Publisher Flatiron Books says that Sarah Wynn-Williams’ CARELESS PEOPLE sold 60,000 units across all formats in its first week on sale. Circana Bookscan shows tracked hardcover sales of just over 18,500 copies. Last week Meta won an interim award from an emergency arbitrator ordering the author to not make any “disparaging, critical, or otherwise detrimental comments” about Meta, effectively blocking her promotion of the book. But Wynn-Williams failed to appear at the hearing or even send an attorney to answer Meta’s complaint.
Authors
Dark Horse Becomes the First Publisher to Drop Neil Gaiman
Dark Horse announced on social media on Friday that it “takes seriously the allegations against Neil Gaiman and we are no longer publishing his works.” They are the first of Gaiman’s publishers to publicly acknowledge those allegations and cancel or remove work under contract as a result. The publisher said it was, “Confirming that the Anansi Boys comic series and collected volume have been cancelled.” They had published seven of a planned eight installments in the comic book series. The writer of the series Marc Bernardin said on Instagram recently, “Last Wednesday, issue 7 of Anansi Boys hit the stands. […]
The Continuing Rise of Bloom Books
The NYT celebrates the continuing success of Sourcebooks’ Bloom Books imprint. In 2023 Bloom had already grown to sales of more than $100 million less than three years after its founding, and sales for 2024 are up another 58 percent. “In an era when TikTok can catapult authors to success overnight, Bloom has developed a lucrative formula: courting self-published authors who have a built-in fan base, taking over their print distribution, building up their brand and market share and turning them into mainstream best sellers. That model has propelled the careers of novelists who now rank among the genre’s most […]
Authors Guild CEO Says Harper “Struck A Good Deal” for AI Licensing
Authors Guild ceo Mary Rasenberger and her staff have been actively engaged in representing authors’ interests in the battle to take back control of copyrighted work in an AI world, and monetize those rights if they choose. Speaking to PL about Harper’s new deal to license a body of backlist nonfiction works to a large AI company for authors who elect to consent, and with certain contractual guardrails in place, Rasenberger told us: “We really appreciate that Harper has taken the initiative and thought through how to protect works and keep AI from taking away from any existing value of […]
Thousands of Creators Protest Theft of Their Work By AI Companies
While awaiting the slow gears of litigation and legislation, over 10,000 creators and organizational partners from around the world have signed on to a simple statement of protest, declaring: “The unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI is a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted.” Among the supporting organizations is the Association of American Publishers (AAP). CEO Maria Pallante said in a press release, “What is true is that creators operate in service to a well-read, informed, and inspired global public, not the unsanctioned, unregulated profits of […]
Frankfurt Book Fair Week (Taylor’s Version)
As the trade portion of the Frankfurt Book Fair wraps up, we’re reminded (and remind you) that the biggest book news of the week had nothing to do with the trade show — and oddly has barely been mentioned in most outlets. We are speaking, of course, about Taylor Swift’s limited-edition book TAYLOR SWIFT: The Eras Tour Book, being sold exclusively at Target physical stores on November 29 (and likely to sell out before becoming available online). Everyone’s talking about it, though within the business we fear people are asking the wrong questions and/or coming to the wrong conclusions. Consider […]