Industry & Advocacy News
July 11, 2019
Our roundup of key news affecting authors. In this week’s edition: Why we need memoirs, who owns digital stories, and more…Who Owns Digital Stories?The Bookseller “As storytellers, we are smart, creative and economically vulnerable. But we have stories and creativity that are valuable. To recognise this is the first step towards being aware of the value we have to technology monoliths, and why, as we head towards the dawn of a new phase of technology, we need to stop them trying to recreate us inside their machines, and instead work jointly to safeguard the importance that human creativity has in all our future.”
Trump Can’t Block Critics from His Twitter Account, Appeals Court RulesThe New York Times“The decision may have broader implications for how the First Amendment applies to officials’ accounts in the social-media era.”Michael Zilkha Launches ZE BooksPublishers Weekly“English entrepreneur and ZE Records cofounder Michael Zilkha has launched ZE Books, a new small press that will publish ‘literary mix-tapes from visionary writers, artists, and musicians.’”Audiobooks, Children’s and YA Nonfiction Lead Publishing Revenue in 2018Book Riot“New numbers are out from the Association of American Publishers (AAP) on the continued growth of audiobooks consumption, nonfiction consumption, and more.”Arundhati Roy: Stories ‘Must Not Lose Their Wilderness’Literary Hub“Arundhati Roy, whose books include the Booker Prize-winning The God of Small Things along with The Ministry of Utmost Happiness and My Seditious Heart, spoke with writer Siddhartha Deb in May at Harlem’s Apollo Theater as part of PEN America’s World Voices Festival.”Why We Need MemoirsThe Millions“So, why do we need memoir? In this world, and in our country—where so many of us feel a lack of connection, where the challenges seem so large—writers who dare to tell the brutal, honest truth about their humanity offer us a gift.”How Authors Budget for Their BooksNetGalley Insights“NetGalley and the IBPA worked together to gather information from an engaged and thoughtful group of authors about how much they budget for their books, where that budget gets allocated, and where they find the most value. We hope that this information can help other authors strategize for their own books, getting the most value out of their budgets.”
Federal Court Says Amazon Can Be Sued over Defective ProductThe Washington Post“The appeals court also said the Communications Decency Act doesn’t shield Amazon from liability because Amazon ‘plays a large role in the actual sales process’ and isn’t merely a publisher of information or content provided by third parties.”
Summer Reading Prime: How to Avoid Buying Counterfeit Books on AmazonMertzel Law PLLC“If you’re an Amazon shopper, you’ll want to be on the lookout for counterfeit works from your favorite writers and scholars. Here are some tips for reducing your risk of buying a counterfeit on the e-commerce site.”
