Author Notes #20 (June 2025)
Censorship, YTD bestseller trends, silencing older women's stories, authors giving back, UK trade insights, dark romance is trending, and AI Agatha Christie - plus loads more reads and round-ups...
Welcome to June’s Author Notes! This is where I round up the publishing and author-related news and views that have caught my eye this month, and if you’re a free subscriber then rest assured there will always be some good notes before the paywall!
For a while I felt like this was going to be a quiet month, but it’s turned out to be my biggest Notes yet! There’s so much going on in the industry, but I have to say I’m feeling pretty positive about lots of the developments - I love how writers are pushing back against AI, and how much readers are valuing physical books in different ways. So without further ado, here’s all the industry and writing-related news that I’ve found for you this month:
1.
Some important censorship news from the US. On May 23rd, 2025, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the First Amendment cannot be used to challenge book removals in three U.S. states — Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The majority ruling stated that library books are “government speech” and because of that, aren’t subject to the Free Speech clause of the First Amendment. This means government officials can remove books from public libraries for ideological reasons. The new ruling reverses a previous injunction in the Little v. Llano County case, which had allowed challenges to book removals based on the First Amendment.
Case background: In Llano County, TX, library patrons sued the county when 17 books were removed from the public library, based on their contents, claiming that the removal of books took away their First Amendment rights to information and access.
You can read more about this on LibraryJournal.com
2.
A growing initiative is pushing back against book bans in the US. We Are Stronger Than Censorship (an initiative cosponsored by the Independent Book Publishers Association and EveryLibrary Institute) has recently joined forced with the Book Manufacturers Institute, with the plan to raise funds to put more books back in libraries. Using donated funds, the group will purchase two books from independent publishers for every book that is banned or challenged. The books are then given to schools and libraries affected by bans and challenges. Check out their website to find out more about how this works.
The founders of We Are Stronger than Censorship, Lee Wind, IBPA chief content officer, and Tasslyn Magnusson, an independent researcher affiliated with EveryLibrary, became friends through Magnusson’s Zoom support meetings for authors of books that have been challenged or banned. (Wind’s No Way, They Were Gay? Hidden Lives and Secret Loves has been challenged repeatedly since its release.) And the idea for the book-buying initiative was sparked when Magnusson related the story of a Wisconsin school, where one person challenged 400 books in its library, which resulted in all of those books being removed for review; although most of them were placed back on the shelves four months later.
In the Publishers Weekly piece, Wind also noted that ‘sales to schools and libraries are down 50% for independent publishers reporting to IBPA since book bans started spiking a few years ago, which is why IBPA and EveryLibrary decided to buy books, rather than ask publishers to donate them, to help pump up sales of such books.’
You can read the full Publishers Weekly article about this project here.
3.
In an interview with The Guardian, bestselling author Kathy Lette reveals that: ‘After 19 books published in 17 languages, my publisher dropped me. In fact, all the publishers I approached with The Revenge Club said, “Nobody wants to read about middle-aged women.” One publisher even said to me, “Middle-aged women are like Sudan or Mogadishu. We know they exist, but nobody wants to go there.”’
So frustrating to read this kind of opinion in 2025, but not at all surprising. The work continues.
4.
One of my favourite authors is using her book tour to give back to the industry. Taylor Jenkins Reid is raising money for Binc, ‘a non-profit organisation that provides financial assistance to bookstore employees and their owners in times of need’. Bravo TJR, and a great reminder that we can all share more of the things we care about and champion great causes while promoting our books.
5.
Authors are posting reels about AI to prove they’re not using it! I wrote a Note about this one recently - and in many ways I like it, because let’s showcase the value of human-authored creative writing and all the hard work that goes into it. There’s just a part of me that’s sad about another thing taking authors away from the writing project they’re working on. And it could get messy if people start demanding proof of how a book is written - I’m hoping it’s not another avenue for witch hunts and cancel culture.
Would you like to read more Author Notes every month? This edition continues below for paid subscribers. If you’d like to support my work by becoming a paid subscriber, there’s plenty more behind the paywall, and your support means I can continue writing them and making them bigger and better!
More key notes on the industry and author stories you may have missed over the last month.
Australian Author Corner: the latest publishing stories from Down Under.
Short notes and shout-outs - highlighting more top industry news and fun author reads.
My selected recommended reads on Substack for this month: fresh perspectives, essential advice and insights from fellow substackers.
Plus my latest writing resource for paid subscribers - this month focused on plotting.
I’ve made my May Author Notes (sent last month) free for a week, so you can check out what a full edition looks like here.
You can also access more posts from me by following me on my Substack for readers, Story Matters, which will always be free. Thank you for reading The Resilient Author!