September 3, 2025, 2:50pm

Okay, so ostensibly the reason we’re all here to talk about author James Patterson’s new initiative to help emerging authors finish their books with grants of $50,000 called “Go Finish Your Book!”, but I’d like to use this space to make a more specific appeal:

Mr. Patterson, please consider me for this program.

I know today’s announcement, made on the AP and on your personal website, is explicitly saying that the selection process is over, and that you’ve already selected a group of writers out of hundreds of submissions, but I know you love a good twist as much as any writer. Wouldn’t it be thrilling if there were a surprise 13th grant under your “Unreliable Narrator” hat, for a blogger with a big chunk of a novel done and who shares your gorgeous first name?!

James, I’m on the edge of my seat!

I also read that this program is in partnership with organizations like the Authors Guild, AWP, Girls Write Now, PEN America and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop—what a coincidence, I’ve covered a number of these groups right here at Lit Hub! Me and your grant are seeming like more and more of a natural fit the more that I think about it…

In a video released on his site, Patterson explained his thinking behind the project like this:

“There are so many incredible stories out there that never get written because life gets in the way”—I couldn’t agree more, fellow James!—“I wanted to give these writers a little time, a little space, and a push to say: your voice matters”—I’m blushing!— “Now go finish your book.” James, with your help, I will.

The statement ends with Patterson saying he’s picked 12 people and is excited to see how their projects turn out. Another thing we agree on: congrats to all the winners. I can’t wait to see the books that come out of this grant!

There’s nothing better than the space to write, and financial security is one of the surest ways (in America, at least) to get it. This is the kind of program I would love to see more successful authors emulate, especially when so many grants are drying up elsewhere.

Incidentally, James, if you hear of any of these other grant programs getting underway, I’d appreciate the consideration! I know you won’t forget my name.

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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.

James Patterson to Co-Author Book on Luigi Mangione

James Patterson writes books like streamers produce shows on whatever was in the headlines yesterday. In the latest news, Patterson is once again teaming up with investigative reporter Vicky Ward to write what will surely be another bestseller, this time about Luigi Mangione. Patterson and Ward previously co-authored an instant bestseller about “The Idaho Four,” the University of Idaho students fatally stabbed by Bryan Kohberger. Mangione rose to notoriety as the alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The Ivy League grad has been both celebrated and condemned as the fatal shooting spurred heated conversation about systemic faults in the U.S. healthcare system. In a release from Little, Brown and Company about their upcoming title, the publisher announced that the “new book will be propelled by hundreds of exclusive interviews, extensive on-the-ground reporting, copious court transcripts, and SEC filings to take this story beyond the headlines.” There are so many directions one could take with this story, and if it’s any kind of preview, this is what Ward said of it: “This story touches all of us. It goes to the heart of the social, cultural and political issues dividing the US right now. Nothing is more of a reviled black box than the health insurance industry, and it’s time to open it up, through a crime that has caught the attention of the country.”

This Fall’s Must-Watch Adaptations

We all got a chance to witness two hours of Ralph Fiennes’ nasal breathing work in the Conclave adaptation, and this fall offers a lineup featuring even more high quality book-inspired films. The adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet is the big one, in my opinion. I absolutely loved director Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Jessica Bruder’s Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century and if anyone can do justice to this bleak reader favorite about the death of Agnes and William Shakespeare’s 11-year-old son, Hamnet, I have to believe it’s Zhao. In more adaption news, I agree with David Canfield, writing for Vanity Fair, that “it feels like [Guillermo del Toro has] been working up to his Frankenstein movie his whole career.” It’s sure to be a showstopper and a feat of studio effects. You can find the full lineup here.

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Speaking of Adaptions!

Millennial PSA! Alicia Silverstone spoke with TODAY about a Clueless series in the works. She’ll be reprising her role as Cher Horowitz for a Peacock show based on the Emma-inspired ’90s classic. TIL that a Clueless series was previously attempted and ran for three seasons in the ’90s. Based on Silverstone’s reprisal and the drop of tea she spilled that “The goal is to make [the series] honor what everyone loves about ‘Clueless’ and Cher,” my guess is that the new show will follow a grown-up Cher who continues to meddle and display a weakness for the finer things in life.

The Lie of “Local Control,” as Texas and Florida Signal What’s Next in Book Censorship

At Book Riot, Kelly Jensen shares urgent words about the lie of local control:

The new tactics being employed to censor books should serve to highlight what is to come in other states in the coming years. What we’ve already seen in terms of quiet censorship, the chilling effect, and the blatant lies about laws intending to return local control to public schools are only going to amplify. Florida and Texas officials are providing the roadmap.

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The post James Patterson and Vicky Ward to Pen a Luigi Mangione Book appeared first on Our Story Insight.

August 7, 2025, 1:48pm

Is James Patterson writing his own stuff these days? He’s seems to have a very full dance card as a collaborator/brand/the head of a Renaissance-style artist’s guild. He’s co-bylined books with the likes of Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Mr. Beast, and now he’s back working with journalist Vicky Ward for a new book on Luigi Mangione, the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

It’s hard to know what this book will be like from just a press release, but Patterson doesn’t seem like the kind of person who’s out there spray-painting  “Deny Defend Depose” on walls. Patterson describes Mangione’s story as “the American Dream Gone Wrong” (the capitalization is his) and as a “descent from Ivy League graduate to notorious accused killer to so-called political martyr.” The assumption being that the Ivy League only graduates good and morally uncomplicated people, which, okay.

Ward seems more interested in the nuance, noting that the murder “goes to the heart of the social, cultural and political issues dividing the US right now.” She also correctly identifies one of those issues as the insurance industry: “Nothing is more of a reviled black box than the health insurance industry, and it’s time to open it up, through a crime that has caught the attention of the country.” Ward’s no stranger to digging into big money and its predators too, having worked on projects on Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell and Jared Kushner.

The planned book will be based on interviews and reporting, though with Mangione’s trial set to begin later this year, there isn’t an ending to this saga just yet. Mangione, is in the meantime, is busy with all of his mail which apparently includes a lot of books.

Ward and Patterson’s previous book moved quickly too, written nearly at the same pace that the news was happening. The Idaho Four is a true crime book about four college students who were murdered in 2022. The book was similarly based on a lot of interviews and research, but came out just a couple weeks after the murderer was sentenced.

Why rush to get this book out? Neither of these authors seem to be struggling for work, but there’s obviously tons of interest from the general public and, crucially, from media. The press release notes that, “Early discussions are in progress with major interest for both scripted and unscripted adaptations of the book.” Netflix’s a-calling!

Get ready for a lot of Luigi books, movies, documentaries, and more, as this project joins four documentaries already in the works and a musical that just debuted in San Francisco.

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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.

No Joke, Mr. Beast and James Patterson Have Co-Authored a Book

It’s a thriller set around a competitive game not dissimilar to Squid Games–“Players fight to survive deadly tests held in dangerous locations around the world, as they battle to become ‘The One’”–and film rights are already on fire. Patterson is known to collaborate with celebrities including Viola Davis and Dolly Parton, and, while the books aren’t for me, I’d love to be a fly on the wall to witness firsthand what that process looks like. I suppose the pairing of two prolific commercial successes isn’t so out there–Mr. Beast is a YouTube creator with about 378M followers and helms a media empire that includes controversial Prime Video series Beast Games, and Patterson is the author of more than 200 books. My best guess is that Patterson’s co-authors act as ideas generators and the author of books you can’t escape at the airport filters and synthesizes those ideas until they look like a story, possibly with big help from collaborators/co-authors/ghostwriters/whatever you want to call them, possibly with less. In any case, studios are lapping up this newest collab and the partnership is likely to line their already overstuffed pockets. What a world we live in…

The Media News You Didn’t Know You Needed

Roxane Gay and Debbie Millman will be the new owners of major literary and culture magazine, The Rumpus. In an era of vast uncertainty for independent media, I’m glad to hear that good people are taking up the cause. Gay has an established relationship with the mostly volunteer-run mag as a founding essays editor, and Millman will bring a designer’s eye to the visual arts aspect of the magazine. As if this couldn’t be sweeter, Millman mentioned falling in love with Gay’s words through The Rumpus before falling in love with Gay herself (they’re married). In the announcement, current Publisher Alyson Sinclair who is transitioning leadership over to the pair said Gay and Millman “are committed to staying true to the magazine’s core mission of publishing both emerging and established risk-taking writers and artists whose work might not receive care or a large audience elsewhere.” I can’t wait to see what they do with the publication and wish it continued success.

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You Had Me at A24

I love what A24 is trying to do with film, so I was intrigued by this Simon & Schuster profile by The Cut, which asks if the Big 5 publisher can be the next A24. The profile focuses on S&S flagship publisher Sean Manning who’s characterized as a publishing outsider trying to do bold new things in an industry known for running at a snail’s pace. Remember the kerfuffle over the importance, or rather the uselessness, of blurbs? Manning was a big voice in that most recent conversation about the eternally contentious issue, kicking it off with a Publishers Weekly op-ed. He’s currently trying out something new with Bookstore Blitz, a Supermarket Sweep-style web series featuring authors on $100 bookstore shopping sprees. I’m genuinely curious about where this story will go and whether Manning’s experiments will pay off and be adopted by other pubs.

The Biggest BIPOC Books Out This Spring

Friends, we have so many great books to look forward to this season–I’m overwhelmed in the best kind of way. If you need someone to help you navigate the rich seas of publishing this spring, Erica’s got you with a list of big, buzzy BIPOC books hitting the shelves, including Ocean Vuong’s much-anticipated novel, The Emperor of Gladness.

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The post I Thought This Mr. Beast-James Patterson Headline Was a Joke appeared first on Our Story Insight.