Traditional Publishing
- Bestselling novelist Emily Henry succeeds without tours or being on TikTok. However, readers on TikTok still talk up her books and help spread the word. When pushed to get on TikTok herself, Henry refused. Her last five books have hit number one on bestseller lists. Read Elisabeth Egan at the New York Times (gift link).
- A profile of thriller novelist Freida McFadden. McFadden is a Boston physician who writes under a pseudonym to protect her relationship with her patients. She self-published for a decade before signing with Sourcebooks and kept her ebook and audiobook rights; Kindle Unlimited accounts for 60 percent of her revenue. Her 23 books have sold more than 6 million copies, making her the fastest-selling thriller writer in the US, outpacing James Patterson, David Baldacci, and John Grisham. Read Alexandra Alter at the New York Times (gift link).
- The CEO of Barnes & Noble comments on Tattered Cover. James Daunt visited the store recently and said, “Barnes & Noble isn’t coming in, as such. It’s providing all of the structure. We’re there to provide all that is necessary for the teams to run a good bookstore. Tattered Cover is going to figure out how it becomes Tattered Cover again.” His comments match what he says about every bookstore that he oversees. Read Judith Kohler at the Denver Post.
- Coloring book bestsellers helped launch Blue Star Press. The Oregon-based Blue Star Press just bought better-known Sasquatch Books (1,000-title backlist); it also hired people formerly with Callisto Media, known for its number-crunching approach to acquiring new titles. About 90 percent of Blue Star’s products are generated in house. Read Jim Milliot at Publishers Weekly.
- It’s been three months since SPD closed. What have small presses done? It appears that many have found new distributors and taken advantage of available aid. According to a survey, 80 percent are confident they will remain open. Read Jim Milliot at Publishers Weekly.
Amazon
- Have you experienced an Amazon KDP account termination? Dave Chesson at Kindlepreneur offers a seven-minute explainer on why these warnings occur and what to do if you’re affected. Watch at YouTube.
- Amazon’s practices call into question the US trademark registration system. Amazon’s influence on business behavior through its own Brand Registry has resulted in the US Patent and Trademark Office getting swamped with applications to register for trademark. Two academics note, “Amazon’s impact raises profound questions for trademark law and for law more generally. … Amazon’s effect on the legal system is unprecedented in scale and scope.” Read the paper.
Libraries
- Harry Potter audiobooks now available in libraries. Stephen Fry’s narration of the Harry Potter series is now available to libraries via Hoopla. Read the press release.
AI
- Will AI become embedded in everything, or will it be a supervisory layer? Tech industry analyst Ben Evans distinguishes between two strategic paths: embedded AI (like with Apple’s new iOS this fall) and AI used as a separate application, as with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Read at his site.
- Universal Music strikes AI deal involving voice data. Singers retain ownership of the AI product as well as artistic approval and control over its use. Theoretically, an artist could record a new album without actually singing a single word themselves. Read Emma Wilkes at MusicTech.
- Meta will train on your public posts unless you opt out. More likely than not, your data has already been used for AI training, and there’s no surefire way to opt out if you live in the US or a country without a national data privacy law. Read Melissa Heikkilä in MIT Technology Review.
- Tim O’Reilly, well respected in the media and tech world, offers a solution for fixing “AI’s original sin.” This is a long read and ultimately describes a way for rights holders to get paid when AI models produce derivative content based on their intellectual property. Read at O’Reilly.
- Author Laura Kipnis explains why she and other authors have agreed to be turned into AI reading companions. An ideal author for the technology is someone with experience talking to the general public—who knows how to make books come alive. Read at Wired.
- Time strikes licensing deal with OpenAI. Time says the deal is part of a broader effort to “expand access to its content to younger and more diverse audiences globally.” We say the deal is about grabbing some cash while it’s available. Other media companies that have already struck deals: Atlantic, Vox Media, News Corp (includes Wall Street Journal), and the Associated Press. Read Sara Fischer at Axios.
Culture & Politics
- Governor Ron DeSantis vetoes all arts and culture grants in the state. He has given no explanation for doing so, other than it was in the best interest of the state. Read Patricia Mazzei in the New York Times (gift link).
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.