(1) VASTER THAN EMPIRES. George Sandison, managing editor for Titan Books, hopes to demystify publishing in his newly-launched a series of newsletter posts. First up, a survey of the industry: “Submissions: steering the iceberg”.

I find myself, these days, in the preposterous position of working in genre fiction. Having been publishing since 2014 as an indie, and heading up a major trade list since 2019, it’s close to second nature in a lot of ways.

But for the vast majority of people outside the industry, publishing is arcane, weird and no doubt seems arbitrary. There is a huge extended community of readers, reviewers, fans and authors fascinated by publishers and their lists, but so few ways for those people to get a sense of how publishers work, and why.

Which is silly.

So I’d like to make some sense of it all. The intent here is that this will be the start of a series of articles which will shine a light on some of the many, many opaque bits of publishing. Because really, none of it is that complicated, at least taken in isolation – doing it all at the same time is the trick, which will likely be a recurring theme across the series…..

…So exactly how big a mountain are we talking about? Fortunately there are a couple of useful numbers to call on to help make sense of it.

The last time anyone was mad enough to try and count how many books are published in the UK each year they came up with a number in the region of 200,000, which averages out to 548 a day. I remember seeing a survey in The Bookseller (link lost to the vagaries of time, with apologies) that it was 250,000 one year.

Now say I’m overseeing a list of 100 publications a year, across all formats, you can begin to see how many publishers – and editors – are involved, to say nothing of self-publishers….

(2) HOW TO CLOSE THE BARN DOOR. Futurism tells what happens after “John Scalzi Discovers That One of His Book Covers Was Created Using AI”.

…Regardless, Scalzi’s handling of the discovery seems like a model for anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation — which, given the Wild West of still-forming norms and practices around AI art, wouldn’t be surprising for anyone in a creative industry.

Their article is based on Scalzi’s Whatever post “A Note on ‘AI’ Art and My Book Covers” from June 21. And here’s what he said:

Well, Goddamnit, it looks like some “AI”-generated art got onto one of my covers, specifically, the cover to the Italian edition of Starter Villain. Some (actual human) artists tracked down the cover art, and (on Adobe’s stock art site, at least), it’s marked as “generated with AI.”

It’s my policy not to accept AI-generated art for final cover art, and I thought I and my team had communicated that widely. When this art was presented to me for approval, I made the assumption that it was done by a human, and approved it. So, this is on me….

… That being the case, here’s what I am doing right now to make sure we don’t have this happen again, and to mitigate some of the damage AI-generated art is doing to the actual humans in the field.

1. I have instructed my agent (who is sending the instruction down the chain), that all book contracts henceforth have to agree that cover art must be created by a human artist. Stock art use is acceptable, but that stock art must be human-created, not AI-generated. We will expect our contractual partners to exercise due diligence to make sure these conditions are met (by, as an example, using only stock art sites that note when art is AI-generated). I’ll note that Tor already has agreed to this. So this is no longer just a policy; it’s a hard contractual point.

2. I have donated to the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists, specifically to their Sponsored Memberships for BIPOC artists, to help emerging artists from marginalized communities receive the benefit of the professional and artistic community that ASFA can provide. They will need it for this new era of artistry….

(3) MESSIANIC PROPHECY. Deadline thinks it’s happening: “’Dune 3′ Release Date Hinted As Denis Villeneuve Movie Is Set For 2026 Holidays”.

Let the speculation begin. The “Untitled Event Film” Warner Bros had dated for December 2026 now is being billed as a “Denis Villeneuve Event Film,” and sources said the studio and Legendary are holding the date with expectations that he wraps up the spectacular trilogy with Dune 3.

Hurdles still have to be cleared as they’re still working on script and locking cast, but it is the project Villenueve has been working on….

…Villeneuve and Legendary are prepping Dune: Messiah, which the filmmaker said in January “should be the last Dune movie for me.” They next will reteam Nuclear War: A Scenario, based on Annie Jacobsen’s nonfiction book that explores a ticking-clock scenario about what would happen in the event of a nuclear war…

(4) NOT QUIET AT THE BOX OFFICE. According to Yahoo! — “Box Office: ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ Scores Franchise-Best $53 Million Debut, Kevin Costner’s ‘Horizon’ Misfires With $11 Million”.

“A Quiet Place: Day One” is making noise at the box office, collecting a roaring $53 million in its domestic opening weekend. The nearly silent thriller added $45.5 million internationally for a global tally of $98.5 million.

Though it landed in second place behind Disney-Pixar’s billion-dollar blockbuster “Inside Out 2,” the ticket sales for “Day One” are especially impressive because spinoff stories usually don’t bring in as much business as direct sequels. Yet “A Quiet Place: Day One” — a prequel in Paramount’s post-apocalyptic horror series — landed the biggest debut in the franchise, exceeding the original 2018 “A Quiet Place,” ($50 million to start) and the 2021 sequel, “A Quiet Place Part II” (a $48 million debut during COVID).

(5) DODGING ROWLING’S ENDORSEMENT. [Item by Mike Kennedy.] JK Rowling: (Regarding the July 4th election in the UK.) The Labour Party supports Trans Rights, so don’t vote for them. I endorse the UK‘s Communist Party instead.

Communist Party of Britain: (Backs away from her slowly.) Uh, no thanks, we’re good!

“U.K. Communist Party Backs Away Slowly After J.K. Rowling Expresses Support” at The Daily Beast.

The Communist Party of Britain affirmed that it supports transgender people’s right to “live equal, full and meaningful lives” after J.K. Rowling, almost as well known at this point for her hatred of trans women as for penning the mega-popular Harry Potter series, expressed tacit support for its candidates. On Saturday, Rowling encouraged her social media followers to vote Communist, a move made in response to the anti-trans feminist group For Women Scotland tweeting that a party spokesperson had told them it stood “in support of [recognizing] the nature of biological sex.” A day later, a statement was released on the party’s official X account clarifying the matter. “For avoidance of doubt, the Communist Party supports the right of trans people to medically transition, to have access to healthcare and live equal, full and meaningful lives, socially, economically and politically,” it said. “We believe that such liberation will only be possible under socialism.” Rowling’s blessing, likely now to be rescinded, came after she published an op-ed in The Times of London on Friday disavowing the Labour Party over its support for trans rights….

(6) GRAPHIC NOVEL RECOMMENDATIONS. The New York Times’ Sam Thielman reviews The Complete Web of Horror edited by Dana Marie Andra; The Ribbon Queen by Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows; All My Bicycles, by Powerpaola; and Very Bushwack, by Sig Burwash. “Book Review: Best Graphic Novels in June – The New York Times (nytimes.com) (Link is to unlocked article.)

 (7) SFF ZINE LAUNCHES TOMORROW. The WYRMHOLE is coming July 1.

hey have you ever wondered: "what does a terminally-online SFF magazine look like, and how horrible can it get?" Well, LOOK NO FURTHER

we talk craft. stories. Hole jokes. recs. TikTok. memes. the internet at its worst. SOFT LAUNCH TMRW https://t.co/Y1n6z7Nwfl

— Carolyn Zhao (@carolynwtzhao) June 30, 2024

(8) AMAZING’S BEST. “Amazing Stories Releases THE BEST OF 2023!”. Edited by Lloyd Penney, The Best of 2023 features 29 science fiction short stories, published throughout 2023 on the Amazing Stories website, featuring a collaborative cover from Ron Miller and Tom Miller.

Stories by Paul Saka; Heather N. Santo; Royce Badgers; David Ian; David Hewitt; David Hankins; Adam Breckenridge; Nerine Dorman; Victor Jimenez; Gene Turchin; Adrian Tchaikovsky; Jack McKenzie; David Newkirk; John Andrew Karr; James Mapes; Alex Graham-Heggie; Leonid Korogodski; Dave Creek; John Taloni; Norman Spinrad; Lisa Fox; Andrew Hiller; Chaz Osburn; Ray Daley; Michael Carabott; Pete Carter; C.J. Peterson; Jenna Hanchey; Jeff Hewitt.

(9) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY.

[Written by Cat Eldridge.]

June 30, 1959 — Vincent D’onofrio, 65. You no doubt know Vincent D’onofrio as Edgar the Bug in Men in Black which I’ll talk about about shortly, but let me first discuss what I think is his greatest role which was his decade-long performance as New York City Police Detective Robert Goren in Law & Order: Criminal Intent. 

Of course it’s not genre but it’s rare that we get to see an actor in a primary role that long. Goren is an incredibly intense, extremely intelligent though opponents often thought he wasn’t and physically imposing man, but is could be very unpredictable and sometimes volatile and even angry. 

Like Holmes, his methods were unusual and he admitted that “I am an acquired taste”. Eames, his female partner, often explained him to individuals who were puzzled and offended by him.

If you’ve not seen Men in Black, you really should and I’m assuming you have, otherwise, go away. You can come back later. He played Edgar / The Bug, Edgar being a farmer who is killed and eaten by a giant alien insect. An Effing Big Bug. From here out, it’s his voice and his body language that is what carries being under the Rick Baker designed face and full body suit. Now there’s a great interview with him and director Barty Sonnefiejd here that you should read: “Vincent D’Onofrio’s Men in Black: A Sugar-Water Oral History” at Vulture.

I singled out these two roles above all the roles he’s had because they demonstrate his most extraordinary skills — the first being the use of his voice to convey a character in a way I believe that is truly rare among performers, and second, the sheer physicality that he bring to a role. 

I know the Rick Baker suit added to his bulk but his acting ability made the character even more present, more menacing that just the alieniness created by the suit and the sheer nastiness of his head of it grew more corrupt, more decayed. A truly brilliant performance. 

Feel free to mention other roles that I didn’t note. 

(10) COMICS SECTION.

• Alley Oop tangles genres.
• Eek! finds the lowest bidder.
• Frank and Ernest have trouble with a self-driving car.
• FurBabies enjoys a relabeling success.
• JumpStart knows the algorithm is ahead of us.
• Pearls Before Swine cleans up its vocabulary.
• Reality Check is about a solar-powered game board. Sort of.
• Speedbump has a New Math punchline.
• Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal’s twist ending won’t surprise fans.

Tom Gauld foresees the publishing apocalypse.

Beware of the book festivals!
(My latest @GuardianBooks cartoon) pic.twitter.com/Jv4A0Hyer0

— Tom Gauld (@tomgauld) June 29, 2024

(11) “JOHN WICK MEETS LOOPER”. “Ryan Coogler Mattson Tomlin Team for A Vicious Circle at Universal” learned The Hollywood Reporter.

Universal Pictures has landed the rights to A Vicious Circle, a Boom! Studios graphic novel series created by Terminator Zero showrunner Mattson Tomlin and artist Lee Bermejo.

Tomlin will write the screenplay adapting his own work while Ryan Coogler, the filmmaker behind the Black Panther movies, will produce via his Proximity Media banner.

Also producing are Proximity’s Sev Ohanian and Zinzi Coogler, along with Boom!’s president of development Stephen Christy.

Circle is a two-hander action thriller about assassins from the future hunting each other through time. “John Wick meets Looper” is how it is being described.

(12) SHREK 5. Courtesy of Yahoo! – “Eddie Murphy gives fans ‘Shrek 5’ update, reveals Donkey is ‘gonna have his own movie’ next”.

Eddie Murphy is returning to the fairytale-fueled world of “Shrek.”

In an interview with Collider published Monday, Murphy opened up about voice acting as “Donkey” in the franchise’s next film. “We started doing ‘Shrek’ four or five months ago,” Murphy told Collider, while promoting his latest “Beverly Hills Cop” installment, “I recorded the first act, and we’ll be doing it this year, we’ll finish it up.”

“Another ‘Shrek’is coming out, and Donkey’s gonna have his own (spin-off) movie,” Murphy said, adding later that he thinks “Shrek 5” will be released sometime in 2025….

(13) CHEEK TO CHEEK. “Scientists in Japan Give Robots a Fleshy Face and a Smile” according to Yahoo!

Engineers in Japan are trying to get robots to imitate that particularly human expression — the smile.

They have created a face mask from human skin cells and attached it to robots with a novel technique that conceals the binding and is flexible enough to turn down into a grimace or up into a squishy smile.

The effect is something between Hannibal Lecter’s terrifying mask and the Claymation figure Gumby.

But scientists say the prototypes pave the way for more sophisticated robots, with an outward layer both elastic and durable enough to protect the machine while making it appear more human.

Beyond expressiveness, the “skin equivalent,” as the researchers call it, which is made from living skin cells in a lab, can scar and burn and also self-heal, according to a study published June 25 in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science…

…Scientists, including Takeuchi and his colleagues at the University of Tokyo, have been working with lab-made human skin for years.

In 2022, the research team developed a robotic finger covered in living skin, allowing the machine’s digit to bend like a human finger, giving it the tactility to potentially perform more precise tasks.

Takeuchi’s team had tried anchoring the skin with mini-hooks, but those caused tears as the robot moved. So the team decided to mimic ligaments, the tiny ropes of loose tissue that connect bones….

(14) VIDEO OF THE DAY. “90s Time Traveler Discovers Taylor Swift” — Ryan George tell how it happened.

[Thanks to Andrew Porter, John King Tarpinian, Chris Barkley, Lloyd Penney, Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Steven French, Teddy Harvia, Kathy Sullivan, and Mike Kennedy for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Steve Wright.]