That chart there? That’s the definitions that the writing and industry newsletter Publishers Marketplace uses to gauge its reporting on the latest sales of manuscripts to publishing houses. PM reminds us once a week the guidelines for when it refers to a “nice deal” or a significant or major one.
So to disprove writer William Goldman’s “Nobody knows anything” I quote in the headline – a simplification of Goldman’s sentiments in his 1983 memoir ADVENTURES IN THE SCREEN TRADE – we know two things: Publishers Marketplace means it when they say a major deal is a major deal and if you ever see my name reported next to the phrase “major deal,” I can tell you that’s the last time you will hear from me other than occasional dispatches from my fortified writing tower.
The talk of the day in writing circles is a New York Times story titled, “Writers are making millions selling short stories to Hollywood,” and the story is, in effect, a trend story about how a few writers have had short stories optioned by producers for movies and TV adaptation – and in some cases, the stories haven’t even been published yet.
(I’m not going to link to the story, because my disgust with how the Times has sold its soul to the worst elements of our political life continues, but you can find a gift link to it, I’m sure, on social media. That’s what I did. Be aware that if you want to read the story, you’ll have to jump through a bunch of hoops, including giving the NYT your email address.)
This is the subhead of the NYT story and it really tells you everything you need to know: Publishers generally don’t race to acquire story collections these days, but studios appear eager to shell out for unpublished short works. They give a few examples.
It reminds me of this story I did a few weeks ago for CrimeReads: 7 crime writers talk about novels and short stories and what they love writing most
I’ll link to my CrimeReads piece at the end of this post.
The other piece that writers are talking about today is a GQ article, Will Books Survive? 34 Insiders, Experts, and Icons on the State of Literature in an Age of Uncertainty.
The article is strong from the start:
Something in the literary world isn’t adding up. On the surface, the numbers aren’t looking good. If you’re an American, there’s a roughly 38% chance you’ll read a novel or short story this year. If you’re an American man, that number slips to 28%. By most metrics, it’s a hard time for literature.
And yet.
There’s an undeniable energy bubbling up in New York, Los Angeles, London, and elsewhere. Readings are “sexy” now, supposedly, and a medley of exciting new publications have popped up, both online and in print. Ben Lerner and Emma Cline returned this year, and we’ve been graced with the strongest crop of debut novels in recent memory, from Caro Claire Burke’s culture-conquering Yesteryear to the jagged edges of Madeline Cash’s Lost Lambs to the vibrant energy of Sufiyaan Salam’s Wimmy Road Boyz. People spent the summer reading The Odyssey and crashing The London Review of Books website to read discourse about The Odyssey. So it can’t be all bad, right?
It’s a lengthy State of Books 2026 and worth reading. Here’s a link.
Remember I said the other day that everybody is picking their best books of the year? Here’s the Publishers Weekly list.
My CrimeReads story talking to seven crime writers about what they prefer, novels or short stories:
You’ve somehow stumbled upon the latest of more than 1,100 posts on keithroysdon dot com, stretching back to the early 2010s. Books, writing, movies, TV, obscure pop culture, Halloween, snark and more snark. I’m the author of crime novels THAT OCTOBER and SEVEN ANGELS, co-author of four true crime books including the award-winning THE WESTSIDE PARK MURDERS and hundreds of short stories, news articles and pop culture pieces in spots like CrimeReads, Daily Yonder and elsewhere. You can contact me by leaving a message anywhere on this site or by hollering at me on one of my too many social media outposts.
