Links of Interest: July 19, 2023

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Traditional Publishing

  • Why Colleen Hoover? Former New York Times book review editor Pamela Paul reads Hoover’s books and dissects their undeniable resonance. Read (gift link).
  • Time magazine spends 48 hours with Colleen Hoover. A reporter goes behind the scenes at Hoover’s Book Bonanza, a romance-book convention that Hoover created and runs with her two sisters. Read Lucy Feldman at Time.
  • A history, in essays, of modern American book publishing. The co-founder of Running Press has put together an anthology with contributions from Dick Snyder, Nan Talese, and many others. You have to be really interested to buy it, though: It’s a $200 hardcover. Read Jim Milliot in Publishers Weekly.

Bookselling

  • A UPS strike may be on the horizon. If you have an upcoming author event, take note. Read Mary Whitfill Roeloffs at Forbes.
  • Tattered Cover is now headed up by a lawyer with expertise in bankruptcy. The legendary Denver-based bookstore was sold in 2020 not long after the owners made a controversial statement regarding Black Lives Matter. Now the store has appointed an interim CEO; he runs a law firm that specializes in restructuring and bankruptcy proceedings. Read more at Shelf Awareness.

AI

  • The Associated Press has struck a deal with OpenAI. It’s a two-year agreement to share access to news content dating back to 1985. In exchange, AP will get access to OpenAI’s tech and product expertise. Read Sara Fischer at Axios.
  • A famous author is reportedly stuck in contract negotiations over AI. On Twitter, author Maureen Johnson claims that a major publisher wants to train AI on the work of a “Very Famous Author.” She notes, “This person will talk publicly when they can. They can’t right now.” Read the entire thread.

Amazon

  • Amazon changes sourcing for book sales in Europe. Claiming it’s necessary to meet sustainability goals, Amazon now requires US publishers to make their books available closer to point of sale in Europe, rather than shipping from where they are printed. Of course this raises the costs for publishers, not Amazon. Read Jim Milliot in Publishers Weekly.
  • Amazon’s Audible has a new chief content officer. This article includes a stat that Audible controls an estimated 63 percent of the audiobook market. Read Amrita Khalid at Hot Pod.
  • No more Kindle in China. Amazon is discontinuing its Kindle presence in China and will remove the Kindle app from Chinese stores by next summer. Read Sovan Mandal at Good E-Reader.

Culture & Politics

  • Mississippi law makes it difficult for minors to access digital materials through the library. That includes access to ebooks, audiobooks, and other digital media through Libby and Hoopla. Learn more from PEN America.
  • Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor’s staff has prodded colleges and libraries to buy her books. Due to open records requests, the AP has found that the justice’s staff pitch officials on buying copies of signed books in connection with Sotomayor’s speaking appearances. Read Brian Slodysko and Eric Tucker. In a companion report, Tucker examines how book sales prove an irresistible lure toward profits.
  • It takes two sides to make a culture war. Here’s an unconventional take on book banning (or challenges, depending on your perspective) from Canadian publisher Kenneth Whyte. Read at SHuSH.
  • The death of sports books. One journalist says, “If I’m online, I need to tweet about basketball, which means I have to watch the games. And if I’m watching the games and making astute observations smart enough to be said on a podcast or included in my story, it means I’m not doing the book. … It’s this vicious cycle.” (Editor’s note: This is why I haven’t yet finished the new edition of my book.) Read Jordan Teicher at Esquire.
  • Dating advice from the early 2000s is back! Among the titles now popular again due to TikTok: Why Men Love Bitches; He’s Just Not That into You; and Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus. Read Daisy Schofield at i-D.