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Harry Potter publisher killed in boating accident

<p>A tragic boating incident off the Amalfi Coast in Italy has claimed the life of prominent publishing executive Adrienne Vaughan.</p> <p>Aged 45, Vaughan held the position of President at Bloomsbury Publishing's US division. The distressing accident occurred when she was thrown overboard from a motorboat and suffered fatal injuries from contact with the vessel's propeller.</p> <p>The ill-fated incident took place as Vaughan, accompanied by her spouse and two children, was en route to Positano on a motorboat. Regrettably, the motorboat collided with a sailboat, resulting in the tragic accident. The motorboat had been under the guidance of a hired skipper at the time of the collision.</p> <p>Tragically, the sailboat that was struck was carrying over 80 tourists from the United States and Germany, who were joyously celebrating a wedding onboard. An attendee recording the wedding festivities inadvertently captured the harrowing moment when a woman struggled in the water.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="it">Incidente sulla costa amalfitana in cui ha perso la vita una turista americana. Il motoscafo della turista si è scontrato con un veliero dove si stava festeggiando un matrimonio. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/amalfi?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#amalfi</a> <a href="https://t.co/dn6TfT3I9s">pic.twitter.com/dn6TfT3I9s</a></p> <p>— Colonnello Kurtz (@danilomik1) <a href="https://twitter.com/danilomik1/status/1687448152108916736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p>Despite efforts to rescue her, Vaughan was retrieved from the water and transported to a dock. Unfortunately, she succumbed to her injuries before a helicopter ambulance could arrive, as reported by state television.</p> <p>Italian authorities, specifically the Amalfi coast guard office, have initiated an investigation into the incident. However, at the time of reporting, the coast guard office had not provided further information in response to inquiries.</p> <p>Vaughan's husband, Mike White, sustained a shoulder injury and was subsequently hospitalised. Thankfully, their two young children emerged from the incident unscathed. Remarkably, no individuals aboard the sailboat suffered injuries.</p> <p>In a disheartening turn of events, a blood test conducted on the motorboat's skipper indicated the presence of substances in their system. The specifics of the substance were not explicitly mentioned by the Italian news agency ANSA, which reported the incident. The skipper, approximately 30 years old and of Italian nationality, sustained fractures to their pelvis and ribs.</p> <p>The investigation into this tragic incident is being overseen by prosecutors in the southern port city of Salerno. As of now, the courthouse has not provided any additional insights into the matter.</p> <p>Adrienne Vaughan was a distinguished figure in the publishing industry. Holding a master's degree in business from New York University, she had previously held roles at prestigious organizations such as Disney Book Group and Oxford University Press. In 2020, she joined Bloomsbury as an executive editor and COO, later being promoted to President. She was also an active member of the Association of American Publishers, a prominent industry trade group.</p> <p>In the wake of this devastating loss, the Association of American Publishers' board chair, Julia Reidhead, and President/CEO, Maria A. Pallante, released a joint statement: "Adrienne Vaughan was a leader of dazzling talent and infectious passion and had a deep commitment to authors and readers. Most of all she was an extraordinary human being, and those of us who had the opportunity to work with her will be forever fortunate."</p> <p><em>Images: Bloomsbury / Twitter</em></p>

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"This is his story": Details on Prince Harry's memoir released

<p>The details of Prince Harry's highly anticipated memoir have been announced, with his publisher finally releasing the name of the book and when it will be published. </p> <p>The news of the memoir has been an object of obsession for royal fans since it was first announced last year, with eager readers not having to wait much longer. </p> <p>The memoir, titled <em>Spare</em>, will be published on January 10th 2023: three years to the date that Harry and Meghan took a step back from the royal family. </p> <p><em>Spare</em> is being billed by Penguin Random House, as an account told with “raw, unflinching honesty” and filled with “insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.”</p> <p>In a statement released on Thursday, Penguin Random House announced the details of the book as they summoned memories of the death of Princess Diana in 1997 as Harry and his brother, William, “walked behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow - and horror.”</p> <p>“As Diana, Princess of Wales, was laid to rest, billions wondered what the princes must be thinking and feeling - and how their lives would play out from that point on,” the statement reads in part.</p> <p>“For Harry, this is his story at last.”</p> <p>The memoir's title is a nod to William and Harry’s roles as ‘heir and the spare’, with William as heir to the throne, and Prince Harry as his spare.</p> <p>The 416-page book will come out in 16 languages, from Dutch to Portuguese, and also will be released in an audio edition read by Prince Harry.</p> <p>The hardback copies of <em>Spare</em> will be retailing for $50, with Harry has previously confirming he will be donating proceeds from the sales of <em>Spare</em> to various British charities. </p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images / Penguin Random House</em></p>

Books

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Bob Dylan to publish essay collection in celebration of songwriting

<p dir="ltr">Bob Dylan is set to release a celebratory essay collection, dedicated to the art of songwriting by peers such as Nina Simone, Hank Williams and Elvis Costello. </p> <p dir="ltr">The veteran artist began work on <em>The Philosophy of Modern Song</em> in 2010, which is set to contain over 60 essays in which the 80-year-old musician “analyses what he calls the trap of easy rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song, and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal.”</p> <p dir="ltr">According to publisher Simon &amp; Schuster (S&amp;S), the essays are described as “mysterious and mercurial, poignant and profound, and often laugh-out-loud funny. And while they are ostensibly about music, they are really meditations and reflections on the human condition.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Combined with nearly 150 “carefully curated photos as well as a series of dreamlike riffs”, the collection “resembles an epic poem,” said S&amp;S.</p> <p dir="ltr">Jonathan Karp, president and chief executive of S&amp;S, said in a statement, “<em>The Philosophy of Modern Song</em> could only have been written by Bob Dylan.” </p> <p dir="ltr">“His voice is unique, and his work conveys his deep appreciation and understanding of songs, the people who bring those songs to life, and what songs mean to all of us.”</p> <p dir="ltr">In 2016, Bob Dylan won the Nobel prize for literature, after his lyrics and previous published works have made a lasting impact on music fans and book lovers alike. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>The Philosophy of Modern Song</em> is set to be published on November 8th, with an audiobook partially narrated by Bob Dylan in the works as well. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Music

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Piers Morgan publishes another rant about Meghan Markle

<p>Disgraced ex-TV host Piers Morgan has come out swinging once again at Meghan Markle, in the wake of her victory in court against the Mail on Sunday.</p> <p>Piers, who currently writes for the Daily Mail, took to Twitter to call Meghan "Princess Pinocchio", and blast her of being "two-faced".</p> <p>Meghan sued the Mail on Sunday over the publication of a "personal and private" letter she sent her father Thomas Markle in 2018.</p> <p class="">Publishers Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) launched an appeal against a decision to grant a summary judgment - meaning The Duchess didn't need to face a high-profile trial.</p> <p class="">The judges at the Court of Appeal ruled in Markle's favour, and dismissed new claims of that threatened her credibility.</p> <p class="">Within hours of the ruling, Piers lashed out at the Meghan once again, while also promoting his Daily Mail opinion column.</p> <p class=""><span>Piers tweeted, "A responsive statement from Piers, The Earl of Exposing Princess Pinocchio Bullsh*t, will be published shortly."</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">A responsive statement from Piers, The Earl of Exposing Princess Pinocchio Bullsh*t, will be published shortly. <a href="https://t.co/biTPSirxvY">pic.twitter.com/biTPSirxvY</a></p> — Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) <a href="https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1466379930804146184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2021</a></blockquote> <p class=""><span>In a statement from Meghan Markle, she said that her win in court would transcend her personal experience, and would help anyone slated by the press. </span></p> <p class="">She said, "This is a victory not just for me, but for anyone who has ever felt scared to stand up for what's right."</p> <p class="">Morgan argued with Markle's statement saying that the case was "beyond parody".</p> <p class="">In his Daily Mail column, he wrote, <span>"She can claim 'victory' all she likes after this court case, but all it really did was expose her real character to the world and the cold hard two-faced reality at the heart of Meghan and Harry's attitude to privacy."</span></p> <p class=""><span>When sharing his column to his following on Twitter, he added, "Put your gloating champagne away, Princess Pinocchio - the court of public opinion now knows you're a fork-tongued devious manipulative piece of work who only wants to protect your privacy so you can sell it."</span></p> <p class=""><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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Unseen texts claim Meghan Markle knew controversial letter would leak

<p>As Meghan Markle's court battle with a British publisher continues, a major bombshell has been dropped about the authenticity of the Duchess' claims. </p> <p>In the lengthy legal battle, Meghan Markle claims that Associated Newspapers misused Meghan's private information when they published a letter she sent to her father before her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018. </p> <p>But now, Meghan's former private secretary Jason Knauf claims she was "happy for the public to read" the letter, and altered her language in the correspondence to "pull at the heartstrings" of the public. </p> <p><span>The court heard that the duchess had written, “Given I’ve only ever called him ‘daddy’ it may make sense to open as such, despite him being less than paternal, and in the unfortunate event that it leaked it would pull at the heartstrings.”</span></p> <p class="css-1316j2p-StyledParagraph e4e0a020">“Obviously everything I have drafted is with the understanding that it could be leaked, so I have been meticulous in my word choice.”</p> <p class="css-1316j2p-StyledParagraph e4e0a020">The duchess later texted Knauf again, saying: “Honestly Jason, I feel fantastic."</p> <p class="css-1316j2p-StyledParagraph e4e0a020">“Cathartic and real and honest and factual. And if he leaks it then that’s on his conscience."</p> <p class="css-1316j2p-StyledParagraph e4e0a020">“And at least the world will know the truth, words I could never voice.”</p> <p class="css-1316j2p-StyledParagraph e4e0a020">As these revelations came to light, lawyers for Associated Newspapers are hoping to overturn the original decision of the high court by arguing the letter was crafted with the "possibility of public consumption" in mind. </p> <p class="css-1316j2p-StyledParagraph e4e0a020">The letter was sent to Meghan's father Thomas after he refused to walk her down the aisle at the high-profile royal wedding, and the letter was subsequently sold by Thomas to the UK newspaper. </p> <p class="css-1316j2p-StyledParagraph e4e0a020"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Legal

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London’s National Gallery publishes historical slavery report

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In a detailed research project, London’s National gallery has published a report on the role slavery has played in the 197-year history of the institution’s success. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Focusing on the period between 1824 and 1880, 67 individuals were named with </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">either direct, familial or more tangential connections to slavery.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to the </span><a href="https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">National Gallery’s website</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the project was intended to “find out about what links to slave-ownership can be traced within the museum, and to what extent the profits from plantation slavery impacted our early history.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The research project began in 2018 under the title “Legacies of British Slave-Ownership”, when it was discovered that the first artworks to come into the gallery when it was founded in 1824 belonged to financier and philanthropist John Julius Angerstein.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Researchers concluded that these 38 paintings brought into the gallery by John Julius Angerstein had “an unknown proportion of this was in slave ships and vessels bringing to Britain produce cultivated in the Caribbean by enslaved people. Angerstein acted as a trustee of estates and enslaved people in Grenada and Antigua.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The report also recognised the late 18th century portrait painter Thomas Gainsborough, who has several works in the museum’s collection: three portraits of which depicted people with ties to slavery. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to the museum, a second report is underway which will cover collectors, trustees and donors from 1880 to 1920.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A spokesperson from the gallery acknowledged that its collection “has a particular, historically rooted character” but stressed they “have not, and will not remove any picture from display because of its association with slavery”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She added, “If anything, we want to engender discussion and understanding about these questions. A great deal of work had been undertaken by the curatorial team in this area, and the picture labels in the gallery mark clearly where paintings are associated with slavery.”</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credits: Getty Images</span></em></p>

Art

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Rare May Gibbs book published for the first time in Australia and New Zealand

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Before May Gibbs wrote </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Snugglepot and Cuddlepie</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the iconic Australian author wrote a picture book about a “dear, nice little girl” separated from her dog, and the journey to undergo to find each other.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Over 100 years after Gibbs first wrote and published the book, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mamie and Wag</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has been published for </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/may-gibbs-picture-book-published-for-the-first-time-in-australia-20210920-p58t7r.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">the first time</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in Australia and New Zealand.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The title comes from Gibbs’ childhood, when she had the nickname Mamie.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Gibbs wrote the book under the pseudonym Silvia Hood and originally set the story in the Australian bush.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But she was only able to find a publisher after changing the setting to Edwardian London.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Along the way, the lost little girl and her dog meet a beggar girl, a king and a queen, lots of cats, and chimney pot people, inspired by the chimney pots around the Holborn district in central London.</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CT3G_fPBTAb/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CT3G_fPBTAb/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by May Gibbs (@maygibbsofficial)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Changing the name to </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">About Us</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the altered book was published in London and New York in 1912.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to Maureen Walsh’s </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">May Gibbs Mother of the Gumnuts</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Gibbs received a grand total of 20 pounds for the work.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Stewart Reed, a historian specialising in May Gibbs who runs tours of her former Neutral Bay home, said the book will have a wide appeal.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“[The book] is very different to all her other work, but it’s got a little girl, a dog, lots of cats and the chimney people, and that appeals to kids,” he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The message that is good for parents to reinforce for their kids, that they’re not in this world alone. It’s not exactly Buddhist for karma, but it goes part way down there.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now, publisher Scholastic has released the book and plans to publish a compendium of the beloved author’s unpublished works over the next few years.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Images: maygibbs.org, @thelittlebooklovers / Instagram</span></em></p>

Books

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John le Carré’s final novel set to be published

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">John le Carré’s final novel will be posthumously published this October by publisher Viking.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Le Carré’s final novel, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Silverview</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, was completed prior to his death in December 2020 and the release has the author’s full blessing.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The author, best known for his espionage thrillers like </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Spy Who Came in from the Cold</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, passed away of pneumonia aged 89. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Before his death, le Carré finished the manuscript that would become </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Silverview</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and had been writing two other books - </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">A Legacy of Spies</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Agent Running in the Field</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> - which were unfinished.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Silverview</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> follows bookshop owner Julian Lawndsley, who becomes the centre of an investigation into an intelligence leak by a London spy.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The novel is set to be published in New Zealand on October 14, 2021, in the same week as le Carré’s 90th birthday.</span></p>

Books

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American Dirt fiasco exposes the shortcomings of publishing industry

<p>In an early chapter of <em><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/American_Dirt_Oprah_s_Book_Club/FkiSDwAAQBAJ?hl=en">American Dirt</a></em>, the much-hyped novel now at the center of a racial controversy, the protagonist, Lydia, fills her Acapulco, Mexico, bookstore with her favorite literary classics. Because these don’t sell very well, she also stocks all “the splashy bestsellers that made her shop profitable.”</p> <p>Ironically, it’s this lopsided business model that has, in part, fueled the backlash to the book.</p> <p>In the book, Lydia’s favorite customer, a would-be poet turned ruthless drug lord, orders the massacre of Lydia’s entire family after her journalist husband writes a scathing expose. Lydia and her 8-year-old son must flee for their lives, joining the wave of migrants seeking safety in the U.S.</p> <p>With the border crisis as its backdrop, the book was anointed by the publishing industry as one of those rare blockbusters that Lydia might have stocked in her fictional bookstore. Its publisher called it “<a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250209764">one of the most important books of our time</a>,” while <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2020-01-27/oprah-winfrey-american-dirt-book-club">Oprah</a> chose it for her book club.</p> <p>But the author, Jeanine Cummins, is neither Mexican nor a migrant, and critics <a href="https://tropicsofmeta.com/2019/12/12/pendeja-you-aint-steinbeck-my-bronca-with-fake-ass-social-justice-literature/">savaged the book</a> for its cultural inaccuracies and damaging stereotypes. At least one library at the border <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/27/opinion/american-dirt-book.html">refused to take part in Oprah’s promotion</a>, 138 published authors wrote an <a href="https://lithub.com/dear-oprah-winfrey-82-writers-ask-you-to-reconsider-american-dirt">open letter to Oprah</a> asking her to rescind her endorsement, and the publisher canceled Cummins’ book tour, claiming <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/01/30/american-dirt-tour/">her safety was at risk</a>.</p> <p><a href="https://www.colorado.edu/cmci/people/journalism/christine-larson">As someone who studies the publishing business</a>, I see this ordeal as a symptom of an industry that relies far too heavily on a handful of predetermined “big books,” and whose gatekeepers remain predominantly white.</p> <p>Sadly, this model has become only more powerful in the digital era.</p> <p><strong>A high-stakes poker game</strong></p> <p>Today’s publishing industry is driven by three truths.</p> <p>First, people don’t buy many books. The typical American <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/09/25/one-in-five-americans-now-listen-to-audiobooks/">read four last year</a>.</p> <p>Second, it’s <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/suwcharmananderson/2013/03/28/book-discovery-give-me-blind-dates-with-books/#1d6618f23192">hard to decide which books to buy</a>, so most people look for bestsellers or books by authors they already like.</p> <p>Third, nobody – not even big publishers – can predict hits.</p> <p>As a result, the business can sometimes seem like one big, high-stakes poker game. Like any savvy gambler, editors know that most bets are losers: People don’t buy nearly enough books to make every title profitable. In fact, only about <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/books/review/Meyer-t.html">70% of books</a> even earn back their advances.</p> <p>Luckily for publishers, a single hit, like Michelle Obama’s <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38746485-becoming?ac=1&amp;from_search=true&amp;qid=bwZd6RTzVB&amp;rank=1"><em>Becoming</em></a>, can subsidize the vast majority of titles that don’t make money.</p> <p>So when publishers think they have a winning hand, they’ll bet the house. To them, “American Dirt” seemed to have all the cards, and the book sold at auction for <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/book-deals/article/76994-book-deals-week-of-may-28-2018.html">seven figures</a>.</p> <p>With that much money on the table, publishers will do everything they can to ensure a payoff, channeling massive marketing resources into those select titles, often at the expense of their others.</p> <p><strong>Who’s holding the purse strings?</strong></p> <p>It wasn’t always like this. Back in the 1960s, publishing was a sleepy industry, filled with <a href="https://www.pw.org/content/publishing_in_the_twentyfirst_century_an_interview_with_john_b_thompson">many moderately sized firms making moderate returns</a>. Today, just <a href="https://www.bookbusinessmag.com/post/big-5-financial-reports-reveal-state-traditional-book-publishing/">five conglomerates</a> dominate global publishing.</p> <p>Big firms seek big profits, and, as Harvard Business School professor <a href="https://www.npr.org/2013/10/24/239795165/blockbusters-go-big-or-go-home-says-harvard-professor">Anita Elberse</a> has pointed out, it’s cheaper and easier to launch one enormous promotional effort for a single “big book” than to spread resources across those smaller bets.</p> <p>With each publishing house releasing just one or two big books a season, few authors can hope to produce one of those splashy bestsellers.</p> <p>That’s even more true for marginalized authors, because every step in the publishing and publicity process depends on <a href="https://blog.leeandlow.com/2020/01/28/2019diversitybaselinesurvey/">gatekeepers who are largely white</a> – to the tune of 85% of editors, 80% of agents, 78% of publishing executives and 75% of marketing and publicity staff.</p> <p>Nevertheless, the book world does occasionally publish blockbusters by authors of color, whether it’s <em>Becoming</em> or Tayari Jones’ <em><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/06/books/review/american-marriage-tayari-jones.html">An American Marriage</a></em>. As black author Zora Neale Hurston <a href="https://pages.ucsd.edu/%7Ebgoldfarb/cogn150s12/reading/Hurston-What-White-Publishers-Wont-Print.pdf">wrote in 1950</a>, editors “will publish anything they believe will sell” – regardless of the author’s race.</p> <p>But those editor beliefs about what would sell, she noted, were extremely limited when it came to authors of color. Stories about racial struggle, discrimination, oppression and hardship – those would sell. But books about marginalized people living everyday lives, raising kids or falling in love? Publishers had no interest in those stories.</p> <p>Of course, well-told stories of struggle are important. But when they’re the only stories that the industry aggressively promotes, then readers suffer from what novelist Chimamanda Adichie calls “<a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en">the danger of a single story</a>.” When a single story gets told repeatedly about a culture that readers haven’t experienced themselves, stereotypes become more and more deeply engraved in popular culture. In a self-perpetuating cycle, publishers become even more committed to promoting that one story.</p> <p>Much of the criticisms around <em>American Dirt</em> centered on Cummins’ lack of first-hand experience – the book, for instance, was peppered with <a href="https://medium.com/@davidbowles/non-mexican-crap-ff3b48a873b5">inaccurate Spanish expressions</a> and off-key notes about the middle-class heroine’s actions and choices.</p> <p>While a vast network of publishing insiders would have likely looked at <em>American Dirt</em> before it was published, they all missed elements that were glaringly evident to informed readers. For the mostly white publishing world, Cummins’ book simply fit the narrative of the “single story” and aligned with pop culture stereotypes.</p> <p>Its failings easily slipped past the blind spots of the gatekeepers.</p> <p><strong>The internet’s unfulfilled promise</strong></p> <p>The internet was supposed to have upended this system. Just 10 years ago, pundits and scholars heralded <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/mar/22/society1/">the end of gatekeepers</a> – a world where anyone could be a successful author. And indeed, with the digital self-publishing revolution in the late 2000s, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/they-own-the-system-amazon-rewrites-book-industry-by-turning-into-a-publisher-11547655267">hundreds of thousands of authors</a>, previously excluded from the marketplace, were able to release their books online.</p> <p>Some even made money: <a href="https://christinelarson.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Christine-Larson-Open-networks-open-books-gender-precarity-and-solidarity-in-digital-publishing-1.pdf">My research</a> has found that romance writers doubled their median income from 2009 to 2014, largely due to self-publishing. Romance authors of color, in particular, found new outlets for books excluded by white publishers. Back in 2009, before self-publishing took off, the Book Industry Study Group identified just six categories of romance novels; by 2015, it tracked 33 categories, largely driven by self-publishing. New categories <a href="https://bisg.org/page/Fiction">included African American, multicultural, interracial and LGBT</a>.</p> <p>By 2018, at least <a href="https://www.actualitte.com/PDF/autopublication%20etats%20unis%20chiffres%20bowker.pdf">1.6 million books across all genres had been self-published</a>. Nonetheless, though choice is expanding, readership has stayed <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/09/25/one-in-five-americans-now-listen-to-audiobooks">flat since 2011</a>. With more books but no more readers, it’s harder than ever to get the attention of potential buyers.</p> <p>Meanwhile, many grassroots outlets that could push a midlist book – industry jargon for one not heavily promoted by publishers – to moderate levels of success have receded. Local media outlets that could create buzz for a local author are hollowed out or <a href="https://www.usnewsdeserts.com/">have vanished altogether</a>. In 1991, there were some <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=wruuBgAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PT43&amp;lpg=PT43&amp;dq=john+b+thompson+decline+of+independent+bookstores&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=5l9nKK1Tbi&amp;sig=ACfU3U01GFevWyDLEGvuDwSwDvaE7Uovzw&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjatPqaiLbnAhXFXc0KHU-LCNQQ6AEwAHoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&amp;q=john%20b%20thompson%20decline%20of%20independent%20bookstores&amp;f=false">5,100 indie booksellers</a>; now there are <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/03/29/598053563/why-the-number-of-independent-bookstores-increased-during-the-retail-apocalypse">half that many</a>.</p> <p>The onus is now on authors to promote their own work. They’re spending a full day a week doing so, according to a forthcoming paper I wrote for the Authors’ Guild. In that same paper, I find that authors of color earn less from their books than white authors; in addition to other serious problems, this indicates they may have fewer resources to promote themselves.</p> <p>It’s clear the internet has not delivered the democratization it promised.</p> <p>But it has helped authors in at least one important way. Social media has offered a powerful outlet for marginalized voices to hold the publishing industry accountable. We’ve seen this twice already this year – with <em>American Dirt</em> and with the <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-the-romance-writers-of-america-can-implode-over-racism-no-group-is-safe-130034">Romance Writers of America</a>, which lost sponsors after it penalized an author of color for condemning racial stereotypes.</p> <p>Such outcries are an important start. But real progress will require structural change from within – beginning with a more diverse set of editors.</p> <p>On Feb. 3, executives from Macmillan, the publisher of <em>American Dirt</em>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/feb/03/macmillan-latinx-american-dirt-dignidad-literaria">met with Hispanic authors and promised to diversify its staff</a>.</p> <p>It’s an example that the rest of the publishing industry should follow.<!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: http://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/christine-larson-426866"><em>Christine Larson</em></a><em>, Assistant Professor of Journalism, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-colorado-boulder-733">University of Colorado Boulder</a></em></span></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/american-dirt-fiasco-exposes-publishing-industry-thats-too-consolidated-too-white-and-too-selective-130755">original article</a>.</em></p>

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Man accidentally publishes personal post on work Facebook account

<p>A man has accidentally put a personal post on his work social media account and in doing so inadvertently became the world’s latest internet sensation.</p> <p>NPR, a public broadcaster in the US, quickly spotted the mistake which you can see below, but not before it had spread to the organisation’s six million followers.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">Npr just oopsie posted the cutest thing ever.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ramona?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ramona</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NPR?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NPR</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BestMistakePostEver?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BestMistakePostEver</a> <a href="https://t.co/PpgyPeUY82">pic.twitter.com/PpgyPeUY82</a></p> — Lally (@Lallypage) <a href="https://twitter.com/Lallypage/status/915037385477492736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 3, 2017</a></blockquote> <p>The post read: “Ramona is given a new toy: Smiles, examines for 20 seconds, discards. Ramona gets a hug: Acquiesces momentarily, squirms to be put down.</p> <p>“Ramona sees three cats 30 feet away: Immediately possessed by shrieking, spasmodic joy that continues after cats flee for their lives”</p> <p>NPR quickly deleted the contextually confusing update and apologised for the mistake, but fans of the media organisation weren’t mad at all. In fact, they loved it.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">You are so adorable <a href="https://twitter.com/NPR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NPR</a>. This seriously gave me the best lol today, which I needed. Please don’t fire Ramona’s human. <a href="https://t.co/8G2xPNoJrw">pic.twitter.com/8G2xPNoJrw</a></p> — Rocktober dreamer (@hurryhurryomaha) <a href="https://twitter.com/hurryhurryomaha/status/915038722768302080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 3, 2017</a></blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">This is so <a href="https://twitter.com/NPR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NPR</a>. I identify so strongly with Ramona.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ramonaupdates?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ramonaupdates</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/thisisnpr?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#thisisnpr</a> <a href="https://t.co/caMTXVulw9">pic.twitter.com/caMTXVulw9</a></p> — Katelyn, but Spooky (@timeladykatie) <a href="https://twitter.com/timeladykatie/status/915192835384778754?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 3, 2017</a></blockquote> <p>Followers eventually became obsessed with the identity of Romana, until it was revealed that she is the one-year-old daughter of NPR swing editor Christopher Dean Hopkins.</p> <p>“We don’t generally delete posts, so I tried to do it in a way that would be transparent,” he explained.</p> <p>“My job is to promote our good work, and I catastrophically failed in that last night.”</p> <p>What are your thoughts?</p> <p> </p>

Technology

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Prince Philip's obituary published by mistake

<p>One of the biggest media outlets in the UK has made a major blunder by accidentally publishing a pre-written Prince Philip obituary.</p> <p><em>The Telegraph</em> in the UK published a story that stated Prince Philip was dead under the headline “HOLD HOLD HOLD Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, dies aged XX”.  </p> <p>Unfortunately, many saw the huge mistake before it was taken down.</p> <p>The article, which has been pre-prepared, gave details of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, health and life.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img width="499" height="485" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/40604/article-11_499x485.jpg" alt="Article 11"/></p> <p>The article started, “The Duke of Edinburgh, the longest-serving consort to a monarch in British history, has died at the age of XX, Buckingham Palace has announced.”</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img width="500" height="320" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/40602/article_500x320.jpg" alt="Article"/></p> <p>Online readers were confused about whether the Prince had actually passed away on the same day he had completed his final public engagement.</p> <p>“Just because Prince Philip is retiring doesn't mean he's dead,” one person wrote online.</p> <p>“Someone doesn't quite grasp the concept of hold!!” said another.</p> <p>Another reader said, “Someone at the @Telegraph is about to have a very bad day.”</p> <p>The article was removed as soon as the error was realised.</p> <p>A <em>Telegraph </em>spokesman said: "We sincerely apologise for the mistake that was made this morning, which was of course rectified immediately."</p> <p>"We will be reviewing our publishing processes as a matter of urgency."</p>

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How not to get published

<p><em><strong>Jenny England lives on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, enjoying a very relaxed lifestyle in retirement with her long-time partner and spoilt cat. Over the years she has worked as a community worker, part-time journalist for a local paper, as well as publishing countless articles in a variety of magazines and a number of sci-fi children’s stories.</strong></em></p> <p>I often wake up with a great idea. One great idea that was to change the course of my life for many years occurred to me one morning in 1986. I was, at the time, a predominantly stay-at-home mum with two young children. Nurturing a passion for woodwork I had been designing and making wooden toys, at first for my own children and then to sell, as a means of making a little extra household cash and to subsidise my hobby.</p> <p>During the preceding few years there had been a substantial resurgence of interest in all things handmade. I was not having much difficulty selling my wooden toys but what I noticed while I was getting it all together, was a general lack of information on marketing and selling handmade products.</p> <p>So, on this particular morning in 1986, my great idea was to write a series of articles, based on my experience, on craft marketing for a new craft magazine. I eagerly contacted the editor and to my surprise he didn’t want the articles – he wanted a book!<br /> “A book,” I exclaimed, “you want a book?” </p> <p>I had never written a book before but he reassured me it would not be difficult. It was no more than writing the articles and putting them all together – in around 40,000 words.<br /> I duly signed a contract and set about writing the book. Not too difficult, the editor had said. Well, it was difficult, particularly with two young children and I wrote, edited and re-edited until I was starting to go a little crazy. However, about six months later, with some illustrations from my aunt, it was done.</p> <p>The day it was published, I was presented with one copy of Craft for Cash and the sobering news that the publishers had gone into liquidation. Heavens above, I thought, what does that mean? I soon found out that all 3,000 copies were at the printers, their bill unpaid. To make matters worse, the craft magazine was sold, along will all the copies of my book to another publisher. The only saving grace was that the copyright immediately reverted back to me but there was to be no royalties. Bummer!</p> <p>Chapter Two of this sad saga began about a year later when I was contacted another publisher interested in re-publishing the book. <br /> “No”, I said emphatically, during the first phone call, “Never again!”</p> <p>After a number of phone calls, I was convinced to have a meeting with them, against my better judgement. The meeting must have been successful because, I left, not just with a contract to re-write my first book, but also with a contract to compile a book of wooden toy plans.</p> <p>So, once again, the work began and in six months or so, the craft marketing book, now called The Art of Selling Craft in Australia, now adorned with my own illustrations, was complete.</p> <p>Everything went smoothly for a year or so and I watched The Art of Selling Craft selling like crazy while I put together my wooden toy book. The photography was planned for the following day, when I got a phone call from the editor telling me that it had been cancelled and that they had gone into liquidation. Not again! I couldn’t believe it: royalties were owed and my wooden toy book, cancelled. I sat for a moment and reflected on all the work I had put in. Never again!</p> <p>Eventually the publishing company was sold and The Art of Selling Craft was back on bookshelves all around the country. I started receiving royalties and PLR and ELR payments which continued for another 20 years. And, in spite of all these setbacks I went on to have a few more great ideas and write for a number of magazines with lots of success.</p> <p><em><strong>Do you have a story to share? Share your story with the Over60 community <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/community/contributor/community-contributor/" target="_blank">here</a>. </strong></em></p>

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CIA publishes declassified UFO files

<p>The CIA has published a <strong><a href="https://www.cia.gov/news-information/blog/2016/take-a-peek-into-our-x-files.html" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">range of declassified documents</span></a></strong> detailing UFO sightings.</p> <p>The documents are taken from several sightings made in the ’40s and ’50s.</p> <p>On the CIA blog, the agency said, “To help navigate the vast amount of data contained in our FOIA UFO collection, we’ve decided to highlight a few documents both sceptics and believers will find interesting.”</p> <p>These documents are among hundreds that were declassified by the CIA during the 1970s, but this is the first time the agency has acknowledged and posted them on its own website.</p> <p>From <strong><a href="http://www.foia.cia.gov/sites/default/files/document_conversions/89801/DOC_0000015441.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">secret meetings</span></a></strong>, to <strong><a href="http://www.foia.cia.gov/sites/default/files/document_conversions/89801/DOC_0000015464.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">strange UFO sightings</span></a></strong> and vague <strong><a href="http://www.foia.cia.gov/sites/default/files/document_conversions/89801/DOC_0000015345.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">references to a national problem</span></a></strong> these documents make for fascinating reading.</p> <p>To access the CIA blog, <strong><a href="https://www.cia.gov/news-information/blog/2016/take-a-peek-into-our-x-files.html"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">click here</span></a></strong>. </p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/news/news/2016/02/two-nuns-ski-cross-country/">Two nuns ski cross country in habits</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/news/news/2016/02/prince-charles-receives-rare-photo-of-queen-elizabeth-ii/">Prince Charles receives rare photograph of Queen as a teenager</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="/news/news/2016/02/pictures-that-capture-life-above-and-below-the-sea/">15 breathtaking pictures that capture life above and below the sea</a></strong></em></span></p>

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