News & Notes is a weekly Saturday post featuring book- and publishing-related news, links to interesting articles and opinion pieces, and other cool stuff.
NOTE on paywalls: Publisher’s Weekly and The Guardian may require you to sign up for a free account in order to read their content. Both The New York Times and the Washington Post have paywalls, but allow a small number of free articles per month.
Bookish News
- Anthropic settles class action from US authors alleging copyright infringement. (Reuters). Authors celebrate “historic” settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action. (Ars Technica) Unfortunately, it appears that major publishers failed to register copyright for some of their authors’ books. (Writer Beware)
- The “de minimus” exemption ended Friday, 8/29/2025. (NPR) I wrote about what it means for you: What the End of “De Minimus” Means for Booklovers.
- ‘Deeply concerning’: reading for fun in the US has fallen by 40%, new study says (The Guardian; Smithsonian Magazine also covered this story)
- As Censorship Escalates, Little Free Library Updates Its Book Ban Map (Publishers Weekly)
- Court Order Halting Gutting of IMLS Upheld by Appeals Court (Publishers Weekly)
- ‘I Will Walk Out the Motherf***ing Door’: Vanity Fair Boss Sparks Fury With Melania Trump Cover Idea (Daily Beast) Apparently the new editor’s plan to feature the First Lady did not sit well with the magazine’s staff. Predictably, the backlash triggered a counter-backlash.
- On Appeal, Copyright Chief Shira Perlmutter Keeps Her Job (Publishers Weekly)
- The 2025 National Book Award Longlists for Fiction and Nonfiction are out.
Worth Reading/Viewing
- Every family has a secret language. Experts call it ‘familect.’ (Washington Post)
- We All Miss Mass Market Paperbacks (Molly Templeton, Reactor)
- Traditional Publishers Find Success in Nontraditional Ways: “As the traditional publishing model becomes less effective, entrepreneurs are finding new ways to connect with authors and readers.” (Publishers Weekly)
- Collective and Co-op Publishers Find Strength in Numbers: “Indie collectives and co-ops are creating their own definitions of success” (Publishers Weekly)
For Writers & Bloggers
- If Your Publisher Promised to Register Your Copyright, Check Your Registration Now (Writer Beware)
- Who Gets a POV In Your Story? It’s a Political Decision (Charlie Jane Anders, Reactor) Anders writes, in part, “Lately I’m noodling on the idea that it’s not so much a question of ‘How can I structure the story in such a way as to keep the narrative moving’ as ‘Who is being silenced in this story, and do they deserve a voice?'” That’s an interesting question, both as a writer and as a reader.
- Kindle Unlimited Authors Can Now Distribute eBooks to Libraries (New Shelves)
Free Fiction Online
- To Kiss the Chrysanthemum Moon (Wen Wen Yang, in Small Wonders) A Mulan retelling.
Lists
- Five Video Games for Every Type of SFF Reader (Reactor) I’m intrigued by Blue Prince, and maybe Strange Horticulture. (TY to Nicole at Bookwyrm Knits for the link.)
- Banned! The 20 books they didn’t want you to read (The Guardian) There are, of course, far more than 20 books that have caught the censors’ eyes over the years. The Guardian‘s list is notably lacking in books challenged or banned for their LGBTQIA+ content, like All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, Maia Kobabe’s graphic novel Gender Queer, and even And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson, Peter Parnell and Henry Cole, a nonfiction picture book about two male penguins fostering a chick. That said, the books that are on the list are certainly among some of the most widely challenged worldwide. You can also check out the ALA’s Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2024 list; I believe it is US-specific.
Bookish Quote
Note: Speaking from personal experience, I believe therapy is a Very Good Thing. But also, I do use books (with or without dragons) to cope with anxiety, grief, and other emotions.
Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits
Thanks for the shout-out, and if you try those games I hope you enjoy them! (I liked both Blue Prince and Strange Horticulture, and both definitely have interesting stories.)
My family definitely has our own language. (And Mr. Wyrm and I have diverged from my childhood language a bit, so there’s some crossover but it’s not the same “familect”.) I’ve never really thought about it as more than “in jokes,” but I guess it does go deeper than that.
Nicole @ BookWyrmKnits recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday ~ Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the Fourth Quarter of 2025