Interviews Weina Dai Randel burst onto the literary scene a number of years ago with her duology about Empress Wu Zetian, China’s first woman leader. After winning the prestigious Rita Award in 2017 and seeing her novels translated into seven languages, she is back now with a new historical novel set in 1940s Shanghai. Keeping with her love of strong women characters, her new book, The Last Rose of Shanghai, centers on a nightclub owner named Aiyi Shao who falls for a Jewish refugee who had recently escaped Nazi Germany. Through their love of jazz, they develop a forbidden bond set during one of Shanghai’s most volatile and exciting eras. Randel is the first Chinese American author to write about Shanghai Jewish refugees, although there have been dozens of memoirs, narratives, and novels about this phenomenon from Jewish authors. We recently spoke over Zoom about what made Shanghai so special and why it matters now, along with the reasons Jews escaped to Shanghai during World War II and how Chinese and Jewish traditions are so similar. Susan Blumberg-Kason: It seems that the popularity of 1930s and ’40s Shanghai rose both in China and the US about twenty-five years ago. Can you talk about the appeal of this time and why it’s so special, both to people in the US and China? Weina Dai Randel: I think many aspects of Old Shanghai appeal to us today. From the late 1920s to the early 1940s, the period of Old Shanghai was a symbol of... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2022-01-20 14:33:49 UTC ]
It's getting hard to keep up with copyright lawsuits against generative AI, with a new proposed class action hitting the courts last week. This time, authors are suing NVIDIA over its AI platform NeMo, a language model that allows businesses to create and train their own chatbots, Ars Technica... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-03-12 08:34:07 UTC ]
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Amid growing opportunities for audio development, Bookwire’s look at the French market included challenges, as well. (Sponsored) By Eric Dupuy | @duperico ‘A Dynamism for Audio’ hen the Frankfurt-based Bookwire presented its second digital program on the audiobook market in France on Thursday... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-03-11 09:35:37 UTC ]
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Brandon Sanderson gets Audible to make changes to audiobook royalties, and nine other of the top book-related stories of the day. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-03-06 23:48:49 UTC ]
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When I began writing my unborn son a letter in 2018, a book was the furthest thing from my mind. I wasn’t trying to unpack the countless ways in which the words “all men are created equal” have failed us in this country. Instead, I was thinking that I would write a letter, something that […] The... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-03-05 12:00:00 UTC ]
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At the 29th annual Audies, presented by the Audio Publishers Association and held in Los Angeles on March 4, winners across 27 categories were announced. The night's biggest honor, Audiobook of the Year, went to 'Surrender,' written and narrated by Bono. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-04 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Spotify's... interesting pricing plans, it "It" books of March, and more of the day's bookish news: Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-03-01 21:43:16 UTC ]
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Spotify has added another subscription option. This time around, it's offering a plan that has little to do with music. The Audiobooks Access Tier (which is US-only for now) offers 15 hours of audiobook listening each month for $10. You'll have access to Spotify's library of more than 200,000... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-03-01 18:08:29 UTC ]
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In the audiobook oral history “Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of ‘Airplane!,’” a cast of dozens fondly revisits a now-classic film. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-03-01 14:12:30 UTC ]
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Spotify has added a new option that gives users 15 hours to listen to audiobooks for $9.99—a dollar less than a Premium subscription, which offers the same 15 hours per month, plus ad-free music, for $10.99. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-01 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Updated terms of service for Spotifiy's indie author audiobook distribution platform Findaway Voices appeared to give Spotify broad powers to reuse content. An outcry forced a revision of terms, but clarification is still needed, say authors and affiliates. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-02-28 05:00:00 UTC ]
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In Streisand’s new audiobook recording for her chatty, brick-size memoir, “My Name Is Barbra,” the superlative diva adds a little freestyling. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-02-23 12:45:40 UTC ]
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Changes in Spotify's terms of use for its Findaway Voices audiobook product trigger concerns from the Society of Authors in London. The post UK’s Society of Authors: More Clarity in Spotify’s Terms appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-02-22 15:16:42 UTC ]
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I always imagined, that, given the choice, I would read my own audiobook. I had heard memoirs often sounded best in the author’s throat—something about the familiar tang of the hardship unspooled. But had I written a memoir? A bookseller acquaintance asked me that a year before the publication... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-02-22 09:54:39 UTC ]
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Job cuts add to costs for streaming service but it gains 10m premium subscribers in fourth quarterSpotify’s push beyond music has tipped the streaming service into the red again, after it acquired the rights to 200,000 audiobooks for premium subscribers, with Prince Harry’s autobiography and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-02-06 15:45:35 UTC ]
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The streaming company says its payout model is competitive, but the Society of Authors has raised doubts about whether authors ultimately benefit Spotify has said that it has paid audiobook publishers “tens of millions” since allowing users 15 hours of audiobook listening in its Premium... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2024-02-01 16:08:34 UTC ]
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N. Scott Momaday was the first Native American author to win a Pulitzer Prize. He passed away on January 24th at age 89. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2024-01-30 20:02:44 UTC ]
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There are early signs that Spotify’s addition of audiobooks to its streaming service is helping drive audiobook consumption — already a growing market. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2024-01-29 17:00:09 UTC ]
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Audiobook publisher RBmedia has acquired Berrett-Koehler’s audiobook publishing business, including its backlist, and will publish audiobook editions of new Berrett-Koehler titles under its business audiobook brand, Ascent Audio, beginning this year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-29 05:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperVia will publish 'The Last Dream,' the debut collection of short stories by Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar, translated from the Spanish by Frank Wynne, on September 24, in print and audiobook formats. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-29 05:00:00 UTC ]
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On January 25, the California Independent Booksellers Alliance hosted a streaming award ceremony honoring “the most distinguished books written and illustrated by creators who have made California their home.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-01-26 05:00:00 UTC ]
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