“I found that when students wrote without their names, much that was awkward, dull, strained, and frankly boring fell away. It was like watching people who thought they couldn’t dance dancing beautifully in the dark.” Stacey D’Erasmo describes the freedom of writing, minus the byline.

Start planning your 2019 reading schedule with Literary Hub’s exhaustive list of exciting future releases — including numerous titles by women writers and writers of color.

“I’d like to say who cares, but I do care.” Romance novelist Holland Rae writes on rejection — an integral part of the creative process for most artists and writers (not to mention job and college applicants) — and what keeps her motivated.

Do you ever feel a tad claustrophobic here on Earth? At Book Riot, Jenn Northington recommends 50 works of speculative fiction set in space “in all its mystifying, occasionally terrifying, really freaking huge glory.”

As the school year is kicking into gear in many countries, Cari White, a librarian in Texas, gives parents and educators 10 reasons to encourage young readers to tackle entire works.

“Can we all agree that there is no such thing as a girl or a boy book?” Teacher and parent Pernille Ripp writes on the toxic effects of defining books by the gender of their supposed audience.