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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. I also try to include some resources & opportunities. Please let me know what you think.

Important Items

White Supremacist Incidents Are Rising Across the U.S.

Flash demonstrations intended to spread fear and anxiety are happening almost weekly, say experts who track the incidents.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/us/trump-neo-nazi-anti-government-groups.html?unlocked_article_code=1.cE4.LJ7f.jwMAlhHgWjKM&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Op-Ed: Feeling despondent? So am I. Then I remembered, books can help. 

(If you experience signs or symptoms of depression and they persist or do not go away, talk to a health care provider. If you see signs or symptoms of depression in someone you know, encourage them to seek help from a mental health professional. Or In the U.S., call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Or use Lifeline Chat.)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/11/14/books-election-coping-essay/

Resources to Combat Online Harassment of Women

MT @womensmediacntr The online harassment of women, sometimes called cybersexism or cybermisogyny, is specifically gendered abuse targeted at women and girls online. If you’re being targeted, here are some resources.

https://womensmediacenter.com/speech-project/tools-resources

Innovation

Aerleum plans to turn CO2 directly into fuel for cargo ships and, eventually, airplanes

Aerleum developed material that absorbs CO2 & transforms it directly into fuel for cargo ships & airplanes, reducing direct air capture costs.

https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/14/aerleum-plans-to-turn-co2-directly-into-fuel-for-cargo-ships-and-eventually-airplanes/

Technology

HarperCollins AI Licensing Deal

Guidance for authors from the Authors Guild.

https://authorsguild.org/news/harpercollins-ai-licensing-deal/

Microsoft is the mystery AI company licensing HarperCollins books, says Bloomberg

The deal will reportedly allow Microsoft to improve an as-yet-unannounced AI model by training it on licensed nonfiction books.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/19/24300893/microsoft-ai-training-deal-harpercollins-report

Indian news agency sues OpenAI alleging copyright infringement

ANI, one of India’s largest news agencies, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI alleging copyright infringement for using content to train AI + generating false information attributed to ANI.

https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/18/indian-news-agency-sues-openai-alleging-copyright-infringement/

OpenAI accidentally deleted potential evidence in copyright lawsuit

OpenAI had agreed to provide 2 virtual machines so that the NY Times & Daily News could search for their copyrighted content. But on 11/14, OpenAI erased the publishers’ data on 1 of them

https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/22/openai-accidentally-deleted-potential-evidence-in-ny-times-copyright-lawsuit/

Author Turned His Book into Interactive Text Adventure Game w AI

MT @stevenbjohnson I turned my latest book into an interactive text adventure with a 400-word prompt. As with NotebookLM’s audio overviews, it would have been impossible without long-context AI models. An essay (with playable game!) on where long context is taking us.

https://thelongcontext.com

AI Chatbots Defeated Doctors at Diagnosing Illness

The doctors didn’t listen to AI when AI told them things they didn’t agree with. Using ChatGPT did NOT help doctors improve diagnostic accuracy or reasoning. The AI alone outperformed ALL of the humans.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/17/health/chatgpt-ai-doctors-diagnosis.html?unlocked_article_code=1.bk4.jlzU.ZiZyt-bqykIg&smid=em-share

People Can’t Tell AI From Shakespeare — They Prefer AI’s Verse, Per Study

A large U. of Pittsburgh study (N=16,340) found readers struggle to distinguish AI-generated poetry from human-written poems, often rating AI higher than works by renowned poets like Shakespeare.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/torconstantino/2024/11/15/people-cant-tell-ai-from-shakespeare—they-prefer-ais-verse-study/

The AI Reporter That Took My Old Job Just Got Fired

A local newspaper in Hawaii experimented with AI-generated presenters to engage and boost its readership. After two months, the bots have been shelved.

https://www.wired.com/story/the-ai-reporter-who-took-my-old-job-just-got-fired/

Perplexity’s AI search engine can now buy products for you

“Buy with Pro” allows subscribers to purchases products thru its AI search engine using saved information, including free shipping.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/18/24299574/perplexity-ai-search-engine-buy-products

This ‘AI Granny’ hack wastes telephone scammers’ time with boring chit-chat

Daisy embraces “human-like rambling chat” to keep scammers talking, w the purpose of wasting their time w stories of family, knitting, + divulging made-up bank details.

https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/15/ai-granny-scambaiter-wastes-telephone-fraudsters-time-with-boring-chat/

A Roadmap to AI Utopia

https://time.com/7174892/a-roadmap-to-ai-utopia/

Robots chisel out the future of sculpture as some artists embrace change and others push back

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/robots-future-of-sculpture-some-artists-embrace-change-others-push-back-60-minutes-transcript/

Elon Musk tried to buy Substack last year

HT @JaneFriedman

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/18/business/media/substack-politics-newsletters.html

Monotype Acquires Extensis

A big deal in the font and typography world.

https://www.monotype.com/company/press-release/monotype-announces-acquisition-extensis

Publishing & Media

Hachette Acquires Union Square & Co. from Barnes & Noble

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/industry-deals/article/96521-hachette-acquires-sterling-publishing-from-barnes-noble.html

Canada’s Valsoft Acquires Edelweiss

Montreal-based software company Valsoft Corporation has acquired Above the Treeline, Inc., developer of Edelweiss. The move follows Valsoft’s majority stake purchase in publishing software Klopotek in August 2023.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/industry-deals/article/96560-canada-s-valsoft-acquires-edelweiss-expanding-role-in-publishing.html

Amazon Music Adds Monthly Audible Title Access to Subscription Service

Subscribers to Amazon Music Unlimited in the U.S., UK, and Canada can now listen to one audiobook per month from Audible’s catalog for free.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/audio-books/article/96522-amazon-music-adds-monthly-audible-title-access-to-subscription-service.html

Why Representation in Publishing Matters

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/96511-why-representation-in-publishing-matters.html

Why do men read less fiction?

https://www.today.com/life/men-reading-fiction-rcna179463

Spredges effect: why books are becoming more beautiful

Sprayed edges, intricate foils, gilded endpaper—the industry is seeing an increased demand for books with a decorative “aesthetic.”

https://www.thebookseller.com/features/spredges-effect-why-books-are-becoming-more-beautiful

NBN to Close, Clients Offered Opportunity to Move to S&S

More indie book publishing distribution nightmares: In another sign of the changing economics of distribution in the publishing industry, independent distributor National Book Network (NBN) will close next year, with its approximately 150 clients offered the chance to move to Simon & Schuster Distribution Services. Following the collapse of Small Press Distribution in March, the pending exit of NBN from the distribution business leaves Independent Publishers Group as the remaining independent distributor of significant size in the United States, although a number of smaller distributors, including Asterism Books and Itasca Books, have grown their client lists in the wake of the closure of SPD.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/96515-national-book-network-to-close-clients-offered-opportunity-to-move-to-simon-schuster.html

Crayola and Audible Team Up to Encourage Creativity in Kids

Crayola and Audible released a series of downloadable Imagination in Action activity sheets that allow listeners to engage with select children’s Audible Original stories. As kids listen to the audio programs, they can do a hands-on coloring or sketch project that corresponds with what they’re hearing. Parents and educators who would like their kids to take part and are new to Audible can obtain a two-month trial membership to the platform free of charge. The recently launched Kids Profile feature on Audible provides parental controls to ensure a kid-friendly listening space.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/96491-crayola-and-audible-team-up-for-creativity.html

How a Gen X Graphic Novelist Reinvented the Romance Comic

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/18/books/review/charles-burns-final-cut.html

How The New York Times’ R&D team enriches narratives

https://digitalcontentnext.org/blog/2024/11/21/how-the-new-york-times-rd-team-enriches-narratives/

We Need Diverse Books Marks 10 Years and Looks to the Future

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/96507-we-need-diverse-books-marks-10-years-and-looks-to-the-future.html

Florida Department of Education releases list of over 700 banned books in K-12 schools

The Florida Department of Education released a list of over 700 books that were “removed or discontinued” from districts throughout the state last school year. That’s an increase of almost 400 books from the list they released a year ago, for the 2022-2023 school year. This includes classics like “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut along with newer favorites like “Looking for Alaska” by John Green. Florida Freedom to Read Project Director Stephana Ferrell called the list an undercount, and she’s worried that even according to DOE data, book bans continue to rise in the state. “A lot of them removed many, many books, including classic literature and literature that regularly appears on the AP exams and prepares our students for college level coursework.” Ferrell said a few parents and residents still make up the bulk of these challenges.

https://www.cfpublic.org/education/2024-11-11/florida-list-banned-books-schools

Wilson Co. Schools removes 425 book titles to comply with Tennessee law on sex, violence

The Dr. Seuss children’s book “Wacky Wednesday” is one of five books that has been removed from elementary school shelves, according to the list. Thirty-seven of the books were from middle school grades and more than 380 titles were from high schools. Author Sarah J. Mass had 14 titles removed, and Ellen Hopkins had 10. Seven Stephen King titles were removed, including “The Green Mile.”

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/wilson/2024/10/24/book-bans-tennessee-wilson-county-schools/75820332007/

Resources & Opportunities

Do.Not.Miss WMG’s Holiday Party at Gotham Comedy Club!

Even more comics announced! We need a laugh. We need community. We need a drink. (Or two.) Check out the star-studded line-up: SARAH COOPER, JUDY GOLD, LANE MOORE, NEGIN FARSAD, MIA JACKSON, KAREN BERGREEN w emcee OPHIRA EISENBERG! Come hear these funny women and help women get scholarships. Celebrate Women’s Media Group’s 50th anniversary year at our holiday party at Gotham Comedy Club 12/4. Sign up now! ALL are welcome – please spread the word.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-5937841

Disability in Publishing Virtual Social

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/disability-in-publishing-virtual-social-tickets-1080166108909

How to Write a Query Letter for Novels – Virtual Workshop

MT @Sarah_Nicolas I’m doing my Queries 101 class again! Free to BIPOC, queer, disabled, & marginalized folks and a reasonable fee for everyone else.  Please share.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/queries-101-tickets-1093518085029

Binc Launches Year-End Fundraising Campaign

Thirty prominent authors, led by inaugural Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation ambassador Ann Patchett and current Binc ambassador Amor Towles, have added their names in support of @BincFoundation’s year-end fundraising campaign, “I Stand with Book and Comic Stores.” The campaign kicked off with a $15,000 matching gift from Penguin Random House; all gifts will be matched dollar for dollar up to a total of $15,000. Until December 31, donors at the $100 level will receive one Libro.fm audiobook credit, and donors at the $500+ level will get three audiobook credits. #teamPRH

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/newsbrief/index.html?record=5074

$30,000 Scholarship Opportunity for Spelman & Morehouse Students

https://wearevalues.com/snipesxspelhouse

National Teen Art Contest: Freedom to Read

RT @nypl Teens! Submit original art to NYPL’s contest on the theme of books, reading, censorship, and intellectual freedom for the chance to win $500, get published in NYPL’s Teen Voices magazine, and have your winning entry exhibited! Deadline: Dec 6

https://www.nypl.org/spotlight/freedom-to-read/teen-contest

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