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.Michèle RobertsLondon • 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 TaitCambridge • 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?David SmaleMenheniot, Cornwall • 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 JonesSpalding, 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 RhodenLow Habberley, Worcestershire • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.