Publishing contracts that allow AI chatbots to learn from books

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Publishing contracts that allow AI chatbots to learn from books

29 July 2023

A few weeks ago, I wrote about two authors, Mona Awad and Paul Tremblay, who had filed a law suit against OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT. Awad and Tremblay were claiming books they had written were being used to help “train” the AI powered chatbot. They say this had happened without their prior knowledge or permission.

It now looks like there may be a solution to this problem, but not perhaps the one writers have been seeking. According to a tweet by the Australian Society of Authors (ASA), some book publishers in the United States are adding clauses to their publishing contracts, allowing the works of authors to be used to train generative chatbots:

We know that some terms of service in publishing have already included clauses allowing the use of authors’ work to train AI and we are now hearing that authors in the US are being asked by publishers to agree to clauses which allow their work to be used to train generative AI.

That’s sure as hell one way to “solve” the problem. But I wonder if authors agreeing to their works being used in this fashion are being offered additional remuneration? And what of writers who disagree with such a proviso? Do their works go unpublished?

The Penguin Books 2023 Write It Fellowship Shortlist

28 July 2023

The 2023 Write It Fellowship shortlist was announced earlier this month, and is made up of eleven Australian writers with works of fiction spanning historical, autobiographical, crime, psychological horror, fantasy, memoir, and poetry genres.

The Write It Fellowship was established by book publisher Penguin Random House Australia in 2018. The Fellowship is intended to support unpublished writers from under-represented sections of the community, including those with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ and First Nations backgrounds.

The winner of the Fellowship will be named on Monday 9 October 2023.

Man apologises for social media threats against Yumi Stynes

27 July 2023

A man has apologised to Australian author Yumi Stynes after making threats against her through social media last week. Stynes has been subjected to a barrage of online hostility recently, amid a backlash against Welcome to Sex, a sex education book she co-authored with Melissa Kang. Some people have been angered by a selection of illustrations in the book that they perceive to be pornographic in nature.

A twenty-three year old man, Eli Engwicht, was arrested by police after being identified as one of the people making the threats, and appeared in court in Sydney yesterday. After his appearance, he issued an apology to Stynes:

“I apologise to Yumi Stynes and her direct family members for the inconvenience and the trouble and the threats that I have sent,” Mr Engwicht said outside court. “I’m sorry. This is a public and sincere apology (for) … my wrongdoing.”

The matter is expected to return to court in September, after Engwicht indicated he would plead guilty to the charges against him.

Shankari Chandran wins 2023 Miles Franklin with Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens

25 July 2023

Sydney based author and Australian Tamil lawyer, Shankari Chandran, has been named winner of the 2023 Miles Franklin literary award, with her novel, Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens, published by Ultimo Press in 2022.

Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens is Chandran’s third work of fiction, and is set in a nursing home in a suburb of Sydney called Westgrove:

Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home is nestled in the quiet suburb of Westgrove, Sydney – populated with residents with colourful histories, each with their own secrets, triumphs and failings. This is their safe place, an oasis of familiar delights — a beautiful garden, a busy kitchen and a bountiful recreation schedule.

But this ordinary neighbourhood is not without its prejudices. The serenity of Cinnamon Gardens is threatened by malignant forces more interested in what makes this refuge different rather than embracing the calm companionship that makes this place home to so many. As those who challenge the residents’ existence make their stand against the nursing home with devastating consequences, our characters are forced to reckon with a country divided.

To call the field in the 2023 Miles Franklin tight, would be an understatement, and Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens was up against a number of acclaimed Australian novels, including Limberlost by Robbie Arnott, and Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au.

The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf, with her handwritten notes, found in Sydney

24 July 2023

In 2021, Simon Cooper, a University of Sydney worker, rediscovered a first edition copy of The Voyage Out, the 1915 debut novel of British author Virginia Woolf, lurking amongst a collection of science books, where it had been misfiled years ago.

What makes the find so remarkable are the notations throughout the book, written in hand by Woolf herself, when she was considering revising the novel. A veritable boon for anyone interested in studying Woolf’s work. The book has since been digitised, and can be viewed online.

Customer abuse sees Welcome to Sex removed from Big W shops

20 July 2023

Australian discount chain store Big W has withdrawn copies of Welcome to Sex from bookshelves, following repeated instances of staff being abused by customers angry that they stock the book.

Co-written by Melissa Kang, a doctor and associate professor at the University of Sydney, and Australian writer and broadcaster Yumi Stynes, Welcome to Sex, is, according to publisher Hardie Grant, a frank, age-appropriate introductory guide to sex and sexuality for teens of all genders.

Critics of the sex education book claim Welcome to Sex strays well beyond being a guide to reproductive sex, by discussing of a number of other sexual activities, even if only briefly.

Having concerns about certain of the merchandise a shop sells is one thing, but being hostile to retail staff, who are only doing their jobs, is unacceptable. While no longer available in store, the title remains available for purchase through the Big W website.

Update: 9NEWS reports that Welcome to Sex has topped the Amazon Best Sellers list, and sold out in some bookshops, since the controversy surrounding the title’s content flared up last week.

Sarah Holland-Batt writing new book related to The Jaguar

18 July 2023

Brisbane based Australian author Sarah Holland-Batt, winner of the 2023 Stella Prize, is working on a new book, which will published in Australia and New Zealand by the University of Queensland Press (UQP). A work of creative nonfiction, the new title will be a follow up of sorts to Holland-Batt’s award winning collection of poetry, The Jaguar, which explored her late father’s struggle with Parkinson’s disease, and subsequent death.

In my new work of creative nonfiction, I consider the unsettling question of what a personality is, if it can be changed as profoundly and completely as my father’s was after his brain surgery for Parkinson’s Disease… I am deeply interested in the question of who we are when we are in cognitive decline, and what it means to become other to ourselves.

Short interviews with the 2023 Miles Franklin shortlisted authors

17 July 2023

The winner of the 2023 Miles Franklin literary award will be announced in just over a week, on Tuesday 25 July 2023. Ahead of the presentation, The Bookshelf and Book Show have recorded interviews with all six shortlisted Australian authors. View the shortlist here.

#BookThreads, a name for the book community on Threads?

15 July 2023

Threads banner promotional image, by Meta

Threads banner image, by Meta.

If Threads, Meta’s recently launched micro-blogging app, takes off and becomes as popular as the likes of Twitter and Instagram, a community of book readers and fans is bound to form. As was the case on Instagram, Threads’ Meta owned stablemate, where a thriving and lively book community interacts under the #Bookstagram hashtag.

But where there’s a social network, there’ll be an active community of book lovers. On rival micro-blogging network, Twitter, the bookish use the #BookTwitter hashtag to label their tweets, making them visible and searchable for fellow literary mavens, while on while on TikTok, BookTokers share book content using the #BookTok tag.

Presently hashtags are not functional on Threads, but they, along with a bevy of other features, are on the way. It’s therefore only a matter of time before book readers will be able to connect with bookworms on Threads. That’s good though, it gives the bookish time to devise a community name and hashtag to use on Threads. But that’s hardly going to be difficult.

The hashtags used by the book reading communities on Twitter, Instagram, and BookTok, are simple and to the point, and the same will doubtless apply on Threads. Which makes BookThreads the logical choice. I first saw the term used by Australian book publisher Pan Macmillan Australia on their Instagram page, though someone else may well have used the moniker before.

So #BookThreads it is, at least if you ask me. And just because hashtags still aren’t functional on Threads doesn’t mean you can’t use them. I’ve sporadically been including them on posts, probably through habit, as I imagine others have to, and I’ve used #BookThreads on at least one of my Threads posts. But by adding #BookThreads to your bookish Threads posts now, means you’ll be immediately be visible to the Threads book community, when hashtags become operational.

But what are your thoughts on a hashtag and title for a potential Threads book community? Does BookThreads make sense, or is it a terrible idea? Do you have alternative suggestion? Let me know in the comments below, which will be open for a week or so after this article is posted.

First edition of The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien sells for £10000

14 July 2023

News articles mentioning first edition publications of well-known books have been featuring in the news feeds I read recently, and here’s another one.

This time, a first edition copy of The Hobbit, the 1937 novel written by J. R. R. Tolkien, sold for ten-thousand British pounds on eBay last year, after being donated to a charity shop in Dundee, a city in Scotland. The book had been sitting in a back room at the shop, and despite being well looked after, the store manager was at first doubtful it could be offered for sale.

The price realised is not the highest figure a first edition copy of The Hobbit has fetched in an auction sale before, but it says a lot about what might be quietly lurking on the shelves of charity shops.

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books, J. R. R. Tolkien, literature

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