Good luck to everyone getting their A levels today and remember, if you don’t get the grades you’d hoped for, all is not lost. For example, Prince Edward got a C and 2 Ds and was immediately accepted by Cambridge University.
S.J. Wills
@sjwills.bsky.social
Writing for teens PYTHON: The New Recruit out now Award-winning BITE RISK series LIFE HACK coming in October www.sjwillsauthor.com Rep. Kate Shaw/The Shaw Agency
Today my middle grade novel was longlisted for the Yeovil Literary Prize. Seems like a good day to join Bluesky. Hello.
I've confirmed that the UK's new Sovereign AI Fund does no due diligence on whether AI companies use copyrighted work without permission before investing in them. It took me 3 Freedom of Information requests to find this out: 🧵 1/10
Get 25% off 4 amazing new accessible reads from @sallynicholls.bsky.social, @dansmithauthor.bsky.social, @sjwills.bsky.social + #TomPalmer this week with @waterstones.bsky.social. Enter code SUMMER26 at checkout. Offer ends 24/07. Full info at: www.waterstones.com/campaign/july-2026-pre-order-offer
The Kids Are Alright: Horror Books for 11-12 Year Olds, Part 2 How a school librarian selects the best horror books for 11-12 year olds, based on 11,000 pupil reviews and a reading challenge that changed borrowing habits. gnofhorror.com/the-kids-are... @jonezyboy.bsky.social
We are so excited to announce #LifeHack! A heart-pounding teen thriller from award-winning author @sjwills.bsky.social, Life Hack sees Jay thrust into a fight for survival as the virtual world of Apocalypta, his favourite game, begins to leak into reality. Out October 2026 for 11+.
So proud to work with Barrington Stoke on this! Creepily illustrated by Berat Pekmezci, this is only 80 pages long, aimed at age 11+ with a reading age of 7. Accessible text perfect for dyslexic teens, or anyone who loves to be efficiently terrified.
Barrington Stoke@barringtonstoke.bsky.social · last mo.We are so excited to announce #LifeHack! A heart-pounding teen thriller from award-winning author @sjwills.bsky.social, Life Hack sees Jay thrust into a fight for survival as the virtual world of Apocalypta, his favourite game, begins to leak into reality. Out October 2026 for 11+.
Want to run a fake London estate agency and repeatedly scam people out of thousands of pounds through rental scams? The good news is that for £250 you can join all the official renters' protection schemes and do it with a UK government badge of approval! www.londoncentric.media/p/london-ren...
Fake estate agents are buying the government's seal of approval
London's scammers find a new tactic • "I felt sick... They’re doing everything except for actually having a flat." • What happens when the scammers get inside the systems?
londoncentric.media
The opener for a fast-paced, action-packed new series for 11+readers from @sjwills.bsky.social, #PythonTheNewRecruit hits the shelves on 02/07. @simonkidsuk.bsky.social @netgalley.bsky.social #KidlitUK #UKKidlit worldssmallestlibrary.wordpress.com/2026/06/28/p...
Python: The New Recruit by S.J. Wills
Cover illustration copyright © 2026 Jeff Nentrup Although as a child I’d been brought up on James Bond films, which – unbelievably to today’s kids – were a rare treat that w…
worldssmallestlibrary.wordpress.com
UK folks, let's jump on this AI regulation petition the Society of Authors emailed out! It's an actual parliament one so the government HAS to respond if it reaches the signature threshold. It calls for regulations to make AI developers disclose copyrighted works trained on. Sign & repost!! ❤️
Petition: Protect creators' rights: require AI firms to disclose training data
We ask the Government to introduce a statutory duty requiring AI developers to disclose the copyrighted works used to train generative AI in enough detail for creators to identify use of their work, e...
petition.parliament.uk
I love it when the publisher makes cool trailers for my books. Cover illustration by Jeff Nentrup, designer Sean Williams. No AI slop in sight, just talented people doing their thing ❤️
It is often said that a “wave” or “tsunami” of technological change is heading our way. These metaphors are powerful because they shape our sense of what is reasonable, and what is unreasonable. What does AI as a "wave" imply is a reasonable course of action? (1/...)
For #KidsBooksFriday this week I wanted to highlight books that are perfect for the chronically underserved 12-14 age group. What great books would you encourage kids to seek out at this age? #KidLitUK #UKKidLit #KidLit
In this week's newsletter: @roberthutton.co.uk on a forgotten electrical pioneer some previously unseen thoughts on borders; and some sentences that might seem passive aggressive, if you’re gonna be like that about it. BUT FIRST: there is not in fact a moment when you actually finish writing a book
Borderline Exhaustion
Rob Hutton on a forgotten electrical pioneer; some previously unseen thoughts on borders; and some sentences that might seem passive aggressive, if you’re gonna be like that about it.
jonn.substack.com
This is cool – the new advert for the National Year of Reading 2026 (for which I'm an ambassador) has just landed! The message is: whatever you're into, get MORE into it by READING about it. So for me it's football – programmes on matchday, transfer rumours, Panini stickers – I can't get enough! 1/2
Very happy to say my new series for young teens starts in July!
SJ Wills’ mobster middle-grade series goes to S&S Children’s Books
Simon & Schuster Children’s Books has acquired a middle-grade spy adventure series from SJ Wills in a three-book deal. The series will follow a teenage ex-mobster’s dealings in the criminal underworld...
thebookseller.com
massive congrats! Funnily enough, my uncle used to work for a bank (Natwest?) who owned 221b Baker Street, and his job was to reply to the letters people sent to Sherlock Holmes. My dad and his pals used to send in deranged ones to wind him up.
Coming next year, meet Sycamore Bell. He's not the world's greatest detective. But he does answer the world's greatest detective's letters.
Pan Fiction pre-empts Robert Hutton’s murder mysteries for six figures
Pan Fiction publishing director Sarah Hodgson has pre-empted world rights in two “utterly charming” murder mysteries by journalist Robert Hutton from Antony Topping of Greene & Heaton.
thebookseller.com
If you're a Londoner, you should be subscribing to London Centric
Jim Waterson@jim.londoncentric.media · 6mo agoBreaking: *Asif Aziz's mass evictions of Londoners appear to be BACK ON *Sadiq Khan personally demands immediate response from the landlord *Leading homelessness charity cuts ties with the Aziz family and refuses donation *Questions over legality of paperwork www.londoncentric.media/p/asif-aziz-...
I continue to be fascinated by the phenomenon whereby an expert engages with any of the LLMs on their field of expertise and is instantly horrified by the wrong answers, and then goes on to use it for things they are not experts in as though it won’t be just as bad for those.
The sheer brass neck of declaring a 'National Year of Reading' while selling out authors to AI companies and giving independent bookshops a good kicking
The Bookseller@thebookseller.com · 6mo agoIndependent bookshops in England are facing business rates increases of up to 100% under the government’s new reforms, research commissioned by the Booksellers Association has found 👇 #BookSky
This is a brilliant, thorough and truthful bit of writing, as you’d expect from @littlemaddles.bsky.social. Someone is making a penny, as they say, and the arts needs to have a hard look at itself, 25 years into a lunatic experiment in impoverishing creators. open.substack.com/pub/madelein...
Please sir can I have some more
On making a living as a writer
open.substack.com
We're proud to support #ReadItForward 2026! Buy ANY children's book during February, and @bookshop.org will donate 10% to @booktrust.org.uk and @scottishbooktrust.bsky.social AND you'll be supporting indie bookshops with every purchase: uk.bookshop.org/lists/read-i...
I'm supporting #ReadItForward2026! If you buy LOKI: A Bad God's Guide to Causing Chaos during February, then @bookshop-org-uk.bsky.social will donate 10% to @booktrust.org.uk and @scottishbooktrust.bsky.social! Buy here - why not hoover up a few more books too! uk.bookshop.org/lists/read-i...
Read It Forward with Bookshop.org
This February, we invite you to Read It Forward. 10% of all children's book sales through Bookshop.
uk.bookshop.org
"they don't know how to express the idea" here's rian johnson's storyboard for knives out pick up a pencil and a napkin
TONY GRAYSON 🗻@tonycomputerentertainment.com · 8mo agoAnyone who supports this is an embarrassment. "Instead of typing it out they'll generate their idea"? Are you insane? Call yourself whatever you want but you aren't creatives, that's for sure.
👻 The top middle grade horror books of 2025 are here! @jonezyboy.bsky.social @lindsayncurrie.bsky.social @larryhayesauthor.bsky.social @lorienlawrence.bsky.social @alicenuttallbooks.bsky.social @paultremblay.bsky.social @sjwills.bsky.social gnofhorror.com/best-middle-...
The Best Middle Grade Horror Books Of 2025: A Spine-Tingling Guide - The Ginger Nuts Of Horror Review Website
The year's spookiest reads! Our guide reviews the top middle grade horror books of 2025 Find the perfect scary book for kids.
gnofhorror.com
Will Arnett was on Conan and told a story about how Conan dealt with the death of his parents by accusing Jason Bateman of killing them. It’s so funny.
