Frankfurt: How Much is Book Publishing Using AI? - Publishing Perspectives

They brought up interesting points to study.

Today's trip in to the Catosphere took Panzer to the Publishing Perspectives site. There with a little digging our inquisitive kitty boy found a post about AI use in the publishing industry.

 

Poster Anderson's post is an overview of a new study by the Book Industry Study Group (BISG). The study looks at the use of AI by workers in the book publishing industry. The post includes links to other information about AI. 

 

Panzer says, "Their complaints about AI make sense to this little kitty."

 

Note:This is a very long post. You'll need to decide what you want to bring to snack on.

 

To read the post tootle over to AI Usage in Publishing 

Audiobooks and Fiction Drive Modest Growth in UK Publishing Market - Publishers Weekly

Audiobooks and digital books are the place to be now.

Today, Panzer's first stop in the Catosphere was at the Publishers Weekly site. There he discovered news about the U.K. publishing market.

  

Ed Nawotka's post gives a break down on the publishing market in the U.K. for 2024. Audio and digital books are adding to the market growth for 2024 over 2023. The post has graphs for each of the market's sectors.

 

Panzer says, "Audio and digital are growth factors, just like the market growth in Spain in yesterday's publishing market post."

 

Note: This is a long post. You'll need to decide what to bring to snack on while you read the post and graphs." 

 

To read the post tootle over to U.K. Publishing Market 

New books will be hard to come by for the rest of the year - Quartz

Today's trip into the Catosphere took our traveling kitty pilot to the Quartz site. There with no digging at all he found a post about the publishing supply chain.

Did you read yesterday?

According to the post by Hope Corrigan, publishers are telling consumers and booksellers there will be problems with book printing and book deliveries from now through the end of the year. This is due to the supply chain issues caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Panzer told you about the supply chain problems yesterday, so this information shouldn't come as a surprise.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... This little kitty thinks you better start buying your Christmas present books now."

Note: This is a medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a small muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to supply chain delays

To read yesterday's post tootle over to supply chain problems

Legible Launches Browser-Based Reading and Publishing Platform - Publishers Weekly

 Panzer was rudely woken up this morning by clapping and cheering coming from the Catosphere. Dragging his poor, tired, little, kitty body into the Panzermobile, he headed into the Catosphere. Following all the hullabaloo took him to the Publishers Weekly site. There he found a post about the new Legible reading and publishing platform.

Want to give it a try?

According to the post by Ed Nawotka, Legible.com has launched their new browser-based platform in beta mode in the U.S. and Canada. Browser-based means you can read their books on your cellphone, tablet or computer. Currently, they have books uploaded by some publishers, books in the public domain, and books uploaded by authors. Legible will be offering a subscription service, a sponsorship program and a publishing program. The subscription service will offer books for reading for a monthly fee. The sponsorship program will give schools and businesses the opportunity to pay a fee and allow multiple people to read the same material for a set amount of time. The publishing program will let authors upload their own books to the platform. There's a link to the publishing platform included in the post. If you fill out the form to get information about the publishing program, you can choose to visit the site and look at the books there.

Panzer says, "This little kitty followed the Legible Publishing link. It looks like an interesting new publishing venue."

Note: This is a long-medium length post. Bring a glass of lemonade and a bowl of ice cream for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Legible platform

NPD: 2020 Was the US' Bestselling Year for Print in a Decade - Publishing Perspectives

In order to get away from the craziness going on, Panzer made a trip into the Catosphere today. Our traveling kitty stopped in at the Publishing Perspectives site. There he found some good news about the print book publishing industry.

I'm ready for good news.

According to the post by Porter Anderson, U.S. print book sales rose 8.2 percent over the past year. With more people (both adults and children) at home the increase in books sales is not surprising. While much of the increase was in adult nonfiction (political books, cookbooks and do-it-yourself books), juvenile and teen books also contributed to the increase. The post includes charts for total sales by category and bestsellers. (The end of the post has information about current Covid-19 numbers in the U.S.)

Panzer says, "Maybe, instead of doing crazy stuff, humans should just go home and read a book."

Note: This is a long post. Bring a cup of cocoa, a muffin and two chocolate chip cookies (biscuits) for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to print books.

 

Announcing a New 'Green Book' Consortium: Canada, USA, UK - Publishing Perspectives

Panzer's evening nap was interrupted by clapping and cheering coming from the Catosphere. Hopping into the Panzermobile, our intrepid kitty pilot followed all the joyful noise to the Publishing Perspectives site. There he discovered a post about the new Green Book consortium.

 

According to Porter Anderson's post, a group comprised of Canadian, U.K. and U.S.A. supply chain organizations for the book publishing industry has formed the International Green Book Supply Chain. The group was formed in part to "make significant changes to reduce its overall environmental impact on the planet." The post includes a list of possible issues the group will address. The post also includes a section of interviews and statements from each country's representative of the member group.

 

Maybe ebooks only?

Panzer says, "We all love trees. but one day there won't be any trees left to make books."

 

Note: This is a humongous post. Bring a thermos of tea and seven muffins for today's reading selection.

 

To read the post tootle over to Green Book Consortium

 

 

 

 

US Book Industry: Associations Form Health Insurance Coalition - Publishing Perspectives

Panzer made a stop at the Publishing Perspectives site today. With a little digging in the posts there our inquisitive kitty boy found one about a health insurance partnership for writers, publishers and others in the industry.

It's not perfect, but at least its a start.

According to the post by Porter Anderson, 11 groups of writers, publishers, graphic artists, and others in the book industry have formed an insurance partnership/coalition with LIG Solutions. The new coalition is named the Book Industry Health Insurance Partnership. The partnership will provide insurance information in all 50 states for the members in the groups and help determine which insurance fits the members needs. The partnership can't negotiate lower rates for members, so rates won't be lower for group members. The post includes a list of all 11 member groups who are eligible to participate. The post also has a link to a FAQ about the new partnership.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... Mom used to be a health insurance agent. She's had a lot of different jobs to support her writing habit."

Note: This is a l-o-n-g post. Bring two cups of tea and five muffins for today's reading selection. If you plan to follow the links in the post, bring another cup of tea and two brownies and two chocolate chip cookies (biscuits).

To read the post tootle over to US book groups health insurance

Macmillan Lays Off Some Staff, Temporarily Cuts Some Salaries - Publishers Weekly

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere when he heard crying and shouting coming from outside the Panzermobile. Following all the hullabaloo took our brave kitty boy to the Publishers Weekly site. With a little digging in the posts, he discovered one about publisher Macmillan's cost cutting efforts that was causing all the noise.

It may never be safe to leave here.

John Maher's post says publisher Macmillan has announced the company has laid off some staff members, closed the Thomas Dunn imprint and Tom Dunn has left the company. In addition, salaries for employees making more than $60,000 per year are being cut on an increasing scale ranging from 20 percent to 50 percent depending on the employee's salary amount. These cost cutting measures are in response to Covid-19's impact on closing book stores and the lack of book orders and book sales from those stores.

Panzer says, "That Covid-19 thingy is really impacting the book publishing industry."

Note: This is a medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Macmillan

Pearson Sells Last 25% of PRH to Bertelsmann - Publishers Weekly

Four days until Christmas. Then watch out.

Today as Panzer was trying to see what was under the Christmas tree, What's His Name rudely pushed him out of the presents. Not wanting to get on Santa's naughty list our rule-abiding kitty got into the Panzermobile for a trip into the Catosphere. Tootling around, he decided to make a stop at the Publishers Weekly site. Taking his frustrations out on the posts pile there, he dug around until he found one on Pearson's sale of its shares in publisher Penguin Random House

According to Ed Nawotka's post, Pearson has sold its last shares in Penguin Random House (PRH) to Bertelsmann for $675 million. Pearson has owned 25 percent of PRH since 2017 when it previously sold 22 percent of its shares to Bertelsmann. Bartelsmann no owns 100 percent of PRH and all its publishing assets. The post contains links to other information about PRH and it's future publishing plans.

Panzer says, "Bertelsmann is becoming a worldwide publishing behemoth."

Note: This is a medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Bertelsmann

Wattpad, the Storytelling App, Will Launch a Publishing Division - The New York Times

They pick from Wattpad only.

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere when he heard clapping and cheering. Following all the hoopla took our adventuresome kitty boy to The New York Times site. With a little digging in the posts he found one about Wattpad.

According to the post, Wattpad has announced the formation of Wattpad Books. The new publication arm will look to material uploaded to the Wattpad site for possible publication. The company has already chosen 6 uploaded stories for book publication later this year.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... The post says the author gets an advance and royalties."

Note: This is a long-medium length post. Bring a cup of cocoa and a muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Wattpad Books

NAFTA's cultural exception top priority for Canada heading into negotiations - Quill & Quire

Today's trip into the Catosphere took Panzer to the Quill and Quire site. There our inquisitive kitty found a post about Canada's plans for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiation with the United States and Mexico.

According to Sue Carter's post, renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, the United States and Mexico will begin on August 16, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Among other issues Canada will be addressing their cultural exemption in the agreement. As explained in the post, the cultural exemption protects Canada's publishing and broadcasting industries. The Canadian publishing industry earns $53 million from sales to the U.S. which the industry would like to protect. Since there is no trade deficit with the U.S. concerning books, it's believed the cultural exemption will be allowed to remain unchanged. There's more information about Canada's plans for the renegotiation and links included in the post.

NAFTA? That's a funny words.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... This little kitty didn't know there was a cultural exemption in NAFTA for Canadian books."

Note: This is a longish post. Bring a b-i-g cup of tea and two muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)