ALLi News Editor, Dan Holloway
Colin Kaepernick has launched a new self-publishing platform called Lumi that will use AI to help writers create graphic novels. We’ll get back to that exciting development shortly, but first, let’s look at some new words added to the dictionary.
Specifically, it’s annual update time for the Cambridge Dictionary. The two entries that have made the headlines are “the ick” and “boop,” which mean, well, exactly what they have always meant. But apparently, they are now popular enough (thanks to social media and reality TV) to have reached the threshold for inclusion in a dictionary. The fact that these are words that have felt familiar for years is illustrative of just how different common usage and dictionary entries actually are.
I say the previous story is interesting because I love phraseology. One of my favorite phrases is, “that wasn’t on this year’s bingo card,” largely because it’s a phrase I find myself using a lot this year. And never has that applied more than to today’s main story, which is the announcement that Colin Kaepernick has launched a self-publishing platform.
Yes, that Colin Kaepernick. What I hadn’t realized is that the American football player is no stranger to the literary world, having already set up his own regular publishing company, albeit one that mainly publishes his own books at present.
The rationale for the platform includes regular arguments cited for self-publishing around democratization. But also around providing all the services that an author might need to help them focus on the writing (in other words, it’s more of what we would call a publishing services company).
But what’s really interesting about Lumi, the platform that has already secured $4 million of backing, is the way those services are offered. Lumi will be using AI for everything, it seems, apart from the writing itself. The use of AI is one of the things the company is putting forward as a democratizing element of their work. Gatekeeping, they say, is a barrier to many people’s voices being heard. Yes, we might nod along, that’s the value of self-publishing. Lumi extends that value to the use of AI. I will confess I am not sure how that is so in a way that differs greatly from a regular publishing services offering. What is more interesting is that the company is initially focusing on graphic novels and that it intends to include, ultimately, video as a medium for story writers. This effectively places it in the Wattpad niche of the market.
This is a perfect segue to an event taking place in Liverpool this weekend. Bear Hunt Books and Dead Ink Books in the area will be hosting Talking Shelves, an event run by Comics Youth to showcase marginalized comics and seek to break down barriers to the publication of comics. Do head along if you’re in the area.
Colin Kaepernick has launched a new self-publishing platform called Lumi that will use AI to help writers create graphic novels. We’ll get back to that exciting development shortly, but first, let’s look at some new words added to the dictionary.
Specifically, it’s annual update time for the Cambridge Dictionary. The two entries that have made the headlines are “the ick” and “boop,” which mean, well, exactly what they have always meant. But apparently, they are now popular enough (thanks to social media and reality TV) to have reached the threshold for inclusion in a dictionary. The fact that these are words that have felt familiar for years is illustrative of just how different common usage and dictionary entries actually are.
I say the previous story is interesting because I love phraseology. One of my favorite phrases is, “that wasn’t on this year’s bingo card,” largely because it’s a phrase I find myself using a lot this year. And never has that applied more than to today’s main story, which is the announcement that Colin Kaepernick has launched a self-publishing platform.
Yes, that Colin Kaepernick. What I hadn’t realized is that the American football player is no stranger to the literary world, having already set up his own regular publishing company, albeit one that mainly publishes his own books at present.
The rationale for the platform includes regular arguments cited for self-publishing around democratization. But also around providing all the services that an author might need to help them focus on the writing (in other words, it’s more of what we would call a publishing services company).
But what’s really interesting about Lumi, the platform that has already secured $4 million of backing, is the way those services are offered. Lumi will be using AI for everything, it seems, apart from the writing itself. The use of AI is one of the things the company is putting forward as a democratizing element of their work. Gatekeeping, they say, is a barrier to many people’s voices being heard. Yes, we might nod along, that’s the value of self-publishing. Lumi extends that value to the use of AI. I will confess I am not sure how that is so in a way that differs greatly from a regular publishing services offering. What is more interesting is that the company is initially focusing on graphic novels and that it intends to include, ultimately, video as a medium for story writers. This effectively places it in the Wattpad niche of the market.
This is a perfect segue to an event taking place in Liverpool this weekend. Bear Hunt Books and Dead Ink Books in the area will be hosting Talking Shelves, an event run by Comics Youth to showcase marginalized comics and seek to break down barriers to the publication of comics. Do head along if you’re in the area.
