Bad Lit Friends

It's election season, and your Bad Lit Friends are getting political! (As if we weren't already, every day, and twice on Tuesdays.) This week, we kick off what was supposed to be a two-part series about politics in Booklandia, but you know us: why do two episodes when you could do three?

First up: Erica Choinka, author of the new political romance Open Seat, who says her conservative beliefs are getting her shut out of the book community. But is this political persecution or is there something else going on? (Spoiler: there’s something else going on and it’s gross.) We have thoughts about free speech, book banning, bookstore shelves, the Miller test (surprise, you’re in law school!), and why nobody owes you a seat at their table. Even if you bring cake.

Plus, Meagan desperately wants everyone to be better people, Kirk is considerably less optimistic, and a trip to a Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition makes an unexpected appearance.

And in Hot Goss: a suspicious literary agency called Chapter House Literary has appeared online, and Meagan has been doing some detective work. Writers beware, indeed!

Next week: the Hugo Awards, Sad Puppies, Rabid Puppies, and MORE political petulance, but sadly no hush puppies or real puppies. We know, we suck.

Welcome to Bad Lit Friends. We're glad you're here, even if none of us know what we're doing.

Bad Lit Friends was created and is hosted by Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty.

Email: ⁠[email protected]

Bluesky: ⁠⁠@badlitfriends.bsky.social⁠

Threads: ⁠@badlitfriends⁠

Instagram: ⁠@badlitfriends⁠

YouTube:⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@BadLitFriends⁠

Website: ⁠badlitfriends.com⁠

Show notes:

Open Seat: https://www.fmcbooks.com/products/open-seat (if you’re going to buy it, send money to a women- and queer-owned indie bookstore in Montana, not Amazon, for Christ’s sake)

Reads with Rachel, Authors Behaving Badly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeOeNDnxsJY 

The Professional Left Podcast with Driftglass and Blue Gal: https://proleftpod.com/ 

Chapter House Literary thread from Alexander Phoenix: https://www.threads.com/share/DgIbaxtJ0/ 

The inimitable Victoria Strauss’s Writer Beware: https://writerbeware.blog/ 

Absolute Write forums: https://absolutewrite.com/forums/ 

In this episode, we finally--FINALLY--wrap up our epic journey through hypocrisy in Booklandia. We swear this is the last one. Probably.

This time we’re talking about the contradiction at the heart of being a writer: everyone wants you to write the book only you can write, but they would also very much like that book to be marketable, easily categorized, comparable to three recent bestsellers, and be able to pick the wood grain of the exact Barnes & Noble table it will land on. We also talk about comps, genre identity crises, commercial expectations, and why sometimes gatekeeping is actually necessary.In a Goodreads side trek, why allowing a 0.25-star review while keeping five stars as the maximum is especially brutal for indie authors and writers vulnerable to review bombing.

And finally, in Hot Goss, we return to hypocrisy in spectacular fashion with a Wired investigation into publishers quietly using AI while writers are being told not to.

Bad Lit Friends was created and is hosted by Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty.

Show email: [email protected]
Bluesky: @badlitfriends.bsky.social
Threads: @badlitfriends
Instagram: @badlitfriends
Website: https://www.badlitfriends.com/

Show notes:

“Book Publishers Are Quietly Using More AI, Staff Are Revolting” — Wired

https://www.wired.com/story/book-publishers-are-quietly-using-more-ai-staff-are-revolting/

BLF went to the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Conference, and we’re baaaaack! We discuss how best to get your butt to a conference — planes, trains, and automobiles — and why writers might want to do such a strange thing in the first place. It’s not all hobnobing with the bigwigs, after all, and conferences are expensive. So we talk budgeting, volunteering, scholarship opportunities, room sharing, and the general calculus of whether it’s worth going. (It is, if you can swing it. Seriously.) Also: we get into why you might even want to do something as nutty as this in the first place, and why the good stuff happens outside the meeting rooms.

Speaking of which: Meagan had kind of A Week, all of it good, and an acrylic plaque may be involved. Kirk had an elevator ride with Stephen Graham Jones which he can scarcely believe happened. And we both reflect on what we liked most out of this year’s conference, and we get a little soppy. Just a little! There’s still swearing!

HOT GOSS: A lesser-informed Thriend posted that she tries not to wince every time a character smells something, because sensory description reads as try-hard literary posturing. The comments were insane, which is what you want on Threads, right? RIGHT????

Next week: part four of Hypocrisy in Booklandia. Unbelievably, we have more to say.

Welcome to Bad Lit Friends. We're glad you're here, even if none of us know what we're doing.Bad Lit Friends was created and is hosted by Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty.

Show email: ⁠[email protected]

Bluesky: ⁠⁠@badlitfriends.bsky.social⁠

Threads: ⁠@badlitfriends⁠

Instagram: ⁠@badlitfriends⁠

YouTube:⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@BadLitFriends⁠

Website: ⁠badlitfriends.com⁠

Show notes:

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers: https://rmfw.org/

DVPit (for 2027): https://dvpit.carrd.co/

There was simply too much bookish hypocrisy to contain in two episodes, so here’s Part Three. Of Four. (sorrynotsorry)

This week: It’s all things transparency. Specifically, the kind you're required to have as a querying author versus the kind publishing extends to you, which is ummmmm approximately none. We also dig into deadlines. Authors are professionals, which means you need to meet them. Publishing is slow, which means... the biz end totally doesn’t have to. Sounds very fair and very, very cool!

And then Hot Goss. Four Black debut authors all accused of AI-generated writing, all via Pangram, whose claims HAVE STILL NEVER BEEN INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIED. We have noticed a pattern and you will too. The latest situation is complicated by plagiarism allegations from a decade ago, and we discuss who is and isn't being thrown in the wood chipper, and get into what condiments should be on offer when you eat the rich. 

Welcome to Bad Lit Friends. We're glad you're here, even if none of us know what we're doing.Bad Lit Friends was created and is hosted by Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty.

Show email: ⁠[email protected]

Bluesky: ⁠⁠@badlitfriends.bsky.social⁠

Threads: ⁠@badlitfriends⁠

Instagram: ⁠@badlitfriends⁠

YouTube:⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@BadLitFriends⁠

Website: ⁠badlitfriends.com⁠

Meagan is on TikTok! https://www.tiktok.com/@m_essary

Show notes:

Thélyson Orélien: 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/sep/25/thelyson-orelien-goncourt-prize-france 

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/world/europe/thelyson-orelien-ai-canada-haiti-france.html?unlocked_article_code=1.FVE.lmDB.MUihgPY14sxg&smid=url-share (gift link -- thank you, LA Public Libraries for your free NY Times access because we’re not paying to prop up that rag that occasionally has some articles we want to read, OKAY???)

Also Meagan buckled and bought a new laptop so the sound should be vastly improved. SorryYESsorry!

We’re back for part two of our series on hypocrisy in Booklandia, and this week we're asking why readers get to be messy while authors are expected to be saints. If you're a writer, you're supposed to accept criticism gracefully, never respond to reviews, maintain an impeccable social media history, and somehow remain above reproach at all times. Sounds reasonable!

We talk about review bombing, the unwritten rules of authors reviewing other authors, and the increasingly weird parasocial relationships between writers and their readers. Also, the expectation that authors should be endlessly accessible, endlessly authentic, and endlessly willing to work for free. And we kinda have some thoughts about the value of creative labor. Spoiler: it's not zero.

In Hot Goss: Jerry Falade speaks! We revisit the controversy surrounding the debut author accused of using AI, discuss his fascinating response about the influence of Yoruba language and storytelling on his writing. Are we really going to start rewriting our own voices to satisfy a machine's idea of what human writing should sound like? Because that seems like a perfectly normal direction for publishing to take.

Bad Lit Friends was created and is hosted by Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty.

Show email: [email protected]

Bluesky: @badlitfriends.bsky.social

Threads: @badlitfriends

Instagram: @badlitfriends

Website: https://www.badlitfriends.com/

Show notes:

Reader behavior:https://time.com/6078993/goodreads-review-bombing/

Author-reader intimacy / promotion:https://authors.apple.com/support/3978-social-media-promote-bookhttps://www.ucpress.edu/resources/book-authors/author-promotions-toolkit/checklisthttps://authorsguild.org/resource/promoting-books-without-social-media/

Author labor / promotion:https://www.ucpress.edu/resources/book-authors/author-promotions-toolkithttps://tinhousepress.com/2026/08/20/your-book-is-out-now-what-a-realistic-guide-to-marketing-and-publicity/https://go.authorsguild.org/contract_sections/12

Jerry Falade gives his side of the story: https://kathleenschmidt.substack.com/p/exclusive-author-jerry-falade-reflects

Booklandia is a vibes-based economy, and this week the vibe is: one rule for me, one rule for thee, and absolutely zero self-awareness about the difference. Zero, zilch, nada.

We're kicking off a multi-parter on hypocrisy in publishing, specifically the kind where authors are expected to document their entire creative process like they're preparing for a witch trial, while publishers hire AI engineers and call it “efficient” and “the future.” Yeah, sure, okay. We also get into querying, where you will follow every bespoke submission guideline to the letter and be grateful for the form rejection, peon. At least we didn’t ghost you!

In Hot Goss: the sheer fraudacity of grifters continues to astound us. Up on the block: when scammers pretend that they are the truly scammed amongst us. So sad, I’m not crying at all.

Part 2 is coming, and we have feelings. Several of them, and some of them right (maybe)!

Welcome to Bad Lit Friends. We're glad you're here, even if none of us know what we're doing.Bad Lit Friends was created and is hosted by Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty.

Show email: ⁠[email protected]

Bluesky: ⁠@badlitfriends.bsky.social

Threads: @badlitfriends

Instagram: @badlitfriends

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BadLitFriends

Website: badlitfriends.com

Show notes:

AI / research:

https://aalitagents.org/generative-ai-warning-for-authors-sample

https://authorsguild.org/resource/ai-best-practices-for-authors/

https://abigailfentoneditorial.substack.com/p/no-you-cant-write-your-novel-with-ai

https://www.grahammawchristie.com/submissions

Publishing using AI:

https://authorsguild.org/news/use-of-ai-in-publishing-and-new-model-contract-clause/

https://authorsguild.org/advocacy/artificial-intelligence/ai-model-clauses/

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/copyright/article/100211-authors-guild-speaks-out-on-publisher-ai-use.html

Querying:

https://janefriedman.com/when-and-how-to-nudge-agents/

https://nathanbransford.com/blog/2026/01/how-often-to-follow-up-with-a-literary-agent

We are FINALLY wrapping up our accidental trilogy on author blacklists, book bans, and the dangers of missing context, and we will do this by providing context, so there's that!

We talk about what it means to designate a writer as dangerous, problematic, or even culturally "forbidden." From the fatwa against Salman Rushdie to N*zi book burnings, McCarthyism, and today’s organized school and library bans, we explore why “just a list on Threads or Instagram” isn’t as harmless as it might seem. You’re allowed to dislike writers. You’re allowed to hate their books. But maybe don’t participate in cultural purges? Would be cool if you didn't.

And in Hot Goss: the Horror Writers Association has stepped in it yet again. We unravel the increasingly ugly dispute between former HWA executive director Max Gold and the organizers of Creepaway Camp, HWA's recent leadership turmoil, and why HWA may need to clean house before it goes the way of the Romance Writers of America. (Remember them?)

Bad Lit Friends was created and is hosted by Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty.

Show email: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

Bluesky: @badlitfriends.bsky.social

Threads: @badlitfriends

Instagram: @badlitfriends

Website: https://www.badlitfriends.com/

Show notes:

• Horror Writers Association is the hottest mess out there: https://www.threads.com/@brian_keene/post/DckHjFWDVRT?xmt=AQG0vmkgyXcoM8xsEBN8kSYXx2b3tM6wPh_yv8jCSDhLIhHeBpldb7fEf9_DeI9-o0bAReey&slof=1
• 
  
• Angela Yuriko Smith on her resignation as president of HWA: https://www.threads.com/@pedroparo2/post/DcpBXnWjwZk?xmt=AQG0HmZqWBPJuiBpGHx-_PXXCR3GOMgkwYgnS6wKb-As1HuHbytU2BN37IZkKLH5K53kfug https://www.fandompulse.com/p/hwa-dissolves-its-executive-director 

• https://www.prospectpark.org/event/sugar-shock-a-new-play-by-regina-robbins/2026-09-27/
• PEN America: 6,870 school-book bans in the 2024–25 school year; nearly 23,000 since 2021: https://pen.org/report/the-normalization-of-book-banning 
• American Library Association counted 5,668 books banned from libraries in 2025 and another 920 restricted. 92% of 2025 challenges originated with pressure groups, government officials, or other decision-makers. Fewer than 3% came from individual parents: https://pen.org/report/the-normalization-of-book-banning
• This is organized list-based censorship: people circulating rosters of titles, often without reading them, and demanding institutional removal. Lists, you say? Huh! Uh oh, it’s that man again! (Meagan deals in current references only, which is why she just made one to a BBC radio programme that started in the late 1930s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flvKCWIfT2w)

Just one Bad Lit Friend this week, and she's on just long enough to say: we're really sorry, we're super hot (in more ways than one!), and we'll be back next week. We swear!

If you want to point fingers, well: SoCal's heat dome took out Meagan's AC on August 23rd, then came for her precious interwebs, because apparently one act of God wasn't enough to delay the BLF.

Back next week with the full and final (probably) episode of our miniseries on book bans, book boycotts, and why you should probably look closely at lists of "authors to avoid" -- sometimes it really DOES pay to do your own research.* In the meantime, listen to Parts 1 and 2 of the series again and leave a comment! Or a criticism! Or a cookie recipe!

*Does not apply to vaccines or anything with a whiff of QAnon, but if you have Bigfoot stories you've personally investigated, we are all ears.

Welcome to Bad Lit Friends. We're glad you're here, even if none of us know what we're doing.
Bad Lit Friends was created and is hosted by Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty.
Show email: [email protected]
Bluesky: @badlitfriends.bsky.social
Threads: @badlitfriends
Instagram: @badlitfriends
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BadLitFriends
Website: badlitfriends.com

We're back with more of another accidental miniseries (whoops), and this week we are getting into the alleged receipts behind the Sleepy Readers Club's Authors to Boycott list. Like, who decided who goes on it? What did these writers actually DO? And what happens to the authors who can't weather a pile-on the way Stephen King can? We also talk associational guilt, reading in narrow hallways, and why your private "people I find problematic" list should probably stay in a Google Doc where it belongs.

CONTENT WARNING [25:00 - 30:14]: This segment containsdiscussion of pregnancy loss and targeted online harassment of an author during an extremely vulnerable time in her life. If these are sensitive topics for you, please consider jumping forward.

In Hot Goss: We consider what would lead an agent in theyear of Our Dark Lord John Stamos to call Redditors "losers" on a TikTok Live, like nobody's watching and Booklandia's gossip mill isn't always working overtime. It might start with an H and end in “ubris” but you make the call.

Part 3 is coming next week and remember: anger is not a finite resource. Stay tuned.

Welcome to Bad Lit Friends. We're glad you're here, even if none of us know what we're doing. 

Bad Lit Friends was created and is hosted by Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty.

Show email: ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠

Bluesky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Threads: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BadLitFriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Website:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠badlitfriends.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Show notes: Print Run podcast (Laura Zats & Eric Hane): https://www.printrunpodcast.com/
10 hour cat video, good for cats AND humans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-WPISfzRMU
Reddit: Agent publicly sharing conflict of interest: https://www.reddit.com/r/PubTips/comments/1vtihj0/discussion_agent_publicly_sharing_conflict_of/
Reddit: The agent doubled down!: https://www.reddit.com/r/PubTips/s/VBxmXjEmJb
Association of Authors' Agents Code of Practice: https://agentsassoc.co.uk/about/code-of-practice/
AALA Canon of Ethics 2026: https://aalitagents.org/canon-of-ethics-2026/

Sleepy Readers Club's "Updated Authors to Boycott" list: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VIxzTRNQK5Phjt12N3hVqQN1JSNf8mdw/view?usp=sharing

In this episode, we take a look at the internet’s latest REALLY GOOD IDEA™: a writing group that circulated a list of authors you’re supposed to boycott, with zero context explaining what anyone on the list actually did.

In Hot Goss: Pangram strikes again! Substack is building the AI detector into its platform, and at least one literary agent has admitted to using it while simultaneously admitting she doesn’t know whether it works. Cool, cool.

Welcome to Bad Lit Friends. We're glad you're here, even if none of us know what we're doing. 

Bad Lit Friends was created and is hosted by Meagan Thompson-Mann and Kirk Rafferty.

Show email: ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠

Bluesky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Threads: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@badlitfriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@BadLitFriends⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Website:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠badlitfriends.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Show notes:

Jen Eckhardt: https://www.threads.com/@msshelved027

Jane Friedman’s Thread: https://www.threads.com/@janefriedman/post/Db-_yC3Dsi3

Sleepy Readers Club's "Updated Authors to Boycott" list: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VIxzTRNQK5Phjt12N3hVqQN1JSNf8mdw/view?usp=sharing