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Innovation
Meta has built a massive new language AI — and it’s giving it away for free
RT @niallfirth Meta has made its own version of GPT-3 — and it’s going to give it to researchers to play with, including details of how it was made, reports @strwbilly
Spotify opening Roblox island in effort to reach younger consumers — adage.com
Spotify is taking a page out of the Ralph Lauren, Vans and Chipotle marketing playbooks in an effort to connect with younger gamers on Roblox. The streaming giant will partner with artists in the new gaming experience.
Technology
Google Is Offering Publishers Free Creation of Machine-Narrated Audiobooks During Beta Launch
Facebook Pulls the Plug on Podcast Business After a Year — www.bloomberg.com
Facebook is pulling out of podcasts and plans to remove them altogether from the social-media service starting June 3.
What You Don’t Know About Amazon
HT @jafurtado The company’s rewiring of retail puts customers at risk.
Amazon Reports Inflationary Pressures Added $2B in ‘Incremental Costs’
Amazon has made an app for the Fire TV that’s meant to help people decide what to watch, without an hour of scrolling through separate streaming services
HT @tcarmody
Some Amazon Prime Video shows will begin adding virtual product placements thanks to a new ad format for connected TV.
At NewFronts, e-commerce giant shows how it will insert brands into Freevee and Prime, and touts NFL and Twitch. #advertising
Amazon Kindles will soon support the ePub file format via Send to Kindle — www.theverge.com
The Send to Kindle app should soon let you send ePub files directly to your Kindle, though they’ll still need to be converted by Amazon.
Amazon stops selling digital goods in its Android app to escape Google’s Play Store tax
From QR Codes To Audio Retargeting, New Creative Formats Aim For Performance Budgets — www.adexchanger.com
HT @DCNorg
Clickbait ads have no place in publishers’ monetization strategy
RT @DCNorg GeoEdge research revealed that in 2021 over three-fourths of publishers’ sites user experience was harmed by poor ad quality and 66% reported bad ads impacted their bottom line. @tobiassilber @geoedge
New tempered glass offers e-paper experience on the iPad Mini — goodereader.com
Here comes a tempered glass display protector that promises to turn a tablet into an e-reader device. Now that isn’t going to be via any e-book reading app.
Publishing & Media
Don Weisberg Leaving as Macmillan CEO; Jon Yaged to Become CEO
France’s 12th ‘Digital Barometer’: 27 Percent Have Tried Audiobooks
HT @paulkbiba The new study from France’s publishers indicates that French audiobook fans are moving from CDs and tape to digital audio.
Bookstore Workers Are Forming Unions Over Low Pay and Lack of Benefits— www.teenvogue.com
Bookstore and publishing workers are unionizing and pushing back against low wages, racial and gender inequities, and unsafe working conditions.
All Ways Black: How one Instagram account is championing Black literature
Milwaukee-based book influencer Cree Myles curates an account for Penguin Random House dedicated to celebrating Black writers. #teamPRH
Librarians Gather in Texas as Book Bans Mount — www.publishersweekly.com
Teens are fighting book bans with ‘banned book clubs’
www.washingtonpost.com
Students around the country say it’s crucial to read about difficult and challenging ideas.
The school board of Rapid City, South Dakota, plans to destroy about 400 copies of books. In response, McSweeneys is offering Rapid City-area high school seniors free copies of any of the books that are going to be destroyed
How a Debut Graphic Memoir Became the Most Banned Book in the Country — www.nytimes.com
Maia Kobabe’s book “Gender Queer,” about coming out as nonbinary, landed the author at the center of a battle over which books belong in schools, and who gets to make that decision.
Bookworms continue to flourish as UK publishing hits new heights — www.cityam.com
HT @BISG Bookworms continue to find their heads buried in books beyond the pandemic, with UK publishing sales hitting a new industry high to £6.7bn in 2021.
Celebrating Independent Bookstore Day — www.publishersweekly.com
Independent Bookstore Day was held this past Saturday in both the U.S. and Canada. Booksellers were delighted with the return of the annual holiday celebrating bookselling, and turnout, they agreed, was excellent.
PRH and Parton’s Imagination Library to donate books to refugee children every month
Penguin Random House has partnered with singer Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and charity Give a Book on a pilot project to deliver a book a month to 200 refugee children living in London until they turn five. #teamPRH
Steph and Ayesha Curry to Help Create 150 ‘Little Town Libraries’ Across Oakland — www.blackenterprise.com
ICYMI After launching their free bookstore school bus last year, Ayesha and Steph Curry are helping to construct mini-libraries in the Oakland area.
Bookbuilders of Boston to Shutter Operations — www.publishersweekly.com
Following the results of a survey of membership indicating that there is not enough interest and energy to maintain Bookbuilders of Boston in the form that it took pre-pandemic, the organization will shut down its operations.
Twitter Kicks In With Fox Sports for Exclusive World Cup Content, Announces Deals With E!, Condé Nast, WNBA and More
variety.com
As Elon Musk waits in the wings, Twitter announced a series of content deal including with Fox Sports for exclusive World Cup content.
OK! Magazine ends weekly publication, becoming first celeb title to tumble— pagesix.com
OK! Magazine will no longer publish its weekly edition. But its publisher says it hasn’t folded. It will continue to publish occasional special issues and its website will remain online.
How Vogue Monetizes the Met Gala — www.businessoffashion.com
What began as a fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute has also become a major revenue opportunity for publisher Condé Nast. Vogue charged $1M for two six-second spots on its Met Gala livestream and other amplification; in 2021, the stream generated 16.5M views in two weeks
Vice Media has hired financial advisors to seek a buyer, may sell itself in pieces, sources say. It was once valued at $5.7 billion.
‘An immediate drop in content’: A new study shows what happens when big companies take over local news
www.editorandpublisher.com
From Alden Global Capital to Sinclair Media, tales of corporate media takeovers of local news outlets — and their chilling effects — are everywhere. A new study published late last month in New Media & Society journal provides further evidence of the devastating consequences of corporate ownership.
Resources & Opportunities
The Bronx Book Festival 2022 — The Bronx is Reading
HT @bronxisreading The 5th annual #BronxBookFest returns this June! Outside for in-person events on Sat 6/11.
Type geeks: free Monotype webinar on the science behind why fonts make us feel 5/25 1pm ET — www.monotype.com
Can fonts influence our response to taglines and slogans? Can they encourage us to perceive a company logo in a more positive way? Do they really build trust?
Petition for booksellers to condemn book banning and offer support to schools & libraries
MT @ABAbook In response to growing partisan attacks on books, ABFE has created a petition for booksellers to collectively condemn book banning and offer support to schools & libraries. We’re collecting signatures on a rolling basis, but encourage you to sign by 6/30.
The Bookseller launches survey on working conditions in publishing
MT @thebookseller We (The Bookseller) are looking to hear from you all about your experiences in publishing, regarding working conditions and pay. Have your say and find out more here.
AudioUK to measure state of UK audio production with expanded census
www.thebookseller.com
Trade body AudioUK has launched its latest Audio Production Census, aiming to capture the state of the audio production sector through the activity of podcast, radio and audiobook producers.
Free virtual Diversity Reboot 2022: Celebrating Global Asian Identities 5/9–5/12 — summit.powertofly.com
MT @powertofly We’re excited to announce the next summit in our Diversity Reboot Series, Celebrating Global Asian And Pacific Islander Identities! Join us for three days of networking, interactive talks, and panel discussions.
Grant Applications For Woman-Owned Businesses With No Deadlines — grantsforcreators.substack.com
Ditch the deadlines, these grants award on a rolling basis.
Tell City Hall: Libraries Are for Everyone — www.nypl.org
MT @Voicereader Ugh. So, apparently, some New York Public Library neighborhood branches may face the ax. Can you sign a letter?If there was ever a time to cut them? That time isn’t now. @NYCMayorsOffice @NYCSpeakerAdams@NYCCouncil to #InvestInLibraries.
Romance for Reproductive Justice — www.32auctions.com
Silent auction ‘Romance for Reproductive Justice’ hosted online at 32auctions.
These 13 corporations have spent $15 million supporting anti-abortion politicians since 2016
How to Show up For Abortion Access
docs.google.com
You’re reading this because you have learned about the leaked *DRAFT* SCOTUS opinion and you’re asking yourself the question “what can I do to support abortion access?”