Today’s Book News Wednesday, 24th December 2025
Here’s today’s news summary from the global English‑language publishing industry. The day’s headlines were dominated by copyright lawsuits against artificial‑intelligence companies, distribution upheaval and new sports‑agency ventures in the United States, while elsewhere the festive book charts were topped by Charlie Mackesy and a beloved queer bookstore announced its closure.
A Publishers Weekly review of 2025 said the U.S. administration targeted cultural agencies while libraries and comics publishers reeled from Baker & Taylor’s closure and Diamond Comic Distributors’ bankruptcy. Publishers scrambled to find new distribution partners as wholesalers collapsed, with some switching to Ingram or negotiating deals with multiple regional distributors. The article notes that distribution costs rose and smaller presses faced delays and uncertainty amid consolidation.
Six authors, including investigative journalist John Carreyrou, filed individual copyright suits against Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Meta, xAI and Perplexity. They allege the companies used pirated copies of their books to train language models without permission and opted out of a proposed settlement with Anthropic, instead seeking statutory damages of up to $150,000 per title from each defendant. The authors argue that the tech firms treated their books as “gold‑standard” training data worth hundreds of billions of dollars and that existing settlements are inadequate.
Former Triumph Books executive Bill Ames launched Ames Sports Literary & Publicity Agency to represent sportswriters, athletes and broadcasters. Drawing on nearly two decades at Triumph, where he managed hundreds of book tours and acquisitions, Ames said he sees a gap in sports representation and wants to provide both branding and literary services for clients. He plans to pursue regional sports titles, describe his agency as an intersection of sports marketing and publishing and expand opportunities for authors and athletes.
The Textbook & Academic Authors Association asked a federal court to intervene in the proposed Anthropic class‑action settlement. It claims that emails from Sage Publishing advised authors to list their books under the “publisher” section on claim forms, potentially boosting the publisher’s share of any settlement at authors’ expense. The association wants the court to require a corrective notice so that authors are not misled when submitting claims.
Barnes & Noble Education filed a corrected Form 10‑K for fiscal 2025 after an internal investigation found unsupported manual journal entries. The company restated its financial results and said it expects to file its outstanding quarterly reports within four to five weeks. The review concluded that the irregular entries did not materially impact cash flows but required management remediation and delay in reporting.
New York Times bestseller lists for December featured several lesser‑known and debut authors. Titles such as *The Correspondent* by Virginia Evans and fan‑fiction adaptation *Alchemised* by SenLinYu attracted unexpectedly broad readership and sustained sales. A BookScan analyst noted that these books demonstrate how debut fiction can break out beyond typical fan communities and become mainstream hits.
Independent publisher Microcosm Publishing announced plans to distribute titles from small presses Nine Ten Publications, Generous Press and Bobby Dazzler. The new partnerships expand Microcosm’s distribution portfolio and will bring additional independent works into its sales channels. Details on specific forthcoming titles were not disclosed.
Publishers Marketplace’s “The Edit” column collated early 2026 “most anticipated” lists from outlets including Time Magazine, Publishers Weekly, Oprah Daily, People and Debutiful. The lists highlight forthcoming books by authors such as Colson Whitehead, Colleen Hoover and LeBron James, setting expectations for next year’s publishing calendar. The column notes that these previews help shape reader awareness and buzz months ahead of release.
The Bookseller reported that illustrator and author Charlie Mackesy achieved the Christmas number one spot in the UK book charts. His book dominated sales in the final shopping week of the year, beating other popular titles. Specific sales figures were not provided in the preview but the piece emphasised Mackesy’s broad seasonal appeal.
The Guardian said Charlie Mackesy’s illustrated fable sold around 43,825 copies in the week to 20 December, roughly one copy every 14 seconds, giving him his first UK Christmas number one. Since its October release the book has sold about 365,000 copies, and the week’s top ten also included Richard Osman’s *The Impossible Fortune*, *Guinness World Records 2026*, *The 1% Club Official Quiz Book* and others. Overall UK print book sales for the week were worth about £85.1 million.
Australia’s Bookshop Darlinghurst, a queer bookstore in Sydney’s Darlinghurst district, will close on Christmas Eve. Long‑time bookseller Noel Lee said the shop has been a haven for LGBTQI customers and a hub for book recommendations and support since the early 1980s. The closure follows financial pressure after delays in moving to a new retail development and has prompted an outpouring of grief from patrons who credit the store with sustaining community through decades of change.
In a festive roundtable, contributors to The Scholarly Kitchen shared their wishes for the scholarly publishing community. Roohi Ghosh asked for a system that assumes good intent and provides guidance, supported by unified research dashboards that would allow collaboration and better metadata. Roy Kaufman called for consistent, high‑quality metadata; Randy Townsend highlighted the need to resolve the peer‑review crisis; Tim Vines advocated for submission fees to cover triaging costs as AI‑generated submissions grow; and Hong Zhou proposed a credible leaderboard of AI tools and dedicated spaces for transparent AI‑assisted research.
The Alliance of Independent Authors’ news summary noted that generative AI tools became mainstream in 2025, with systems like Sora widely adopted. Companies responded differently to AI controversies, with Amazon accused of opacity and Spotify praised for transparency about new features. The post also discussed the Anthropic class action and potential $1.5 billion settlement (about $3,000 per book), emphasising that only titles registered with the US Copyright Office are eligible and that the case centres on the use of pirated copies rather than fair‑use defences.
The New Publishing Standard highlighted the Visakha Book Festival as proof that publishing opportunities run year‑round in India. Rising literacy and incomes mean festivals across district centres can attract large audiences, offering rights managers and distributors valuable access to readers. The piece urges publishers to view festivals as continuous opportunities rather than seasonal events tied to the holidays.
The 42nd Istanbul Book Fair welcomed more than 510,000 visitors and over 900 publishers. Visitors used online discounts as benchmarks, prompting publishers to match digital prices and intensifying competition. Rights exports were boosted by the Turkish Literature Abroad program, which facilitated both face‑to‑face and virtual meetings with 55 foreign publishers, demonstrating that digital disruption is reshaping but not diminishing Turkey’s book market.
Oman’s Bait AlGhasham DarArab Translation Prize announced its 2026 shortlists after receiving a record 390 submissions. The award offers a total of $95,000 across categories for translators, authors and Omani publications and aims to support Arabic‑to‑English translation. Shortlisted titles include translations of *Angel of the South* and *Cairo Maquette*, and winners will be revealed at the Muscat International Book Fair.
The New Publishing Standard reported that the Icelandic Publishers Association announced the 2025 Literature Prize shortlists amid rising domestic fiction sales and record‑low cinema attendance. Details about individual nominees were not available due to a technical issue, but the article noted that Icelanders are buying more local fiction even as other entertainment formats struggle. The association sees the surge as a sign of renewed engagement with literature.
