Bridgerton author Julia Quinn is curating a historical romance subscription box, called JQ Editions, bringing the “star treatment” of deluxe editions to the genre. The box is exclusively available on Kickstarter and is made up of “my very favorite books, a mix of brand new titles, recent gems, and classics of the modern genre.” The special edition hardcovers will have custom covers, endpapers, and sprayed edges. Subscribers will receive one book every other month, starting in July 2026. The 2026 titles are The Last Lady B by Eloisa James, An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole, and Lord of Scoundrels by […]
News
Catching Up
Welcome to 2026. There was plenty of news over the past two weeks, and as promised we were covering live at our site and through a couple of catch-up newsletters. In case you missed them, here’s a quick review: January Picks Amazon Has Constrained “Ask This Book,” Though Authors Guild Believes It’s An Infringing Derivative Use Speculating on Barnes & Noble’s Sales “Public Domain Day” Features Faulkner, Nancy Drew and More Audible Tests In-App Promo Videos 2025: The Year In Stories Anthropic settlement: Before retiring, Judge Alsup lambasted the proposed fees for additional attorneys Meet the New Judge in the […]
“Public Domain Day” Features Faulkner, Nancy Drew and More
Books newly entering the public domain in 2026 include the following, as charted by Duke University’s Center for the Public Domain: As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett The Murder at the Vicarage, Agatha Christie’s first novel featuring Miss Marple The first four Nancy Drew books, beginning with The Secret of the Old Clock, by Carolyn Keene (pseudonym for Mildred Benson) The Little Engine That Could, by Watty Piper (pen name of Arnold Munk), illustrated by Lois Lenski Elson Basic Readers (the first appearances of Dick and Jane), by William H. Elson Vile Bodies, […]
No Disruptions Expected After Fire at Lakeside Book Company
A Lakeside Book Company book manufacturing facility in north Harrisonburg, VA caught fire on Monday, Rocktown Now reports. The fire started around 9:30 AM in an air-handler unit and extended to the roof. All employees were evacuated. Emergency personnel put out the fire and staff were able to return to the building by 11 AM. There were no injuries, and Lakeside said that the accident will not affect printing or distribution. “Thanks to the quick response by our associates and the local fire department, no one was injured, and damage to the facility is minimal,” a Lakeside spokesperson said. “We […]
Amazon Is Loosening Its DRM Policy for Kindle
Starting January 20, Amazon is loosening its digital rights management (DRM) policy for Kindle, and will allow authors using Kindle Direct Publishing to offer DRM-free books for download in EPUB or PDF format. Previously, the company had made downloading books difficult and earlier this year removed the ability of users to download and transfer titles using USB. The new policy will only impact titles marked as DRM free starting December 9, and not any before that. Most titles in the Kindle store will remain protected by DRM. Some authors are opting to remove the DRM-free status, as they don’t want […]
Social App Reading Report Shows Personal Recommendations Lead Discovery
Social reading app Fable and digital subscription service Everand released their State of Reading Report, an analysis of reading trends based on a survey of more than 1600 users. More than half of respondents report reading more this year than last. Fable also notes that personal recommendations have risen and are the dominant mode of discovery, over finding their next read on ebook and audiobook platforms. “Sometimes, humans get it better than machines,” Fable says in a release. “Many readers say algorithms and search tools don’t quite get their tastes – what some describe as a ‘discovery crisis.’ They want […]