Technology • Innovation • Publishing — Issue #200

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If you have something you can auction or donate (e.g., critiquing a query letter, holding an AMA zoom, raffle a signed book), please consider offering it with receipt of a donation to an abortion rights fund. See my twitter feed at @ksandler1 for tons of examples from #authors#editors#agents#writers#artists, including #RomanceForRoe @WhatChoice22 / #WhatChoice@JustinRColon @kaitfeldmann.

Innovation

Snap, in partnership with Vogue, unveils new fashion-related augmented reality lenses at Cannes Lions for Virtual Try-ons — wwd.com

Virtual fashion try-ons at Cannes — with Snapchat — with runway looks from Balenciaga, Gucci, Stella McCartney, Dior and more. #AR

Cosmo Let AI Design Its Latest Magazine Cover — www.adweek.com

Cosmopolitan enlisted the artificial intelligence program Dall-E 2 to help design the cover for a new issue. #AI

Technology

The Metaverse Standards Forum

metaverse-standards.org

Meta, Epic Games, NVIDIA, Microsoft, Sony, and others are coming together to agree upon open standards for the metaverse, via the newly-launched Metaverse Standards Forum. Missing are Apple, Alphabet, Roblox, Niantic, Snap, others.

The metaverse could be tech’s next trillion-dollar opportunity: These are the companies making it a reality — www.cbinsights.com 
The metaverse is one of the hottest buzzwords in tech, and this far-reaching vision of a next-gen internet will rely upon an entire ecosystem of companies to make it a reality. We cut through the noise to explain what the metaverse is, how it’s being built, and who’s building it.

Meta Pulls Support for Tool Used to Keep Misinformation in Check

www.bloomberg.com

RT @PENamerica Researchers who depend on CrowdTangle — a tool used to find social media’s worst content — are worried about what happens when it goes away as Meta has been reducing its support for the product.

Amazon uses kid’s dead grandma in morbid demo of Alexa audio deepfake

arstechnica.com

#AI

China’s Surveillance State Is Growing. These Documents Reveal How — www.nytimes.com

ICYMI A New York Times analysis of over 100,000 government bidding documents found that China’s ambition to collect digital and biological data from its citizens is more expansive and invasive than previously known.

Amazon’s workforce turnover is so high that it could run out of people to hire by 2024

www.vox.com

ICYMI In a leaked Amazon memo, the company warns that it is running out of people to hire in the US. #Amazon

Publishing & Media

How media startups can launch minimal viable products

simonowens.substack.com

Via @simonowens

Inside the Push to Diversify the Book Business — www.nytimes.com

ICYMI For generations, America’s major publishers focused almost entirely on white readers. Now a new cadre of executives like Lisa Lucas is trying to open up the industry. #teamPRH

PRH Partners With Aesop for Second Year to Launch Queer Libraries Across America

global.penguinrandomhouse.com

#teamPRH

‘We’re Book Activists’: On Juneteenth, Recognizing The Role Of LA’s Black-Owned Bookstores — laist.com

ICYMI Malik Muhammad, the owner of Malik Books, spoke about the importance of Black-owned bookstores.

Madrid Book Fair Draws Three Million Visitors — www.publishersweekly.com

17 days, 3 million people, 10 million euros of books sold at the Madrid Book Fair — up 2% over the last, pre-pandemic year of the fair in 2019.

The Bronx is Reading Bookstore

ifundwomen.com

Some good news: @bronxisreading won an award and is closer to bringing a children’s bookstore to the Bronx.

Book challenges in Virginia Beach should be dismissed, Barnes & Noble, authors say

www.pilotonline.com

Barnes & Noble and the authors and publishers of “Gender Queer: A Memoir” and “A Court of Mist and Fury” respond to allegations that the books are obscene for children and should be restricted. #censorship

111 Queer Books Recommended by Librarians, Booksellers, and Authors — lithub.com

While we celebrate queer literature and history all year long at Lit Hub dot com, we also love a good book list.

The 25 Most Significant New York City Novels From the Last 100 Years

www.nytimes.com 
Four writers and one bookseller gathered over Zoom to make a list devoted to fiction in which the city is more than mere setting.

Obamas’ Higher Ground Inks First-Look Deal With Audible After Ending Spotify Pact — variety.com 
President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama are going into business with Audible, the Amazon-owned audio storytelling platform.

Tribeca Enterprises will launch Tribeca Audio, a podcast network dedicated to curating audio content year-round

variety.com

Tribeca Festival’s first podcast, ‘Tribeca Audio Premieres,’ will launch its first episode July 13. #podcasting

The Economist Group: Digital drives double-digit growth

whatsnewinpublishing.com

HT @paulkbiba

Dotdash Meredith’s ‘Parents’ Launches Kindred, Site For Black Parents

www.mediapost.com

Equal Entertainment has acquired Pride Media, the publisher of Out, The Advocate, Pride and other LGBTQ magazines, returns to LGBTQ Ownership— www.mediaite.com

News Corp Australia’s new audience prediction technology will encourage journalists to change words and story angles to attract new subscribers

www.smh.com.au

Newspaper publishers always want to learn more about readers. But how far will a publication go to get someone to pay? #journalism

Mellon Foundation Awards $600,000 to Digital Preservation Outreach and Education Network

www.infodocket.com

HT @paulkbiba

Resources & Opportunities

Blk + Brwn Book Designers

bnbbookdesigners.com

Did you know that there’s a resource to find Black & Brown Book Designers? If you are looking for talent, check out https://bnbbookdesigners.com. If you are a Black or Brown Book Designer, use the hashtag #bnbbookdesigners & tag @bnbbookdesigners in your Instagram post.

A beginner’s guide to inclusive UX design — uxdesign.cc

RT @uxforthewin Since most #UX education tends to overlook #InclusiveDesign, I’ve created this beginner’s guide.

…what it is

…why it matters

and lots of resources: books, videos, courses, articles, etc. which I will be periodically updating.

Pitching to the press

buildbookbuzz.com

HT @miralsattar MT @sandrabeckwith I recap for #authors @WilfDinnick’s insights into what journalists want from expert source pitches #IndieAuthor

2022 [margins.] Literary Conference + Festival

www.thewordfordiversity.org

RT @wordisdiversity Register today for the 2022 [margins.] Literary Conference + Festival. Join us to learn from agents, publishers, authors, editors, journalists and more publishing industry experts through agent pitch sessions, panels, workshops, meetups, & more. #amwriting #writers #margins

Free virtual event for Members of BookMachine or WMG — bookmachine.org 
Meet, mingle and chat online with BookMachine and Women’s Media Group members on Tuesday 28th June, from 6–7pm BST (1–2pm EST)!

News Equity Fund — Google News Initiative

newsinitiative.withgoogle.com

HT @AshleyAlese If you’re a news publisher serving an underrepresented audience anywhere in the world, apply to the News Equity Fund until 7/21.

2022 Midterm Election Events Calendar

www.cnn.com

RT @SueGreenbergPR Primaries on Tuesday. #VOTE

Where Can I Run for Office?

wherecanirun.org

RT @runforsomething We’re not letting go of our reproductive rights without a fight — but we need you in this battle with us. Protect our right to choose by running for state or local office. We can show you how.

What Companies Can Do Now to Protect Digital Rights In A Post-Roe World

www.eff.org

RT @EFF Dear employees at tech companies — here’s what you can do RIGHT NOW to protect the data of abortion seekers and providers.

Go to an incognito/Tor browser first! Via https://www.plancpills.org.

A Guide to Abortion Resources in a Post-Roe America

www.wired.com

Via @wired Most people don’t think about abortion until they need one. But with the right to access under threat, the time to plan is now.

Note: Please go to an incognito browser or use Tor before going to this resource if you are in one of the banned states.

You can now schedule vaccine appointments at city-run sites for kids under 5

vax4nyc.nyc.gov