WORDS

"Digital subscriber revenue is expected to cover the costs of Le Monde’s entire editorial staff within the next two years, according to chief executive Louis Dreyfus. The French daily newspaper and online newsbrand ended 2024 with 660,000 subscribers, of which 580,000 were digital." - Press Gazette (UK)

Musk’s latest attack—“Defund Wikipedia until balance is restored!” he posted on X last month—coincided with an update to his own Wikipedia page, one that described the Sieg heil–ish arm movement he’d made during an Inauguration Day speech. - The Atlantic

"Discovered in a filing cabinet next to the American writer’s desk after her death in 2021, Notes to John is addressed to Didion’s husband, John Gregory Dunne, who died in 2003. Its entries begin in December 1999, and recount sessions Didion was having with a psychiatrist at the time." - The Guardian

This papyrus, dating to roughly 130 CE, had been catalogued as written in Nabataean, the language once spoken at Petra. But researcher Hannah Cotton Paltiel determined that it was written in Greek; in fact, it's a prosecutor's notes for a tax fraud and forgery case. - Smithsonian Magazine

The Giller Foundation, which administers Canada's richest fiction prize, said its 20-year relationship with Scotiabank ended Monday. But organizers of the No Arms in the Arts campaign say their boycott of the literary institution will continue. - CBC

 The state’s HB 710, enacted last July 1, forbids anyone under 18 from accessing library books that contain “sexual content,” regardless of the work's literary or educational merit. - Publishers Weekly

"The Giller Prize has parted ways with its lead sponsor Scotiabank more than a year after members of the literary community began protesting the bank's ties to an Israeli arms manufacturer. The Giller Foundation, which administers Canada's richest fiction prize, said its 20-year relationship with Scotiabank ended Monday." - The Canadian Press (MSN)

Early in my career I decided it was my duty to write at least twice as many blurbs as I received. I’ve now written about 20 times as many, and I’ve been happy to do it. But recently three things broke me. - The New York Times

 “In 2024, Barnes & Noble opened more new bookstores in a single year than it had in the whole decade from 2009 to 2019 . . . is enjoying a period of tremendous growth as the strategy to hand control of each bookstore to its local booksellers has proven so successful.” - Fast Company

Translators deal with the “especially strong constraint” of the tight relationship between the original text and the new one, but the latter is still, well, new. At the end of the day, the translator’s job, the essential aspect of moving a text from one language to another, is to write a new book—and write it well. - The Nation

"Sales of science fiction and fantasy books rocketed last year, with their value increasing by 41.3% between 2023 and 2024. The booming popularity of romantasy – the subgenre blending elements of fantasy and romance that is a favourite of TikTok’s BookTok community – helped drive the rise." - The Guardian

It hasn’t been so hard for Irish writer Colin Barrett. “It was very rewarding in the end. And, immediately, another idea that definitely is a novel and not a short story suggested itself” - set in County Mayo, of course, which Barrett says “is still juicy.” - The Guardian (UK)

"How horrifying will this monster turn out to be? And how can the characters defend themselves against it unless they accept it’s there? The stubborn rationalists never fare well.” - LitHub

“The whole subversion of the epic form is very important to me. Because I don’t think people think of their lives in terms of a continuous or coherent narrative. I think we experience life in a very fragmented way.” - The Guardian (UK)

“I did worry I’d lose friends. But, well, there’s no revelations of mass drug taking or orgies or anything. Because I haven’t been to any, really.” - The New York Times