Technology • Innovation • Publishing — Issue #152

Innovation

Twitter, Instagram may be integrating NFT auctions into their platforms

www.livemint.com

Superplastic’s ‘Synthetic Celebrities’ Janky And Guggimon Join NFT Push With Christie’s Help

www.forbes.com

Seems a bit bizarre: Superplastic’s ‘Synthetic Celebrities’ Janky And Guggimon Join Christie’s to launch a fake botched heist that creates thousands of NFTs

NFT Marketplace Jambb Launches with the World’s First Live NFT Comedy Special: Non-Fungible Jokin’

www.businesswire.com

Non-Fungible Jokin’ — they’re selling the jokes or parts of a live comedy performance as NFTs

Technology

In the Future, You Won’t Own Any Gadgets

gizmodo.com 
When you buy a device that requires proprietary software to run, the money you hand over is an entry fee, nothing more.

Pentagon cancels disputed JEDI cloud contract with Microsoft

apnews.com

The Pentagon canceled a disputed cloud-computing contract with Microsoft that could eventually have been worth $10 billion. It will instead pursue a deal with both Microsoft and Amazon and possibly other cloud service providers.

States bring a new antitrust suit against Google over its mobile app store

www.cnbc.com 
This is the fourth antitrust lawsuit U.S. government enforcers have filed against Google in the last year.

Amazon may be planning a third-party marketplace for media and ad tech vendors that offer services to publishers

digiday.com

HT @mediagazer

Roblox partners with Sony Music to connect artists with money-making activities in the metaverse

techcrunch.com

#gaming

Facebook is trialling a new topic-based ad option which puts an emphasis back on contextual advertising

www.socialmediatoday.com

HT @neilperkin

TikTok Is Testing Letting You Pay For A Video From Creators

www.buzzfeednews.com

Shoutouts will let you pay for a custom video from creators, like Cameo, but it is only currently available in select regions.

Publishing & Media

NPD Details Big Changes in Children’s Publishing

www.publishersweekly.com

HT @glecharles A lot of insights from Kristen McLean at @npdbooks, including

• “Manga went from a passionate niche category to something mainstream. This in my opinion is one of the few true white spaces in publishing,” as manga is expanding the comics audience by bringing in brand-new readers.

• Board books unit sales rose 19% year to date in 2021, a pace of growth that is one and a half times the rest of the kids’ print market (which is up 11% collectively). “There’s lots of competition from new and small presses with well-priced lookalikes taking share,” McLean cautioned. “It’s a supercompetitive part of the market. There are a lot of quick and nimble publishers muscling in on the space.”

• “An evergreen strategy is essentially investing in backlist that will keep selling.”

High Costs, Services Disruptions Plague Book Biz Supply Chain

www.publishersweekly.com 
Truck driver shortages, widespread port congestion, and skyrocketing container costs are among the biggest challenges facing the book industry supply chain for the rest of the year and into 2022, panelists on a July 6 BISG webinar looking at freight and shipping issues agreed.

Amazon, Publishers Seek to Delay Discovery in E-book Price-Fixing Case

www.publishersweekly.com 
In a filing this week, Amazon and the Big Five publishers said the plaintiffs’ claims of an e-book price-fixing conspiracy are implausible.

Can bookshops survive in the era of Amazon?

www.newstatesman.com

Interview with James Daunt, of Waterstones and Barnes & Noble.

100 Literary Jeopardy Clues from Real Episodes of Jeopardy!

lithub.com

It’s officially time to socialize again. But maybe . . . you’ve forgotten how? Here’s one way to break the ice/pass the time/celebrate your vaccinations with your book-reading friends: organize a day of literary Jeopardy!. (You can also just play by yourself, right here, right now.) To facilitate, I combed through this insane archive of every game of Jeopardy! ever played (YEP) and picked out 100 literary questions of varying difficulties.

Reese Witherspoon’s Media Company, Hello Sunshine, Is Exploring a Sale — www.wsj.com

Hello Sunshine, the media company founded by actress and entrepreneur Reese Witherspoon whose titles include the hit HBO drama “Big Little Lies,” is exploring a sale.

With Acquistion Complete, HarperCollins to Change Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Library E-book Terms

www.publishersweekly.com

In a notice sent to library customers via their vendors, e-book titles from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will soon be available via a 26-lend metered access model, a change from its previous perpetual access terms.

Why do so few men read books by women?

www.theguardian.com 
No matter if it is Austen or Atwood, the Brontës or Booker winners, data shows men are reluctant to read women — and this has real world implications

A Glowing Shrine to the Printed Word — www.nytimes.com

A mighty wall of books impresses in the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library, a transformed branch of the NY Public Library that bursts with new services and technology.

Baker & Taylor to Offer ‘Diversity Analysis’ Tool for Library Collections

www.publishersweekly.com 
Powered by the wholesaler’s collectionHQ technology, Baker & Taylor’s “Diversity Analysis” tool will help identify opportunities for libraries to evaluate their collections against industry-accepted diversity subjects.

Books for Africa Opens New Atlanta Warehouse — www.publishersweekly.com 
Books for Africa, a charity that ships donated books from the United States to schools and students in Africa, opened a new warehouse in Atlanta on June 26.

Email Newsletters Are a New Literary Genre

www.thecut.com 
The financial promise of email newsletters has enticed so many writers to launch so many micropublications that they have, in turn, created a new literary style. It’s the ultimate form for a moment where writers feel pressure to advertise themselves.

The Information is launching its first standalone publication

www.axios.com

Magazine publishers’ hidden treasure trove: Digital back issues

whatsnewinpublishing.com

#magazines

Publicis Media launches the Once & For All Coalition, a multi-year effort aimed at getting advertisers to invest in minority-owned media

variety.com

Amazon Prime & IMDb TV Ink Multi-Year Licensing Deal With Universal

deadline.com

HT @edmundlee Amazon agreed to pay $1 billion for exclusive rights to NBC Universal films after they play in theaters for a shortish pay window (10 months) across probably 3 years. This, after agreeing to pay $8 billion for MGM.

Peacock to stream new Universal films like Jurassic World within 4 months of theaters

www.cnet.com 
Movies like Jurassic World: Dominion and Minions: The Rise of Gru will stream on Peacock with a subscription costing as little as $5 a month — or, possibly, free. Then, they’ll head to Prime Video.

Resources & Opportunities

SLJ Picture Book Palooza — www.slj.com

MT @sljournal Join us July 15 for our very first SLJ Picture Book Palooza, an all-day, free virtual celebration of authors and artists dedicated to the visual dance and extraordinary craft of picture books!

Top Five Must-Haves for Accessible Publishing Workflows

us02web.zoom.us

HT @LauraB7 #eprdctn #a11y

Translation Prizes

societyofauthors.org

MT @Soc_of_Authors The TA First Translation Prize is open for entries until 8/1, with the £2,000 prize shared between translator and editor. #TranslationPrizes

IDA+XRM Media Incubator

www.documentary.org

RT @DocFilmmakersSA The IDA+XRM Media Incubator supports short vérité documentary films from around the globe, with an emphasis on emerging filmmakers and new perspectives. Application Period: July 5 — August 2, 2021.

Eric Carle’s World of Wildlife at the Bronx Zoo

bronxzoo.com

Beloved books by legendary children’s author Eric Carle come to life at the Bronx Zoo this summer with live performances, music, games, and other activities. #teamPRH