While I focus on Technology, Innovation, and Publishing, because I have a platform, I also flag items that I think are important, which you might have missed, and try to include a bunch of resources & opportunities. Please let me know what you think.

Important Items

Geeks & Nerds for Harris

https://geeks.forharris.org

Poets for Harris

https://poetsforharris.com

Technology

A New Group Is Trying to Make AI Data Licensing Ethical

The Dataset Providers Alliance calls for creators and rights holders to be able to opt in to having their material used for training purposes.

https://www.wired.com/story/dataset-providers-alliance-ethical-generative-ai-licensing/

Ensuring attribution is critical when licensing content to AI developers

HT @ThadMcIlroy Academic authors complained they didn’t have a say in any deals, questioned whether they would see any payment, were concerned about their work being regurgitated by potentially inaccurate machines, and wondered whether they would get any recognition for their work.

https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2024/09/04/make-attribution-mandatory-in-ai-licensing/

How I’m Using AI in Publishing: Amazon Vendor Central’s Hidden Gem

HT @BISG The author uses it to crunch Amazon search terms.

http://www.keithriegert.com/blog/2024/8/28/how-im-using-ai-in-publishing-amazon-vendor-centrals-hidden-gem

Canva says its AI features are worth the 300 percent price increase

Existing subscribers Canva teams subscribers are being moved to a new, more expensive pricing model.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/3/24234698/canva-price-increase-300-percent-ai-features

YouTube is making new tools to protect creators from AI copycats

The first tool, described as a “synthetic-singing identification technology,” will automatically detect and manage YouTube content that simulates your singing voice using gen AI.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/5/24236841/youtube-ai-detection-tools-creators-singing-deepfakes

Google tests its ‘Ask Photos’ AI assistant that understands what’s in your pics

Ask “Where did we camp last time we went to Yosemite?” “What did we eat at the hotel in Stanley?”Summarize what you did on a recent vacation, choose the best pics of your family

https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/5/24236817/google-ask-photos-ai-assistant-test

The Bands and the Fans Were Fake. The $10 Million Was Real.

Federal prosecutors charged a North Carolina musician with gaming the system to win royalties from streaming services including Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/05/nyregion/nc-man-charged-ai-fake-music.html?unlocked_article_code=1.JE4.3qJq.8oVWOp8lgy1Q&smid=url-share

Why A.I. Isn’t Going to Make Art

To create a novel or a painting, an artist makes choices that are fundamentally alien to artificial intelligence.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/why-ai-isnt-going-to-make-art

Why AI Can Push You to Make the Wrong Decision at Work

“When the AI provided an incorrect result, researchers found inexperienced and moderately experienced radiologists dropped their cancer-detecting accuracy from around 80% to about 22%. Very experienced radiologists’ accuracy dropped from nearly 80% to 45%.”

https://www.brainfacts.org/neuroscience-in-society/tech-and-the-brain/2024/why-ai-can-push-you-to-make-the-wrong-decision-at-work-090324

US, EU, UK, and others sign legally enforceable AI treaty

It lays out key principles for AI systems, including protecting user data, respecting the law, and keeping practices transparent. Each country must adopt or maintain appropriate legislative, admin, or other measures

https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/5/24236980/us-signs-legally-enforceable-ai-treaty

This Could Be the Start of Amazon’s Next Robot Revolution

The ecommerce giant has acquired a team to give robots greater intelligence and dexterity—potentially automating much more of its warehouse operations.

https://www.wired.com/amazon-covariant-robotics-deal/

Publishing & Media

Appeals Court Upholds Decision Against Internet Archive’s Book Scanning Program

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed a March 2023 lower court decision finding the Internet Archive’s program to scan and lend print library books is copyright infringement. “This appeal presents the following question: Is it ‘fair use’ for a nonprofit organization to scan copyright-protected print books in their entirety, and distribute those digital copies online, in full, for free, subject to a one-to-one owned-to-loaned ratio between its print copies and the digital copies it makes available at any given time, all without authorization from the copyright-holding publishers or authors? Applying the relevant provisions of the Copyright Act as well as binding Supreme Court and Second Circuit precedent, we conclude the answer is no,” the decision states.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/95865-appeals-court-upholds-decision-against-internet-archive-s-book-scanning-program.html

Kindle Unlimited Turns 10

Since Amazon’s subscription service was launched in 2014, the company says that 3 billion books have been read via Kindle Unlimited and that it has paid out over $3.5 billion to Kindle Direct Publishing authors.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/95849-kindle-unlimited-turns-10.html

The rise of the WhatsApp novelists

Why authors in Zimbabwe are channelling Dickens by serialising their novels through the messaging app

https://theweek.com/culture-life/books/the-rise-of-the-whatsapp-novelists

E-Textbooks Are More Popular Than Ever. Professors Still Don’t Trust Them.

Half of professors think students learn better w print materials—but demand from students & institutions is still pushing them to be more digitally focused

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-innovation/digital-publishing/2024/09/05/report-professors-believe-print-textbooks-are

BookTok’s 11 Most Talked About Books Of The Year (So Far)

HT @KathMSchmidt ⁩

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-lists/booktok-best-books-1235090973/

The 32 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2024

HT @KathMSchmidt ⁩

https://time.com/7011159/best-books-fall-2024/

California Passes Freedom to Read Act to Curtail Book Bans

HT @veronikellymars Joining several other states that have passed anti-book ban acts in the last two years–Illinois, Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, Vermont, and Washington–the California legislature has officially signed off on a bill to curtail book bans across the state. It enshrines the importance of libraries to democracy with a bill that aims to end book bans, retaliation of library workers, and protecting library materials.

https://bookriot.com/california-passes-freedom-to-read-act-to-curtail-book-bans-governor-to-sign/

Penguin Random House, 5 Additional Publishers, & Authors Guild File Landmark Lawsuit Against State of FL for Unconstitutional Book-Banning Provisions

Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster, and Sourcebooks have filed a lawsuit against FL public officials, challenging sweeping book removal provisions of HB 1069, an education law that restricts books in school libraries. The additional plaintiffs joining the publishers are the Authors Guild, bestselling authors Julia Alvarez, Laurie Halse Anderson, John Green, Jodi Picoult, and Angie Thomas, two students, and two parents. As a result of HB 1069, hundreds of titles have been banned across the state since the bill went into effect in July 2023. The list of banned books includes classics such as Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, as well as contemporary novels by bestselling authors such as Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume, and Stephen King. Among nonfiction titles, accounts of the Holocaust such as The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank have been removed. #teamPRH

https://global.penguinrandomhouse.com/announcements/penguin-random-house-5-additional-publishers-authors-guild-file-landmark-lawsuit-against-state-of-florida-for-unconstitutional-book-banning-provisions-with-house-bill-1069/#

Resources & Opportunities

Discuss the Do’s and Don’ts of Career Pivots with with WMG Fundraising Co-Chair Carol Hoenig

WMG Members: Join the waitlist for this in-person dinner w Fundraising Co-Chair Carol Hoenig. 9/18 6pm.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-5843584

Discoverability: Get Your Content/Services in Front of Your Target Audience

Join WMG for a tips-filled hour about improving the discoverability of your books, media, services, websites, or other content in a modern, noisy AI-powered marketplace. 9/19 6-7pm ET. FREE for WMG members; $15 for non-members.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-5835394

Rewriting the Script: Empowering Women Beyond Gender Narratives

As women, our thinking, mindsets, and behaviors have been shaped by societal influences that often prevent us from reaching our full potential, leaving us feeling undervalued, underpaid, and unsupported in our growth. Using her deep research on Latina women as a model for all women, Valeria Aloe will address the entrenched remnants of machismo, colorism, scarcity, and ideas about femininity that have impacted all of us. A special segment of this session will offer an insightful overview of the Latino market and mindset in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.

9/24 12-1pm ET via Zoom. FREE for WMG members; $15 for non-members.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-5853120

Walk & Talk in Central Park with WMG co-President Jennifer Perry

WMG Members: Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to walk & talk with Co-President Jennifer Perry, a superb Central Park history buff. 9/28 10:30am.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-5843548

Pitch Call

Via @job_writers

https://x.com/job_writers/status/1831038419822137484

Agents & Editors: Sign up for ##Pitblk

Taking place 9/21-9/25

https://forms.gle/Q2FjWbNCsdjRGRt88

What Agents Want from Querying Authors

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jXZgnKLaTgCMSKC35uX4Gg#/registration

60+ publishers you can query without an agent

Via @nadinebells

https://www.nadine-bells.com/book-publishers-you-can-submit-to-without-an-agent

Fall Submissions at Hub City Press

https://www.hubcity.org/publishing

Graywolf Open Submission Period for Contemporary Poetry in Translation

https://www.graywolfpress.org/about-us/submissions

Literary Journals Opening for Submissions

Via @laughingyeti

https://x.com/laughingyeti/status/1832490643563643016

Database of Medium Publications You Can Submit Your Writing To

https://www.chillsubs.com/browse/medium?page=1&sortBy=az&publicationSearch=&keywordSearch=&open=false

2025 Irish Retreat Registration Application

Via @AriannaSidd

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeY_8DNe1qup5SxvxzQmH4b9Ad29_g0fhqLyaTyrrK295aESw/viewform

A free calendar of paid journalism internships and fellowships with upcoming deadlines

Via @mandyhofmockel

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/embed?src=er06vtjd12h86b4rej5bts6p6c@group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/New_York

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