After revelations of plagiarism in Dr. David Agus’s THE BOOK OF ANIMAL SECRETS, which will be delayed as the author corrects the copied passages, the LA Times found more evidence of plagiarism in Agus’s previous books. The paper found more than 120 instances plagiarism in THE END OF ILLNESS (Free Press, 2012), A SHORT GUIDE TO A LONG LIFE (S&S, 2014), and THE LUCKY YEARS (S&S, 2016), all published by Simon & Schuster. Agus’s co-author Kristen Loberg took the blame. In a statement to the Times, she said, “I accept complete responsibility for any errors my work may have contained. […]
Archives for March 2023
Real Book Sales Data, Now with A New Name
Following NPD’s merger with IRi last year, the combined companies have renamed themselves Circana, so you will see the Bookscan family of data products referred to as Circana Books or Circana Bookscan from now on. They report that last week print book sales were up 580,000 units compared to the same week in 2022, after six weeks of running a little below last year, now running 1 percent below 2022 on a year-to-date basis. As we reminded writers through our new monthly Authors Lunch last week — to significant interest — PM drives access to Bookscan’s real sales data for […]
People 3/17
At Holt, Lori Kusatzky and Anita Sheih were both promoted to assistant editor.
Lambda Literary Awards Finalists
Lambda Literary announced the finalists for the 2023 Lammy awards. Winners will be announced in a ceremony on June 9.
January Trade Sales Rose 3.7 Percent, AAP Reports
In an encouraging start to the year, January sales data from the AAP’s reporting StatShot publishers shows trade sales rising modestly, reversing three consecutive quarters of declines at the end of 2022. Gains in adult books offset slight decreases in children’s and YA sales, with total trade sales for the month registering $682 million, up 3.7 percent over January 2022. Adult sales were $492 million, an increase of 6.2 percent, with hardcover sales of $155 million and paperback sales of $178 million. Children’s sales fell 2.3 percent to $189.5 million, with hardcovers selling $69 million and paperbacks accounting for $83 […]
Government Underscores that Copyright Is for Human-Created Works, and AI-Generated Material Is Not Protectable
After finding last month that AI-generated artwork in a graphic novel did not qualify for copyright protection, the US Copyright Office has now published a more extensive paper, “Copyright Registration Guidance: Works Containing Material Generated by Artificial Intelligence.” The key point is their reiteration of the view that, “It is well-established that copyright can protect only material that is the product of human creativity.” Therefore, anyone applying for a copyright has “a duty to disclose the inclusion of AI-generated content in a work submitted for registration and to provide a brief explanation of the human author’s contributions to the work.” […]