The world needs fewer novels, certainly fewer novels that have been written in a month. And artificial intelligence is itchy for distractions; we need to give the robots something to do before they start messing with nuclear codes or Social Security numbers. - The Atlantic
"The Black List … has morphed over two decades into a multifunctional web platform focused on screenplay development and discovery. … Now, with relations between Hollywood and New York publishing closer — and the book-to-screen pipeline bigger — than ever before, the Black List is shifting its gaze over to the slush pile." - Publishers Weekly
I write today in praise of a third genre that few self-respecting intellectuals admit to reading regularly, though many do: the reference book. - Discourse Magazine
"U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman — the same judge who, in March 2023, ordered several books banned by Llano County officials returned to library shelves — denied most of the Texas county’s motion to dismiss librarian Suzette Baker’s wrongful termination suit." - Publishers Weekly
My daughter is a whip-smart kid, definitely smarter than I was at 12. But until I resorted to bribery, she’d never read an entire chapter book for pleasure. - The New York Times
"Wiley has already earned $23 million from AI deals and confirmed … that it is set to make a further $21m this financial year. A spokesperson confirmed that Wiley authors are set to receive remuneration for the licensing of their work based on their 'contractual terms'." - The Bookseller (UK)
Although open-access advocates and library groups support the move, opponents argue the new policy will limit researchers’ ability to maintain control of their published work—and cut into the $19 billion academic publishing industry’s profit margins. - InsideHigherEd
"Florida’s statute ... requires districts to set up a process for a parent or resident of the county to contest school and classroom library materials that they believe contain pornographic or sexual content. The country’s largest publishing houses say Florida has unleashed a wave of censorship." - The Wall Street Journal (MSN)
Even the driest academic monograph or most threadbare opinion piece usually begins with some act of storytelling, whether we hear how a previous generation of scholars has mishandled the question at hand, or are treated to a columnist’s anecdote about what his taxi driver told him. - American Affairs
"The scheme, Bookloop by Bookshop.org, allows customers to trade books they own for credit to use on the website. Readers can register books through the online valuation system and then either leave them at a DPD drop-off point or have them picked up from home." - The Guardian
Since March 2023, more than 1,000 teams have entered this competition. In October 2023, the first letters and lines of Greek text were detected, and in February 2024, the first winners of the prize money. Their AI model spectacularly revealed parts of 15 columns from the innermost part of one of the scrolls. - The Conversation
Poetry has drastically changed after World War Ⅱ; it’s parted from art—including poems, waka, haiku, and novels written until around the end of the War—that adheres to a certain purposive style and “shape.” - Words Without Borders
Not only did he take characters and stories from all walks of 14th-century English life, he borrowed phrases from Latin, French, and Italian; took his approach to writing in vernacular from Dante; and swiped narratives from Ovid and Bocaccio. He even stole the Chaucerian stanza itself: it's actually Machaut's rime royal. - Poetry Foundation
Electors in Albany, Western Australia (about 4½ hours south of Perth) voted to remove two sex education titles, one aimed at teens, from public library shelves in what the local LGBTIQA+ advocacy group called a "moral panic" and an attempt to conflate sexual minorities with child grooming. - ABC (Australia)
"Our research … shows that simple headlines significantly increase article engagement and clicks compared with headlines that use complex language. … But importantly, we found that those who actually write headlines — journalists themselves — did not." - Nieman Lab
