An inside look at rampant publishing scams (This week in books)

This week! Books!

‘Our Goal Is to Get Their Money’: Inside a Firm Charged With Scamming Writers for Millions – Brent Crane, Bloomberg (gift link) – A well-reported and wrenching look into rampant scams preying on authors. One reason so many of the scams originate in the Philippines is because some of the scammers cut their teeth at Author Solutions, the scuzzy outfit that some major publishers worked with and legitimized. Unconscionable stuff. Your regular reminder to subscribe to Writer Beware!

Also: Another reminder that I’m aware scammers are currently impersonating me. I don’t use a gmail account for work and I’m not sending authors unsolicited messages about their self-published books. If you’re uncertain whether you’re really corresponding with me, reply to one of my newsletters or reach out to me here.

Judge Rules Class Action Suit Against Anthropic Can Proceed – Jim Milliot, Publishers Weekly – In an important ruling for authors, a federal judge granted class action status to three authors suing A.I. company Anthropic over piracy while training their large language models. The judge also clarifies that authors can sue even if publishers technically have the relevant licensing rights. Pay me, Claude!!

Judges Don’t Know What AI’s Book Piracy Means – Alex Reisner, The Atlantic – As lawsuits proceed, different judges have fundamentally different conceptions on whether A.I. represents fair use.

Breaking Boundaries: YA Authors Crossing Over into Adult Fiction – Joanne O’Sullivan, Publishers Weekly – A profile of Young Adult authors making the leap over to adult fiction. A sign of the decline of YA or authors following their readers as they age?

Scholastic Became a Children’s Publishing Giant. Now It Needs a Turnaround. – Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, Wall Street Journal – Scholastic’s stock has been floundering, and now they’re considering selling their Soho headquarters as well as a pivot to video like it’s 2015.

Libraries Pay More for E-Books. Some States Want to Change That. – Erik Ofgang, The New York Times – Exorbitant licensing fees for e-book library lending has long been an industry sticking point, and now some state legislatures are jumping into the fray.

Romantasy’s Dominance of the Bestseller Lists Has Only Just Begun – Jane Friedman – Jane Friedman has an interesting look in her newsletter at hot genre life cycles, which tend to last about ten-twelve years. This would mean romantasy is still in its early days, but I’m curious to see whether meta trends will continue as they have in the past or whether we’ve entered a flash in the pan era during the social media age.

Who Gets a POV In Your Story? It’s a Political Decision – Charlie Jane Anders, Reactor – “The question of who gets to have a POV in a story is artistic—but also kind of political, because it goes to the heart of whose perspective counts.”

Flow Alone Won’t Make You a Writer – Keith Sawyer, The MIT Press Reader – Another argument that if you only write when you’re feeling a flow state, you’ll never finish.

Alan Gratz Is Going for the Gold – Linda Lowen, Publishers Weekly – A profile of bestseller Alan Gratz, who’s hoping to teach kids empathy through historic fiction.

Martin Cruz Smith, bestselling author of “Gorky Park” and other thrillers, dies at 82 – CBS News – RIP to a really terrific writer.

Calvin And Hobbes’s Gruesome Snowmen Were A World All Their Own – Barry Petchesky, Defector – Calvin’s snowmen were always one of my favorite parts of Calvin and Hobbes. Saving this article for the weekend.

This week in bestsellers

Here are the top five NY Times bestsellers in a few key categories. (All links are affiliate links):

Adult print and e-book fiction:

1. Rose in Chains by Julie Soto
2. The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley
3. One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune
4. The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware
5. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Adult print and e-book nonfiction:

1. Butler by Salena Zito
2. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
3. On Her Game by Christine Brennan
4. 2024 by Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf
5. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

Young adult hardcover:

1. Hour of the Pumpkin Queen by Megan Shepherd
2. Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli
3. Nothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter
4. Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft
5. Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli

Middle grade hardcover:

1. Wonder by R.J. Palacio
2. Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell
3. The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs by America’s Test Kitchen Kids
4. Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson
5. Growing Home by Beth Ferry

This week on the blog

In case you missed them, here are this week’s posts:

• What happens on and off the page in your novel?

And keep up with the discussion in all the places!

• Follow me on Bluesky
• Check out the Bransforums

And finally:

The First World War, in Sharp Focus – Ed Caesar, The New Yorker – A really moving look at the stories behind some recently discovered photographs of World War I.

Have a great weekend!

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