Justin Steffman, a professional authenticator who runs a Facebook group for collectors, said the autograph was most likely created by an autopen. The machine, which recreates signatures, is used by universities, celebrities and, most notably, the White House. - The New York Times
In the wake of a judge's decision to block the union of the two giants on anti-trust grounds, Paramount Global, the conglomerate which owns Simon & Schuster, is simply allowing the $2.2 billion sale of the publisher to Penguin Random House to collapse. - Reuters
“The defendants are alleged to have operated a website for over a decade whose central purpose was providing stolen intellectual property, in violation of copyright laws.” - The Verge
Stored in a drawer in the vault is the original, ink-blotched, handwritten state constitution signed on July 2, 1776, declaring New Jersey’s independence from Great Britain and rejecting the authority of Governor Franklin, who had already been arrested. - The New York Times
Writer Ryan Lee Wong: " This is a metaphor for the writer’s dilemma: this desire to transform everything in your life, especially the painful things, into our way of making meaning of it, making it legible to yourself and others." - The Millions
Well, it's like this: The so-called Z-Library had an unsavory underpinning."Two Russian nationals, Anton Napolsky and Valeriia Ermakova, have been charged with criminal copyright infringement, wire fraud and money laundering for operating Z-Library." - Washington Post
Twitter has given writers access. "People of color, people who live anywhere other than New York City, people who work day jobs unrelated to media—they can build an audience, post links to their work, attract the attention of editors." - The Atlantic
The great books are great because they speak to us, generation after generation. They are things of beauty, joys forever — most of the time. Of course, some old books will make you angry at the prejudices they take for granted and occasionally endorse. No matter. Read them anyway. - Washington Post
"Roger Lynch ... inherited a company of fiefdoms (which) competed with one another for advertisers and cover stars. ... Three-and-a-half years into the job, Lynch has tried to unify the company ... and has shifted investment toward digital and video, turning a storied magazine-company brand into a leading multiplatform player." - The Hollywood Reporter
More specifically: Imani Perry's South to America (nonfiction), Tess Gunty's The Rabbit Hutch (fiction), Sabaa Tahir's All My Rage (young people's literature), John Keene's Punks: New and Selected Poems (poetry), and Argentine author Samanta Schweblin's Seven Empty Houses, translated by Megan McDowell (literature in translation). - AP
Most books don’t succeed either in terms of sales or critical unanimity. Most writers don’t earn a living wage from their writing. Tenure-track appointments (I teach college writing) are rare as unicorns. But being a writer is not a sentence handed down, it’s a choice I’ve made. - The New York Times
"Investigators in northern Spain said this week they discovered what they believe to be the oldest written record" — inscribed on a bronze hand — "of a precursor to modern Basque, pushing back its earliest evidence to the first century B.C." - AP
