WORDS

What — Or Who — Persuades You To Buy That Particular Book?

“The reality is that our reading choices are directed and massaged at every turn. … And who are the persuaders? They’re the booksellers, the supermarket stock buyers, the publishing houses and their ranks of marketers and publicists. And, more recently, persuasion often comes from (social media). How is all this changing publishing?” - The Guardian

Yayoi Kusama Also Had A Career As A Serious Author

“(She) produc(ed) 12 novels, four volumes of poetry, one collection of short stories, and an autobiography between 1977 and 2002. … Kusama’s novels are dark, violent, and, in many cases, clearly informed by her decade in New York, no matter how emphatically she entreated readers to interpret them otherwise.” - Artnet

Google Releases An AI Tool For Books That Publishers Actually Like

“Expert Intelligence (is) a feature that allows someone reading an e-book purchased on Google Play's e-bookstore to interact with the title — by asking questions about the book, taking a quiz after reading it, or producing an infographic of key data.” And it respects copyright. - Publishers Weekly

AI Paul Gigot Responds To WSJ Opinion Page Editor Paul Gigot

"I have been thinking about this for close to 20 minutes, and I have concluded that human writing is finished." - The Atlantic

Making Books The Old Fashioned Way

Arion bills itself as the only printer in the country that makes books entirely by hand under one roof, from casting metal type to printing pages to binding them together into exquisite volumes prized by collectors. - The New York Times

A Turning Point In The Battles Over AI Writing

“Many contributors, especially prominent politicians or CEOs, employ speechwriters or hire a Beltway writing shop,” he wrote. “How different is that from using AI to streamline an essay?” - The Atlantic

After All This, Emily Wilson Is Retranslating The Odyssey From Scratch

“She says her translation methods have become more sophisticated and that enough time has passed for her to see some flaws in her work. … The new edition will be longer, she says, and will better reflect the differing social worlds of Homer’s poem.” - AP

Where’s The Evidence That Colleges Are Committed To Teaching Writing?

AI has both clarified what we should be doing when we teach writing and made it much harder to teach writing than in the days prior to the technology’s existence. - InsideHigherEd

Cyber Attack On Australian Book Distributor

A cyber attack on one of the country's major publishing distributors has left bookshops and authors struggling to fill their shelves in the lead-up to their busiest trading period. - ABC Australia

The Warehouse Where Amazon Takes Apart And Scans Books To Train Its AI: An Employee Speaks

“The employee worked at Amazon’s VGT3 warehouse, which is housed in the same facility as LAS8, where Amazon operates its print-on-demand business. … The Amazon employee I talked to described what that operation looks like from the warehouse floor.” - 404 Media

Why Is So Much New Literary Fiction So Boring?

The question driving these opening pages is not: “What does it mean to live a good life?” or “What do we owe to people?” or “What can be saved from the ravages of time?” The question I hear is: “Have I impressed you yet?” - Devon Halliday

HarperCollins Now Has A Manga Imprint, Kazé

“The publisher is rolling out the imprint in partnership with the existing Kazé publishers in France and Germany, which distribute manga for the European market and were acquired by HarperCollins last year. Kazé US will build on that brand for American readers of all ages.” - Publishers Weekly

UK Publisher To Release Jason Arday’s Memoir Despite Questions About Its Veracity

Simon & Schuster UK made no comment beyond a statement from Arday’s family: “Jason was clear that he wanted his memoir to be published and it is only right that we honour his wishes. ... We (will) allow the book to speak for itself and won't comment further on its content.” - The Telegraph (UK) (Yahoo!)

Can Poetry Help Make People More Ecologically Aware?

Researchers have argued that eco-poetry can influence how we experience a place, what we notice and what it might become in the future. They suggest that by “sounding” environmental change, speculative poetry offers us a tangible way to engage with, interpret and navigate the uncertainty of the climate crisis. - The Conversation

UK Looks Headed For Record Year In Print Book Sales

According to NielsenIQ BookScan, sales of print books across the British consumer market have passed £1 billion at the earliest point in the calendar year since records began. - The Bookseller (UK)

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