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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. I took a hiatus during my sabbatical, so this is a few week’s worth of links. Please let me know what you think.

Important Items

Covid-19 may increase the risk of heart attacks, strokes and deaths for three years after an infection, study suggests

MT @luckytran New large study finds COVID may increase risk of heart attacks and strokes three years after infection. Unlike other infections, the elevated heart risks from infection did not appear to diminish over time, a striking finding that the researchers say is “unique to COVID.”

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/09/health/covid-heart-attack-stroke-risk/index.html

I’m Running Out of Ways to Explain How Bad This Is

MT @anneapplebaum This is not just a misinformation crisis. We are living through a full-scale assault on anyone who lives in reality: weathermen, scientists, first responders, doctors.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/10/hurricane-milton-conspiracies-misinformation/680221/

Save Public Libraries and Schools By Voting Down-Ballot

One of the most crucial things you can do to save democratic institutions is to vote for board seats and other down-ballot initiatives. By @veronikellymars.

https://bookriot.com/save-public-libraries-and-schools-by-voting-down-ballot/

Technology

Microsoft starts paying publishers for content surfaced by Copilot

Reuters, Axel Springer, Hearst Magazines, USA Today Network, and The Financial Times are signed on for Copilot Daily. Microsoft won’t reveal how much it’s paying publishers, nor the other terms of the arrangements, but the company did say it plans to add publishers.

https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/01/microsoft-starts-paying-publishers-for-content-in-copilot/

Meta strikes multi-year AI deal with Reuters

MT @sarafischer Meta’s first news deal in the AI era…They struck a multi-year deal with Reuters to use its news content for real-time answers to user queries about news in its Meta AI chatbot

– Reuters is a fact checking partner but never had news tab deal

https://www.axios.com/2024/10/25/meta-reuters-ai-news-facebook-instagram

Platforms and Publishers: AI Partnership Tracker

HT @JaneFriedman Bookmark this list of publishers who made deals w AI companies

https://petebrown.quarto.pub/pnp-ai-partnerships/

OpenAI and Hearst strike content deal

OpenAI is entering a content deal with Hearst, after striking similar deals with Hearst rivals Conde Nast and Dotdash Meredith.

https://www.axios.com/2024/10/08/openai-hearst-ai-content-deal

How The Economist is using AI to extend its global reach

HT @ThadMcIlroy The Economist has found a way to publish AI-written translations without human intervention.

https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/how-the-economist-is-using-ai-to-extend-its-global-reach/

Penguin Random House books now explicitly say ‘no’ to AI training

The copyright page on new books and reprints now says they can’t be used or reproduced ‘for the purpose of training artificial intelligence.’ #teamPRH

https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/18/24273895/penguin-random-house-books-copyright-ai

Murdoch’s Dow Jones, New York Post sue Perplexity AI for ‘illegal’ copying of content

The news publishers seek to differentiate Perplexity from search engines, which they argue allow for the discovery of their work, not a substitution for it, according to the lawsuit.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/murdoch-firms-dow-jones-new-york-post-sue-perplexity-ai-2024-10-21/

OpenAI, Microsoft fund $10M Lenfest Institute AI local news project

MT @sarafischer OpenAI & Microsoft are jointly funding a $10M AI local news project managed by The Lenfest Institute for Journalism

—$5M funding for fellowships, $5M credits for OpenAI and Azure products

—No data licensing deal, just funding experimentation/fellowships

https://www.axios.com/2024/10/22/openai-microsoft-ai-news-fellowship

AI is ushering in a new generation of creators that publishing should embrace

Per Nadim Sadek, Founder of Shimmr AI.

https://www.thebookseller.com/comment/craft-and-creativity

Was Linguisitic AI Created By Accident?

HT @ThadMcIlroy “A.I. now is probably where chemistry was in the Middle Ages,”

https://www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-artificial-intelligence/was-linguistic-ai-created-by-accident

Google’s AI search summaries officially have ads

If you’re searching for ways to get a grass stain out of your pants & ask Google, its AI-generated response will offer tips and suggestions for products to purchase that could help you remove the stain

https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/3/24260637/googles-ai-overview-ads-launch

Google to Try Out a New Disruptor for Media

Google is testing a new feature that will give users a snapshot of a publisher’s content without sending traffic to the publisher

https://www.seroundtable.com/google-quick-view-button-on-recipes-38222.html

Amazon’s new Fire tablets have AI inside

Fire HD 8 tablet will have it, and Fire HD 10 and Fire Max 11 tablets will get it. Tools include a writing assist feature built into the keyboard and webpage summaries when using Amazon’s Silk browser.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/2/24260392/amazon-fire-hd-8-tablet-ai

Publishing & Media

Spotify paying audiobook publishers hundreds of millions annually

HT @LWShanley Without Spotify, the audiobook industry in the U.S. grew 14% in unit sales between Q4 2022 and Q4 2023, according to Bookstat. With Spotify, it grew 28%.

https://www.axios.com/2024/10/15/spotify-audiobooks-publishers

For Book Recommendations, People Are Always Better Than Algorithms

Via @mariskreizman

https://lithub.com/for-book-recommendations-people-are-always-better-than-algorithms

More than half of children’s books with diverse main characters are by white authors, report finds

HT @inkbitspixels Marcus Satha, co-founder of Inclusive Books for Children, said: “Commissions to create storybooks for younger children with main characters of colour, and disabled and neurodivergent protagonists, have been fulfilled primarily by white, able-bodied, neurotypical creators. Meanwhile, Own Voice representation in certain categories, by age and by marginalised group, remains vanishingly small. This approach is out of sync with the changing attitudes and demographics of the UK. Seeking out more diverse Own Voice talent and investing in their stories will likely pay significant dividends, over many years, to publishers brave enough to move away from the status quo.”

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/more-than-half-of-childrens-books-with-diverse-main-characters-are-by-white-authors-report-finds

Digital Divinity: Ancient Traditions Meet Modern Technology

HT @FOSTorg Explore this unique and interactive “illustrated storybook” that documents how technology is transforming religious practice across faiths and cultures.

https://restofworld.org/series/digital-divinity/

‘I love the whole atmosphere and can spend hours browsing’: how did bookshops suddenly become cool?

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/oct/11/i-love-the-whole-atmosphere-and-can-spend-hours-browsing-how-did-bookshops-suddenly-become-cool

The Magic of Making Books

https://crimereads.com/the-magic-of-making-books/

Inside the Political Book Machine

HT @KathMSchmidt Every election season, American readers cling to buzzy political books. But how do publishers make plans despite an uncertain outcome, and how do their decisions influence the national conversation? Insiders take Esquire behind the scenes. By @svershbow.

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a62682278/book-publishing-elections/

Going the Distance: The State of Children’s Publishing in Translation

MT @bookcritics For Publishers Weekly, and in honor of World Kid Lit Month, NBCC member @emkantor spoke with publishers about the current landscape of children’s books in translation, and how they are bringing more voices from around the globe to readers in the U.S.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/95982-going-the-distance-the-state-of-children-s-publishing-in-translation.html

The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books

Many students no longer arrive at college—even at highly selective, elite colleges—prepared to read books. It’s not that they don’t want to do the reading. It’s that they don’t know how. Middle and high schools have stopped asking them to.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/11/the-elite-college-students-who-cant-read-books/679945/

Can the media survive?

57 of the most powerful people in media on its future: Big tech, feckless owners, cord-cutters, restive staff, smaller audiences … and the return of print?

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/digital-media-industry-press-journalism-future.html

Most U.S. counties have little to no local news sources

MT @sarafischer 🚨🚨Most US counties now have little to no local news sources

—Number of counties at high risk of losing all local news jumped 22% this year

—While there’s been an uptick in digital news sites, the vast majority serve metro areas, not rural news deserts

https://www.axios.com/2024/10/24/most-us-counties-have-little-to-no-local-news-sources

Media trust hits another historic low

MT @sarafischer 💢Media trust has hit another historic low ahead of this year’s election

— Media is now the least-trusted civic and political institution surveyed by Gallup

— Worrisome trend: Trust declining mostly among young people

https://www.axios.com/2024/10/15/media-trust-gallup-survey

How pirate websites undermine research integrity

Unlike publishers, pirate websites have no incentive to confirm accuracy of articles they illegally harvest or ensure research meets ethical standards. More than 45K retractions have been identified since 2010.

https://www.researchinformation.info/analysis-opinion/how-pirate-websites-undermine-research-integrity

Why typewriters are having a renaissance in the digital age

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-typewriters-are-having-a-renaissance-in-the-digital-age

Dracula author’s lost story unearthed after 134 years

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g9119l64qo

Banning Books Isn’t Just Morally Wrong. It’s Also Unhealthy

If there’s any time in history that our young people have been in critical need of radical imagination, it’s now. If humans are to deal, as a collective, with everything from religious bigotry to racial injustice to environmental disaster, our future leaders, teachers, artists, and politicians need to imagine radical possibilities for the world. They will need to enact a radical empathy, a radical love toward those both like and unlike themselves.

https://time.com/7094430/book-banning-health-consequences/

A South Carolina Public Library Won’t Buy New Books for Those Under 18

Thanks to a new proviso in the South Carolina state budget, at least one public library system in the state has made the decision to acquire no new books for those under the age of 18. In a statement released across York County Public Library’s social media late last week, the library board chair announced the moratorium on new purchases until the State better clarifies what is and is not permitted in public libraries.

https://bookriot.com/york-county-library-book-buying-moratorium/

Resources & Opportunities

Celebrating the Women and Art of Children’s Books

11/21 5:45pm ET. $15 for members, $25 for non-members. With Selina Alko, Vashti Harrison, and Cecilia Ruiz. Moderated by Carolina Schwarz. During National Book Awards Week, join Women’s Media Group in partnership with the Society of Illustrators to celebrate a diverse group of women illustrators of children’s books. The main event will be a panel discussion, where each artist will speak about her career journey, her approach to illustration, and some of her recent work. There will also be time before and after the event to enjoy the Museum of Illustration’s prestigious annual “The Original Art” exhibit, which showcases the fine art of children’s book illustration. Following the panel, enjoy a cocktail, light bites, and conversation in the beautiful historic 128 Bar, the Society’s unique gallery and gathering space.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-5913885

WMG Members: Apply to the Rise Fund!

MT @WMG_NYC 🚀 Ready to rise? 🚀

WMG’s Rise Fund boosts your career & projects!

Got a big idea or ready for the next leap? 🌟

💥 Access resources

💥 Mentorship & networking

💥 Innovation support

Deadline: 10/31 Apply now!👇

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe8byBHTI-3AtCIWRMTxwtP9K-TKEJXkE07x3-c9hDaVJEaow/viewform

Call for Pitches

Via @job_writers

https://x.com/job_writers/status/1849891674014499211

ALA Scholarship Program

MT @ALALibrary Need help paying for library school? More than $300,000 is available annually through the ALA Scholarship Program. Applications are due March 1st.

https://www.ala.org/educationcareers/scholarships

2025 Creative Writing Awards

MT @penguinrandom Applications for the 2025 CWAs are NOW OPEN! 🙌 Penguin Random House is partnering with We Need Diverse Books for the 2025 Creative Writing Awards—with a new James Baldwin Award for Fiction, in honor of the 100th birthday of the literary legend and civil rights champion. 📚 #teamPRH

https://social-impact.penguinrandomhouse.com/our-awards/u-s-creative-writing-awards/

2025 NYWICI Student Scholarships

MT @NYWICI NYWICI is accepting applications for its scholarship program, designed for students pursuing careers in communications, marketing, advertising, and related fields. The application deadline is January 10, 2025.

https://nywici.org/advance/students/

CLMP Announces New Funding Opportunity for Former SPD Client Presses

MT @jenbenka Was your press affected by the abrupt closure of Small Press Distribution? CLMP has a new one-year funding opportunity to support stabilization in this transition year thanks to the Mellon Foundation.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/newsbrief/index.html?record=5011

Say it Out Loud

MT @pronounced_ing Hey! Join me Tues 10/29 at SAY IT OUT LOUD, an online reading to raise funds for Harris/Walz. 7 women writers, reading about the America we want to see. All benefit the Harris campaign. Register 👇

https://www.sayitoutloudevent.com

Kathy’s Birthday Fundraiser for The Feminist Press

For my birthday this year, I’m asking for donations to The Feminist Press Inc., where I am on the board. I’ve chosen this nonprofit because their mission means a lot to me, and I hope you’ll consider contributing as a way to celebrate with me. Every little bit will help me reach my goal.

https://www.facebook.com/donate/1107661634049878/1107661650716543

Everything You Need to Vote

Find out about early voting and see a sample ballot. I voted early in NYC and it was easy peasy – highly recommend!

https://www.vote.org

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