Innovation

Hundreds More Nazca Lines Emerge in Peru’s Desert

303 previously uncharted Nazca Lines (humongous drawings spanning miles, from 200 BC-700 AD by a pre-Inca civilization) discovered in just 6 mos., almost doubling the # of geoglyphs mapped in the past century, using AI to discern outlines from aerial pics

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/23/science/nazca-lines-peru-ai.html?unlocked_article_code=1.eE4.06Xd.fY3oxoHkjXus&smid=em-share

Technology

Tech start-up and AI publisher Spines wants to release 8000 books in a year

For $5K, Spines says they’ll use AI to proofread, produce, publish and distribute books in 3 weeks. Authors “retain 100% of their royalties as well as rights to their words once their books are in the world.”

https://www.avclub.com/new-publisher-using-ai-distribute-more-books

Writers condemn startup’s plans to publish 8,000 books next year using AI

HT @LWShanley “We would warn authors to think extremely carefully before committing to any author-contribute contract” involving a writer paying for their work to be published, said Anna Ganley, chief executive of the UK’s largest trade union for writers, illustrators and translators, the Society of Authors. “It is very unlikely to deliver on what an author is hoping they might achieve, it is most unlikely to be their best route to publication, and if it also relies on AI systems there are concerns about the lack of originality and quality of the service being offered – even if there are guarantees (which we suspect are unlikely) that the AI system in question was not developed by using unlawfully scraped copyright content,” she added.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/nov/26/writers-condemn-startups-plans-to-publish-8000-books-next-year-using-ai-spines-artificial-intelligence

Dead authors will soon be narrating their audiobooks… thanks to AI

HarperCollins, publisher of the works of Agatha Christie, who died in 1976, is said to be keen to explore the prospect of using an AI version of the author’s voice to narrate her books, including the Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple novels. Christie left 13 hours of audio recordings of her speaking, including dictations she used to write her autobiography, which are seen as ideal for AI use.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14143703/dead-authors-audiobook-churchill-christie-tolkien.html

How Digital Innovation Both Strengthens and Threatens the Book Business

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/international/Frankfurt-Book-Fair/article/96540-how-digital-innovation-both-strengthens-and-threatens-the-book-business.html

Canadian News Publishers Sue OpenAI Over AI Content Use

A coalition of Canadian news publishers, including prominent names such as The Canadian Press, Torstar, Globe and Mail, Postmedia, and CBC/Radio-Canada, has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging unauthorized use of news content for its ChatGPT AI training.

https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/technology/3177347-canadian-news-publishers-sue-openai-over-ai-content-use

Zoom 2.0 relaunches as an AI-first company without video in its name

Years after its pandemic boom, Zoom Communications is still trying to compete with Big Tech rivals.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/25/24305942/zoom-communications-rename-ai-first-company

Inside the Booming ‘AI Pimping’ Industry

Instagram is flooded w AI-generated influencers who are stealing videos from real models and adult content creators, giving them AI-generated faces, and monetizing their bodies with links to dating sites, Patreon, OnlyFans competitors, and various AI apps.

https://www.wired.com/story/ai-pimping-industry-deepfakes-instagram/

AI Eats the World

Via @benedictevans

https://www.ben-evans.com/presentations

Publishing & Media

Taylor Swift Is a Perfect Example of How Publishing Is Changing

Taylor Swift’s decision to put out a book on her own is a symptom of the shifting relationship between publishers and famous people, which could in turn be a good sign for smaller authors

https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2024/11/taylor-swift-celebrity-book-publishing-eras-tour/680797/

TikTok owner ByteDance to publish print books

8th Note Press, an imprint launched by ByteDance, will print novels in genres popular on BookTok including YA and contemporary fiction and romantasy. The company already publishes ebooks, but will begin selling physical copies in book shops early next year.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/nov/22/tiktok-owner-bytedance-to-publish-print-books

Microsoft launches imprint that aims to be faster than traditional book publishing

HT @publishingtrend Named after an Intel microprocessor, 8080 Books aims to ‘shorten the lag between the final manuscript and the book’s arrival in the marketplace’

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/nov/21/microsoft-launches-imprint-to-speed-up-traditional-book-publishing

Actions Authors Can Take Against Notorious Piracy Site OceanofPDF.com

MT @AuthorsGuild OceanofPDF is one of the most notorious digital ebook piracy sites. It has been active and on the Authors Guild radar for quite some time and has been taken offline on a few occasions.

https://authorsguild.org/news/oceanofpdf-piracy-site-actions-authors-can-take/

7th Annual CLPE Reflecting Realities Survey

The 7th annual Reflecting Realities Survey of Ethnic Representation within UK Children’s Literature, funded by the Arts Council England, shows that 17% of children’s books published in 2023 feature a racially minoritized character. While this demonstrates a significant increase from the 4% first reported in 2017, it is the first year that the survey has shown an annual decrease, down from 30% in 2022. This decrease is also echoed in the percentage of racially minoritized main characters, down 7 percentage points from 14% in 2022 to 7% in 2023.

https://clpe.org.uk/news/7th-annual-clpe-reflecting-realities-survey

Industry professionals respond to CLPE diversity report with a call for change

Publishers have called the decrease in racially-minoritized children’s book characters “deeply concerning,” “sobering,” and “disappointing but not surprising.”

https://www.thebookseller.com/spotlight/industry-professionals-respond-to-clpe-diversity-report-with-a-call-for-change

Diversity in decline

Racially-minoritized creators should not bear the entire burden of driving change: industry-wide transformation is overdue, says Melanie Ramdarshan Bold

https://www.thebookseller.com/comment/clpe-reflecting-realities-2024-diversity-in-decline

100 Notable Books of 2024

Here is the standout fiction and nonfiction of the year, selected by the staff of The New York Times Book Review. You can keep track of how many you’ve read or want to read + get a personalized reading list to share.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/26/books/notable-books.html

NPR’s Books We Love in 2024

https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#view=covers&year=2024

NYPL’s Best Books of 2024

https://www.nypl.org/spotlight/best-books-2024

Resources & Opportunities

TICKETS STILL AVAIL for WMG’s Holiday Party at Gotham Comedy Club this Wed. 12/4!

Sign up quick! 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. ALL are welcome – please spread the word. I’ll be at the VIP cocktail hour if you want to nosh and hobnob.

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

Give Double to Feminist Press

Until 12/31, match your donation to @FeministPress (up to $10K)! That means $20K to publish books that ignite movements & social transformation, speaks to queer/trans experiences, about reproductive justice, or to launch the career of new authors

https://thefeministpress.salsalabs.org/donatenow/index.html

Authors for Voices of Color Auction

MT @diversebooks The 2024 Authors for Voices of Color (AFVOC) auction will launch on December 2nd, featuring VIP experiences, writing career help, exclusive authors’ notes, curated literary prizes, and more from renowned authors and publishing professionals!

https://e.givesmart.com/events/Frv/

Technology * Innovation * Publishing Newsletter #317