The Future Of Publishing Blog by Thad McIlroy
April 7th, 2024
The storm clouds surrounding artificial intelligence, both as a technology and as an industry, continue to darken, and I can now imagine a scenario where the AI industry implodes. What the implosion could look like is difficult to visualize. But there would be significant implications for the publishing industry. AI’s champions still have much to…
March 23rd, 2024
Despite widespread AI use, few publishers have publicly defined their AI policies. The extent of the problem loomed in my lunch conversation today with publishing industry veteran William Gunn. Of course we talked about AI and book publishing. William has been working in and around AI for several years, most recently with SciSpace, a startup…
September 24th, 2023
I just checked my calendar: it was Friday, April 28 when Peter Brantley and I met for lunch at the quirky Café Macaroni in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood. I had only met Peter face-to-face for the first time at last fall’s PageBreak conference. I was struck then by just how damn smart he is,…
July 26th, 2023
Yesterday Lagardère Publishing released its six-month financial data. Sales declined at Hachette Book Group by 8.6%. In its earnings release the company said that “operational efficiency plans, particularly in the United States,” mitigated some of the impact of revenue declines. In May, HarperCollins reported flat sales and profits declines, “driven by ongoing supply chain, inventory…
June 9th, 2023
Last Monday Publishers Weekly issued my article “A Manifesto, of Sorts” about AI and book publishing (titled “AI Is About to Turn Book Publishing Upside-Down” in the online version). The article has been popular, even earning some buzz on LinkedIn and Twitter (in fact, more than I’ve ever had). I’ve been doing this for a…