Zeitgeist
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Turnings
Book & Movie Reviews
News
Culture & Politics
Genre Analysis
Zeitgeist 101
The Mary Poppins Zeitgeist: From Grimbright to Nobledark
This conversation unpacks how stories reflect cultural “turnings” in the zeitgeist, using Mary Poppins, Winnie the Pooh, Marines in wartime, and superhero tales as case studies. The Thomas Umstattd Jr. and Jonathan Shuerger explore the spectrum from Grimbright to...
Christian Author Assassinated, MailerLite Limits Free Plan, & Kit Raise Prices
https://youtube.com/live/2ETZdAIgEG0 Thomas: Welcome back to Author Update, everybody. Today we’re going to talk about Charlie Kirk, a Christian author who was shot while giving a speech to his audience. We also have publishing news. MailerLite is reducing its...
Zeitgeist, Dystopian Fatigue, and the Rise of Ruthless & Noble Heroes
Explore the cultural vibe shift reshaping reader preferences and learn what sells now and where fiction is headed next.
Introducing Author Update
Learn about our new podcast and YouTube show called Author Update, where you can stay up-to-date on all the latest publishing headlines.
How Larry Correia Became a Mega-Bestseller by Writing for Overlooked Readers
Find out how to be an authentic author, sell more books, and expand your writing career by finding and writing for a specific group of readers.
The Most Important Lessons from 10 Years of Novel Marketing
Discover our list of the most important episodes we’ve recorded in the past ten years of podcasting about book marketing.
Announcing the 2024 Novel Marketing Conference
Find out how the 2024 Novel Marketing Conference will help you apply your book-marketing knowledge and facilitate in-person connections.
How the Hollywood Strikes Will Help (& Hurt!) Authors
Find out how the actors and screenwriters strikes will affect authors and provide some unprecedented opportunities.
Turnings
Turnings
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News
News
Iranian Drones Destroy Amazon Data Centers, Amazon.com Goes Down
Week Ending March 6, 2026 In this week’s Author Update, we unpack how world events are impacting your author business, Audible’s aggressive response to Spotify, why Substack may be quietly hurting your Google rankings, and whether Apple’s new $600 laptop could be a...
The Indie Whale Reader: How to Reach Readers Who Devour 100 Books a Year
Traditional publishing posts a December surge in the latest AAP StatShot, even as the broader market stays flat. We unpack new 2026 reader data, major AI-driven layoffs at Block, Spotify’s audiobook charts, Julia Quinn’s Kickstarter success, podcast growth, and key AI updates from Google and Cloudflare.
Indies Win! Harlequin to Close Historical Romance Line
Supreme Court tariffs ruling, Harlequin exits historical romance, BookFunnel adds digital signings, and major AI shifts from ElevenLabs, Perplexity Pro, and Google’s new Web MCP reshaping audiobook production and SEO.
Substack Breach: Author Information Compromised
TikTok is back, but its algorithm retrain may disrupt BookTok, the author-targeted data breach, Amazon’s new DRM download option, soaring Bible sales, ChatGPT ads, Sanderson’s “we are the art” speech, and what the Super Bowl halftime shows reveal about today’s book buyers.
Traditional Publishing in Crisis: Sales Down 9.4%
Instead of a transcript, here are some rough notes. Let us know if you prefer...
Massive Amazon Algorithm Changes
Thomas: Welcome to Author Update, your weekly dose of publishing news...
US Copyright Office Closes | Book Piracy Drama | Anthropic Settlement Website Goes Live
Jonathan Shuerger: We've got a packed episode that could impact your writing...
Author Update: Judge Approves Anthropic $3K Author Payments, NaNoWriMo Replacement, & Scam Warning
Thomas: Welcome to Author Update. We have a massive episode packed with...
Genre Analysis
Genre Analysis
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Book & Movie Reviews
Reviews
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Culture & Politics
Culture
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Zeitgeist 101
Zeitgeist 101
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