It’s time to MEET THE JUDGES of the 2026 #UnpublishedNovelAward! We’re kicking things off with Jordan Hill and Lauren Knowles, who will be judging our Speculative Fiction and Children’s & Young Adult categories for the Unpublished Novel Award.
Why We Write is BACK on Substack!
Read the first piece from 2023 Black List Lab alum Christopher Hwisu Kim now: blcklst.substack.com/p/why-we-wri...
Curious about how Featured Projects get selected on blcklst.com?
Open this: blcklst.substack.com/p/best-pract...
So yes, and 8 is rare and difficult to get.
AS IT SHOULD BE.
Because if The Black List started spotlighting a bunch of middling scripts that need Page One rewrites, it would cease to be a useful site pretty quickly.
You not getting an 8 for a script your friends like isn't a grand injustice.
Oh yes! Let's talk about this!
"A reasonable conclusion is that most screenplays submitted to the Black List website are competent but not exceptional, and those that are exceptional are quite rare (which roughly mirrors what most of us know instinctively if we’ve read a lot of screenplays)."
Pretty much a standard bell curve with maybe an exception. There is no magic to the outcomes.
How rare is an 8+ overall score from a Black List website reader? Quite rare. (As it should be.)
New data study. open.substack.com/pub/blcklst/...
Had a conversation with this guy Ryan Coogler on behalf of @theankler.com youtu.be/4IZ8xJUEhlQ?...
Had a conversation with this guy Ryan Coogler on behalf of @theankler.com youtu.be/4IZ8xJUEhlQ?...
Great news, writers: We’re partnering with Tubi to discover a NEW HORROR SCRIPT to be produced and distributed by Tubi! Read more about the program, exclusively @deadline.com.
deadline.com/2026/02/tubi...
Great news, authors: The 2026 Unpublished Novel Award is now OPEN for submissions! Four writers will receive a $10,000 grant to support their manuscript on its journey to publication.
Learn more here: blcklst.com/programs/202...
I’ve seen the videos of kids throwing snowballs at NYPD officers in Washington Square Park.
Officers, like all city workers, have been out in a historic blizzard, keeping New Yorkers safe and cars moving.
Treat them with respect. If anyone’s catching a snowball, it’s me.
It’s publication day for Isabel Booth’s THEN HE WAS GONE, the first manuscript to be published after being discovered on blcklst.com!
Grab your copy here: bookshop.org/p/books/then...
Unreal press conference strategy from new IOC president Kirsty Coventry where she repeatedly turns to her PR team off stage and personally blames them for not making her aware of various Olympics controversies, saying that “maybe someone needs to be dismissed”
Once a math team captain, always a math team captain.
Once a math team captain, always a math team captain.
And again. variety.com/2026/film/gl...
It happened again. variety.com/2026/film/gl...
open.substack.com/pub/franklin...
I am obsessed with this woman.
But every time we have seen each other it’s like time never passed!
Oops we did it again.
🚨 DEADLINE REMINDER 🚨
Playwrights, we know three months seems like an AWFULLY long time from now, but as we know, deadlines have a way of sneaking up on us all! Submit your play for consideration in our ongoing collaboration with TRW here: blcklst.com/programs/the...
Is it getting a little...close in here? Or is that just a few of our Featured Projects for February creeping up on you?
This month, our Featured Projects are all CONTAINED THRILLERS! Scroll down to learn more about this month's offerings, which you can read right now on blcklst.com.
If you’re in Los Angeles on February 17, come through.
If you know someone who will be in Los Angeles and enjoy being around other writers, tell them to come through.
RIP Catherine O'Hara, a true comedic titan.
I was wrong, and I apologize.
It more then tripled Melania’s windfall. My bad.
The real box office story of the weekend is the self distributed and self financed horror film that more than doubled Melania’s windfall despite a production budget less than one fifteenth its size.
Sorry, y’all, it’s DEI Settlement now
