Image: the view from within Bethesda Terrace Arches, Central Park, New York, standing within a darkened space looking out at a grand staircase leading up into a brightly-lit day.

POV Bright Spots and Blind Spots

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Every narrative point of view has something it does well and something it doesn’t do as well. Here’s a look at how they compare.
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Links of Interest: May 14, 2025

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The latest in traditional publishing, audiobooks, AI, and newsletters.
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Not dead yet! HarperVia launches small-format paperback imprint

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Despite the decline of mass-market paperbacks, HarperVia is launching a line of pocket-sized paperbacks under the Nomad Editions imprint.
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New agent: Howland Literary

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Ashlee MacCallum has joined as a junior agent at Howland Literary. Previously she was an intern at Triada US.
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New publisher: Putman Publishing

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Doug Putman, owner of music retailer HMV UK, is launching a publishing company. The first imprint will publish music and pop culture books.
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Audible opens the door wide to AI audiobooks

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Audible will offer AI production technology to select publishers, first for narration and later for translated narration.
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Authors Guild files class-action lawsuit against the National Endowment for the Humanities

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In early April, the NEH terminated grants already approved and in-progress in order to repurpose funds for President Trump’s agenda.
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US Copyright Office says outputs of AI models could lead to market dilution

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The latest report says that certain uses of AI models may affect the market for copyrighted work, going beyond fair use boundaries.
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Library of Congress becomes political battleground

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After President Trump fired the Librarian of Congress and head of the US Copyright Office, Congress has decided to step in and push back.
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8th Note Press Doesn’t Make Good Use of the TikTok Platform

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The press launched by ByteDance hasn’t yet had a national bestseller or viral hit within the BookTok community.
Image: an illustration of a robot holding a red pencil.

The Hidden Costs of AI Copyediting Tools: An Editor’s Review

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AI copyediting tools are a mixed bag, performing some mechanical tasks well but with a tendency to introduce errors and flatten author voice.
Image: illustration of a man looking up at a ladder which is propped against the open page of an oversized book.

It’s a Book, Not a Slide Deck: Avoiding Fast-Content Habits in Nonfiction

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Bulleted lists and unbridled text formatting might work online, but overuse in a book can risk distracting readers instead of guiding them.
Image: a pair of unoccupied shoes sits at the edge of a puddle on a sidewalk. In the puddle is seen the reflection of the person who ought to be occupying the shoes.

Immersive Interiority: How to Collapse Narrative Distance to Get Emotion on the Page

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A few simple language shifts can take your reader from watching people on the page to feeling like they’re right inside the scene.
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Links of Interest: May 7, 2025

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The latest in AI, traditional publishing, culture & politics, bookselling, and trends.
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Authors Equity partners with German new adult romance imprint

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Starting this fall, Authors Equity will bring a number of bestselling LYX Books to North American readers on an expedited schedule.
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New Simon & Schuster UK award for unpublished authors of color

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Entrants must be a resident of Great Britain and be able to qualify themselves as coming from a minority ethnic background.
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New agent at Spencerhill

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Renee Runge has joined Spencerhill and seeks middle-grade and YA.
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New agent at SteelWorks Literary

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Julie Romeis Sanders was previously an editor at Bloomsbury Children’s.
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Working class writers initiative in the UK

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The Bee has been established in response to what its founders see as the “class crisis in the UK writing industries.”
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Maria Popova of The Marginalian is starting Marginalian Editions

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The longtime essayist and literary commentator is partnering with independent bookstore McNally Jackson to launch Marginalian Editions.
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On the List: Heat of the Everflame by Penn Cole

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Heat of the Everflame is the third novel in Cole’s debut four-part series, with book four yet to release.
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Kindle app on iOS devices now has Get Book button

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It’s now easier for Kindle users and other app users to pay for subscriptions and services while using Apple devices.
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About New York magazine starting a Substack

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More often, businesses are starting a Substack on the side to push discoverability of their offerings outside of the Substack ecosystem.
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NEA grants canceled by Trump administration; NEA senior officials resign

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NEA grant recipients started receiving emails that their grants were terminated or withdrawn effective May 31, 2025.
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Horror on the Rise: A Slew of New Imprints Accelerates Genre Growth

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Horror is experiencing a boom like it hasn’t seen since the 1980s.