- Amazon has been effective in cracking down on KU scammers. In a recent issue, we asked Amazon about their efforts to prevent scamming of the Kindle Unlimited per-page payout system, and they responded that they were actively policing the situation. This thread at Kboards gives a thorough look at where and how Amazon’s policing is now having a visible effect. It may not be related, but KU’s subscription reads dropped in April; the pool of funds paid out remained flat, and payment per page rose 3.7 percent.
- The independent literary publisher Milkweed Editions is opening a bookstore in its hometown of Minneapolis. They anticipate their stock will be made up of 25 percent Milkweed titles; the rest will come from other publishers—especially literary ones. Find out more at MPR News.
- Get ready: Instagram will be debuting business accounts soon. An article from TechCrunch offers screenshots and discussion of the functionality to come.
- In more literary publishing news, Farrar, Straus and Giroux has launched an experimental imprint called MCD/FSG. The announcement says the imprint will “create a space to publish work and experiment with publishing styles, forms, and genres that are at the edges of FSG’s traditions and/or are new enough to have no tradition.” Read more at Publishers Weekly.
- In the UK, Bonnier has acquired the mass-market nonfiction publisher John Blake. Read more in the Bookseller.
- Germany’s Bastei Lübbe has acquired Egmont’s romance imprint LYX as well as INK.
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.