Demand for creative writing courses outpaces supply
stanforddaily.com – Tuesday November 7, 2023
It might seem that putting words to paper is hard, but for those interested in creative writing classes, it might be more difficult to get into a class.
Many creative writing courses are known for their long waitlists and enrollment caps, but the root of the issue lies with a low supply of lecturers and courses to meet the high student demand for courses. The low supply of lecturers stems from an even larger problem: funding.
For Kathaleen Mallard ’25, it was incredibly difficult for her to get into the creative writing classes she wanted, even as an English major with a creative writing emphasis.
“I feel like the demand was obviously much greater than the amount of classes that there were, so it was hard to get into anything,” Mallard said. Some of her courses required course enrollment forms, but seniority remained a large factor of selection, making it difficult to enroll into the classes that were part of the core major requirements.
Mallard believes that this could affect students in the future who wish to pursue an English major with a creative writing emphasis or a creative writing minor, who may not get to explore classes in the department because of low enrollment caps. She also raised the waitlist experience for creative writing courses. Since most people are unlikely to drop their spots in class, it’s really hard to get off the waitlist for these classes, Mallard said.
Amazon Sues Scammers Targeting Authors
publishersweekly.com – Wednesday November 1, 2023
Amazon this week announced that it has filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of California against some 20 individuals scamming authors by falsely claiming an affiliation with Amazon Publishing and Kindle Direct Publishing. According to the suit, the scammers run fake Amazon knockoff websites designed to lure would-be authors into paying a fee to publish, and then deliver either substandard or no service at all.
“Defendants use the Amazon Marks in their domain names and on their websites to divert victims from Amazon’s genuine websites to Defendants’ websites that purport to offer services to help authors create, edit, and publish their works through [Amazon Publishing or Kindle Direct Publishing],” the suit states, adding that, “to further the ruse of affiliation with Amazon” the websites often have chat boxes or advertise phone numbers to call that provide “false and misleading representations of affiliation with Amazon.”
Kindle Direct Publishing Will Beta Test Virtual Voice–Narrated Audiobooks
publishersweekly.com – Wednesday November 1, 2023
In a post today in the Kindle Direct Publishing community forum, the self-publishing giant announced that it has begun a beta test on technology allowing KDP authors to produce audiobook versions of their e-books using virtual voice narration. The ability to create an audiobook using synthetic speech technology is likely to result in a boom in the number of audiobooks produced by KDP authors. According to an Amazon spokesperson, currently only 4% of titles self-published through KDP have an audiobook available.
Under the new initiative, authors can choose one of their eligible e-books already on the KDP platform, then sample voices, preview the work, and customize the audiobook. After publication, audiobooks will be live within 72 hours, and will distributed wherever Audible titles are sold. Prices can be set between $3.99 and $14.99 and authors will receive a 40% royalty. All audiobooks created by virtual voice, the post says, will be clearly labeled and, as with any audiobook, customers can listen to samples.
Poland joins CAA as agent in books department
thebookseller.com – Thursday October 12, 2023
Harriet Poland has joined the books department at the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) as an agent.
Poland will be working across a range of books, including narrative, voice-driven non-fiction, pop culture, memoir and journalism.
She comes to the agency from Hodder & Stoughton, where she was editorial director and published several titles from authors including Rob Delaney, Garth Marenghi and Jessie Ware. Prior to Hodder, she held positions at Hodder Studio, Audible and The Hanbury Agency.
AnyBook is aiming to be “the Netflix or Spotify” of publishing
calcalistech.com – Monday October 9, 2023
The company has raised a total of $2 million to help revolutionize the publishing industry
“The book industry is lagging behind while other content-based industries are flourishing and revolutionizing themselves,” explained AnyBook co-founder and CEO Eliran Navon. “While other industries have been completely disrupted and changed by digitization, like Netflix and Spotify in the entertainment and music industries, 80% of book sales are still physical books.”
AnyBook was founded to tackle this. Alongside his partners, he decided to create a model that would provide a new experience that would expand usage and encourage consumers to read more. “Thanks to AnyBook’s technology, workplaces can provide employees with a continuous supply of books they’ll find compelling and enjoyable,” he said.
A New Trend Shows AI Generated Books Are Plagarising Famous Authors’ Writing
techround.co.uk – Monday October 2, 2023
Artificial intelligence- although a great development- continues to cause worries across career paths. This now includes the publishing industry. The rise of AI has introduced a new trend in the literary world – AI-generated books. This has created a mix of emotions among authors, readers, and publishing platforms alike.
Rory Cellan-Jones, a writer-journalist, was surprised to find a biography about him on Amazon. The book, which he had not authored, featured a poorly designed cover and was written by an unknown individual. Cellan-Jones stated, “I thought: ‘This is strange — who’s writing a biography of me?’”.
Stop 'tampering with literature'! Publishers warned against cancelling classic authors after woke rewrites
gbnews.com – Saturday September 30, 2023
Woke rewrites of classic books "deprive children of valuable lessons on right and wrong", the Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport has warned.
Lucy Frazer claims "tampering with literature" denies people "precious cultural heritage" as she warns publishers against cancelling authors.
Her comments come after books by authors such as Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton have recently been altered by their publishers.
In some instances, certain words and phrases which they now deem to be offensive have been removed.
However, the MP for South East Cambridgeshire says rewriting old texts is "infantilising".
Kumar joins David Godwin Associates as a literary agent
thebookseller.com – Friday September 29, 2023
Aparna Kumar is joining David Godwin Associates as a literary agent on 2nd October. She will be helping to manage David Godwin’s long list of clients as well as acquiring her own.
Kumar, who has recently completed her MSc in Media and Communications at the London School of Economics, has worked in publishing for six years. Most recently, she was an editor at Penguin Random House India, where she commissioned literary fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry.
Children's Books North launches directory for authors, illustrators and publishing professionals
thebookseller.com – Thursday September 28, 2023
The Children’s Books North (CBN) network is launching a directory listing published children’s authors, illustrators and publishing professionals based in the north-east, north-west, Yorkshire and Scotland.
Tilda Johnson, CBN co-founder, said: "The directory is a key resource in our aim to connect the children’s book professionals living in our regions, to promote our members’ work, and to champion the importance of regional diversity in children’s books and the publishing industry."
CBN members will be listed with their details, with the aim of enabling booksellers, librarians, schools, festivals, literacy organisations, agents and publishers to get in touch. The directory, which will be updated annually, is also aimed at authors and illustrators looking to connect with other creatives working in their region and to forge new networks.
The Hollywood writers’ strike is over — and they won big
vox.com – Thursday September 28, 2023
Hollywood’s longest and most costly labor strike has ended.
Late in the day on Sunday, September 24 — after 146 days of labor stoppage, the longest strike in Hollywood history by a long shot — the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which represents Hollywood’s writers, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), an association of Hollywood’s largest studios and production companies, announced that an agreement had been reached. On Tuesday, September 26, the union’s leadership announced that they’d voted to end the strike and recommended the membership vote in favor of ratifying the contract.
The strike officially ended in the wee hours of Wednesday, September 27, and the union’s membership will begin their vote on Monday, October 2. For many, this moment is one for celebration. President Joe Biden, who is set to join striking auto workers on their picket line on Tuesday, issued a statement applauding the writers’ tentative deal. “There simply is no substitute for employers and employees coming together to negotiate in good faith toward an agreement that makes a business stronger and secures the pay, benefits, and dignity that workers deserve,” he said.
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