Shooting the Shit About Cancelled Books and the Shy Girl AI Discourse

From The Shit No One Tells You About Writing Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra

It’s chaos in publishing—and Carly and CeCe are breaking it all down. From the AI controversy behind Shy Girl to growing fears around trust, authorship, and what readers actually want. They get real and talk about layoffs, imprint closures, and what it means for writers navigating an already tough landscape. Plus: the reality of editor turnover, the flood of self-published books, and why literary fiction might be poised for a comeback.

Note: CeCe Lyra is a literary agent at Wendy Sherman Associates. If you’d like to query CeCe, please refer to the submission guidelines at www.wsherman.com. Carly Watters is a literary agent at P.S. Literary Agency, but her work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly on this podcast are solely that of her as a podcast co-host and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.

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AS SHARED ON THE PODCAST:

https://newrepublic.com/article/207659/non-fiction-publishing-threat-important-ever\

https://www.threads.com/@deeshaphilyaw/post/DWITRYgDD7W?xmt=AQF0Fl2ZZ9Yzr6vOCqP5Rn06mB

XnH6Wo48wf0CG3MrKm6Q

https://substack.com/@janefriedman/note/c-230548625?r=h5j0&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=web

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/19/books/shy-girl-book-ai.html?unlocked_article_code=1.UlA.R8RW.PFdWmcI_UreZ&smid=nytcore-android-share

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