leads your book project: your publisher, your editor, your ghostwriter, or you?
Why are authors so emotional?
Understanding and applying the Authors Guild recommended AI clauses in publishing contracts
Other people’s problems; publishers’ AI hypocrisy; Meta ripoff lawsuit: Newsletter 6 May 2026
AI can write your book now. That’s an astoundingly dumb idea.
AI for skeptics
The cost of free advice
How to choose wisely from a menu of 100 book promotion tactics
Network of trust; corporate BS corrupts; healthcare fix: Newsletter 29 April 2026
The Celtics’ Payton Pritchard in flow
Of course your CEO doesn’t really care. Ask the Red Sox.
Honest criticism
Navigating the continuum of publishing options
Ghostwriting AI guidelines; bookstore explosion; shareholder AI tropes: Newsletter 22 April 2026
Is your idea a book?
The AI quality control problem
Use these practical benchmarks to set goals for your business book
The AI surcharge: Why you should mark up editing jobs of AI-generated text by 50%.
Edge seekers; ghosts outwrite LLMs; Perplexity privacy perfidy: Newsletter 15 April 2026
Freelance editorial strategy
The maelstrom of companies that want to run your life
Why some of my challenging editorial projects succeeded, and why some failed
How to approach an editor or writer for hire
Writing = thinking; Oracle fires you by email; fake AI thought leaders: Newsletter 8 April 2026
The true cost of using AI to write your book
What’s your worldview?
The Maxwell House Passover Haggadah: A brilliant early content marketing innovation
Why your developmental editor can’t be “with you every step of the way”
Not dead yet; lean book launch; Wikipedia AI ban: Newsletter 1 April 2026
Why I like people more than machines
How to subvert organizational stupidity
Are you the author of your AI-assisted work?
Charlene Li and Katia Walsh demonstrate the right way to build a book with AI help
Glorious deletion; AI vs. copyright; Pogue’s book jacket: Newsletter 25 March 2026
“Winning with AI” is a standout corporate strategy book
How to avoid AI disasters like “Shy Girl”
Taming your inner perfectionist
Own your identity; Jarvis AI book series; why LLMs write so poorly: Newsletter 19 March 2026
Control Your Persona: A Digital Rights Manifesto
What makes me happy
The inadequacy of Grammarly’s apology
Rules for theft
Grammarly and editorial identity theft
Enshittification off-ramp; Cybersecurity fascists; Don’t Steal This Book: Newsletter 11 March 2026
Quick tips for the sudden consultant
Free advice
A smile, always
Hey, Humana, are you on drugs?
Iran war strategy; hacking Grokipedia; national book ban: Newsletter 4 March 2026
A book on developmental editing
Which book should you write?
Emotional editing
The restart: 6 things to check when you resume a book collaboration after a pause
Epstein’s appeal; weasel words revealed; publishers embrace AI: Newsletter 25 February 2026
Authors: How do you make money with AI?
How to avoid “today” and other forbidden time-bound words in books
How brilliant (Level 5) writers respond to edits
How to deliver challenging insights to important people
Collaborative writing, or, the public colonoscopy
21st Century author; LLMs and truth; virtual reporters
The best bad reason to write a book (and it’s not as a great big business card)
Don’t use AI for the most human parts of writing
On praise
100% referrals. 0% marketing.
How companies decide; instant romance novels; Andy Award nominations: Newsletter 11 February 2026
Why it pays to give credit when using other people’s ideas
How to problem-solve
Submit
How editors should handle AI-generated manuscripts
Marching morons; a year in books; AI character names: Newsletter 4 February 2026
What is a sidebar?
The rules using AI to do research
What is a developmental editor’s “edit memo” and why is it essential?
Forrester forever
Fandom gets political; unbound and purloined; superheated rivalry: Newsletter 28 January 2026
“Is this book any good?”
Surprising answers to frequently asked questions on developmental editing
The cure for writers’ imposter syndrome (WIMPS)
The key qualities of a great writing coach
Editorial trust; Barbie books; artificial analysts: Newsletter 21 January 2026
Sure, makes sense to me
Your children
Ingram lets publishers opt out of sales to AI companies. Too bad that won’t work.
A simple, comprehensive AI disclosure form
The sanity caucus; AI regurgitates; books as startups: Newsletter 14 January 2026
Weak promotion dooms good books
A simple ethical code for authors using AI
The 2026 author imperative: Inspire or bust
On having the flu
Virtual book coach; CBS’s Streisand Effect; Reading for pleasure: Newsletter 7 January 2026
Writer’s block and the power of conversation
Who needs your book? Why focus is key when defining your audience.
Four big questions to answer about your book in 2026
Will you write a book in 2026?
A snapshot of my happy and balanced editorial business in 2025
Moral panic over AI at the Nebula Awards
Google Gemini creates Mr. Fuzzy, a shameful primer on AI fakery
Peace on earth
Onward
Laid off for the holidays
Why you’re going to freelance sooner or later (and how to prepare)
Should you go forward with a ghostwriting project? Here’s how to score it.
Inefficient
Vanity Unfair? How the Trump White House ended up looking like idiots in “Vanity Fair.”
Ghostwriter conflicts; Kindle’s AI rights grab; secondhand royalties: Newsletter 17 December 2025
How the reviewer squeeze spawns creativity: thesis, antithesis, synthesis
Thank you, Rob Reiner
How to respond to cold emails from a machine
India has the right idea on AI licensing
Beyond AI prejudices; Forbes contributors ejected; library grants restored: Newsletter 10 December 2025
When to quit a ghostwriting gig
Bedsheets and bedrock
Why the Netflix-Warner/Discovery deal could change news forever
Every business book is a manifesto. What’s yours?
Authors and audience; instant audiobooks; AI elevates thinkers: Newsletter 3 December 2025
Four steps for restarting (or abandoning) a stalled book project
Wiley’s AI Guidelines: A solid step in the right direction
Victims of disruption
Here’s to you
Work happy; AI-powered romance; fearful book bans: Newsletter 26 November 2025
How to be my (LinkedIn) friend
You and your collaborators need to agree on AI guidelines. Here’s a checklist.
What’s wrong with your idea?
Rush job
Post-bubble AI; mobile authoring; Epstein cries Wolff: Newsletter 19 November 2025
When it comes to writing, AI changes everything. And AI changes nothing.
The book collaborators’ pledge
I don’t want you to write a book
AI and the Writing Profession: free webinar Wed 19 Nov, 1pm ET.
How to manage book reviewing processes without going insane
The age of the ghostwriter; AI fixes writer’s block; Bain’s book cure: Newsletter 12 November 2025
A fellowship of ghosts
How ghostwriters use AI — and why they’re less threatened by it
Our Lady of Small Sample Sizes, hear my prayer
What attitudes are different between AI users and nonusers?
AI writer survey results; analyzing royalties; neuroscientific sneakers: Newsletter 5 November 2025
The limits of generosity in the author community
“Ford to City: Drop Dead” (an appreciation)
Coming (very) soon: Data on writers and AI
Some thoughts on partnership
The three qualities a business author needs
Never lie in print; Spain’s books grow; banal book bans: Newsletter 29 October 2025
Your idea went viral. Did you get credit?
United Breaks Guitars. Wizz Air breaks Uzbeks
Why older people write books (and what they should know)
Editing clients prefer honesty
Enshittification; AI common sense; academia’s crisis: Newsletter 22 October 2025
Building an editorial portfolio
The terrifying first time
What killed TiVo? An architectural shift.
Traditional publishing, hybrids, and risk
The ultimate insider; author scams; certified organic books: Newsletter 15 October 2025
Book promotion spammers now travel in packs
Understanding your book agent
Authors beware: Amazon hosts pirates.
The $1000-an-hour copywriter
The rise of bullshit answer optimization (BAO)
Hiring thinkers; blogs persist; agents bedevil recruiters: Newsletter 8 October 2025
This pyramid of attention determines the success of your book
My inverted content marketing
Are we at war?
My interview with Amplify CEO Naren Aryal and Greenleaf CEO Tanya Hall
Modern thought leaders; the decline of thinking; search as entertainment: Newsletter 1 October 2025
Replacing the college admission essay with video is a breathtakingly dumb idea
Don’t use AI to create things until you can tell treasure from trash
The true cost to your business of outrageously poor, spammy marketing
What really happened inside Disney
A career in writing; Greenleaf & Amplify acquired; Trump’s lawsuit rejected: Newsletter 24 September 2025
How the Trump Administration could threaten book publishers
Answers to your questions about AI book theft and copyright compensation