Links of Interest: September 27, 2023

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Traditional Publishing

  • An interview with KKR leader on the Simon & Schuster acquisition.KKR hopes that within the next two years, all employees will have an opportunity to make considerable money through stock options. That also means educating employees on the business and how it profits, which should be interesting. Read Megan Greenwell at Slate. For a critical reading of this interview, see Kathleen Schmidt at Publishing Confidential.
  • Learn about the history of Indigo bookstore. Back when Indigo’s strategy shifted to include lifestyle merchandise, the now favored James Daunt strategy (it’s all about the books, silly) was considered backward. Read Kenneth Whyte at SHuSH.
  • An academic suggests there’s a Minimum Viability Threshold for books. After completing PhD research on what makes books sell, Dr. Kerry Pray identified marketing-related factors that she believes can predict how successful a book will be. Listen to the Publishing Rodeo podcast. (H/t to reader Jessica Payne!)

AI

  • Is your book part of the corpus that trained generative AI models like ChatGPT? The Atlantic has made a searchable database available and your book is likely mentioned. Read Alex Reisner (sub may be required; if so, try searching the same corpus here).
  • Stephen Fry, who narrates the Harry Potter books, says his voice has been replicated and used without license. He claims his voice is being used in a documentary without his participation. Read Bruce Haring in Deadline.
  • Spotify will use AI to replicate podcasters’ voices and translate them into other languages. The feature relies on OpenAI technology. Read Ashley Capoot at CNBC.
  • New audiobook collection of public domain works, created by AI. A collaboration between Project Gutenberg, Microsoft, and MIT has converted 5,000 book files into audiobooks using a new neural text-to-speech technology. Learn more.
  • AI companies are now hiring creative writers. You’ll find job postings across multiple languages for poets, novelists, playwrights, and writers with advanced degrees. AI companies want new stories on specific topics to feed into AI models. Read Andrew Deck at Rest of World.

TikTok

Trends

  • The end of the long tail: While it may seem like there’s an unlimited amount of material now available digitally, the truth is that some things aren’t available or stop being available—and they can be very hard to procure. Read Sam Adams at Slate.
  • Streaming music payments today are based on the number of plays—but that may change. At Spotify, for example, each artist gets a payout that’s based on their percentage share of total track plays. That means tracks of random white noise get the same payout per play as Beyonce. But new deals are being struck for “professional artists.” Read Umar Shakir at The Verge.

Amazon

  • As expected, the FTC has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon.The FTC is joined by 17 state attorneys as well. The main complaint: Amazon engages in exclusionary conduct that prevents current competitors from growing and new competitors from emerging. Learn more at the FTC.
  • Learn more about Amazon’s recent category changes. The insights come from Dave Chesson at Kindlepreneur. Watch on YouTube.
  • Also: Learn about category changes from a children’s publishing perspective. Indie author Darcy Pattison explains the importance of the changes and what to look for. Read at Indie Kids Books.

Culture & Politics

  • Texas judge officially blocks Texas book rating law. The law would require booksellers and vendors to rate, based on sexual content, the books they sell to public schools. In his ruling, the judge writes, “The government has the power to do the contextual ratings for the books itself. The government has the power to restrict the ability of its school district as to which books it may purchase. The exercise of these powers must, of course, comply with the requirements of the constitution, but these are powers that should be exercised by the state directly. Not by compelling third parties to perform it or risk losing any opportunity to engage in commerce with the school districts.” However, an appeals court has issued a stay (not uncommon), so the matter remains up in the air. Read Andrew Albanese at Publishers Weekly.
  • Politicians argue over book bans. Senators say that book bans fall under state purview, not federal. Read Savannah Kuchar at USA Today.
  • Pultizers expand eligibility. Some non-US citizens can now compete in categories for books, drama, and music in 2025. Read at the Associated Press.