Why ‘woke’ is no joke (Times Live)
Black female authors are the next big thing in South African publishing, a development publisher says follows the “woke” trend. According to Jacana Media’s assistant publisher Sibongile Machika, both authors and readers are more “woke” – a colloquial term that refers to a state of social and political awareness used by young, black millennials. Jacana predominantly publishes books by South African authors.
The Future of Publishing in a Data-Driven World (DBW)
Data-driven decisions are set to transform the well-established processes that have long been accepted as industry standard. First, it will allow decision-makers to better understand reader preferences and accurately predict future trends. Second, data-driven decisions will equalize the publishing process for everyone and better be able to select the world’s next bestsellers. And lastly, it will set the pace and tone of what we’ll be able to accomplish in the years to come.
The Uncomfortable Truth About Children’s Books (Mother Jones)
But when the Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison looked at 3,200 children’s books published in the United States last year, it found that only 14 percent had black, Latino, Asian, or Native American main characters. Meanwhile, industry data collected by publisher Lee & Low and others suggest that roughly 80 percent of the children’s book world—authors and illustrators, editors, execs, marketers, and reviewers—is white, like me.
Intellectual property rule changes: writers picture the end (The Weekend Australian)
The veteran author is referring to the Productivity Commission’s contentious draft report on reforming intellectual property rules, which he condemns as an “act of gratuitous economic fatuity’’ and “stupidity’’.
This report, which calls for an open book market and the abolition of certain copyright protections, has caused widespread dismay, even fury, among Australian publishers, booksellers and authors, among them heavy-hitting writers such as Keneally, Jackie French…French, a former children’s laureate, tells Review the commission’s draft report is “a hate crime’’ and “a form of intellectual terrorism’’.
How They Plan to Help Authors Win by Treating Books Like Startups (TechInAsia)
Naveen says Notion published 40 to 50 of those books and found that there might be a place for a multi-service self-publishing company, especially one that serves customers for a smaller cost. It launches in the US this month and is looking to expand to three other countries this year. Notion’s also looking to offer books in more Indian languages.
“We treat every book as a startup and the author as its CEO,” says Naveen.
Waking Writer 