Innovation
Apple patent describes a Mac that fits inside a keyboard
www.techradar.com
The latest Apple patent to be published shows a keyboard that doubles up as a computer you can carry around with you.
Firm planning 100,000 satellites claims it will “clean space” by capturing debris
E-Space planning to launch 100,000 secure communication micro-satellites into low Earth orbit to help govts & large companies build space-based applications, using a peer-to-peer communication model & a multi-application cloud server in space.
Storytelling Canvas
RT @neilperkin This storytelling canvas (from social enterprise Stronger Stories) is a kind of mashup between the Business Model Canvas and the classic Hero’s Journey idea from Joseph Campbell and is a fantastic resource for those with a creative bent or just anyone interested in the power of storytelling. There’s even an example of how the canvas might be filled in (using the film ‘Don’t Look Up’ as an example). Nicely done. (HT @storythings.)
Technology
TikTok expands maximum video length to 10 minutes, “creeping in on YouTube territory”
TikTok has expanded the maximum length for videos on its platform to 10 minutes. The company has been offering longer and longer videos in recent years to compete with rivals like YouTube. #TikTok
Netflix is launching Trivia Quest, its first interactive daily quiz show, featuring 24 multiple-choice questions, on April 1 as an “experiment” — www.engadget.com
Netflix acquires Next Games in Finland, publisher of ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Walking Dead’ games, for $72M
Bandcamp, Epic Games and the Future of Fandom
ICYMI Epic Games (maker of Fortnite, 40% owned by Tencent) bought Bandcamp (indie music platform). This article says the future will have TikTok vs. Epic Games.
iHeartRadio modernizes the radio call-in with launch of ‘Talk Back,’ a tool for sending voice messages to show hosts
In a move to make radio and podcasts more interactive, iHeartMedia is launching a feature allowing listeners to participate with their favorite shows from the mobile app by sending voice messages to show hosts #podcasting
Publishing & Media
Amazon to shut its bookstores and other shops as its grocery chain expands
www.reuters.com
Amazon.com Inc said on Wednesday it plans to close all 68 of its brick-and-mortar bookstores, pop-ups and shops carrying toys and home goods in the United States and United Kingdom, ending some of its longest-running retail experiments.
Waterstones acquires Blackwell’s, the UK’s biggest independent bookseller
www.theguardian.com
Sale of 143-year-old family-owned business marks a further concentration of the industry
Brandon Sanderson raised $24M on Kickstarter! — so far…. — www.kickstarter.com
‘It’s huge, beyond anything in my career’: Publishing industry insiders explain how TikTok has sent book sales surging and how they’re trying to tap into the BookTook phenomenon — www.businessinsider.com
In 2021 and 2021, a subcategory of TikToks called BookTok helped sales reach a near 20-year high. Here’s how the publishing world is reacting.
AMC Networks launches book publishing arm
Dolly Parton Fans Slam Lawmaker for Asking if Book Program Is ‘Appropriate’ — www.newsweek.com
The Fight Over ‘Maus’ Is Part of a Bigger Cultural Battle in Tennessee — www.nytimes.com
State lawmakers, led by the governor, are rethinking what public school students should read and learn.
Indiana’s anti-CRT bill defeated
Major Book Statistics About Readers: Pandemic Edition
HT @LauraB7 Here’s how the pandemic has affected book statistics for sales, readership, and kids’ reading fluency over the last two years.
How My Class Staged Our Very Own National Book Awards
HT @annadobben “The real winners of our National Book Awards were the readers themselves.” On November 17, 2021, as panels of judges met to select the winners of the National Book Awards before that evening’s awards ceremony, similar meetings were taking place in my 9th-grade English class.
Margaret Atwood interview on The Tim Ferriss Show Podcast — tim.blog
RT @brainpicker So much to love about @tferriss’s conversation with @MargaretAtwood about writing, i.e. about becoming a person, i.e. about being a creature among creatures https://tim.blog/2022/02/22/margaret-atwood/…(Her “Practical Utopias” project is the most gladdening thing in eons: https://studio.disco.co/learn-live-with-margaret-atwood-course)
State of Ukraine : NPR
RT @NPRKelly New podcast alert: @npr’s State of Ukraine launching to deliver updates throughout the day, including newsmaker interviews & our reporters on the ground.
Rolling Stone, Meta (Facebook & Instagram) Team on Creator-Focused Festival and Event Series, Starting at SXSW
variety.com
Rolling Stone and Meta will host creator experiences at festivals and custom events throughout 2022, starting with SXSW.
The Atlantic spent two years studying what readers and listeners need. Here’s what they found
Gen Z shuns display ads, but loves native advertising
HT @BoSacks Young consumers in Gen Z are more likely to respond to TikTok style authenticity than to programmatic display advertising
NBCUniversal bets on video game advertising in deal with ad tech startup— adage.com
NBCUniversal will be able to connect brands with video game ad inventory through a deal with a video game ad tech startup. #gaming #advertising
Gannett’s headcount plunged 24% last year
The number of total employees at Gannett, the nation’s largest newspaper owner, fell 24% last year, and is now down by nearly half from the most recent reported headcount just before the 2019 merger which created the company.
Resources & Opportunities
Opportunities for writers, poets, and publishers for March 2022. — www.jamesmurua.com
HT @miralsattar
Renée Watson Scholarship
MT @reneewauthor ✨A special announcement ✨ The Renée Watson Scholarship annually supports a week-long independent writing retreat for a Black woman writer of children’s lit. Aspiring & published writers are invited to apply Deadline to apply: March 13th @HighlightsFound
WNDB Internship Grant Program
MT @diversebooks 🎊 The 2022 WNDB Internship Grant application is now OPEN! 🎊 Are you of a diverse background and looking to work in either children’s OR adult publishing? In our eighth program year, we continue to offer $3,000 grants for internships.
Worldwide Plays Festival for kids 6–18 years old
MT @WritopiaLab Our Plays Festival Submissions deadline is now March 8th! To submit your play to our festival, visit the link in our bio! #play #theater#writerscommunity
Black Women Impact Grants
HT @jkhoey Goldman Sachs Group has announced the Black Women Impact Grants program for Black women-led and Black women-serving nonprofits. It’s a $10 million grant program with an open call application process. Appl’n deadline is March 11 #BlackWomen #nonprofit
NYC Media Lab & Bertelsmann: NFT & Blockchain in the Music, Book Publishing & TV Industries
Ready to dive deep into the future of NFTs & blockchain in music, publishing & TV? Apply for the @Bertelsmann_com #NFT & #Blockchain Challenge by March 7th. NYC Media Lab and Bertelsmann are working together to launch an NFT and blockchain exploratory program for select university and startup teams. #teamPRH
NYPL celebrates Women’s History Month with self-guided tour — www.ny1.com
The exhibit includes Charlotte Bronte’s writing desk, a handwritten draft of Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” writer Virginia Woolf’s walking stick, and postcards from senators responding to suffragist Susan B. Anthony.
Heardle — Like Wordle, but for Music — www.heardle.app
HT @rachelsklar Guess the song from the intro in as few tries as possible.
Calling all new @WMG_NYC members: Sign up for a virtual, free, New Member Social with my Co-President Julie Blattberg on 3/9 6:30pm ET.
Authors and Marketers: Register for this free, virtual event 3/18 at 7pm ET. It’s FREE and open to all!
Members only, sign up for this free, virtual session on legal issues in publishing on 3/28 at 12pm ET.
WMG Members: DON’T MISS our free, virtual annual biz meeting on 3/30 at 12pm ET. Spend 30 minutes with Co-Presidents Julie Blattberg and me, and members of the board to vote in the new slate.