News Roundups
March 1, 2024
In this week’s edition: User data being sold to train AI, AI-generated books impersonating authors, the Novel Prize, a realistic look at op-eds, and more.Tumblr and WordPress to Sell Users’ Data to Train AI Tools404 MediaOpenAI and Midjourney are in the process of buying user data from WordPress and Tumblr.Savannah’s book became part of a copycat scam. How to spot AI-generated, or fake, books onlineTodayMany authors, including Savannah Guthrie, have fallen victim to scammers selling AI-generated “copycat books” online.
Do I Really Need to Op-Ed to Sell Books?VultureThe publishing industry has come to expect authors to “cough up a few thousand words” in the process of marketing a new novel, but is it really necessary?Book ban wars expand in deep-red Texas countyAxios AustinA rundown of the impact book bans are having in Llano County, Texas, where last year officials considered closing local libraries rather than following a court order to return banned books to the shelves.With the Novel Prize, Three Anglophone Publishers Team to Champion Innovative FictionPublishers WeeklyThe one-of-a-kind Novel Prize is entering its third year of submissions in April 2024.
We Need to Read the Forgotten Geniuses, Not Rescue ThemNew York TimesAn essay on the importance of engaging with historical authors and a strategy for reading their work.The Black-History Books Teachers Hope Won’t Be BannedThe AtlanticBooks play an integral role in the “passing on of history” and should not be restricted in school libraries.
