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Reading Skills

Creative Thinking and Curiosity on the Rise, but Reading Skills Decline: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

Last week saw the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, which brought some concerning insights about reading skills. I wish I could report that publishing was front and center of the global agenda—or even that a swathe of AI discussions zoomed in on copyright-adjacent themes. Of course, that wasn’t the case. But it was the case that one of the key annual reports to accompany the event has some interesting (alarming or encouraging or both, depending on which side of the fence you fall—or, indeed, whether you prefer your fence ride to be astride) findings for us.
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AI Summit

AI Summit Planned at Bologna Book Fair: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

If the TikTok drama has done one thing, it has been to keep AI stories at bay. Though the news that tech giants are combining their efforts behind a $500 billion new AI venture unpretentiously monikered Stargate won’t have gone unnoticed. But AI is definitely not off the menu for 2025. We learned this week that the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, the event that traditionally kicks off the global conference calendar, will be scheduling in a whole day for an AI Summit. Astute observers and satirists alike will no doubt have noted with wry interest that the event is timetabled for April 1st.
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Alliance Of Independent Authors | Self-Publishing News | January 23, 2025 | With Dan Holloway

TikTok Switches Off Then Back On (for Now): Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

As storytelling goes, the “what will happen with TikTok?” saga would probably get the editorial note, “one damn thing after another,” with a request to “slow down already. It’s been a more than busy few days. The long and the short of it is that, contrary to the expectations of many observers and the expressed wishes of both the incoming and outgoing administrations, TikTok did indeed “go dark” on Sunday.
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Publishing Scam

Publishing Scam Exposed as Libraries Shape Audiobook Trends: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

Let’s take a pause from talking about TikTok bans (I will inevitably be back there on Thursday when we find out more about the actual new landscape). First up, an opportunity to celebrate some good news: the exposure of a major publishing scam. It’s always satisfying to report on the downfall of a scam, and thank you to Victoria Strauss at Writer Beware for such a detailed account of three arrests and charges for people allegedly behind a multimillion-dollar scam masquerading as publisher services.
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Supreme Court

Supreme Court Upholds TikTok Ban as Creators Face Uncertainty: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

As I write, the Supreme Court has just unanimously upheld the ban that would see TikTok disappear in the U.S. this Sunday. Over the week following the Supreme Court hearing, it has become clear that Justices of all stripes would actually be happy for the ban to come into force, as they seemed unconvinced that freedom of expression rights applied through the Chinese-owned app, and they also seemed assured that any switch-off could easily be reversed if the situation changed and ByteDance divested.
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Created By Humans

Created By Humans Launches; Print Book Sales Rise in 2024: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

Created By Humans has launched. I will confess, I thought it had done so already—the hype around the AI rights site has been so great. For those who are unaware (though all readers here will be familiar), this is a site where authors can register their copyrighted works if they are interested in controlling and potentially monetizing the use of their copyrighted work. The site, founded by Scribd’s Trip Adler and Jen Singleman, is the rights partner organization for the Society of Authors.
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Romantasy

Hot Fae in Hot Water—Romantasy Runs Into Rocky Ground: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

You will remember just a week or so ago I was writing and talking about how I expected the Romantasy (inter alia) genre to continue to flourish and provide opportunities for indie writers and their voracious fans well into 2025. When I said I thought Romantasy would continue to make the news, I didn’t quite have in mind the kind of brouhaha I have seen over the past week.
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Creative Rights In AI Coalition

Creative Rights in AI Coalition Responds; High Court Blocks Pirate Sites: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

Whilst the first story in this piece will no doubt strike you as yet another AI tale, the real theme of today is copyright. I brought you news at the end of last year that the UK government was launching a consultation on AI and the balance between creative rights holders and technology platforms. One major coalition of interest groups has made its submission to the consultation public: the Creative Rights in AI Coalition (CRAIC. Seriously? … Imagines future quizmaster asking, “What’s the CRAIC?”). The coalition includes the ALCS and Society of Authors.
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