Not too much around Thanksgiving in innovation or tech, but lots to be grateful for in #BestBooks & WMG events!
Innovation
NFT: Virtual land sells for record-breaking $2.5M
On Thursday, a plot of land in Axie Infinity, an animated, metaverse pet-training game, sold for a record-breaking $2.5 million.
Technology
Spotify testing a TikTok-like video feed to help you discover new music
mashable.com
Spotify is reportedly testing a TikTok-like scrollable video feed called Discover, which will show users clips of music videos.
Spotify partnered with Netflix on hub that brings together music from their programming
The Netflix march into gaming continues
Italy fines Apple and Google for ‘aggressive’ data practices
Apple and Google have been fined €10 million apiece by Italy’s competition and market authority (AGCM) which has found they did not provide their users with clear enough information on commercial uses of their data — in violation of the country’s consumer code.
Amazon to open 260 supermarkets across UK as it plots to take on Tesco and Sainsbury’s directly — www.cityam.com
Amazon has developed detailed plans to storm the UK supermarket space as the e-commerce is plotting to open hundreds of cashierless grocery stores across the country in the next three years.
Publishing & Media
How to track book marketing activity and results
MT @miralsattar How to measure the results of your book marketing efforts. By @sandrabeckwith
A Robot Wrote This Book Review
HT @sandydiaz In “The Age of AI,” Henry Kissinger, Eric Schmidt and Daniel Huttenlocher explore how far artificial intelligence has come. #AI
‘Bookselling and Free Expression: A Conversation’
Here Are the Books Parents Want to Ban in Schools Now
www.vice.com
“Forget Tide Pods,” the American Library Association recently wrote. “The latest dangerous fad sweeping the nation is book challenges.”
100 Notable Books of 2021: The New York Times
www.nytimes.com
The year’s notable fiction, poetry and nonfiction, selected by the editors of The New York Times Book Review
Vote For the Best Book — The New York Times
www.nytimes.com
We asked readers to nominate their favorite books published in the past 125 years. Help us choose the very best, based on this list of finalists.
Oprah Daily’s Best Books of 2021
www.oprahdaily.com
2021 has been a banner year for books, which made it even harder to choose our favorites. But here are our top 20, guaranteed to feed your mind, heart, soul.
Best Books 2021: Books We Love : NPR — apps.npr.org
Here are 360+ great reads from 2021 handpicked just for you by NPR staff and trusted critics.
Best Books 2021 | School Library Journal
www.slj.com
After months of deliberation, the editors and our insightful reviewer committee members have selected 139 exemplary titles as the best books for children and teens published this year.
Here Are The Books That BookTok Is Highly Anticipating In 2022
www.buzzfeed.com
BookTok is a HUGE side of TikTok, and here’s what readers are the most excited for.
Exploiting the local news desert: Are political and foreign interests profiting from the locals’ loss? — www.editorandpublisher.com
In recent years at least 1,400 local news publications, most of them digital, have begun to fill America’s large and growing local news desert. But are they really “greening” that desert by filling it with legitimate local news? Or are they just trying to exploit it financially and politically?
Alden Capital Makes Offer To Lee Enterprises, Fourth-Largest U.S. Newspaper Chain
Vote for LEGO IDEAS — Gutenberg’s Printing Press — ideas.lego.com
RT @whattheythink Votes needed to immortalize Gutenberg in Lego set
Resources & Opportunities
My Birthday Month Fundraiser for WMG
Hi Friends, My birthday fundraiser closes this week!! Please consider it for #GivingTuesday. WMG actually went from providing 3 scholarships & fellowships in 2018, to 7 in 2020, to 9 in 2021. My goal is to get to 15 in 2022! Women’s Media Group Educational Foundation is a 501(c)3, so you can match if your company has a matching program. @WMG_NYC and I truly appreciate your support!!
4 WMG Socials to Choose From in Dec & Jan
WMG Socials are a fun and informal way for members to connect and really get to know each other. Our WMG Socials (formerly known as Small Group Dinners in pre-Covid times) are now virtual. For this round, we have WMG Board members as hostesses and a WMG Scholar as a special guest. FREE, members-only. There’s one this week that I’m hosting — hope to see you there!
WMG Holiday Party 12/9 6pm
Join WMG for a one-of-a-kind virtual party to celebrate the holidays with flair! Come celebrate with us, get to know your new fellow members, and reconnect with old friends. We’ll have guided breakout rooms with festive themes for intimate networking. FREE, members-only.
1/13 at noon — space limited!
The pandemic has made some of us rethink career choices and priorities. Are you thinking of making a change? Are you looking to pivot from one field to another? Would you like feedback on your elevator pitch? Do you want to put your dream job description out there in the universe and get some help finding the contacts to make it happen? Are you seeking advice about wanting to go on your own or freelance? Do you need tactical or moral support to embrace a new job search? Hosted by Chandra Turner, AKA @TheTalentFairy, a professional recruiter specializing in editorial and content roles. FREE, members only. Space is limited, so please only sign up if you plan on attending!!
FREE WMG event 1/19 7pm ET
Is one of your new year’s resolutions to finally start (or finish) your book? There’s tons of advice out there on how you “should” do it. But quite often, the advice doesn’t free up creativity; it constricts it. What if you could approach writing a book in a way that felt less like “work” and more fun and creative? What if you threw out the templates and did the whole thing backwards? Because you can. Join us for a fun evening that’s part discussion and part book launch with WMG member Terri Trespicio, author of Unfollow Your Passion: How to Create a Life that Matters to You (Atria Books, December 2021), and Richelle Fredson, founder of Purposeful Platforms and former head of publicity at Hay House. Come discover a fresh and nonlinear approach to crafting, sharing, and promoting your work. FREE for all!
1/26 from 6–7:30pm ET
We’re excited to welcome Alexandra Alter, publishing reporter for The New York Times, and Maris Kreizman, essayist, critic and host of The Maris Review on Lit Hub, for a far-ranging discussion on the seismic shifts in how we’re discovering, buying and consuming books and what the future holds for authors, publishers, retailers and readers. FREE for members, $15 for non-members.
2/1 at 7pm ET
There are an estimated 56% more job openings in branded content versus traditional journalism. That’s why we see an uptick in journalists and editors wondering how to break into this kind of content creation. And the truth is, branded content hiring managers would rather teach a journalist the basics of marketing than teach a marketer how to create compelling, editorial-like content (at least this hiring manager anyway). Another truth: creating content for brands can be fascinating and even fun — as either a gig or a career. In this session, we’ll cover: How to find a job or writing opportunity; what the work entails; and where the industry is headed. Hosted by Diane di Costanzo, VP/Editorial Director of the Foundry, a 12-year veteran of the branded content industry. FREE for members, $10 for non-members.
Headspace for Teens
Headspace is now FREE for all teens in the US. Pass the word!!