Big-brand authors: it isn't in our genes | Brief letters

"Nigel Newton asserts that We are programmed deep in our DNA to be comforted by the authority and the reliability of big brand names (AI can help authors beat writer's block, says Bloomsbury chief, 27 October). Hmm. Writers tend to see that certain authors being turned by publishers into big brands is a function of our economic system rather than our genetic makeup, a process backed up by the money that publishers spend on marketing and publicity."

"Your editorial (24 October) proposes that Labour's defeat at the Caerphilly byelection is due to moral exhaustion. Given that they have been in office only since July 2024, after 14 years of Conservative government, how come they are so tired already? Prof Alan Tait Cambridge Further to the bowel cancer warning on ham and bacon products (Scientists demand cancer warnings on bacon and ham sold in UK, 24 October), in French supermarkets nearly every pack is nitrite-free. What's delaying the change in the UK?"

"Re Guardian typos (Letters, 27 October), could I put in a good word for the readers' editor's team? They must be sick of my nitpicking, but they almost always send me a thoughtful, often witty, reply. David Jones Spalding, Lincolnshire I see that putting the clocks back has been taken too literally by some, seeing it as an excuse to return to historical times when any old racist language was acceptable. Phil Rhoden Low Habberley, Worcestershire"

Writers dispute the claim that brand preference is encoded in DNA and attribute big-brand authorship to economic forces and publisher marketing expenditure. A correspondent questions claims of political moral exhaustion given Labour's recent time in office and the preceding Conservative years. Concern is raised about nitrites in ham and bacon, noting that French supermarkets sell nearly all packs nitrite-free and asking why the UK lags. Praise is offered for the readers' editor's thoughtful and witty replies to nitpicking. A correspondent criticises those who use clock changes to excuse reverting to historically racist language.

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