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#authorsguild — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #authorsguild, aggregated by home.social.

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  1. Swimming the Author

    England tested witches with water. The suspect was bound, right thumb to left toe, looped to a rope, and lowered into the village pond. Pure water was believed to refuse the devil's servant, so a body that floated was guilty and a body that sank was innocent, and the innocent were hauled up half-drowned to receive the town's apology. The procedure was called swimming a witch, and its genius was architectural: it could only convict. Whatever the water did, the crowd on the bank went home with the verdict it had carried down to the shore. Four centuries on, the pond fits in a browser tab. Paste the chapter. Click the button. Let the water decide. […]

    bolesblogs.com/2026/08/03/swim

  2. Swimming the Author

    England tested witches with water. The suspect was bound, right thumb to left toe, looped to a rope, and lowered into the village pond. Pure water was believed to refuse the devil's servant, so a body that floated was guilty and a body that sank was innocent, and the innocent were hauled up half-drowned to receive the town's apology. The procedure was called swimming a witch, and its genius was architectural: it could only convict. Whatever the water did, the crowd on the bank went home with the verdict it had carried down to the shore. Four centuries on, the pond fits in a browser tab. Paste the chapter. Click the button. Let the water decide. […]

    bolesblogs.com/2026/08/03/swim

  3. En fait c'est 74 % dont on a retiré arbitrairement les bibliothèques perso et les bibliothèques publiques (qui paient plus cher les ouvrages) pour présenter un résultat plus sensationnel.

    On est passé de "le piratage c'est mal" à : le piratage + les bouquins qu'on se prête entre amis + les emprunts en bibliothèques publiques + les livres d'occasion et même relire des livres qu'on a chez soit c'est MAL !

    actualitte.com/article/131939/

    #Librairie #Bibliotheque #Livres #AuthorsGuild

  4. En fait c'est 74 % dont on a retiré arbitrairement les bibliothèques perso et les bibliothèques publiques (qui paient plus cher les ouvrages) pour présenter un résultat plus sensationnel.

    On est passé de "le piratage c'est mal" à : le piratage + les bouquins qu'on se prête entre amis + les emprunts en bibliothèques publiques + les livres d'occasion et même relire des livres qu'on a chez soit c'est MAL !

    actualitte.com/article/131939/

    #Librairie #Bibliotheque #Livres #AuthorsGuild

  5. News Summary: Authors Guild Report Finds Only 25% of Readers Paid for Their Last Book

    A new Authors Guild report has reached a stark conclusion: most readers are not paying for the books they read. To put it bluntly, that would seem to be the conclusion of a report from the Authors Guild. The report is dated December 2025, but the press release only came out in the last week, suggesting that some crunching and considering has been going on in the interim. I'll have a look at the more noteworthy findings and what they suggest for us as authors (Publishers Weekly's headline on the piece clearly cites a connection to declining author incomes), but first I want to situate this somewhat.
    selfpublishingadvice.org/autho

    #audiobookgrowth #authorincome #AuthorsGuild #bookpiracy #digitallibraries

  6. News Summary: Authors Guild Report Finds Only 25% of Readers Paid for Their Last Book

    A new Authors Guild report has reached a stark conclusion: most readers are not paying for the books they read. To put it bluntly, that would seem to be the conclusion of a report from the Authors Guild. The report is dated December 2025, but the press release only came out in the last week, suggesting that some crunching and considering has been going on in the interim. I'll have a look at the more noteworthy findings and what they suggest for us as authors (Publishers Weekly's headline on the piece clearly cites a connection to declining author incomes), but first I want to situate this somewhat.
    selfpublishingadvice.org/autho

    #audiobookgrowth #authorincome #AuthorsGuild #bookpiracy #digitallibraries

  7. There is something weird (nefarious) going on with the Author's Guild--it's not new, but it does feel complicit. Especially at a time when public libraries are already under siege.

    #PSA #Libraries #USPolitics #AuthorsGuild #CallToAction

    raforall.blogspot.com/2026/06/

  8. There is something weird (nefarious) going on with the Author's Guild--it's not new, but it does feel complicit. Especially at a time when public libraries are already under siege.

    #PSA #Libraries #USPolitics #AuthorsGuild #CallToAction

    raforall.blogspot.com/2026/06/

  9. In the U.S., Texas Asks Court to Resurrect ‘Unconstitutional’ Book Rating Law, Alarming Publishers and Booksellers

    After more than two years, the return of H.B. 900, which would require bookstores and vendors to review all books in Texas schools at their own expense and rate them for sexual content, is a tense, and unwelcome development for freedom-to-read advocates.
    The post In the U.S., Texas Asks Court to Resurrect ‘Unconstitutional’ Book Rating Law, Alarming Publishers and Booksellers appeared first on Publishing Perspectives.
    publishingperspectives.com/202

    #AAP #ABA #AuthorsGuild #BookBanning #BookBans

  10. In the U.S., Texas Asks Court to Resurrect ‘Unconstitutional’ Book Rating Law, Alarming Publishers and Booksellers

    After more than two years, the return of H.B. 900, which would require bookstores and vendors to review all books in Texas schools at their own expense and rate them for sexual content, is a tense, and unwelcome development for freedom-to-read advocates.
    The post In the U.S., Texas Asks Court to Resurrect ‘Unconstitutional’ Book Rating Law, Alarming Publishers and Booksellers appeared first on Publishing Perspectives.
    publishingperspectives.com/202

    #AAP #ABA #AuthorsGuild #BookBanning #BookBans

  11. Via @victoriastrauss (on Bluesky):
    "The Authors Guild has won a default judgment against deadbeat publisher TouchPoint Press, enabling 18 writers to get their rights back:
    authorsguild.org/news/authors-

    "My blog post about the troubles at TouchPoint Press, with many updates. A reminder that a publisher doesn't have to be an intentional fraud to damage writers and their careers."
    writerbeware.blog/2023/06/30/s

    #Writing #Publishing #WriterBeware #AuthorsGuild @bookstodon

  12. Via @victoriastrauss (on Bluesky):
    "The Authors Guild has won a default judgment against deadbeat publisher TouchPoint Press, enabling 18 writers to get their rights back:
    authorsguild.org/news/authors-

    "My blog post about the troubles at TouchPoint Press, with many updates. A reminder that a publisher doesn't have to be an intentional fraud to damage writers and their careers."
    writerbeware.blog/2023/06/30/s

    #Writing #Publishing #WriterBeware #AuthorsGuild @bookstodon

  13. News Podcast: BookCon Returns with a Welcome for Indie Authors; Anthropic Settlement Class Reaches 91%

    On this episode of Self-Publishing with ALLi, Dan Holloway reports on the return of BookCon to New York after a pandemic-era hiatus, where the Indie Alley proved a genuine hit with readers — a sign that the established book world is increasingly making room for independent authors. He also has an update on the Anthropic copyright settlement, where 91 percent of eligible titles were claimed before the deadline, putting the expected payout per title at around $2,931, with a reminder that traditionally published authors may receive less due to rights splits with their publishers.
    selfpublishingadvice.org/podca

    #Podcast #AIcopyrightpayout #Anthropicsettlement #AuthorsGuild #BookCon2026

  14. News Podcast: BookCon Returns with a Welcome for Indie Authors; Anthropic Settlement Class Reaches 91%

    On this episode of Self-Publishing with ALLi, Dan Holloway reports on the return of BookCon to New York after a pandemic-era hiatus, where the Indie Alley proved a genuine hit with readers — a sign that the established book world is increasingly making room for independent authors. He also has an update on the Anthropic copyright settlement, where 91 percent of eligible titles were claimed before the deadline, putting the expected payout per title at around $2,931, with a reminder that traditionally published authors may receive less due to rights splits with their publishers.
    selfpublishingadvice.org/podca

    #Podcast #AIcopyrightpayout #Anthropicsettlement #AuthorsGuild #BookCon2026

  15. News Summary: Beehiiv Adds Webinars and Metered Paywalls; Anthropic Settlement Reaches 91% Claim Rate

    Beehiiv has been in the news again this past week. I want to report on the latest from the newsletter platform if for no other reason than an irresistible desire to say they have been busy little bees. A facility offering webinar capability will be of interest to some. But more interesting might be the so-called "metered paywall" capability. That's something many will be familiar with as readers, where you get a certain amount of content for free (say, three articles) before you have to pay to unlock more.
    The post News Summary: Beehiiv Adds Webinars and Metered Paywalls; Anthropic Settlement Reaches 91% Claim Rate appeared first on The Self-Publishing Advice Center.
    selfpublishingadvice.org/beehi

    #Anthropicsettlement #authorpayouts #AuthorsGuild #beehiiv #classaction

  16. News Summary: Beehiiv Adds Webinars and Metered Paywalls; Anthropic Settlement Reaches 91% Claim Rate

    Beehiiv has been in the news again this past week. I want to report on the latest from the newsletter platform if for no other reason than an irresistible desire to say they have been busy little bees. A facility offering webinar capability will be of interest to some. But more interesting might be the so-called "metered paywall" capability. That's something many will be familiar with as readers, where you get a certain amount of content for free (say, three articles) before you have to pay to unlock more.
    The post News Summary: Beehiiv Adds Webinars and Metered Paywalls; Anthropic Settlement Reaches 91% Claim Rate appeared first on The Self-Publishing Advice Center.
    selfpublishingadvice.org/beehi

    #Anthropicsettlement #authorpayouts #AuthorsGuild #beehiiv #classaction

  17. News Summary: Authors Guild Issues AI Contract Clause; Character.AI Launches Interactive Book Platform

    We end the week with two AI stories at very different ends of the news spectrum. First up is a statement from Authors Guild on AI in publishing and, as they put it, a "new model contract clause." The statement is an explicit response to the reports I noted previously that publishing professionals are uploading manuscripts to AI models to assist with editing tasks.
    The post News Summary: Authors Guild Issues AI Contract Clause; Character.AI Launches Interactive Book Platform appeared first on The Self-Publishing Advice Center.
    selfpublishingadvice.org/autho

    #AIcontractclause #AIinPublishing #AuthorsGuild #CharacterAI #interactivebooks

  18. News Summary: Authors Guild Issues AI Contract Clause; Character.AI Launches Interactive Book Platform

    We end the week with two AI stories at very different ends of the news spectrum. First up is a statement from Authors Guild on AI in publishing and, as they put it, a "new model contract clause." The statement is an explicit response to the reports I noted previously that publishing professionals are uploading manuscripts to AI models to assist with editing tasks.
    The post News Summary: Authors Guild Issues AI Contract Clause; Character.AI Launches Interactive Book Platform appeared first on The Self-Publishing Advice Center.
    selfpublishingadvice.org/autho

    #AIcontractclause #AIinPublishing #AuthorsGuild #CharacterAI #interactivebooks

  19. @masukomi
    Good point! Thanks for your response.

    Searching the book has existed for awhile, on all Kindles and the app. Ask the Book is new and different. Google search even before AI was pretty good at figuring out what I wanted to find, deciphering my query… before they decided to bias toward showing results that were sponsored or could even slightly imply commerce. I still use the non-AI version as it is often provides the most relevant results.

    My understanding is that Amazon trains an LLM with the books. I ended up at the Author's Guild to inform and correct my rant (and yes, what I wrote was a rant and I am embarrassed about that). As an author, I am comfortable with any bias they have on the subject. Quote first, then link.

    The Guild is concerned that Ask this Book turns books into searchable, interactive products akin to enhanced ebooks or annotated editions—a new format for which rights should be specifically negotiated—and, given Amazon’s stronghold on ebook retail, it could usurp the burgeoning licensing market for interactive AI-enabled ebooks and audiobooks.

    Amazon’s Response

    We reached out to Amazon with our concerns and they reported to that “The feature only uses content from the book as a prompt which is not retained or used to train the underlying AI model.” An Amazon spokesperson explained that Amazon considers the feature to be “a natural language expansion of the search functionality that already exists in Kindle apps and for which no license is required.” Amazon further reasons that “readers have been asking these questions through internet searches for years and that this feature is more native, spoiler-free, and helps customers keep reading as opposed to coming out of the book, which is the case today with all other ways to answer questions about the book you’re reading.”

    The Guild’s Take

    We do not entirely agree with this depiction. In creating a chat feature that allows readers to ask questions about a book—including analysis and summaries—Amazon is possibly creating a derivate use, not a mere search function. Amazon has confirmed that it is using a “standalone” instance of an AI model to answer user queries and that its responses are based solely on the text of the book purchased by the user. This may suggest that Ask this Book uses RAG (retrieval augmented generation) technology, though we don’t have confirmation of this. RAG uses, for which there is a growing market, are typically licensed. The most common application of RAG technology is to make the output of LLMs more accurate in AI-based search engines.

    —from authorsguild.org/news/statemen.

    #AI #Amazon #Askthisbook #writingCommunity #writersOfMastodon #authorsguild #author opinion.

  20. News Summary: Audible Reports Strong Retention with Immersion Reading; Authors Guild Expands Human Authored Certification

    A short while ago, I reported on Audible's new immersion reading initiative. Subsequent to that, Publishing Perspectives had an expansion on the subject that makes it worthy of a revisit. You will recall that Audible now allows people who own e-books and audiobooks of the same title to read and listen at the same time, with features such as highlighting the text of the word currently being narrated.
    The post News Summary: Audible Reports Strong Retention with Immersion Reading; Authors Guild Expands Human Authored Certification appeared first on The Self-Publishing Advice Center.
    selfpublishingadvice.org/immer

    #AIinPublishing #Audible #AuthorsGuild #HumanAuthoredcertification #ImmersionReading

  21. News Summary: Audible Reports Strong Retention with Immersion Reading; Authors Guild Expands Human Authored Certification

    A short while ago, I reported on Audible's new immersion reading initiative. Subsequent to that, Publishing Perspectives had an expansion on the subject that makes it worthy of a revisit. You will recall that Audible now allows people who own e-books and audiobooks of the same title to read and listen at the same time, with features such as highlighting the text of the word currently being narrated.
    The post News Summary: Audible Reports Strong Retention with Immersion Reading; Authors Guild Expands Human Authored Certification appeared first on The Self-Publishing Advice Center.
    selfpublishingadvice.org/immer

    #AIinPublishing #Audible #AuthorsGuild #HumanAuthoredcertification #ImmersionReading

  22. News Summary: Authors Guild Pushes Back on Amazon’s ‘Ask This Book’ AI Feature

    The news starts 2026 as it ended 2025, with Amazon's new Ask This Book feature for Kindle books. When I first reported on this, I had yet to see the response from authors. Thanks to a link in Jane Friedman's newsletter, I have now been able to read and digest a very robust…
    selfpublishingadvice.org/ask-t

    #AIfeatures #AmazonKindle #AskThisBook #authorrights #AuthorsGuild

  23. News Summary: Authors Guild Pushes Back on Amazon’s ‘Ask This Book’ AI Feature

    The news starts 2026 as it ended 2025, with Amazon's new Ask This Book feature for Kindle books. When I first reported on this, I had yet to see the response from authors. Thanks to a link in Jane Friedman's newsletter, I have now been able to read and digest a very robust…
    selfpublishingadvice.org/ask-t

    #AIfeatures #AmazonKindle #AskThisBook #authorrights #AuthorsGuild

  24. News Summary: Judge Rejects $3000 Per Title Settlement Figure in Anthropic Case

    As a newbie indie writer in the UK, I remember many forum discussions on what seemed a dry topic back in the innocent days of the late 2000s as we tried to grapple with the logistics of what was still a fairly niche path to pursue. That topic was…
    selfpublishingadvice.org/anthr

    #3 #000perbook #Anthropicsettlement #AuthorsGuild #copyrightinfringement
    @indieauthors

  25. News Summary: Judge Rejects $3000 Per Title Settlement Figure in Anthropic Case

    As a newbie indie writer in the UK, I remember many forum discussions on what seemed a dry topic back in the innocent days of the late 2000s as we tried to grapple with the logistics of what was still a fairly niche path to pursue. That topic was…
    selfpublishingadvice.org/anthr

    #3 #000perbook #Anthropicsettlement #AuthorsGuild #copyrightinfringement
    @indieauthors

  26. AAP Endorses the US$1.5 Billion AI Settlement Proposed in the ‘Bartz v. Anthropic’ Case

    What's called in court documents 'the largest publicly reported copyright recovery in history' has publishers' and authors' endorsements.
    publishingperspectives.com/202

    #AI #Anthropic #ArtificialIntelligence #AssociationofAmericanPublishers #AuthorsGuild
    @indieauthors

  27. AAP Endorses the US$1.5 Billion AI Settlement Proposed in the ‘Bartz v. Anthropic’ Case

    What's called in court documents 'the largest publicly reported copyright recovery in history' has publishers' and authors' endorsements.
    publishingperspectives.com/202

    #AI #Anthropic #ArtificialIntelligence #AssociationofAmericanPublishers #AuthorsGuild
    @indieauthors

  28. Update. Laws like the one in #Connecticut are under consideration in #Hawaii, #Massachusetts, and #NewJersey. Big #publishers and the #AuthorsGuild are lobbying against them.
    nytimes.com/2025/07/16/books/l

    From Alan Inouye (@alansinouye), former director of public policy for the American Library Association (@alalibrary): “It’s really sad [that opposition limits libraries] to what we had [in the age of print]. In effect, we’re excluding the possibility of being better in the digital world.”

    #Libraries

  29. Update. Laws like the one in #Connecticut are under consideration in #Hawaii, #Massachusetts, and #NewJersey. Big #publishers and the #AuthorsGuild are lobbying against them.
    nytimes.com/2025/07/16/books/l

    From Alan Inouye (@alansinouye), former director of public policy for the American Library Association (@alalibrary): “It’s really sad [that opposition limits libraries] to what we had [in the age of print]. In effect, we’re excluding the possibility of being better in the digital world.”

    #Libraries

  30. The US Supreme Court Supports Parents on LGBTQ Books

    Opt-outs for religious objections will chill what is taught in schools,' writes PEN America's Elly Brinkley on 'Mahmoud v. Taylor.'
    The post The US Supreme Court Supports Parents on LGBTQ Books appeared first on Publishing Perspectives.
    publishingperspectives.com/202

    #AuthorsGuild #BookBanning #Censorship #DanNovack #FreedomofExpression
    @indieauthors

  31. The US Supreme Court Supports Parents on LGBTQ Books

    Opt-outs for religious objections will chill what is taught in schools,' writes PEN America's Elly Brinkley on 'Mahmoud v. Taylor.'
    The post The US Supreme Court Supports Parents on LGBTQ Books appeared first on Publishing Perspectives.
    publishingperspectives.com/202

    #AuthorsGuild #BookBanning #Censorship #DanNovack #FreedomofExpression
    @indieauthors

  32. Authors Guild Petitions to Reinstate U.S. Copyright Chief; European Creators Demand AI Transparency: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

    It is a week of petitions in the books world. With thanks to Porter Anderson over at Publishing Perspectives for drawing attention to this. Both of them touch on copyright. They may or may not also…
    selfpublishingadvice.org/petit

    #AItransparency #AuthorsGuild #copyrightpetitions #Europeancreators #USCopyrightOffice
    @indieauthors

  33. Authors Guild Petitions to Reinstate U.S. Copyright Chief; European Creators Demand AI Transparency: Self-Publishing News with Dan Holloway

    It is a week of petitions in the books world. With thanks to Porter Anderson over at Publishing Perspectives for drawing attention to this. Both of them touch on copyright. They may or may not also…
    selfpublishingadvice.org/petit

    #AItransparency #AuthorsGuild #copyrightpetitions #Europeancreators #USCopyrightOffice
    @indieauthors

  34. If your books have been stolen by Meta to train their GenAI machine, The Authors Guild has concrete steps for you to take today; also important to know that if your work was stolen, you are automatically part of the Kadrey v Meta class action in California:

    ETA: I am told this only applies to U.S. authors/U.S. copyright holders.

    @romancelandia @bookstodon #Romancelandia #IndieAuthors #GenAI #Meta #IPTheft #AuthorsGuild

    authorsguild.org/news/meta-lib

  35. Gizmodo: Books Written Without AI Can Now Receive New ‘Human Authored’ Certification. “The Authors Guild, one of the largest associations of writers in America, is launching a new project to certify books that have been written by a human rather than a machine. The new ‘Human Authored’ certification will help authors distinguish their work and let readers know what they are reading—and […]

    https://rbfirehose.com/2025/02/13/gizmodo-books-written-without-ai-can-now-receive-new-human-authored-certification/

  36. The Authors Guild in the US launched a 'Human Authored' book cert for authors, to combat AI-riddled publications. Errmm...

    If you take a look at this blog, I'd love to hear what you think on this topic.

    thenoveliststudio.com/blog/hum

    #AuthorsGuild
    #books
    #AI