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Librarians Propose Fairer E-book Pricing Model

News Summary: Librarians Propose Fairer E-book Pricing Model; Commonwealth Prize Verifies Winners without AI Detectors

Following on from recent discussion in this column about what it costs libraries to buy the license for e-books, thanks to Jane Friedman for linking to this fascinating article which outlines exactly what libraries would like to see in this regard. What it attempts to describe is what librarians actually mean when they call for fairer pricing from big publishers.
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BISG Launches 2026 AI Survey

News Summary: BISG Launches 2026 AI Survey; 250 UK Publishers Join Collective AI Licensing Scheme

It's been a while since there was an opportunity to get involved in a good old survey. This week, we start a mini roundup of AI-related news with an invitation (to some of you, at least) to get involved in a survey from BISG (Book Industry Study Group) and BookNet Canada. The survey is on "AI Use Across the North American Book Industry 2026," and the call is for anyone involved in the publishing industry in North America (by which they mean Canada and the US).
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Suspected AI Content

News Summary: Kobo CEO Reveals 45% of Self-Published Submissions Rejected for Suspected AI Content

I missed this story when it first came out a fortnight ago (I think because the title of the article by Rakuten Kobo's Russ Tamblyn is decidedly oblique, so I just moved on). Fortunately the substantive content has generated several more helpfully titled spinout columns since then, so I'm circling back to the original. A single sentence is at the heart of this piece, and it contains a figure that provides additional context for much of the recent debate over AI-generated content. Tamblyn is speaking in his capacity as president and CEO at Rakuten Kobo.
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Green Book Alliance Launches Book Carbon Calculator

News Summary: Green Book Alliance Launches Book Carbon Calculator for Publishers and Authors

The news for the past week or so seems to have been primarily about useful tools for writers. We've had decreased friction from BookFunnel and increased revenue opportunities from Substack. Now we have a tool that really helps to connect creators with their audience's values. It won't, of course, be for everyone or all audiences. But for some it may be incredibly valuable as "proof of value." The Green Book Alliance has just launched the Book Carbon Calculator.
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Tim Ferriss Warns AI Is Killing Nonfiction Sales

News Summary: Tim Ferriss Warns AI Is Killing Nonfiction Sales; Substack Launches Creator Sponsorship Program

Before I get to Substack, I'll start with another story signposted by Jane Friedman this week. Be patient, it's relevant. Tim Ferriss is one of those "public thinkers" most of us will know from somewhere, whether that's the game-changing and hugely successful book The 4-Hour Workweek (and subsequent "Four Hour" titles) whose wisdoms many of us have spent so many more than four hours a week trying to implement in our lives, or his equally influential productivity and lifestyle podcast. If anyone is going to make a success of self-help writing, it's Tim.
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BookFunnel Launches WooCommerce Plugin

News Summary: BookFunnel Launches WooCommerce Plugin; Amazon Rolls Out “Story So Far” Kindle Feature

Thank you to Nate Hoffelder, whose Morning Coffee newsletter pointed me to the week's closing stories. I am particularly grateful to him for picking up news from BookFunnel that I would otherwise have missed. BookFunnel is one of those tools I know many authors use as part of their marketing and fulfillment service, and one that is perennially on my list of things I really must get around to spending the time to understand and start using.
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AI Witch Hunt

News Summary: US Book Show Warns against AI Witch Hunt as Publishers Face Detection Dilemma

The start of this month saw the second staging of the much-vaunted US Book Show. There is already some great coverage out there, notably from Publishers Weekly, who hosted the show, and from Publishing Perspectives. I've also enjoyed reading Jane Friedman, who has been involved in the hosting. But I will try to pull out the highlights. Of course, AI was on the agenda. And the headlines from the show have been grabbed by the centerpiece panel featuring David Shelley, CEO of Hachette, which was the company at the heart of the Shy Girl storm.
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Authors Guild Report

News Summary: Authors Guild Report Finds Only 25% of Readers Paid for Their Last Book

A new Authors Guild report has reached a stark conclusion: most readers are not paying for the books they read. To put it bluntly, that would seem to be the conclusion of a report from the Authors Guild. The report is dated December 2025, but the press release only came out in the last week, suggesting that some crunching and considering has been going on in the interim. I'll have a look at the more noteworthy findings and what they suggest for us as authors (Publishers Weekly's headline on the piece clearly cites a connection to declining author incomes), but first I want to situate this somewhat.
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US Audiobook Sales Grow

News Summary: US Audiobook Sales Grow 9% to $2.43 Billion; Active Titles Up 43% as Revenue per Title Falls

I wrote recently about the 60 percent growth in audiobook listening reported by Spotify in 2025. This week we have figures on the whole of the audiobook market (in the US at least), which help to contextualize that growth. The figures come as the Audio Publishers Association announces the findings of its two annual surveys: hard data on sales from Toluna, and a comprehensive survey on listening habits from Edison Research.
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Libraries Challenge Big Five On E-book Pricing

News Summary: Libraries Challenge Big Five on E-book Pricing; Independent Bookstores Hit Highest Level since 1990s

How much should e-books cost? It's one of the most divisive questions of the past fifteen years or so (in our small corner of the world at least), right up there with perennials like pineapple on pizza. The sub-question of this wider question that caused so much angst just before Covid is how much libraries should pay for e-books. You will remember, I dare say, there was much talk for a while of metered usage, and anger at the limited licensing time covered by the purchase of an e-book.
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UK Competition Authority Imposes New Publisher Controls

News Summary: UK Competition Authority Imposes New Publisher Controls over Google’s AI Search Summaries

I tend not to cover national legislation stories, but this week's opener is a bit of a milestone. It will be of direct relevance to many and sets a fascinating legal precedent that everyone will want to track. In a landmark move, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has imposed the Publisher Conduct Requirement (CR), specifically aimed at Google and its use of AI summaries.
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