Author Notes #5 (January 2024)

Booksellers wanting less diversity (?!); a long look at the publishing industry; #Booktok; the Colleen Hoover backlash; and why authors need to check their contracts

Welcome to my first Author Notes for 2024, a monthly post in which I highlight a few things that have caught my attention in the writing and publishing industry over the last month.

1.

In Australia, the owner of Robinson’s Bookshop Susanne Horman recently made some startling comments on X (Twitter) suggesting that what bookstores and readers really need i…