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The Guardian Approves Sale Of The Observer To Tortoise Media

"Tortoise agreed to invest £25 million ($31.9 million) in the British title over the next five years and has pledged to keep publishing the print edition of the approximately 230-year-old paper. Under the terms of the deal, the Scott Trust will become a key shareholder in Tortoise Media." - Bloomberg (MSN)

How The Chinese Communist Party Overhauled The Nation’s Comic Books

Lianhuanhua, read by children and adults alike, are palm-sized books with two or three lines of text and one image per page, and they became hugely popular in the early 20th century. But their storylines, often traditional tales, frequently incorporated magic and the supernatural — anathema to Mao Zedong Thought. - History Today

Guardian Journalists On Two-Day Strike To Protest Sale Of Sister Paper The Observer

"Nearly 500 journalists are on strike at The Guardian and its sister paper, the Sunday-only Observer, to protest the planned sale of The Observer to a small digital startup. … Says (star reporter) Carole Cadwalladr, 'The sale of The Observer to a loss-making startup is potentially the death of this historic brand." - NPR

AI Publishing Could Swamp The Book Market

As AI-powered publishing balloons, the sheer market volume may make it difficult for these publishers to stand out. They’ll have to adapt. - Fast Company

When Linguists Become Crime Fighters

Forensic linguistics, as the practice is called, has been a key tool in both identifying perpetrators (most famously, the Unabomber) and exonerating the wrongly accused. - The Dial

Study: ChatGPT Publisher Citations Are Often Inaccurate

“In total, ChatGPT returned partially or entirely incorrect responses on 153 occasions, though it only acknowledged an inability to accurately respond to a query seven times,” said the researchers. - TechCrunch

How One Of America’s Best Author Events Series Fell Apart And Was Put Back Together

The series at the Free Library of Philadelphia regularly attracted both A-list authors and large, enthusiastic audiences. Then, this past summer, the entire Author Events staff resigned with one month's notice but were fired the next day. Here's a look into why that happened and what's come since. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

Hundreds Of Authors Support Their Fellow Novelist

Lisa Ko “was subjected to weeks of harassment as well as a broader smear campaign in the media which resulted in a loss of professional opportunities,” and many of her fellow authors will not have it. - LitHub

We Need The Most Annoying Bennet Sister Now, More Than Ever

What would Jane Austen - who adored Lizzy - “have made of her modern readers’ more recent obsession with the middle Bennet sister, the plain and unremarkable Mary?” - The New York Times

The OED’s Word Of The Year Isn’t Very Cheery

At least, at the OED. "It’s been quite a journey for “brain rot,” which triumphed over a shortlist of contenders including 'lore,’ 'demure,' 'romantasy,' 'dynamic pricing' and 'slop.'" - The New York Times

How To Write For Kids

First, throw away the butterflies and rainbows, says Maggie O’Farrell. - The Guardian (UK)

Bringing A War Refugee’s Fairytale To Life

"The author was Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz, just 23 years old when his novel was published in 1938 and a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany. In 1935, he had made his way across Europe to reach Britain, where he was promptly classified as an 'enemy alien' and interned.” - The Observer (UK)

What Does A Botany Professor Do After Her Book Becomes A Surprise Smash Hit?

Robin Wall Kimmerer takes her students out on two-week-long foraging field trips, plants trees that will better meet the climate changing nature of her area - and writes another book. - The New York Times

The Issue For Gen-Z And Reading Isn’t Really Books Or Phones

Instead, it’s time. “Pundits and parents alike have emphasized preprofessional courses and downplayed the importance of humanistic study. ... In this environment, spending hours reading a novel may seem unproductive.” - The Atlantic

Publishers Freak Out Over Startup’s Plans To Publish With AI

The company is seemingly “just trying to speed up” self-publishing “in a way that won’t work well, and of course, they don’t want to call it that”, said Marco Rinaldi, co-host of Page One – The Writer’s Podcast, in a post on Bluesky. - The Guardian

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