- The Philosopher Fish wins oddest book title prize
The Philosopher Fish: Sturgeon, Caviar, and the Geography of Desire has been crowned the winner of the Diagram prize for the oddest book title of the year. The book, by Richard Adams Carey, traces how the caviar industry has changed. In a public vote on the shortlisted titles, The Philosopher Fish won 27%, representing the narrowest winning margin in the history of the prize, which is administered by the Bookseller.
- Crown Publishing Group acquires Compendium
The Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, has acquired Compendium, the publisher of illustrated books, journals, and notecards. At Crown, Compendium will become a standalone imprint under Ten Speed Press. "Compendium will retain its distinct editorial identity and continue to lead the creation and promotion of its portfolio, which includes more than forty new products set to publish in 2025," per a release. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
- Mubi moves into book publishing with Mubi Editions imprint
Mubi, the film distributor, production company, and streaming service founded in 2007 by Efe Cakarel, will launch a publishing arm, Mubi Editions, next April, focusing on titles on cinema and the arts. Based in London and New York and led by Daniel Kasman, VP of editorial content at Mubi, the imprint will publish two to three titles in its in inaugural year, with plans to expand its list in future years. Distributed Art Publishers will distribute for the imprint in the U.S. and Canada, with Thames & Hudson distributing to the rest of the global market, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Turkey.
- How digital innovation both strengthens and threatens the book business
On Nov. 18, 2022, PW published a report analyzing a database of 1,300 publishing startups, almost all of which were founded since Amazon launched the Kindle some fifteen years earlier. As soon as it was published, it was out-of-date: two days later, on Nov. 20, 2022, OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT, and since then the number of new startups has exploded.
- Writers condemn startup's plans to publish 8,000 books next year using AI
Writers and publishers are criticising a startup that plans to publish up to 8,000 books next year using AI. The company, Spines, will charge authors between $1,200 and $5,000 to have their books edited, proofread, formatted, designed and distributed with the help of AI.