Getting Down to Business
By Densie Webb | August 5, 2023 |
Lots of juggling going on in publishing this past month. Where it lands, nobody knows. Efforts to increase inclusivity also made the news. The book banning train has left the station in some states, the first defamation lawsuit over AI has been filed, and audiobooks may be coming to a brick and mortar store near you. Read on.
AI
AI’s Possible Effects on Publishing
Authors Join Legal Battle Brewing Over AI
Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Issues Policy Position for AI
Open AI Faces World’s First Defamation Lawsuit
Audiobooks
Audiobooks Offered in Some Brick and Mortar Stores
Book Banning
Booksellers in the Forefront of the Fight Against Book Bans in Texas
Industry Groups File Suit to Block Texas Book Rating Law
Free Expression Challenges in the US and France
Fight to Uphold Block Florida’s Stop-Woke Act
Bookstores
New and Improved Barnes & Noble?
Efforts to Save Flooded Vermont Bookstores
Inclusivity
Disability Representation in Publishing
How the National Braille Press Brings Books to Blind Readers
Indie Publishing
Writers Digest Lists Best Indie Websites for 2023
Self Publish with Barnes & Noble Press
Startup Proposes Influencer-Driven Publishing
Publishing Changes Afoot
Layoffs at Penguin Random House, Presses closing, Booksellers Unionize, Possible Publishing Buyout, The Possible Effects of a UPS Strike, Copyright Crisis and more.
Random House Buyout Triggers Departures
End of an Era at Random House?
One Billion Dollar Audiobook Sale?
Harper Collins Files Grievance After Union Head Fired
Mental Health Crisis Among Authors and Publishers
Ripple Effects of Layoffs and Shuttered Imprints
The “Merchification” of Book Publishing
Canada’s Downsizing at Access Copyright
Did I miss any major news? If yes, let me know, and I’ll try to follow up next month!
Densie Webb has spent a long career as a freelance nonfiction writer and editor, specializing in health and nutrition and has published several books and tons of articles on the topic over the years. She is a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and Red Adept Publishing released her debut women’s fiction novel titled, “When Robins Appear” in 2020. It is available in ebook, audiobook, and paperback formats. Her second novel, best categorized as romantic/domestic suspense, “Breathing in Reverse” was published in 2023, also with Red Adept Publishing. She is currently working (but not fast enough) on novel #3. She grew up in Louisiana, spent 13 years in New York, and settled in Austin, TX, where it’s summer nine months of the year. She’s an avid walker (not of the dead variety, though she loves anything to do with zombies, vampires, or post-apocalyptic worlds), drinks way too much coffee, and has a small “devil dog” that keep her on her toes. And she is thrilled to be a part of the Writer Unboxed family!
[coffee]
Thank you, Denise. You are a treasure.