Kathleen Schmidt

Amazon cuts more jobs, this time in books division Amazon has cut jobs in its books division, including at its Goodreads review site and Kindle units, the company said on Thursday.

I think they need MORE employees at Goodreads, not fewer. That site is a hot mess. www.cnbc.com/2025/06/06/a...

Likewise Gets New Owners, Targets Book Discovery Market Entertainment discovery platform Likewise has been acquired by Watchlist Inc, with Josh Epstein, formerly chief business officer at Likewise, named CEO. The company has several book promotion e-newsle...

Call me crazy, but I don't think it's smart not to have a publishing person on their board. www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Ben McKenzie on His Crypto Doc ‘Everyone Is Lying to You for Money’: A “Human Story About Trust” The TV star discusses his feature directorial debut world premiering at SXSW London, its timeliness in the age of Trump and tech bros, "lightly roasting" fellow celebs, and his hopes for overcoming di...

This is a good interview. I'm interested in the doc. www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/dig...

Marc Maron to End Groundbreaking ‘WTF’ Podcast After 16 Years Marc Maron announces he and producer Brendan McDonald will end the groundbreaking 'WTF' podcast this fall after 16 years and 1,600+ episodes.

End of an era. variety.com/2025/digital...

Business Insider recommended nonexistent books to staff as it leans into AI Some titles on the list included books with extremely garbled titles and fake authors.

Here we go again.

www.semafor.com/article/06/0...

Very close. I needed more backstory on Kiki + her husband. He seemed to be the common factor in getting rid of women.

I didn’t dislike Sirens, but I’m also not sure what it’s actually about. Sisters? Rich vs Poor? Wealthy people’s summer homes? Josè was really the star of the show.

Business Insider Lays Off 21% of Staff "There’s a huge opportunity for companies who harness AI first," CEO Barbara Peng says in a memo to staff.

They are "fully embracing AI." Yikes. www.thewrap.com/business-ins...

Rhode to be acquired by Elf Beauty for $1 billion In the industry’s biggest deal in years, the beauty brand founded by Hailey Bieber has been acquired by Elf.

Holy cow. www.voguebusiness.com/story/beauty...

Readers Annoyed When Fantasy Novel Accidentally Leaves AI Prompt in Published Version, Showing Request to Copy Another Writer's Style A scammer left glaringly obvious evidence of using AI to write portions of a fantasy novel and even tried to copy the style of a real author.

Come ON. futurism.com/fantasy-nove...

I feel seen. And I have been saying this to people over and over. There is an unwillingness to listen.

Journalists Attest to Experiences of Sexual Misconduct with Wesley Lowery Lowery rose to prominence as a reporter and media thinker. Women in the industry say he engaged in sexual harassment and assault.

Quite a read. www.cjr.org/feature-2/we...

I also thought this!

A lil tidbit from the summer reading AI culprit in an interview w WashPost.

Molly, go to sleep!

How an AI-generated summer reading list got published in major newspapers Newspapers around the country, including the Chicago Sun-Times and at least one edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer, published a syndicated book list featuring made-up books by famous authors.

So basically the guy who created it for King Features used AI, packaged the content, and sold it as his own work. AI-generated summer reading list gets published in major newspapers

www.npr.org/2025/05/20/n...

Exactly.

The Curious Case of the AI-Generated Summer Reading Roundup It's maddening, demoralizing, and all too real.

I wrote about the AI-generated Summer Reading list. open.substack.com/pub/kathleen...

So, it wasn't just the Chicago Sun-Times. The Philadelphia Inquirer ran the same AI-generated summer reading list, per Publishers Lunch. This is so demoralizing.

That is the most depressing stat to read as a book publicist.

If the Chicago Sun-Times is going to use ChatGPT to come up with fake summer reading titles, but real authors, it is 100% doing a disservice to its readers and the authors. Like, who the hell made that decision?

This is so fucking depresssing.

OMG.

I can't find it online, either. They don't have a book review editor--they mostly pick up coverage from the AP and USA Today, so I am not sure this is real.

Bill Belichick Was Always in Control. Then He Met His Gen Z Girlfriend.

My friend Katie Rosman did great reporting here. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/20/s...

I've worked with the folks at CBS News a lot over the years, and they are by far the best in the business. It is terrible what is happening.

Wendy McMahon Resigns as Head of CBS News: “Company and I Do Not Agree on the Path Forward” She follows ‘60 Minutes’ producer Bill Owens out the door.

What a mess over there. www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...

Do We Need Celebrity-Branded Books? And other publishing stories that caught my attention

A little bit of everything in this week's newsletter. open.substack.com/pub/kathleen...

I am watching a lecture about Medieval Welsh and Tolkien for my grad school linguistics class + it's making me want to poke my eyes out.

I hope so. I thought we were done after the Tatum injury.