iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 28/09/2026

This morning’s scambot word salad-ing for all it’s worth

[white text on black]

From Dorcas Dorris
To Sandra Wong

Idea for Lola Starke — Edmonton Canadian

Hello Sandra,

I came across Lola Starke / Devil Take The Hindmost — lives in Edmonton Alberta, raised in Canada. As lives in Edmonton Alberta and raised in Canada, it immediately caught my attention.

I looked at how you present Lola Starke online. I couldn't find a short cinematic video that captures that Edmonton Canadian crime fantasy weight.

Your world would be perfect for that.

I'm Dorcas and I help authors turn their books into short trailers and promo videos. I have a concrete idea for Lola Starke in mind — centered on that Edmonton Canadian hook.

Should I send it to you briefly?

Best regards Dorcas

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 23/09/2026

So. The skinny might be worse lol. Rather than a vote re forcing the board to support the anti-infill group, said group wants to get their members to fill vacant board positions & fuck up the board that way 🙄 I’m in no shape to join another board 😂 Guess I’ll stay home and stuff my face

garlic parmesan swirl buns with cracked black pepper, in a square baking pan resting on a red cooling rack. at the top, just visible, part of a baked loaf of white bread on the same rack

the same (8) garlic parmesan swirl buns with cracked black pepper, now on a square (dark orange) ceramic plate

010

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 18/09/2026

Flew too close to the sun with this first attempt at chocolate peanut butter swirl bread. Tastes fab though

interior of a loaf of what was supposed to be a swirl of chocolate inside a loaf of white bread but there’s just a big pocket of air at the top and the swirl filling is in a single layer, with a tiny curl at the left side.
the top crust is golden brown.
Clearly, I rolled up the dough along the wrong side.

270

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 15/09/2026

Disappointing though not surprising. Publishing is all about the bottom line and workers always bear the burden of its margins, financially and otherwise. But also: whoever ok’d this abomination of a phrase should be forced to live on the average translator’s or author’s annual income.

same text as the OP screencap but cropped to show only “humanly postedited.”

053

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 13/09/2026

Even though I use a 2lb. tin as directed, I always get GIANT loaves so I’ve been experimenting, cutting off some of the dough before final proving. I’ve made cute lil mini loaves before, but peanut butter chocolate monkey bread is much more fun! A fair first effort, eh? cc @mostlybree.kitrocha.com

a lumpy loaf on a square orange plate: unevenly-sized golden brown balls atop a flatter layer

closeup of the lumpy loaf, now with several chunks missing, and a portion held between pale forefinger and be-ringed thumb showing a torn-off portion, its interior holding a dark tan paste flecked with darker brown specks

another view of a portion, to show the fluffiness of the bread part; held (and bitten into) by the husby. part of the rest of the loaf us visible to the right, side-on, showing a dark line delineating the edges of one portion from its neighbour

231

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 12/09/2026

We don’t talk enough about how good the MG How to Train Your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell is. If you only know it from the animated films and series, you honestly have no idea. It’s hilarious (rude, lots of potty humour and puns), poignant coming-of-age, & action-packed. Great stuff.

The first 8 paperbacks on one of our shelves; the spines altogether make a drawing of a smug green dragon. Then, 3 more paperbacks with sparkly covers, and then the final 2 hardbacks. If you zoom in you can see by the edges these are all well-read lol. There are also 3 dragon stuffies on the shelves, one on the same as the books, and two on a lower shelf.

050

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 08/09/2026

This entire settlement shmozzle is absolutely intolerable! and! I've been stressed since reading that the lit agency I'm with was listed by Writer Beware among agencies making unwarranted claims to authors' portions. So this is welcome reassurance, that no one at DG&B is a shady so-and-so

from today's Publishers lunch:
Publisher Errors, Agent Claims, and More in the Anthropic Settlement

After many authors highlighted incorrect claims filings from publishers in the Anthropic settlement, more issues have come to light, including claims by agents and apparent scammers.

In a thorough rundown, Writer Beware lists several publishers that claimed 100 percent on works, rather than the default 50/50 split with the author. The Authors Guild posted guidance about the process, noting that some publishers say they claimed 100 percent in error.

"Please note that certain publishers have informed the settlement administrator that they mistakenly selected a 100 percent allocation rather than the default option," the AG writes. "The administrator is updating those publishers’ allocation percentages accordingly. Authors who are concerned that their publisher seems to have mistakenly selected a 100 percent allocation instead of a default 50-50 split should log in again next week to see if the issue has been corrected. Those changes may resolve any apparent disagreements as to this issue."

Other publishers claimed either 50 or 100 percent on books in which rights have reverted to the author. The AG also believes that if rights reverted before August 10, 2022 (the date at which the books were downloaded by Anthropic, according to the settlement), the author should receive 100 percent of the claim. However, "if rights in an author’s work reverted after August 10, 2022, the publisher may have a valid claim (assuming it was the legal owner of the rights at the time infringement occurred), and as such the author (and any co-author) may be entitled to only 50 percent of the award." (That said, authors are free to dispute the matter and let the special master decide. There is an argument to be made that, once rights have reverted, the publisher has no right to collect funds for any reason.)

[continued in next]

[continued from previous; same screenshot]

Several literary agencies, including Dystel Goderich & Bourret, Sanford J. Greenburger, and Wylie Agency, were reported by authors as listed on some of their claims, according to Writer Beware. One agent told the blog that this was likely an error "due to publishers pulling the payee info from the agency clause in the agreements which generally does send all income to the agent on the author’s behalf."

[highlighted by me:]
Dystel Goderich & Bourret partner Michael Bourret told PL that they haven't been contacted by authors about incorrect allocations.

"We have no idea where this rumor has come from, but we have not submitted any claims for our clients’ work," he said. "We’re also not commissioning our clients’ settlement payments. There’s a possibility that a publisher may have submitted a claim on our behalf, but we’ve not received any notices or any contact from an author about this. We’ll of course correct any incorrect claims in our name, but we can’t do that without knowing what the claims are."
[end highlighting]

Rightsholders have 30 days to correct any discrepancies in the settlement portal.

010

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 08/09/2026

and yet, when is it not Canadian tuxedo season?

a Lee Jeans ad circa 1972?
a smiling white man with feathered light brown hair wears a 3-piece denim ‘suit’: trousers, vest, sport coat cut jacket. it’s paired with a plaid shirt in lilac/blue/green that has long sharp collar points laying over the jacket lapels. he wears shined red-brown leather shoes

151

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 01/09/2026

Capped off the birthday with a wonderful late night dinner on a peaceful street-side patio beneath a beautiful night sky. Not pictured: pecan pie with vanilla ice cream

Québec trout with oyster mushrooms, pea shoots, dill, and other delicious ingredients I can’t recall rn. The fish was incredible; creamy and flavourful, and perfectly complemented. Another dish holds Argentinian shrimp in a bright green lime and mint sauce, with micro greens; the husby’s meal

gnocchi in a creamy blue cheese sauce. a pale red “berryto” mocktail accompanies. a few housemade fries remain in a small bowl.

blue cheese isn’t my thing; this was 19’s meal.

110

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 31/08/2026

Truly blessed to be here in one of the most vibrant cities in the world on my bday this year. Snapped a few pics of my day, spent with some of the people I love most in the universe. (who are not much for photos lol) Merci beaucoup, Montréal! ✨

170

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 27/08/2026

Welcome to Bluesky. Please familiarize yourself with the following accounts to understand the range of opinions it is acceptable to express.

black and white photo of the Spice Girls.
(L to R: Ginger, Sporty, Baby, Scary, and Posh)

3204

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 12/08/2026

Today I have a 23-yr-old! She didn’t want a fancy cake, just these cake-y cookies so it may as well be bday cake 🥳 Second of 2.5 batches is in the oven so I have time lol Ok the alt text took a long time (typing on my phone) annnnd we’ve discovered this is the wrong recipe!

2 small square pieces of scrap paper, one with an ingredients list, the other with very basic instructions, for “Fudgy Brownie Cookies,” all handwritten in black ink on white.

Ingredients:
cocoa powder 1/2 cup
[white] sugar 1 cup
melted butter 1/2 cup
veg. oil 3 TBSP
egg 1
vanilla [extract] 2 tsp
flour 1 1/3 cup
bk. powder 1/2 tsp
salt 1/2 tsp
choc. chips 1/3+ cups [I did 2/3 cups dark this batch]
Yield: 16 [this batch = 30 lol]
Recipe = 10-12 min. @ 350°F
*Try 15 min. next time*

1. Preheat to 350°F
2. Mix cocoa powder, sugar, butter, oil
3. Add egg + vanilla. Beat.
4. Combine dry ingredients (minus choc. chips)
5. Mix dry —> wet until just blended
6. FOLD in chocolate chips
7. Drop by TBSP onto pan
8. Shape or flatten to desired thickness
9. Bake 12-15 minutes. Will be soft
10. Cool for 20 min. before moving to cooling rack.

I ended up gently rolling the dough into balls which I then flattened with a sugar-dipped glass bottom. 1.5TBSP ones needed 17 min.

120

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 11/08/2026

Erp sorry. The wapo gift link makes you sign in. Here’s a TL;DR

BREAKING
Trump Hid in a Catering Cart to Sneak Out of Turkey Amid Threats
President Trump hid in an airport catering cart and was taken to a military jet for a secret flight out of the country after the
NATO summit last month.
2 MIN READ

140

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 07/08/2026

Friends, what’s the scam here, precisely? If one were to reply, they get confirmation that it’s a real addy. Then? Do they hack it? Do they ask for money? For what? I mean, it’s so utterly ludicrous. Whom does this fool???

scam email clearly made with gen”ai” from “James Oswald”

Subject: Loved in the Dark We Forget: A Novel

Hi Sandra,
I hope you're doing well and that writing is being kind to you these days.

I wanted to reach out because I've spent time with In the Dark We Forget: A Novel, and something about it has lingered in the back of my mind ever since. Not just the story itself, but the care behind it. Your writing feels thoughtful and grounded, like it knows when to speak and when to leave space, especially in those moments where Cleo Li must confront the possibility that the person she should be afraid of might be herself. As a writer, I always notice that.

A quick introduction. I'm James Oswald, crime writer, livestock farmer, and someone who genuinely enjoys conversations with other writers about the parts of this work that don't always make it into public conversations. After years of writing, rejection, and eventually finding my own path through self-publishing before landing with Penguin, I've learned that the stories that matter most are usually the ones written with heart rather than hurry; your work reflects that.

There are a couple of things I would genuinely love to hear your thoughts on.

scam email con’t:

There are a couple of things I would genuinely love to hear your thoughts on.

When you look back on your writing now, what do you feel it has given you as a person, not just as an author? Has it clarified something for you, healed something, or quietly changed the way you move through the world?

And on a lighter note, do you have a favourite book you have written? I know that can feel like choosing a favourite child, but I always find the answer revealing. For me, there is something about In the Dark We Forget that stays close, perhaps because of how it explores the terrifying intersection of memory, identity, and survival. The premise of a woman waking up with amnesia beside a mountain highway, only to learn her parents have disappeared after a winning lottery ticket, is the kind of hook that demands attention. And the question at its heart, what if the person you should fear most is yourself, is one that lingers long after the final page. It reminded me that the best psychological suspense doesn't just keep you guessing; it makes you question what you would do in the same situation.

scam email finale:

There is no expectation here and no need for a polished response. I am simply reaching out writer to writer, appreciating the work and the person behind it.

Warmly,
James Oswald
[graphic that looks like a postcard]

FLISKMILLAN FARM
[supposedly in North East Fife, Scotland, overlooking the River Tay]
[some fake contact info details]

The photo has a bearded, bespectacled white man in a fleece jumper, dark blue jeans, and scuffed dark work boots, sitting side-saddle on a director’s chair with a silver laptop whilst various sheep mill about; one has 30 sprayed in red on its side.

a close-up of the “farmer James”’s wonky hands testing on the laptop keys. Via the horror of “ai”, the fingers seem to be simultaneously melting and too bumpy.

530

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 29/07/2026

I have tasted the dill pickle flavoured ketchup in the rental cottage left by someone prior and it is better than one might think

Next to a few french fries on black & white checkered liner paper stands a plastic 750mL bottle of Heinz ketchup with a drawing of a dill pickle and “PICKLE FLAVOURED • À SAVEUR DE CORNICHONS” circled exuberantly in irange

080

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 19/07/2026

Parenting is work but this isn’t that. This is treating parenting like a business task and time raising children like overhead. Bad parents like this deserve criticism but the more important critique is why such people esp. women have children when it’s clear they don’t want to parent

as quoted from the article from op:

LIFE & STYLE
When One Nanny Isn't
Enough, CEO Parents' Hire a
Whole Team
One nanny isn't cutting it anymore. Some parents are spending upward of $250,000 on teams for their children. Luxury services offer potty-training, baby chefs and bike-riding lessons.
[…]
As a mother of two, there are certain tasks Christine Landis won't do. She has never clipped her children's toenails—too anxious for that, she said, so the nanny handles it. Most nights, the family assistant takes care of bath time. Landis also hands off what she calls "repetitive play," reading the same book five times or watching her toddler open and close a door for 45 minutes.
To make this possible, Landis, who lives in San Diego, spends roughly $250,000 a year running a household staff that includes a family assistant who lives on the property, a weekend nanny, a personal chef and a housekeeper.
One nanny isn't cutting it anymore. Wealthy working parents like Landis are employing teams of people to handle the work of raising their children, including specialists to potty-train their toddlers, teach their kids to ride a bike, manage school applications and pack their trunks for summer camp. Call it CEO parenting: treating the modern family as a small enterprise and delegating low-joy tasks.

140

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 16/07/2026

Ooh here’s my actual sandwich. It was really freaking delicious

open-faced to show the bright red tomato slice, seasoned with salt and black pepper, atop alfalfa sprouts atop chicken salad atop cheesy whole wheat toast, on the left. on the right of the plate is the companion slice of whole wheat with melted jalapeno monterey cheese

120

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 16/07/2026

Poached chicken breasts this morning, the kid shredded them, et voilà: dinner on a too-hot-to-turn-on-the-stove evening, with bread I baked earlier this week

a bright yellow melamine bowl with chicken salad inside and the mixing fork resting on top. beside the bowl on the light-coloured counter is a small brown cutting board with round slices of a hot house red tomato

171

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 11/07/2026

HOORAY! lol I can’t reply or qt but I’m stoked!! Thank you @clairewillett.bsky.social and @romancingthevote.com 🙏✨

000

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 10/07/2026

Wait wait wait wait wait so you're telling me the ucp government isn't all-in on hand-counting for important tallies... that it depends on what result they want from the vote or question at hand..? Isn't...isn't there a word for that...

from the quoted article, black text on white:

Elections Alberta says it verified the signatures on Lund’s petition using a two-part system. First, staff disqualified signatures that were duplicates or had incomplete information.

Then [pink highlight start] staff used a sample of 384 signatures [pink highlight end] on the list to get a result the agency said met the 95 per cent confidence level set out in the provincial Citizen Initiative Act.

People were contacted via phone, text and email over a three-day period. Staff left a message with a number to call if no one picked up.

050

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 04/07/2026

This wee fella jumped up some other tree limbs before settling in to chomp a snack—while facing my kitchen window, watching me wash dishes like it’s a show 😂😅

A squirrel nestled atop an evergreen branch, staring at the camera.

020

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 29/06/2026

Bread Cult keeps winning, high fibre edition

a sandwich loaf of whole wheat sits on a red cooling rack alongside a dark grey loaf pan. they’re just chilling together. the bread has two little depressed spots on the crust.

closeup of the funny little depressed spot on the crust. it’s a heart shape!

2131

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 25/06/2026

But also! I'm putting up 8 copies of DIE ON YOUR FEET as Buy It Now items during @romancingthevote.com 🀄 So watch out for those to pop up next week, a perfect chance to try (or gift!) an alt-history feminist hard-boiled PI series starter + boost voting rights! ✨Bidding opens JULY 1 / closes JULY 5

A print copy of DIE ON YOUR FEET by SG Wong laying on a patterned pink cloth with mah-jongg tiles, spent bullet casings, poker chips, and 6-sided dice sprinkled around it.

021

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 25/06/2026

I ventured out today! Got to visit with friends over sushi during one of the two sunny days between lots of rain. #SmallJoys #yeg

Some pretty flowers in my friend’s front yard. I think these are russian irises; the blooms are white tipped with purple. I don’t know the small blue and blue-violet flowers though. This little flower patch made me happy so I thought I’d share

1100

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 23/06/2026

Though it's hard to know if the usual biases in publications and publishing will be replicated once again, let alone what I expect will be the store getting pummelled with review requests... let's choose optimism, shall we? #ShareGoodNewsToo

020

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 23/06/2026

1. Celebrities/famous people, I don't wanna hear your dead voice 2. PL, sticking the landing on this piece: 10.0 3. folks, don't buy these "ai" slopbooks in any format 4. self-published author friends, please please please stop using "ai." you are literally devaluing books as a whole

from today's Publishers Lunch:

ElevenLabs Releases Showpiece 'Odyssey' Audio

AI voice company ElevenLabs has released an audiobook of the Odyssey, narrated by an AI version of actor Michael Caine. The audiobook is created with a cloned version of Caine's voice, which he licensed to the company, as well as 20 other AI voices, plus sound effects and music, the NYT reports.

Even with an artificial cast, it took four human producers six weeks to create the 13-hour audiobook. ElevenLabs created the audiobook to "showcase the creative potential of voice clones and A.I. narration," and timed it to coincide with media coverage of the upcoming film adaptation.

"The idea was, What would be an amazing piece of content, to show what’s possible in the responsible use of A.I. voice featuring an iconic voice?" Jack McDermott, who leads growth at ElevenLabs, told the paper. "On the one hand, it’s about great storytelling. At the same time, this has a really great effect of showing creators around the world, and authors, what can be done with ElevenReader."

On the larger question of how audiences will feel about AI narration, Dustin Blank, who oversees ElevenLabs’ talent and strategic partnerships, comments: "Audiences will decide, at the end of the day. It’s up to them. No one’s forcing this in our ears."

The NYT judges it as flat: "Some of the most dramatic and emotional scenes in the story — like the sequence in which Odysseus returns to Ithaca — fall flat. There isn’t a trace of rage in Odysseus’s voice when he warns the suitors who have been wooing his wife, Penelope, in his absence that they’re about to die. And when the terrified suitors respond, they sound more serene than scared."

The Odyssey audiobook uses the 1870s translation of the epic by William Cullen Bryant, which is out of copyright, the NYT reports. It is available for free on the ElevenReader app.

[continued in next]

[continued from previous; final sentence is highlighted in pink]

ElevenLabs primary business is creating synthetic AI voices and text-to-speech audiobooks. They have partnered with Spotify to produce audio for self-published authors, and digital distributor Bookwire. Their Iconic Marketplace allows brands to license famous voices for AI-created content, in partnership with the celebrity or estate. Currently available voices include Dr. Maya Angelou, Judy Garland, David Hasselhoff, Laurence Olivier, and Mr. Potato Head.

5140

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 22/06/2026

The accompanying photo says it all: our premier smiling like a blushing starstruck teen upon meeting the worse US president the world has ever been forced to endure; a trip she took, it's worth noting, using Albertan taxpayer funds

screencap from the beginning of the quoted article in Alberta Views:

Like many Albertans I’ve been struggling to keep pace with the rate at which the UCP has legislated since Danielle Smith took the helm in 2022, often in unconstitutional ways that target minorities and override treaty rights. They have passed legislation, often in the middle of the night, that will leave extraordinary impacts on citizens of the province, alter the nature of our democratic society and could ultimately see Alberta remove itself from Confederation. On four occasions they have invoked the notwithstanding clause to override Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Some people, such as federal justice minister Sean Fraser, have described this approach as a form of “democratic backsliding” designed “to cater to a unique political opportunity that may be a good fundraising email but will potentially violate constitutionally protected rights of vulnerability.”

Similar to our neighbours in the US, Albertans are in our own anti-democratic revolutionary political vortex, in which we’re being pulled into the unknown by a MAGA-adjacent far-right UCP government.

011

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 21/06/2026

Father’s Day shenanigans as per the husby

4 round white dough balls on a floured pan covered by plastic wrap
(by way of the Bread Cult bible of course)

010

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 20/06/2026

Dinner. with oven-fried chicken wings and roasted broccolini. Weird combo but it works somehow

a golden brown loaf of home-baked white sandwich bread on a wooden cutting board, with four slices splayed one atop another. a silver knife lays alongside

250

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 20/06/2026

Skived off writing today to cook I guess… Now about to start oven-fried chicken wings with my house blend of 8 herbs & spices

a big red mixing bowl filled with raw chicken wings; small white bowl holding 6 spices/dried herbs; coarse salt and a wooden pepper mill

130

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 19/06/2026

Tell you what, my carpal tunnel syndrome is immensely grateful for stand mixers and dough hooks

a pale green stickie with handwriting in fuchsia sharpie that reads “dough proofing [smiley]” is on a beige tea towel covering a bowl. blurred in the foreground rests the Bread Cult bible aka 3 Doughs 60 Recipes by Lacey Ostermann, open to Sandwich Bread

4100

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 13/06/2026

Has anyone offered to accept on behalf of Canada yet? I can make myself available. I mean, if you want.

THE MALEFACTORS
June 12,2026
Johnny Marr, Princess Diana, Keir Starmer, Anthony Kiedis, Elton John, Aubrey Drake Gra-ham, Lisa Simpson, Donald Trump, Thom Yorke, Damon Albarn, Taylor Swift, Zendaya, Katy Perry, Jack Black, Machine Gun Kelly, Edward Cullen, Popeye, A very judgemental garden gnome named Clive, Jamie Oliver, Keanu Reeves, Ryan Reynolds, Snoop Dogg, Bruce Springsteen, Willem Dafoe, Brian Cox, MertSteep, Bigfoot, Madonna, Kulie Minogue, Kate Bush, Duran Duran, Noel Gallagher
Canada [circled in orange], Lucio, Nigel Farage, Coldplay, Johnny Marr,
Ronald McDonald, Alex Turner, John Cena, David-Affenborough, Paul Rudd, Stephen King, Cher, Rowan Atkinson, Stevie Nicks, Jeff Goldblum, Gordon Ramsay, Stanley Tucci, Björk, Donna Noble, Mitski, TV Girl, Tame Impala, Alex G, Chris Pratt, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jennifer Coolidge, Tilda Swinton, Peter Hook, Mike Mills, Elon Musk, Justin Bieber, The Blue Album, John Gilman, Steven Patrick Morrissey, Charli XCX, Johnny Marr, Sam Browne, Elijah Wood, Siouxsie Sioux, Sam Altman, J.K. Rowling, Coleen Hoover, David Tennant, The Guardian, C418, Russell T Davies, Stanley Kubrik, Joaquin Phoenix, Ross Geller, Chappell Roan, Miley Cyrus, 50 Cent, Tom MacDonald, Ulfric Stormcloak, Ben Shapiro, Mark Fis-chbach, Joe Talbot, Nicholas Cage, Sam Levinson, Mo Chara, Margaret Thatcher

[photo of a frowny white man aka Morrissey]

NEWS
>>>>
MORRISSEY RELEASES LIST OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE WRONGED HIM ON HIS PERSONAL WEBSITE
The list of nearly 100 names contains the likes of Princess Diana, Johnny Marr and even himself?

040

Sandra, present perfect…ly monstrous @sgwong.com · 11/06/2026

And this is the take in today's Publisher's Lunch. Anyone who wants to argue authors' income is primarily impacted by readers' borrowing from libraries is more likely to be aligned with corporations than authors. The current publishing industry's profits _rely on_ taking advantage of authors.

An Authors Guild Survey Actually Shows A Diverse, Robust Market for Books

An interesting Authors Guild consumer survey sheds light on the true size and richness of demand for books, reminding us that the market may be far larger than what common sales statistics reflect. Unfortunately, the headline—"Only 25 Percent of Readers Paid for a New Copy of a Print Book or Ebook Read in the Previous Month"—positioned the results as suggesting that authors are getting cheated by the many legal ways in which books can be acquired and read, and seemed to criticize people who love their local libraries. ("The study upends a common assumption about library borrowing: the readers most likely to borrow rather than buy are college-educated, employed full-time, and earning over $75,000 a year.... Active library members read 16 percent more books than non-members—but bought 42 percent fewer new ones.) And it judges people at that income level as "not generally those who cannot afford to buy books," carrying all manner of aspersions about those who use libraries as a resource. Plus, it does not properly recognize libraries as large, valued, accounts that pay for the books they share, promote books of all kinds, and evangelize for the value of reading in any form.

While the AG's goal of defending authors' earnings is noble, being surprised at and blaming a healthy, (mostly) legal ecosystem of reading is not: the study "indicates yet another likely cause that surprised us: not as many active readers actually buy the books they read today. Instead, almost two-thirds of readers obtain books for free – whether from friends, personal collections, libraries, pirate sites, or other free sources." At the same time, the study itself says that the biggest, richest authors are actually the ones who get borrowed the most, which weakens the argument that this anti-library positioning is needed to defend the earnings of low-paid authors. ...

[con't in next image]

At the same time, the study itself says that the biggest, richest authors are actually the ones who get borrowed the most, which weakens the argument that this anti-library positioning is needed to defend the earnings of low-paid authors. ("The authors with the highest name recognition—and whose books libraries stock most aggressively—see the greatest substitution of borrowing for buying.")

The survey focused on "regular readers"—people who read at least one book in the last month and four books in the last year, which is only a portion of the marketplace—"where they obtained the books they read or listened to in the prior month." By their count, traditional statistics—which remain near record levels—are accounting for a little over a third of the demand: "Only 36 percent of people who read a book or listened to an audiobook in the last month bought a new book or audiobook (or obtained one through a paid subscription service)."

For print and ebooks, 25 percent of the reads came from purchases and 29 percent came from library borrows (also legitimately purchased). So actually over half of those reads were paid for and yield royalties to the author.

Sixteen percent were borrowed "for free from other sources (including piracy)"—we share books in my household, don't you?—and another 19 percent were from personal collections (which presumably somebody bought). And 10 percent were bought used, which is fully legal, and modest next to the other slices.

For digital audiobooks, 36 percent were purchased new or listened to through paid subscriptions, and 37 percent were borrowed from libraries. So in the fastest growing segment of the market, a full 73 percent of books consumed were paid for.

Also bear in mind that internet-based consumer surveys are notoriously poor at reflecting actual sales and market shares. People don't necessarily report their actual behaviors, and in the past small survey results have never corresponded particularly well with hard data.

Also bear in mind that internet-based consumer surveys are notoriously poor at reflecting actual sales and market shares. People don't necessarily report their actual behaviors, and in the past small survey results have never corresponded particularly well with hard data.

[following conclusion paragraphs are highlighted in pink]

We should be celebrating the broad interest in books and reading, and the many ways in which readers can and do get their fix. The enemy is obscurity or irrelevance—if readers aren't interested or have limited ways to access reading the paid marketplaces will wither--and first and foremost authors want to be read. Any dispute over authors' earnings should be focused on publisher and vendor splits, not stigmatizing eager and regular readers.

Just as there should be no real dispute between libraries and publishers, who are allies in common cause. Patrons who love and rely on their libraries should be making that known to their legislators and asking for more funding for these resourced-starved institutions.

010