Liveright has removed Kerri K. Greenidge‘s 2022 book The Grimkes from its website following a Tufts University review that turned up multiple factual errors and issues with citation. Greenidge, who was a tenured associate professor in the Department of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora at Tufts, has left the university. The book had received the Joan Kelly Memorial Prize from the American Historical Association, among other honors. Tufts launched a peer review by external scholars after receiving complaints about errors in the book. The NYT writes, “Several other scholars, who described themselves as skeptical of some of Greenidge’s assertions […]
Authors
Authors Guild Calls For Info on Books Without Copyright Registration
The Authors Guild is soliciting information from any author whose publisher did not register their book’s copyright, “and that they believe they were excluded from the Bartz v. Anthropic class action settlement because of that.” The AG wants to “assess the scope of the issue,” ceo Mary Rasenberger said, and encourage authors to look at their contracts to see if publishers were required to register, and in what timeframe. Some contract language only indicates that the publisher “may” register the copyright, while other boilerplates more clearly state that the publisher “shall” register. “We think that publishers should pay authors $1500 […]
Mac Barnett Responds To Backlash
Children’s author and National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Mac Barnett has responded to the online controversy caused by an excerpt from his recently published book for adults Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children. He writes in the book, “I have a nagging fear that children’s literature suffers from a slightly higher crud percentage than literature as a whole…maybe more like 94.7 percent of kids’ books are crud.” Since the book was published on Tuesday, authors and readers in the kidlit community have compared him to pro-book banning organizations and called for him to resign from his ambassadorship. Author […]
AG Recommends New Contract Language on Uploading Manuscripts to AI Tools
The Authors Guild has released new recommendations and shared a proposed contract clause regarding the use of generative AI tools in publishing workflows. The organization reports concern that publishing professionals are “uploading manuscripts and authors’ personal information into consumer-facing AI systems for uses such as generating summaries, assessments, and marketing copy.” Their new suggested contract language is as follows: “Publisher shall not upload the Work or any of Author’s personal information to consumer-facing AI systems for purposes such as generating summaries, assessments, or marketing copy without written permission from the author; and when such permission is granted, it shall use guardrails […]
Bestselling Christian Author Philip Yancey Retires From Writing
Christian author Philip Yancey announced that he would retire from writing, due to his engagement in an extramarital affair. Yancey, who has been married for 55 years, had an 8-year-long affair with a married woman, according to a statement he sent to Christianity Today. “My conduct defied everything that I believe about marriage,” he writes. “It was also totally inconsistent with my faith and my writings and caused deep pain for her husband and both of our families.” Yancey’s books have sold more than 20 million copies, the New York Times reports. He is the author of more than 25 […]
Cat Stevens Cancels North American Tour Due to Visa Issues
British musician Cat Stevens (also known as Yusef) has canceled events for his memoir, Cat on the Road to Findout, in the US and Canada, he announced on Instagram. According to his website, Stevens had scheduled nine events, from October 2 through 22, throughout the US and in Toronto. “Waiting months for visa approvals, we held out as long as we could,” he writes. “However, at this point, the production logistics necessary for my show cannot be arranged in time.” Stevens notes in his post that if his visa does get approved eventually, the events may be rescheduled for later […]