Books News

Literary Agents: What Does a Literary Agent Actually Do?

A literary agent is the gatekeeper, negotiator, and career advocate between a writer and a publisher. What the job involves, how agents are paid, and why the role matters.

Arts — Reading by the Minute: A Second Look at Flower Mound's Summer Reading Challenge

The library's 2026 program drew 2,805 readers and 3.4 million logged minutes. The numbers are real; what they measure is worth a closer read.

Percival Everett's *James* Wins the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

The Huckleberry Finn retelling, already the 2024 National Book Award winner, took the Pulitzer on May 5, 2025.

How a Pulitzer Prize in Fiction Actually Gets Decided

The Original Recipe: How the New York Times Actually Builds Its Bestseller List

The list is not a sales chart but an editorial verdict, defended by a secret survey of reporting stores, a dagger for suspected bulk buying, and a century of authors testing where the discretion ends.

The Ninety-Fifth Year: How a Book Actually Enters the Public Domain

Booker Prize 2026 Longlist Names Thirteen Titles

Thirteen books drawn from 163 submissions make the 2026 Booker Prize longlist, with Elizabeth Strout, Marlon James and past winner Douglas Stuart in contention.

Women's Prize for Fiction Goes to Virginia Evans

The Correspondent, a debut novel in letters, wins the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction — its author's second major award of the season.

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Goes to Daniel Kraus

Angel Down, a World War I novel praised as a stylistic tour-de-force, wins the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Old Books, New Feed: How BookTok Revives the Backlist

BookTok has turned a decade-old novel like The Song of Achilles into a fresh bestseller — an explanation of why TikTok sells old books better than new ones.