Links of Interest: June 3, 2026
The latest in marketing & promotion, traditional publishing, AI, and culture & politics.
Premium Content
Everand and Fable launch shared subscription
Everand (formerly Scribd) subscribers will get access to Fable at the $11.99 level, syncing activity from Everand to Fable.
Library associations express concern about pricing for ebooks and audiobooks
This debate has been going on for years, and libraries have limited leverage, but new state bills have started to push the envelope.
American Bookseller Association reports 19 percent membership growth
More than 600 brick-and-mortar, pop-up, and mobile bookstores were added in 2025, many of them reflecting the growth of romance and romantasy.
What Makes a Book Take Off on TikTok?
A panel at this week’s US Book Show offered insightful perspectives from a BookTok influencer and a publisher’s director of digital marketing.
New business imprint at University of Florida Press
The University of Florida Press is launching Warrington Press in partnership with the university’s college of business.
Pirated audiobooks create problems for publishers and authors
The combination of AI narration and YouTube advertising has created a new, profitable form of infringement.
New audiobook features from both Spotify and ElevenLabs
They include AI-narration for self-publishers, personalized AI-generated daily podcasts, human-narrated longform journalism, and more.
On the List: How to Be Okay When Nothing Is Okay by Jenny Lawson
Lawson’s new book shares tools and tricks she relies on when her brain isn’t working properly due to depression, anxiety, and ADHD.
New agency: Two Script Studio
The agency will support producers and screenwriters who want to turn film and TV projects into novels early in their development.
Links of Interest: May 27, 2026
The latest in traditional publishing, self-publishing, legal issues, and culture & politics.
Audible’s Royalty Plan Changes: How Indie Authors Plan to Adapt
I spoke with three self-publishing novelists who have distinctive business models and different levels of involvement with Amazon and Audible about the new AYCL royalty model.
New agent: Lowenstein Associates
Ava Grayson is actively building her list in literary fiction, horror, romantasy, gothic, YA, romance, fantasy, and narrative nonfiction.
New fellowship for literary narrative nonfiction
The fellowship is intended to support writers whose projects engage with the collections of the NYPL flagship Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.
Texas Book Festival launches Burro Libro Press
The publishing imprint will focus on debut literary fiction by emerging writers with strong ties to Texas.
Links of Interest: May 20, 2026
The latest in AI, traditional publishing, marketing & promotion, and culture & politics.
Did your publisher fail to register copyright for your work?
The Authors Guild wants to hear from authors excluded from the Bartz v Anthropic settlement due to a publisher’s failure to register for copyright.
Audiobook narrators, voice actors and podcasters sue tech companies
The tech companies are accused of scraping the voices of actors from the internet and using them to train AI without the notice or consent.
Winner of Commonwealth Short Story Prize accused of AI use
Scandals like this will continue unabated if AI use is prohibited and/or taboo but detection and enforcement is left in the hands of readers.
Book sales update (AAP): sales increased 0.9% for first quarter 2026
Audio consumption is the big winner. With adults, fiction is up and nonfiction is down, while the children’s/YA market is just the opposite.
Federal court orders reinstatement of National Endowment for Humanities grants
Given that the administration has ignored other judicial orders, it’s unclear whether the government will pay out the money owed under the grants.
Prominent children’s author says “94.7 percent of kids’ books are crud”
The children’s writing and publishing community did not take kindly to this opinion and demanded an apology from author Mac Barnett.
“We are an AI inputs company”: a media executive really did say that
News Corp, parent company of HarperCollins and the Wall Street Journal, is negotiating deals with tech companies, seeking licensing income.
Pine State Publicity launches agenting arm
Pine State Literary is led by Zoe-Aline Howard and focuses on literary fiction and narrative nonfiction that speaks to rural and middle America.
On the List: A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry
Rosanne Parry is the author of nine novels for young readers, which have been translated into more than 14 languages.
Bo-sco: new scouting service for TV/film producers
Believing the book-to-screen pipeline is missing what’s worth finding, UK-based author Arianna Reiche has launched a page-to-screen IP scouting service.
Links of Interest: May 13, 2026
The latest in traditional publishing, scams, culture & politics, and AI.
The Children’s Middle-Grade Slump: How Bad Is It?
Sales data suggests a return to pre-pandemic normalcy, but backlist dominates and it’s tough for new books and authors to break out.
Eerdmans launches new nonfiction imprint
The imprint will tackle existential questions for readers wherever they are on the spirituality spectrum.
New nonfiction imprint from Bloomsbury India and Say Again Press
The imprint will publish titles across sports, health, autobiography, and business.
Chronicle accepting unagented children’s work through May 10
In honor of Children’s Book Week, Chronicle is accepting unagented manuscripts through May 10.
New children’s imprint at TokyoPop
Starting this fall, TokyoPop Kids will publish manga, graphic novels, picture books, chapter books, and middle-grade novels.
Links of Interest: May 6, 2026
The latest in traditional publishing, marketing & promotion, culture & politics, and AI.
New AI lawsuit against Meta, filed by multiple publishers plus Scott Turow
This latest AI lawsuit seeks class action status against Meta for pirating millions of books to train Meta’s LLM, Llama.
Authors Guild expands and streamlines contract guidance on AI
The Guild has consolidated all AI-related contract clauses—existing ones and new provisions—on a dedicated page on its website.
How Self-Published Authors Thrive on TikTok
We spoke with three authors in the fantasy genre about what TikTok success looks like and how they achieved it.
New horror imprint at Penguin Random House UK
3AM Books will be PRH’s first dedicated horror imprint. The first title, FAWN by debut author and journalist CN Vair, will release this August.
New horror micro-press: Grave Empire
A bookseller in Houston has launched Grave Empire, a one-man publishing operation dedicated to horror fiction.
New nonfiction imprint: New Modern Arcade (UK)
The imprint is the second to be announced by Putman Publishing, run by Pete Selby and Doug Putman, owner of music retailer HMV UK.
Gotham Ghostwriters publishes AI guidelines for writers, editors, and authors
The guidelines address usage, disclosure, and tips on understanding and managing AI risks.
New children’s imprint at Little Brown Children’s
Alvina Ling Books will release 15–20 titles per year starting this fall, with an emphasis on fiction, from board books to YA.
Canadians now have an alternative to shopping at Amazon
Booksellers.ca is the first online bookselling platform to serve both the English- and French-language readers across Canada.
New publisher: Lost Kite Editions
The Minneapolis-based nonprofit publishes fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction from underrepresented writers.
Links of Interest: April 29, 2026
The latest in traditional publishing, the New York Times, culture & politics, and AI.
Audible’s ACX discontinuing legacy royalty model
The service is shifting to a pooling model where audiobook royalties are affected by how much an Audible member consumes in a month.
On the List: This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page
The novelist studied bestsellers to learn what could help her reach a wider audience, and identified two crucial elements to incorporate.
New agent at Mansion Street Literary Management
Katie Ferriello has joined as literary agent, focusing on romance, fantasy, and children’s literature.
Links of Interest: April 22, 2026
The latest in traditional publishing, bookselling, culture & politics, and AI.
High claim rate in Anthropic lawsuit: 91 percent
That breaks down to 119,876 claims that account for 440,490 of the 482,460 works on the official list.
Comprehensive Q&A about Draft2Digital fees
Author Kevin McLaughlin has addressed the change in a long FAQ based on his conversation with D2D CEO Kris Austin.