Every day Poets & Writers Magazine scans the headlines—from publishing reports to academic announcements to literary dispatches—for all the news that creative writers need to know. Here are today’s stories:

The Guardian charts the United Kingdom’s top-selling books of 2013 [2], including J. K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy, which sold 273,433 copies.

Meanwhile, the venerable Strand Book Store broke its all-time sales record [3] this Christmas holiday. (New York Daily News)

Joan Acocella looks at the life and work of Willa Cather, whose novel O Pioneers! was published one hundred years ago [4]. (New Yorker)

Sarah Hepola lists her favorite personal essays [5] published by Salon this year, including Chloe Caldwell’s “My Year of Heroin and Acne” and “My Inappropriate Relationship” by Jillian Lauren.

And at Volume 1 Brooklyn, Mairead Case details literary items [6] she enjoyed this year, including poems, sentences, websites, lists, and much more.

On her blog, author Nova Ren Suma discusses ways to stave off self-doubt [7]: “Find an old letter or email where someone said something amazing about something you wrote and read it once more, like it’s the first time. It helps to keep a little folder of these for future moments…”

And if you're looking for inspiration, GalleyCat gathered five TED talks by authors [8], including presentations by Pico Iyer and Malcolm Gladwell.