About Daily Pencil

Daily Pencil is an independent digital newspaper covering Writing, Authors, Development, Publishing and Art. Manuscripts fail for reasons that can be named. It is part of VUGA Network, a group of independent digital publications published in the United States.

The work is analysis and explanation. A piece takes something opaque — an option clause, a royalty statement, why a middle act sags — and lays out the mechanism with examples. Editors and agents are quoted on the record where the topic allows it.

What We Cover

Writing is the craft desk, examined through actual passages: point of view, tense, dialogue, scene turns, pacing and the specific revision passes that repair a stalled draft, explained line by line from published books.

Development deals with the manuscript before submission — outlining approaches, structural passes, beta reader systems, developmental editors and what they charge, and the tests for calling a draft finished.

Authors covers authorship as work: debut experiences, the difficult second book, income across advances, royalties, translation and speaking, with figures reported rather than estimated — for writers planning a decade rather than a single manuscript.

Publishing News keeps the book trade file: reported deals, imprint launches and shutdowns, editorial and agency personnel changes, prize announcements and policy shifts on submissions. Business News handles the money underneath — advance ranges by category, earn-out rates, royalty splits, distribution and returns, print unit costs — with sources named where contracts allow.

Where We Draw the Line

No motivational posts, no promises about how long a book takes, no vendor list dressed up as advice, and no advance figure repeated without a source.