How many books are published in a year? Is the number going up or down? How many copies are sold? We know these figures are, and have been for a long time, very controversial. Because there are so many books that do not count in these figures, especially self-published titles on places like Amazon that don't require an ISBN. Which makes calculations about the indie sector particularly tricky. Which is why the latest set of figures is so interesting. Hat tip to Jane Friedman for pointing me to this.

On this episode of the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, Dan Holloway reports on the “Don’t Steal This Book” campaign launched at London Book Fair, where thousands of authors call on governments to protect copyright in the age of AI. He also covers the backlash against Grammarly’s “Expert Review” feature, which prompted a lawsuit and its withdrawal, and looks at new BookTok charts and Audible’s expansion into eleven international markets.

Naughty AI has generated (pun intended) a lot of column inches this week. I want to start with a really important longform piece in the Guardian, which shows that mainstream media is catching on to the most obviously predatory use of the new technology.