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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 and try to include a bunch of resources & opportunities. I’d love to hear what you think of this newsletter.

Important Items

All-male S.C. Supreme Court upholds 6-week abortion ban

MT @GavinNewsom A group of four men just stripped away access to healthcare from over 1.5 million women in South Carolina.

https://www.axios.com/2023/08/23/south-carolina-abortion-supreme-court

Wisconsin Republicans propose eliminating work permits for 14- and 15-year-olds

Children would also not need parental permission to get a job. Earlier this year a Wisconsin meat packing company was caught employing 100 children.

https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/08/wisconsin-republicans-propose-eliminating-work-permits-for-14-and-15-year-olds/

Missouri judge says ban on gender-affirming health care for minors can take effect on Monday

MT @ErinInTheMorn On Monday, trans youth will no longer be given access to gender affirming care, and trans prisoners will be forcibly medically detransitioned. A judge in Missouri (important note: state not federal court) denied an injunction.

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-courts/missouri-judge-says-ban-on-gender-affirming-health-care-for-minors-can-take-effect-on/article_f81313ec-4384-11ee-9bda-bb92840cec54.html

Teacher “Paycheck Protection” Does Nothing Of The Sort

Via @veronikellymars These bills are incredibly deceiving. They claim to “protect” educator pay, but it’s about removing the ability to pay union dues directly from teachers’ paychecks. There are no pay raises.

https://stackedthoughts.substack.com/p/teacher-paycheck-protection-does

New study suggests people who tested negative for Covid-19 can still develop long Covid

“We estimated that there were approximately 10 million people in the 1st year of the pandemic in the U.S. who got Covid, got long Covid, but tested negative for Covid.”

https://www.statnews.com/2023/08/23/long-covid-diagnosis-negative-test/

U.S. As schools resume, CDC reports new rise in COVID emergency room visits from adolescents

MT @MeetJess Reports of COVID-19 in emergency room visits from adolescents have nearly doubled over the past week, new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows, reaching levels not seen in a year. Society is failing these kids

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-reports-new-rise-covid-er-visits-adolescents-as-schools-resume/

Masking and COVID-19 Transmission

I’m so excited – I just was able to get another COVID booster. Please consider getting one yourself! MT @nycHealthy COVID-19 cases have been increasing in NYC and elsewhere!. Consider wearing a mask, especially in crowded indoor settings and particularly if you are over 65 or have a medical condition that puts you at risk for severe COVID-19, or are around others who are

https://www.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-main.page#masking

Innovation

Brain Implants That Help Paralyzed People Speak Just Broke New Records

AI brain implants have given voice back to two individuals who lost speech due to ALS and stroke.

https://www.wired.com/story/brain-implants-that-help-paralyzed-people-speak-just-broke-new-records/

Lego to sell bricks coded with braille to help vision-impaired children read

HT @LauraB7

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/aug/24/lego-to-sell-bricks-coded-with-braille-to-help-vision-impaired-children-read?CMP=share_btn_tw

Technology

AI-generated books are infiltrating online bookstores

As online bookstores fill with spurious AI-generated guides, authors look to defend their work.

https://www.axios.com/2023/08/16/ai-book-publishing-fake-amazon

How AI-Generated Books Could Hurt Self-Publishing Authors

Via @JaneFriedman Just two days after the Maui wildfires began, on Aug. 10, a new book was self-published, Fire and Fury: The Story of the 2023 Maui Fire and its Implications for Climate Change by “Dr. Miles Stones” (no such person seems to exist). Amazon, B&N, and Bookshop all ultimately removed it for sale.

https://janefriedman.com/how-ai-generated-books-could-hurt-self-publishing-authors/

AI Not Being Good Enough to Replace Authors Isn’t the Problem

HT @publishingtrend Will those in power care that AI isn’t as good at creating what a human can create when their goal of using it is to not pay actual writers, authors, and creatives?

https://bookriot.com/ai-not-being-as-good-as-authors-not-the-problem/

Flood of Fake AI Books Causing Mistrust

When there are no checks and balances in place for accuracy and authenticity, people feel they are being lied to they can start to mistrust everything.

https://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/flood-of-fake-ai-books-causing-mistrust

Feud Over AI Book Cover Has Authors at Each Other’s Throats

ICYMI The publisher CamCat Books likened using artificial intelligence on book covers to a writer using spellcheck.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/feud-over-ai-book-cover-has-authors-at-each-others-throats

Google and YouTube are trying to have it both ways with AI and copyright

RT @michellemanafy Google has tremendous leverage over publishers, who are still mostly paying human beings to make content in the hopes that Google ranks their pages highly and sends them traffic, all while Google itself is training its AI models on that expensive content.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/22/23841822/google-youtube-ai-copyright-umg-scraping-universal

AI Chatbots Help Web Content Farms Copy Work From Top Publishers, Report Says

News-aggregator websites are using AI to repurpose original journalism, underscoring a complicated new media landscape. NewsGuard identified 37 websites that have posted articles containing text, photos and quotes identical to pieces from major news outlets.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-24/ai-chatbots-help-web-content-farms-copy-work-from-top-publishers-report-says

The New York Times blocks OpenAI’s web crawler

The NYT’s robot.txt page that controls how it appears to automated bots built to index the internet now specifically disallows OpenAI’s GPTBot.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/21/23840705/new-york-times-openai-web-crawler-ai-gpt

Newsrooms grapple with rules for AI

Publishers are limiting use of AI to create content and tryingt o get AI firms to pay for training data.

https://www.axios.com/2023/08/22/ai-rules-newsrooms-training-data

Five plain truths about AI

“The rise of AI is an existential threat for media companies.” “The rise of AI is a disruptive opportunity for media companies greater than the Internet itself.” How can both be true at the same time?

https://digitalcontentnext.org/blog/2023/08/24/five-plain-truths-about-ai/

OpenAI proposes a new way to use GPT-4 for content moderation

OpenAI claims that it’s developed a way to use GPT-4, its flagship generative AI model, for content moderation — lightening the burden on human teams.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/15/openai-proposes-a-new-way-to-use-gpt-4-for-content-moderation/

The Myth of “Open Source” AI

A new analysis shows that “open source” AI tools like Llama 2 are still controlled by big tech companies in a number of ways.

https://www.wired.com/story/the-myth-of-open-source-ai/

Google’s AI search experience adds AI-powered summaries, definitions and coding improvements

https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/15/googles-ai-search-experience-adds-ai-powered-summaries-definitions-and-coding-improvements/

Snapchat is expanding further into generative AI with ‘Dreams’

The company has been developing features that allow Snapchat users to take or upload selfies that will allow the app to generate new pictures of you in scenarios you imagine.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/21/snapchat-is-expanding-further-into-generative-ai-with-dreams/

Apple Podcasts gain new creator tools, including Subscription Analytics and Linkfire integration

Apple Podcasts adds Subscription Analytics, integrates its analytics into the marketing platform Linkfire, and adds more hosting providers to Delegated Delivery

https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/21/apple-podcasts-gain-new-creator-tools-including-subscription-analytics-and-linkfire-integration/

Apple is now supporting ‘right to repair’ laws—here’s what that could mean for its devices

https://www.fastcompany.com/90944519/apple-supports-right-to-repair-law

Elon Musk plans to remove headlines from news articles shared on X

X/Twitter, is planning a major change in how news articles appear on the service, stripping out the headline and other text so that tweets with links display only an article’s lead image

https://fortune.com/2023/08/21/elon-musk-plans-remove-headlines-news-articles-link-shared-on-x-twitter/

Threads is now available on desktop for some users. How to try it.

Just go to threads.net – it’s not rolled out for all users yet, though.

https://mashable.com/article/meta-threads-desktop-version-launches

TikTok plans to bar links to e-commerce sites like Amazon, to force users to buy via TikTok Shop

TikTok plans to bar links to Amazon and other e-commerce sites to force people to use TikTok Shop; source says TikTok Shop will lose $500M+ in the US in 2023.

https://www.theinformation.com/articles/tiktok-shop-on-track-to-lose-more-than-500-million-in-u-s-this-year

Media & Publishing

Media Companies Are Ready to Sell. Does Anyone Want to Buy?

RT @michellemanafy The media business is ripe for consolidation, much as publishing and music before it. As companies try to keep pace with Netflix, Apple, Amazon, YouTube etc, their best bet may be to join forces. Yet many analysts worry companies have missed their window.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-08-20/media-companies-are-ready-to-sell-does-anyone-want-to-buy

BookTok Helped Book Sales Soar. How Long Will That Last?

In July, for the first month ever, sale from the roughly 180 BookTok authors BookScan follows fell from the prior year.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/93014-booktok-helped-book-sales-soar-how-long-will-that-last.html

TikTok’s first ever Book Awards: Who won?

Women authors took home the most wins, chosen by the #BookTok community.

https://mashable.com/article/tiktok-book-awards-booktok-bolu-babalola

Report finds YouTube more popular than TikTok for young book buyers

MT @draccah Interesting… Despite recent stories about the popularity of #BookTok, Nielsen survey found more of those aged between 14-25 searched YouTube for new reads.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/aug/07/report-finds-youtube-more-popular-than-tiktok-for-young-book-buyers

What Is an Accessible Book?

Via @LauraB7 There is a significant portion of the population that can’t read in the traditional way and so need an accessible format in order to consume content. Some estimates put the print-disabled population at about 20% — or one in five people who have a disability that keeps them from reading traditional print books.

https://laurabrady.ca/blog/what-is-an-accessible-book

How literary fiction is grappling with modern tech

https://mashable.com/article/tech-fiction-books-novels-sillicon-valley-startups

The new “science of reading” movement, explained

A huge shift in how kids are taught to read is underway. But the reading wars probably aren’t gone for good.

https://www.vox.com/23815311/science-of-reading-movement-literacy-learning-loss

How Much Does It Cost to Open a Bookstore?-

Despite countless economic recessions, bookstores have been stable. Here’s how much it costs to open that dream business.

https://bookriot.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-open-a-bookstore/

In Brazilian Educational Publishing: A Crisis Averted

What started as a disturbing report of a move against educational publishing made by the State of São Paulo in Brazil has been turned around by a court order, generating relief across the largest of Brazil’s 26 states.

https://publishingperspectives.com/2023/08/in-brazilian-educational-publishing-a-crisis-averted/

Is A Podcast Audio Or Video? Three-Quarters Of Consumers Say Both.

A small fraction of the millions of podcasts produce video, but the idea of watching a podcast is quickly catching on among consumers. A new survey asking U.S. podcast consumers how they would define “podcast” reveals three-quarters say it can be either audio or video.

https://www.podcastnewsdaily.com/news/is-a-podcast-audio-or-video-three-quarters-of-consumers-say-both/article_c1a40278-4044-11ee-bc7f-bf5331025a68.html

Is freelance journalism becoming unviable?

HT @BoSacks Poor rates, unreliable payment and publications closing: is being a freelance journalist basically a hobby?

https://pressgazette.co.uk/comment-analysis/is-freelance-journalism-becoming-unviable/

Why the future of digital-only local news may be small, focused and based on email

MT @michellemanafy The financially stable future of digital local news will probably be small, highly focused, and based on email, local editors told pressgazette. And although the finances are sustainable, the margins are thin.

https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/regional-newspapers/why-the-future-of-digital-only-local-news-may-be-small-focused-and-based-on-email/

Media heavyweights form new research group to support free press

https://www.axios.com/2023/08/22/media-policy-research-group-free-press

‘There won’t be libraries left’: how a Florida county became the book ban heartland of the US

As the extremist group Moms for Liberty flourishes in Clay county (FL), a campaign of outrage has books disappearing from school shelves

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/19/clay-county-florida-book-bans-moms-for-liberty

Florida schools got hundreds of book complaints — mostly from 2 people

MT @EveryLibrary Book banning is not a widespread movement of concerned parents. Most often just one or two activists believe they should decide which books the whole community is allowed to read. They’re often not even parents, nor do they live in the community.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2023/08/24/florida-school-book-complaints-library-challenges-ban-department-of-education-bruce-friedman-vicki-baggett-parental-rights-sold-patricia-mccormick/

Allen Ginsberg poems, Anne Frank’s Diary, and more of the 400+ books banners are eager to pull in Texas

Via @veronikellymars The Texas READER act passed earlier this year, and under it, not only are vendors being required to rate every title available for purchase–including requiring every bookseller to rate every edition of a book ever sold to a school–but schools will be required to remove books deemed “sexually explicit, pervasively vulgar, or educationally unsuitable.” The law is currently being challenged in the courts, and the judge is expected to render a decision on its legality before it takes effect September 1, 2023. Christin Bentley, State Republican Executive Committeewoman from SD-1 and Chair of the subcommittee for the legislative priority Stop Sexualizing Texas Kids, created the “Protect Childhood” Substack and on it, includes a list of 400+ titles of books that should immediately be pulled from schools come September 1.

https://bookriot.com/allen-ginsburg-poems-anne-franks-diary-and-more-of-the-400-books-banners-are-eager-to-pull-in-texas/

Meet the book that triggered the Katy (TX) ISD board of trustees to withhold thousands of taxpayer funded library books from 94,000 students, weeks before the start of school.

Via @AnneRussey The complaint says “the main charater wants to transform into something they are obviously not” and uses “they” when talking about a single character. If you read the book, you see the only time the authors refers to any character as “they” is when she is referring to multiple characters. Her accusations, based on a completely fabricated complaint, resulted in so many wasted hours for Katy libraries elementary staff, who were instructed to – or felt compelled to- audit their entire catalogs one by one to weed out any “sexually explicit” books.

https://twitter.com/AnneRussey/status/1695825330731352565

Book Banning in Utah Libraries

https://action.everylibrary.org/book_banning_in_utah_libraries

Fishers (IN) library board president prepares to leave

RT @EveryLibrary John Green, Indiana native and “The Fault in Our Stars” author, addressed the issue again Saturday, calling what is happening a “crisis” and said the library director should not be punished for doing her job.

https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/hamilton-east-public-library-fishers-john-green-laura-alerding-the-fault-in-our-stars-young-adult-books-teen/531-016ee45c-c80e-44ef-8073-67b1e81954bb

The Political Librarian – Spring 2023 Issue – Book Bans and Library Policy

MT @EveryLibrary The Spring 2023 issue of our open-access journal, The Political Librarian, focuses on the growing external political pressures and legislative actions to censor, review, or ban books in schools and public libraries.

https://www.everylibraryinstitute.org/volume_6_issue_1_tpl_2023

Library Bomb Threats Continue to Increase

Via @veronikellymars The seven bomb threats at Chicago-area public libraries in the last month are part of a continuing pattern of stochastic terrorism.

https://bookriot.com/library-bomb-threats-continue-to-increase/

Educational Intimidation Bills

HT @jonfreadom “Fear is the new watchword in public education.” PENAmerica documents the uptick in state legislation which aims to spur self-censorship among teachers and librarians. These bills enable blanket restrictions on books or curricula for all students – and empower an ideological assault on pubic education. It’s “an alarming trend that threatens to turn teachers into the sexuality and gender police of public education, forcing them by law to monitor the most personal of students’ expression.”

https://pen.org/report/educational-intimidation/

Bans on diverse picture books? Young kids need to see their families represented, experts say

HT @kasey_meehan “What these parents are really doing is demonstrating how fragile their worldview is, that a children’s book is enough to shatter it.”

https://apnews.com/article/preschool-book-ban-6ffaa23f2fc5a8e68108918ea69e7bfb

Help Us Help You: Report Censorship!

MT @UABookBans Facing book bans and challenges can feel overwhelming, but you are not alone. Are books being challenged in your community? Use the American Library Association’s Report Censorship tool to connect to a network of professional support.

https://uniteagainstbookbans.org/report-censorship/

Booksellers Are Suddenly At the Vanguard of the Culture Wars

Josh Cook, the author of The Art of Libromancy, explains how independent bookstores—in the age of book banning and the pandemic’s lingering aftershocks—can change the world for the better.

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a44860135/josh-cook-the-art-of-libromancy-interview/

Fight against book bans prompts Orchard Park (NY) teens to start national organization

Students Protecting Education already has a chapter in Charleston, S.C. They want to expand in Erie County and to other states, including Florida, to show other students how to speak out on issues. The group aims to empower students to fight for their rights to a diverse and equitable education. By May, it had endorsed three candidates with similar aims for School Board.

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/education/orchard-park-students-protecting-education-book-bans/article_63293ed8-3ad2-11ee-aebd-e316469f2128.html

Resources & Opportunities

Gail Papp and Rose Styron Talking Memoirs

9/16 6pm ET. Free for WMG members; $15.00 for non-members Join this special event with Gail Papp and Rose Styron, two of the most accomplished women in American culture, for a peek into their memoir writing process, the challenge of writing about lives lived in public, and tips for aspiring memoir writers. All proceeds from this event support the Women’s Media Group Educational Foundation.

https://www.womensmediagroup.org/event-5392534

The Book Marketing & Publicity Show

Via @samatlounge

https://theempoweredauthor-book-marketing-publicity-show.heysummit.com

Annick Press Mentorship Program (Canada)

https://www.annickpress.com/Submission-Guidelines/Annick-Press-Mentorship-Program

UK Bloomsbury Mentorship Programme 2023

MT @Alison_Edits Calling all aspiring authors! So delighted the Bloomsbury Books Mentorship Programme is open! This is a development prize, so you only need to have written a synopsis and the first 2,000 words – and we can support you as you write the rest.

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/connect/bloomsbury-mentorship-programme-2023/

HarperCollins UK launches the Socioeconomic Traineeship with Upreach

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/harpercollins-launches-the-socioeconomic-traineeship-with-upreach

We Need Diverse Books Mentorship in Illustration

https://diversebooks.org/programs/mentorship-program/

Penguin Random House Audio Narrator Mentorship Program

MT @PRHAudio PRH Audio Narrator Mentorship Program is here! Actors new to audiobooks get the chance to work with our producers to strengthen their craft & gain industry knowledge. Now accepting applications for January-June 2024 session. Deadline is 9/8. #teamPRH

https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/NarratorMentorship/

Celebrate BIPOC-owned and/or managed bookstores during #MarginsBookselling Month

There are even more on this map.

https://findmarginsbookstores.thewordfordiversity.org

Podcasting Scholarship

RT @PodcastMovement The AWM Foundation (AWMF) and Podcast Movement have come together to give a $2500 scholarship to a deserving female undergraduate student pursuing a degree in media/journalism, with an interest in a career within the field of podcasting.

https://allwomeninmedia.org/foundation/scholarships/

Beacon Press Internships

http://www.beacon.org/Assets/ClientPages/Openings.aspx

Belhaven University to Award Angie Thomas Scholarships to Hopeful Writers

The Angie Thomas Writers Scholarship will provide a full-ride scholarship to one incoming creative writing major and additional scholarships to applicants.

https://www.belhaven.edu/news/2023/08/angie-thomas-scholarship-2023.html

International Women’s Podcast Awards

MT @arithisandthat Reminder: Entries for the 2023 International Women’s Podcast Awards are open! Nominate yourself or people you admire/work with. Entries are £25 for indie creators & charities, £60 for corporate entities, businesses, & production companies.

https://everybody-media.com/awards/