The NYT Book Review has cut ties with novelist and freelance journalist Alex Preston, after discovering that Preston used AI in creating a recent review. The Wrap reports that a reader flagged Preston’s January 6 review of Watching Over Her by Jean-Baptiste Andrea, which bore similarities to a Guardian review of the same book. The newspaper launched an investigation of the situation and Preston admitted that he’d used AI and failed to catch the pieces that were pulled from the Guardian. Preston has written six other pieces for the paper since 2021 and he denied used AI on any of […]
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Callaway Arts & Entertainment Files For Bankruptcy
Callaway Arts & Entertainment, the illustrated publisher founded by Nicholas Callaway, has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Resuscitated after unsuccessful digital adventures including Calloway Digital Arts (which dubbed itself the “’love child’ of ‘Random House and Pixar'”) and Happy liftestyle apps, recent Calloway Arts titles include The Beatles: Get Back, and Bob Dylan: Mixing Up the Medicine. Alas the list of the company’s 20 largest unsecured creditors — totaling approximately $4.15 million — includes Dylan (owed $450,000) and their distributor Hachette Book Group (owed $1,691,674). Two staff members are owed over […]
Scribner Will Reprint Don DeLillo’s Hockey Novel
Scribner will publish a new edition of Don DeLillo‘s hockey novel AMAZONS on November 17. Originally published in 1980 under the pseudonym Cleo Birdwell, the book follows, the “erotic exploits of the first woman to play in the National Hockey League.” Since its publication, DeLillo has renounced the novel, removing it from his bibliography. He did not publicly acknowledge being its author until 2020. The name Cleo Birdwell will remain on the cover as the author. DeLillo reportedly resisted offers to reissue the novel for years. “He was so against republishing,” his literary agent Robin Straus tells the Times. “Lots […]
Dial Books for Young Readers Closes
Penguin Random House is closing Dial Books for Young Readers. Launched in 1961, the imprint has published books by Rosemary Wells, Mercer Mayer, Mildred D. Taylor, and Richard Peck, as well as Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri’s Dragons Love Tacos, B.J. Novak’s The Book With No Pictures, and Jandy Nelson’s I’ll Give You the Sun. “As a result [of the closure], a few employees will be leaving, and some will be joining other [Penguin Young Readers] imprints,” a spokesperson stated. The publisher did not respond to inquiries about the rationale behind the decision, the plans for forthcoming books, or how […]
Lakeside Adds Digital Press to Harrisonburg
Lakeside Book Company has installed a new HP T500 digital press at their Harrisonburg facility, calling it “a major expansion of its digital print platform.” The company says it will let them “help publishers respond to changing market demand with offset-comparable quality, faster turnaround, and greater production flexibility. The press supports precise replenishment, shorter lead times, and reduced inventory exposure for both backlist and frontlist titles, while its advanced inkjet technology improves energy efficiency and sustainability performance.”
Lonely Planet Launches Digital Travel Platform
Travel guidebook publisher Lonely Planet has launched a digital platform that includes an app and bookable travel experiences through Lonely Planet Journeys. They bill it as the company’s “most significant evolution yet from trusted guidebooks to a connected travel platform.” The app offers “trusted travel guidance from more than 450 on-the-ground experts around the world to help travelers plan with confidence as the brand continues its shift to a digital-first platform.” Membership tiers will be rolled out later in 2026. Meanwhile, Lonely Planet Journeys, launched in fall 2025, allows users to “book customized trips to 70+ destinations directly through Lonely […]