They’re trying to carve out their own space, away from the prissy bullshit of the mainstream literary world, where they can write something real. They’re enraptured by the surging raw nowness of the internet, and they think literature that tries to rise above that is blinding itself to the way we actually live today. - The Point
Founder Dennis Johnson said such “crash publishing” required hard work and help from printers, retailers and more. But the Jack Smith Report, he said, would “launch into a very different book culture than the last time we were in this predicament, in 2016. People are very afraid." - The Guardian
“They’re trying to establish the idea that the rights to train on books are worth $5,000. You can’t do that by going to the latest bestseller. So you do that by going to the backlist — to people who aren’t collecting royalties — and telling them, ‘Look, would you like some free money?’” - Bloomberg
“The original name of the magazine was to be the Paris Review. The name was switched because the first serial advertisement was from Compagnie Transatlantique." - LitHub
What happens when Lizzie loses her Darcy: “How will the last cockeyed optimist in popular culture deal with such desolation? Widowhood is no laughing matter, parenting alone even less so.” - The Atlantic
"In its full-year results for 2024 The New York Times Company reported ending the year with 10.8 million digital subscribers — an increase of 1.1 million (year-over-year). Of those 10.8 million subscribers, 3.5 million (or 32%) subscribed only to either its Games, Cooking, Wirecutter, Audio or The Athletic products." - Press Gazette (UK)
"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
