Is fan fiction the new slush pile? What editors are really looking for

There was a time when fan fiction lived in the shadows, tucked into forums, buried in tags, dismissed as derivative, and looked down upon. It wasn’t writing. It was adoration as typing. 

Not anymore. Now, it’s edging toward centre stage, commanding the attention of publishers, agents, and readers alike.

Is "Performative Reading" really so awkward?

It’s the quietest rebellion of 2025: the reader with a paperback in a coffee shop, a hardcover in hand on the train, a thick novel laid gently on a park bench. Yet according to a recent piece in The Guardian, even this small, once-innocent gesture, reading in public, is now tinged with suspicion. At least reading certain kinds of books is. So, the question is, are we reading, or are we performing?