We start the week with a round-up of stories I originally had slated for Saturday before sadder events overtook us. First up, two of my favourite topics wrapped into one neat story package: print and European law.
ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway
Printed products will be removed from the scope of the European Union’s Deforestation Regulations (EUDR). This might sound as dry as the other items of European legislation I get what must seem unreasonably fascinated by.
But it has significant implications. The legislation is designed to ensure wood and wood-based products do not contribute to global deforestation.
Why Books Needed an Exemption
So far so good. The problem for the publishing industry is that it will require importers of wood-based products to prove those products have not been made from wood grown on deforested land. Industry bodies have claimed this is an intolerable burden for it to manage given the complexity of the production of paper and card.
As Sonia Draga of the Federation of European Publishers put it, “Books are so far down the supply chain that the information requirements and overall administrative burden would be dramatically disproportionate.”
The consequence of not exempting books and printed matter could have been a loss of access to knowledge for millions across Europe.
Daunt on AI-Generated Books
Talking of bookselling, it is some time since I wrote about the once-ubiquitous James Daunt. It is appropriate that I do so again just a week after the new Waterstones opened here in Oxford. Daunt has now said, in comments reported by the BBC, that he would be prepared for the stores he owns to sell AI-generated books if readers wanted to read them. As he put it, considering the possibility of quality improving significantly from its current level, “if people want to read that book, AI-generated or not, we will be selling it—as long as it doesn’t pretend to [be] something that it isn’t.”
The last bit is important. He also caveats this by describing the natural disdain booksellers feel toward such material.
Thoughts or further questions on this post or any self-publishing issue?
If you’re an ALLi member, head over to the SelfPubConnect forum for support from our experienced community of indie authors, advisors, and our own ALLi team. Simply create an account (if you haven’t already) to request to join the forum and get going.
Non-members looking for more information can search our extensive archive of blog posts and podcast episodes packed with tips and advice at ALLi's Self-Publishing Advice Center.
