Happy Holidays

The New York Times received leaks from a former employee at Facebook’s parent Meta that show the company were spending a lot of time at the start of 2023 discussing the possibility of buying Simon & Schuster. The purpose of the acquiring Simon & Schuster would have been to acquire the rights to the catalogue so as to use it for AI training.

In the Reaching More Readers podcast, Dale L. Roberts and Holly Greenland discuss five compelling reasons why authors should maintain an email list. They address the common perception that email marketing is crucial for an author's business despite some authors' reluctance to embrace it. The hesitations often stem from concerns about time and effort, technical challenges, fear of spamming, and a lack of understanding or concern over costs. However, Dale and Holly argue that email marketing does not demand excessive time, expertise, or financial investment. With a plethora of online tutorials and free email marketing services available, the primary barrier for many is simply inexperience—a starting point for everyone.

Courts in Tokyo ruled that piracy site Manga-Mura should pay 1.7bn yen (US$10m) to three manga publishers in Japan for lost revenue.