Lincoln Michel
Author and editor who writes the Counter Craft newsletter—posts sharp craft/industry threads and links on contemporary fiction and markets.
AI Surge Triples Books, Halves Overall Quality
If you want to read the study this is from https://www.nber.org/papers/w34777 Their conclusion: "The diffusion of LLMs from 2022 to 2025 tripled new book releases. While average book quality, measured by usage, declined, the surge in releases raised the number of modest-quality books. Direct evidence using AI detection shows that AI-containing books have lower quality, and their rising share – topping half of 2025 releases – drives the overall decline."
Fiction and Negative Reviews Rarely Pay the Bills
On making money (or not) writing fiction and writing negative book reviews (or not) https://countercraft.substack.com/p/on-making-money-or-not-writing
One‑sentence Novels Don’t Mean Punctuation‑free Prose
Why would you assume a book in one long sentence--of which there have been many in literary history--would have no punctuation or grammar?
ChatGPT Automation Triples Amazon Ebook Releases
Since ChatGPT helped automate slop books, the number of new ebook releases on Amazon has tripled.
Free Shipping This Weekend for Indie Bookstore Day
There's free shipping at Bookshop.org this weekend to celebrate Indie Bookstore Day, if you're looking for a new read https://bookshop.org/p/books/metallic-realms-a-novel-lincoln-michel/0a3abce8348fccc4?ean=9781668058671&next=t
BookScan Numbers Mislead: Not Equal to Sales or Royalties
I wrote a quick explainer post on BookScan vs. book sales vs. royalty statements. (Pivoting off the Lindy West discourse). Plus, a little publishing gossip… https://countercraft.substack.com/p/why-bookscan-is-different-from-book
Threads Flooded with False Publishing Claims—Don’t Trust It
No platform is more overrun with false publishing claims than Threads. If you're an aspiring author, you should really not believe anything you see on here.
Master Plotting Basics: Part Two of Fiction Guide
Have you lost the plot? Part 2 on a series of plotting and fiction https://countercraft.substack.com/p/the-principles-of-plotting-part-two
LLMs Boost Output Volume, Not Literary Quality
The real question all the "authors must use LLMs" pieces ignore is how they improve *quality* in any way. There's plenty of evidence they aid *quantity*. LLMs cam generate infinite low quality text. But what book is improved by that?...
Writers Miss the Hidden Work of Marketing and Publicity
This is really true. Writers tend to have no idea about the behind the scenes stuff that marketing and publicity does.
LLM Plagiarism Cases Reveal Memoir Scandal Patterns
I wrote about the author fired for LLM plagiarism in a book review and Shy Girl, and how they connect to the memoir scandal debates. https://countercraft.substack.com/p/what-memoir-scandals-tell-us-about
Baseball Fans, Meet Your Satirical Sci‑Fi Noir Novel
Since it's opening day for the MLB: If you're a fan of baseball and satirical science fiction noir novels... you might enjoy my novel THE BODY SCOUT ⚾🤖🕵️♀️🧬 https://bookshop.org/a/88357/9780316628709
Big Advances, Not Small Presses, Drive Commercial Edits
There's all kinds of editors, publishers, and authors. I've never had an editor demand changes that interfered with my artistic vision at all on small presses or big 5 ones. Though, I've also never been paid a gigantic advance where...
Publishing a Rewritten Book without Reading Is Inexcusable
I get the desire to defend the possibly AI author but... by their own admission their novel was dramatically rewritten (allegedly by a friend using AI) and then they claim they didn't "have time" to read the book before publishing...
Shelf Space Scarcity Limits Bookstores Amid 4M Self‑Publishes
Confusing claim. The fact that 4 million self-pub books a year come out is surely the REASON why bookstores don't stock them? Bookstores don't have unlimited shelf space. Wrote a bit about this topic here: https://countercraft.substack.com/p/mfa-vs-publishing-round-2000