Innovation
The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Verizon Launch Interactive Virtual Art Experience
The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Verizon launched The Met Unframed, an immersive virtual art and gaming experience, which features more than a dozen one-of-a-kind digitally rendered galleries and nearly 50 works of art.
Olympics Delay Lets NBC Develop AI for Ad Objectives to Maximize Tokyo Return — sports.yahoo.com
Technology
Over 1,000 brands ran ads alongside election misinformation — www.axios.com
From Oct. 1 through Jan. 12, nearly every major brand in America inadvertently ran automated ads on websites peddling election conspiracies and misinformation.
Amazon launches $1.2 mobile Prime Video plan in India — techcrunch.com
MT @michellemanafy Amazon launches mobile-only, more affordable Prime Video plan in India
Nearly 6,000 Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama will vote next month on forming the first union in the company’s history
www.businessinsider.com
Amazon has long been staunchly opposed to its workers unionizing, but employees in Alabama will vote on unionizing in a mail-in election next month.
Publishing & Media
First Public Working Drafts: EPUB 3.3 — www.w3.org
The EPUB 3 Working Group has published four First Public Working Drafts for EPUB 3.3. This technology defines a distribution and interchange format for digital publications and documents. The EPUB format provides a means of representing, packaging, and encoding structured and semantically enhanced Web content — including HTML, CSS, SVG, and other resources — for distribution in a single-file container. (In other words, ebooks on the Web.)
Misinformation dropped dramatically the week after Twitter banned Trump and some allies — www.washingtonpost.com
ICYMI RT @michikokakutani Online misinformation about election fraud plunged 73% after several social media sites suspended President Trump and key allies last week, underscoring the power of tech companies to limit the falsehoods poisoning public debate when they act aggressively
For Journalists: Coalition Inauguration Resources
MT @AttorneyNora The next days will be challenging for reporters & newsrooms. Our coalition — Am. Press Institute, Election SOS, First Draft, Hearken, PEN America, Protect Democracy & Trusting News — culled resources to help keep you safe & w/ tips on covering unrest.
With New Platform, Comics Entrepreneurs Hope to Boost Local Shops— www.nytimes.com
ICYMI Comic book fans can look forward to another way of shopping, when a new platform, the Comic Book Shopping Experience, debuts on Facebook #comics
Pandemic helps push audience for textbook publishers into the digital age
HT @BISG For Cengage, digital represents 82% of the higher-ed revenue #HigherEd #TextbookPublishing #AcademicPublishing
Sourcebooks Donates $200K in Justice Ginsburg’s Memory — www.publishersweekly.com
The one-time donations came from profits on sales of the 2021 ‘The Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Wall Calendar,” which was conceptualized and created in less than a week after Justice Ginsburg’s death in September 2020. #teamPRH
Hagens Berman Files Class Action Lawsuit Against Amazon Over eBook Monopoly
lunch.publishersmarketplace.com
Following news of a longstanding investigation of Amazon’s control over the ebook market by the Connecticut Attorney General, class action law firm Hagens Berman sued Amazon in the US District Court of New York’s Southern District.
Apple Plans Podcasting Subscription Service in Threat to Spotify
Apple — long considered the sleeping giant in the podcast space — is waking up. The company, which runs the most widely used podcasting app in the industry, is discussing launching a new subscription service that would charge people to listen to podcasts.
Google has been blocking some news sites in Australia from search users amid a battle over paying news publishers
Publishing Veteran Christian Trimmer to Head Relaunch of MTV Books
In a partnership with Simon & Schuster, the relaunch aims to advance MTV Entertainment’s book-to-TV/film pipeline and lead to the discovery of unique voices. #BookToScreen
People Are Reading So Much Fanfiction It’s Crashing the Biggest Fanfic Website — www.vice.com
Don’t worry Heat Wave fans — it’s not just you.
2021 Adult Science-Fiction and Fantasy Book Releases by Authors of Color — dulivreblog.com
RT @dulivre It’s time to escape to new worlds! I’ve put together a master list of 2021 adult SFF book releases by authors of color.
A regularly updated blog tracking brands’ responses to racial injustice— adage.com
RT @adage Starbucks set to invest $100 million in a new community resilience fund, and more in our blog tracking brands’ responses to racial injustice
Melinda Gates Is Donating $250,000 to Fund a Literary Award Just for Women — www.oprahmag.com
The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, which comes with an award of $150,000, will be awarded starting in 2023. It recognizes achievement in fiction by women.
Medium Acquiring Glose
HT @sarafischer Glose CEO will become VP books at Medium.
Univision enters the streaming wars with free, ad-supported “Prende TV”
www.axios.com
The service will feature both live, linear channels and on-demand content.
289 million ebooks borrowed from libraries in 2020 — americanlibrariesmagazine.org
Overdrive reports that libraries all over the world collectively loaned more than 289 million ebooks in 2020, a 40% increase from 2019. Audiobooks also gained last year, but not as much as ebooks because people were commuting less. The report says 138 million audiobooks were checked out in 2020, a 20% increase from 2019.
Ursula K. Le Guin Stamp
MT @ursulakleguin We are delighted to announce that the 33rd stamp in the US Postal Service Literary Arts series honors Ursula. Stamp release will be later this year, date TBD. From then on, all our letters will be three ounces! Thank you @USPS for this distinction.
Resources & Opportunities
#DVCon
RT @DV_con registration for #DVcon2021 is now open! check out the PDF of our program schedule here https://drive.google.com/file/d/12Y_tiSvbj7YghNVqpMGT5LJvOX7HY0eG/view?usp=sharing… and register for your events at http://dvpit.com/register!
SCBWI Celebrates #OwnVoices — www.scbwi.org
MT @AuthorsGuild Introducing @scbwi’s #OwnVoices series of digital workshops and seminars aimed to discuss the process of creating stories outside the dominant culture. Free & open to the public!
Kweli Color of Children’s Literature Conference
Calling all Latinx writers!
MT @LatinosInKidLit An opportunity for Spanish-speaking Latinx writers: Calling all Latinx writers! Do you have a great idea for a children’s story? Is there a narrative you wish you’d had the chance to read about in elementary school? As we launch our new Spanish Reading Comprehension i-Ready program, we are looking for authentic and engaging fiction/non-fiction content from a diverse group of writers. If you have a story you’d like to tell, tell us your pitch! The deadline for pitch submissions is Jan 31.
Making sure Latinas join the journalism industry — and remain in it.— www.latinajournalists.com
MT @andreagonram If you’re a Latina journalist and one of your 2021 goals is to find a mentor, I have good news for you! Our 50 mentors are available to help out. Don’t be shy and book a call with one of them today
Bronx Poet Laureate
RT @LatinxinPub #ICYMI #BronxPoets may apply for the Bronx Poet Laureate position until Friday, 01/29/21 — Poetas del Bronx pueden aplicar para el puesto “Bronx Poet Laureate” hasta el viernes, 29 de enero del 2021.
Penguin Random House Creative Writing Awards
#teamPRH MT @diversebooks Applications for @penguinrandom’s 2021 Creative Writing Awards are now open! Public High School seniors can win up to $10,000 in scholarship funds. #CWA
‘SNL’ And ‘Second City’ Announce Scholarships For Diverse, Emerging Comic Talent
www.npr.org
A new scholarship sponsored by SNL covers the costs of training at Second City for comedians starting out in their careers.
The 2021 A Public Space Writing Fellowships
RT @apapertrail Heads up to writers who might not know: The beloved @APublicSpace is open for writing fellow applications
Neon Hum Editor Bootcamp — boards.greenhouse.io
MT @pod_ppl The @neonhummedia Editor’s Bootcamp is for historically underrepresented folks who want to improve their podcasting skills! BIPOC and LGTBQ+ community storytellers are encouraged to apply.
Ready, Set, Go: Creating a Platform that Works for You and Your Community — PEN America — pen.org
MT @PENamerica Don’t forget to sign up for our FREE You Are A Writer workshop on 1/20 led by @ashberry813, @theSoniaG, @Eloisa_Amezcua& @SbwyBookreview founder Uli Beutter Cohen! Participants will learn how to build an audience for their work and literary community
Nonfiction Fest — www.nffest.com
RT @GloriaAmescua Nonfiction Fest is free and absolutely wonderful with great author guests. Retweet widely. #nonfiction #kidlit, #kidlit411, #12by12 #kidlitlatinx @LasMusasBooks @PBTroupe21 #nonfictionfest#writingcraft @NFFest
Progressive Women’s Voices 2021
RT @womensmediacntr We are now accepting submissions for our premier media and leadership training program: Progressive Women’s Voices 2021! Women who are eager to dive into the media conversations on today’s most important issues, apply by midnight PST Sunday, March 14!
COVID-19 Memorial | Inauguration of Joe Biden & Kamala Harris 2021
RT @BidenInaugural This Tuesday, January 19 we are bringing Americans together to honor the lives lost to COVID-19. Light a candle in your window for our nationwide moment of remembrance.
You Can Get Your Girl Scout Cookies Delivered by Grubhub — lifehacker.com
Bid today! Public Speaking Master Class with Tricia Brouk, Former TEDx Organizer & Author of The Influential Voice, via Zoom — www.charitybuzz.com
MT @jkhoey Just what your presentation skills need: Public Speaking Master Class with Tricia Brouk, Former TEDx Organizer & Author of The Influential Voice, via Zoom. Bid now for a career boost via @charitybuzzand benefit @WMG_NYC scholarships! #publicspeaking #speaking