On July 3, Japanese publisher Shinchosha will publish Haruki Murakami‘s THE TALE OF KAHO, the author’s first novel with a female protagonist, the AP reports. The book follows a picture book author named Kaho as she finds her way out of a bizarre world. It began as a series of short stories, the first of which was published in English in The New Yorker in 2024.
Archives for April 2026
Literati Sold to Trustbridge Partners
Austin, Texas based Literati has been acquired by Trustbridge Partners, and plans to use the new support to “increase its reach into schools and to provide a wealth of quality reading material combined with new fundraising solutions.” Founded in 2016 to provide monthly subscription services for children’s books, Literati expanded in 2022 when they acquired Follett School Solutions’ struggling school book fair business. In the announcement, Literati says their book fairs have “nearly $40 million in revenue” and reach 2.5 million students. Terms of the sale were not disclosed, but Literati is reported to have raised at least $52 million […]
Authors’ Copyright Suit Against Databricks Will Continue
Another copyright lawsuit from authors against a tech company for AI training is allowed to continue in Northern California federal court, a judge decided. Plaintiffs Stewart O’Nan, Abdi Nazemian, Brian Keene, Rebecca Makkai, and Jason Reynolds claim that MosaicML, which provides training data for AI companies and is owned by Databricks, used the Books3 dataset to train their own large language model, called MPT, and Databricks’s LLM, called DBRX. Judge Charles B. Dreyer denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss, stating “Defendants may ultimately prevail on this issue, but for now, Plaintiffs’ allegations are sufficient.” The tech company did succeed in getting […]
Callaway Attorney Says Company is Looking For a Buyer
At a bankruptcy court hearing on Wednesday, Nicholas Callaway continued to blame other people for his business failure, especially the one entity that was willing to loan him money. Bloomberg reports, “Getting loans from banks or other traditional lenders after the pandemic was difficult, Callaway said. The publisher borrowed $2 million from a foundation, but the loan included onerous terms that contributed to the bankruptcy filing, including a $1 million premium and penalties, he said.” The most recent court filings show a secured lien from the Hoffen Family Foundation, for $1.034 million. Callaway’s current attorney (multiple former attorneys are creditors) […]
BookCon Responds to Wild Lines, ARC Giveaways
After 25,000 people descended on the Javits Center for Book Con last weekend, parent company Reed Pop has responded to criticism over the event’s organization, USA Today reports. Social media posts detailed intense crowds and frenzied ARC drops, which some attendees called unsafe. “We heard the feedback clearly on the reservation system, ARC drops, and crowd flow. Some of it was demand outpacing our projections; some of it was decisions we’ll make differently next year. A community that shows up with this much passion is one we can grow alongside, and we’re grateful for it,” Reed Pop vice president of […]