At first, the behemoth company told author Jane Friedman that since she hadn't trademarked her name, there was nothing they could do. "It looks terrible. It makes me look like I’m trying to take advantage of people with really crappy books," Friedman said. - The Guardian (UK)
Maybe! "Best-seller lists don’t fully convey the adoration that Red, White & Royal Blue has garnered on BookTok, ... where fans have shared their obsession with the escapist love story en masse, and videos tagged #redwhiteandroyalblue have received more than 500 million views." - The New York Times
"A nonprofit startup called Archivi.ng is attempting to digitise every edition of every newspaper – 50 in all – published in Nigeria since 1 January 1960, the year of independence from Britain. The archive will launch its first tranche of documents in September." - The Guardian
"The niche world of hockey romance novels is getting mainstream attention after the wife of an N.H.L. player criticized book fans who she said had made comments and videos on social media about her husband that were 'predatory and exploiting.'" - The New York Times
"Reginald Dwayne Betts is the founder of Freedom Reads, a nonprofit with a mission to 'transform access to literature in prisons' by opening handcrafted micro-libraries in as many carceral facilities as possible. … With its 13-person team, it aim to open upwards of 1,000 libraries in the next three years." - Fast Company
"The green front door leads straight into Kevin Duffy's living room, the nerve centre of Bluemoose books, his independent literary hit factory. It is at a cluttered table in the corner that Duffy has built a business with a success rate that billion-pound publishers regard with envy." - The Guardian
Despite all the claims made for it, the literary canon does not make you morally better, nor does it provide any special insight into non-literary academic fields, nor is it of any help in most practical matters. - 3 Quarks Daily
When confronted with claims that term X causes harm to people with a given characteristic, or that term Y is the only way to describe them respectfully, a fair-minded person can reasonably respond, “What evidence suggests that this is true?” - The Atlantic
In Dayton, WA, about halfway between Seattle and Boise, when the public library's board refused a demand to remove or sequester a list of books that's now grown past 100 titles, right-wing activists began working on a ballot measure to dissolve the public library system. - The Nation
"In a move that some in the industry will welcome as putting at least a temporary stop to industry consolidation, the private investment firm KKR has reached an agreement with Paramount Global to acquire Simon & Schuster for $1.62 billion in an all-cash transaction." - Publishers Weekly
In publishing, too, the technology has the potential to reshape nearly every aspect of the work that goes into producing a book — even the act of writing itself. - The New York Times
Attempted book bans in libraries and public schools have proliferated in Republican states, complaints made on grounds of history, race, gender, LGBTQ+ rights and more. Attempts to ban titles by high-profile authors (Maya Angelou, Amanda Gorman, Art Spiegelman) have attracted national headlines. - The Guardian
"The possibility that a private equity firm could buy Simon & Schuster has made some publishing executives nervous over the past three years, concerned it could lead to staff cuts and fewer book titles." - The New York Times
The Asian American Literary Collective got their "Ghosted World" conference together quickly after the Smithsonian canceled its huge and popular event. One organizer: "This is a healing. It is bittersweet. It is empowering." - NPR
