Getting Down to Business
By Densie Webb | February 3, 2024 |
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, AI dominated the book biz headlines again, but publishing news (about books written by humans) gave it a run for its money. Amazon has a category all its own, of course. AI and copyright issues go hand-in-hand, but it’s looking like the EU may be a step ahead with possible approval of the AI Act. You can’t go online without reading about the potential for AI to both help and harm. But we can’t blame everything on AI, there’s also the cases of authors behaving badly—spoiler alert—don’t troll fellow authors on Goodreads, and it’s probably a bad idea to write a book about murdering your husband, and then, murder your husband. Then there’s Texas, where the state’s attempt to ban books has been ruled unconstitutional. We’ll see where that one goes. And a happy birthday wish goes out to Simon & Shuster, which has celebrated 100 years in the book biz. And lots more. Read on!
AI
Authors collaborating with AI and with each other
Exploring the frontiers of AI and book publishing
The past and future of copyright
Open AI admits it needs copyright material to function
Japanese laureate pokes a hole in the idea that AI will never write as well as humans
AI generated content makes trust more valuable
Opinion piece on saying ‘no’ to AI for creative pursuits
European publishers calling for approval of AI Act
Canada legislators are wrestling with the tangled mess of AI and copyright
Amazon
Jane Friedman offers up ways to improve your Amazon ranking
Amazon’s power over the book industry
Book Bans
Penguin Random House joins fight against book bans
Washington Senate makes it harder to shut down a library
Texas book banning law ruled unconstitutional
Book Stores
The internet’s favorite women-driven bookstore
Marketing and Promotion
Authors behaving badly: Goodreads’ review-bombing fiasco
5 reasons marketing is hard for writers
Publishing
Is there a fiction factory in conglomerate publishing?
46% of Americans didn’t read a book in 2023
Big Five’s hold on bestseller lists loosened a bit in 2023
Beware scam website impersonating Macmillan Publishers
How-to-murder-your-husband writer sentenced for murdering her husband
Simon & Schuster celebrates 100 years
Publishers need to establish a symbiosis with publishers
Self Publishing
Is self-publishing a good choice for authors in 2024?
Have you used AI? How? For story ideas, to write a synopsis, a query letter, an outline? What has your experience been? What do you see as the pros and cons? Will you use it again? Have you experienced book bans or attempted book bans in your schools, libraries, communities? Who do you know who’s fighting the good fight?
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!
Densie–Thank you again for providing WU readers with a useful list of links related to publishing. I’m sure I’m not alone in being grateful to you.
So pleased, you’re finding it useful! It’s always eye-opening, scrolling through sites for news.
Hello from Houston and a fellow WFWA member! Densie, your curated list of articles is so very useful!! Thank you for keeping the rest of us caught up on the latest in publishing news re: the devil . . . er . . . AI. I have not dipped a toe in that (cess?) pool yet. I am not an early adopter and sometimes do not adopt at all. I am in wait and see mode. Thank you for the post and links!
You’re very welcome. I haven’t dipped in yet, either, but I feel that time approaching.
Thanks as always, Densie, I always look forward to your publishing news, issues and opinion aggregation posts. Incredibly valuable.
This one led me, among other directions, to a discussion with Dan Sinykin, author of the book Big Fiction, which asserts that corporate publishing has changed fiction itself, not for the better he says, and who sees hope in nonprofit presses. Having lived my career through the era he chronicles, it was fascinating to read his take on it, a filter which filters out or reverse spins 90% of what I have seen and been part of. Such a time we live in!
On the AI front, we should note that in Europe yesterday, the smart, swift and discerning AI Act advanced a big step, which makes me ashamed of the alarmist, hand-wringing mire we have in North America. Thank you again for this ever-informative service that you give us. I greatly appreciate it.
So glad you “stopped by.” Yes, when I read insiders’ take on the changes that have taken place and are taking place, I see new opportunities for more writers, but I also see what has changed and what has been lost. Fourteen years ago, I had an agent, a non-fiction book that went to auction, and landed with one of the big 5, had a book tour—the whole nine yards. That would never happen today. But amidst all the changes, all the rejection, all the things competing for our attention, we writers persevere. Thanks again!