Monday 26 October 2026. 15 stories from across the book trade, about 6 minutes to read. Every link is free to read.
The short version
Market Developments: Gallimard will run every manuscript it receives through an AI detector from January 2027
Deals & Acquisitions: Glenn Rollans becomes majority owner and CEO of Canada's Broadview Press
People News: Ryû Murakami, author of Almost Transparent Blue and In the Miso Soup, has died at 74
Events: Bernardine Evaristo and Holly Jackson are the London Book Fair's 2027 Authors of the Fair
Industry Buzz: Society of Authors pulls out of an ethical-AI charter a week after helping launch it
The lead
Gallimard will run every manuscript it receives through an AI detector from January 2027
In an email to the publishers of his group, Antoine Gallimard said that from January every manuscript submitted to the Madrigall houses, which include Gallimard, Flammarion, Denoël, P.O.L, Minuit and Casterman, will be checked with AI-detection software. He did not name the tool or say what happens when a text is flagged. The move follows the Thélyson Orélien affair, and comes after a Prix Interallié juror claimed tests found AI in 40% of the pages of Lilia Hassaine's Je, published by Gallimard in August, a claim the author disputes, reports Nicolas Gary for ActuaLitté.
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Market Developments
Australia is considering a copyright exception that would let AI companies train on any author's work on Australian soil without permission or payment, unless the author opts out. The US Authors Guild says the change would let companies train in Australia and deploy in the US, undercutting American lawsuits, and is asking writers worldwide to sign a public statement against it, reports Jim Milliot for Publishers Weekly.
French MPs file budget amendments to tax publishers, distributors and online platforms to fund bookshops
La France insoumise deputy Sarah Legrain wants an annual levy on the turnover of companies that publish, distribute or sell books online, plus a tax on pulped books, to support independent bookshops and publishers in the 2027 budget. Two other amendments, drafted with the Centre national du livre, would tax only marketplace sales of new and used books, at 3.75% or 2.25%. The CNL expects another deficit in 2027 after a €5.3 million shortfall this year, reports Antoine Oury for ActuaLitté.
Read at ActuaLitté (France)
Paris bookseller Gibert gets more time in receivership as its forecasts are questioned
A court hearing on Gibert's receivership set for 26 October has been pushed back to 7 December, after the court-appointed administrators judged management's financial projections unreliable and a new firm is to be brought in to review them. Staff representatives say the delay prolongs the uncertainty for employees, reports Antoine Oury for ActuaLitté.
Read at ActuaLitté (France)
Georgia will replace competing school textbooks with a single state-written book per subject
Under a law passed in June, Georgia's education ministry will write one textbook per subject and grade for all public and private schools by September 2028, ending the choice between approved titles from private publishers. The International Publishers Association calls it a severe restriction on the freedom to publish, and the Georgian Publishers and Booksellers Association warns of lost jobs and expertise, reports Victor De Sepausy for ActuaLitté.
Read at ActuaLitté (France)
The Kindle app for Android now supports handwritten notes with a stylus
Amazon has added handwriting and stylus support to the Kindle app on Android phones and tablets, including Galaxy Tab and Onyx Boox devices, with text flowing around notes as on the Kindle Scribe. The feature has not yet reached the iPad or iPhone, reports Michael Kozlowski for Good e-Reader.
Read at Good e-Reader (Canada)
Deals & Acquisitions
Glenn Rollans becomes majority owner and CEO of Canada's Broadview Press
Rollans, who co-owns Brush Education and owns Freehand Books, has taken an 85% stake in the Peterborough, Ontario, academic publisher in a deal that closed on 29 September. Broadview publishes more than 30 titles a year, has a backlist of over 900 and earns about $5 million in revenue, more than half from exports. President Stephen Latta and the management team stay, and founder Don LePan remains on the board, reports Ed Nawotka for Publishers Weekly.
People News
The Japanese novelist died on 17 October, his publisher Gentosha announced. His 1976 debut, Almost Transparent Blue, won the Akutagawa Prize and sold about 3.5 million copies, and books such as Coin Locker Babies and In the Miso Soup made him one of the most translated Japanese writers of his generation, reports Hocine Bouhadjera for ActuaLitté.
Read at ActuaLitté (France)
Colleen Hoover's Heartbones studio moves beyond her own books after Verity's $122 million
Hoover and producer Lauren Levine founded Heartbones Entertainment in 2023 and have since made Regretting You, Reminders of Him and Verity, which has taken more than $122 million worldwide. A series based on Without Merit is in development, and the studio will also produce Ali Hazelwood's Love, Theoretically with Amazon MGM, reports Kerensa Cadenas for Publishers Weekly.
Events
Bernardine Evaristo and Holly Jackson are the London Book Fair's 2027 Authors of the Fair
Rachel Bright and Jim Field are the Children's Creatives of the Fair, and Japanese author Uketsu is the Market Focus author as the fair revives its market focus programme with Japan. The fair runs from 16 to 18 March 2027 at ExCeL London, with registration opening in November, reports Ed Nawotka for Publishers Weekly.
Prix Femina names 15 finalists, with winners due on 4 November
The jury has picked five French novels, five foreign novels and five essays, with names including Yannick Haenel, Laura Kasischke, Katie Kitamura, Paul Murray, Judith Lyon-Caen and Jennifer Tamas. The three prizes will be announced at a new venue, the Maison Dior in Paris, which the jury says provides no funding, reports Hocine Bouhadjera for ActuaLitté.
Read at ActuaLitté (France)
Atwood, Zadie Smith, McEwan and Lee Child auction character names for Freedom from Torture
Bidders can buy the right to have their name given to a character in a forthcoming novel by Margaret Atwood, Zadie Smith, Ian McEwan, Lee Child or Tracy Chevalier. Online bidding runs from 28 October to 11 November, the day of the charity's Worlds into Words evening at the London Library, reports Clément Solym for ActuaLitté.
Read at ActuaLitté (France)
Industry Buzz
The UK authors' body withdrew on 21 October from the Charter of Ethical AI Use in the Creative Industries, launched on 14 October with the Creators' Rights Alliance and the Authors Guild, after members objected that it accepted generative AI use. Chief executive Anna Ganley had argued it would force publishers to be transparent, and the matter goes to the AGM on 19 November, reports Clément Solym for ActuaLitté.
Read at ActuaLitté (France)
The children's laureates of Ireland and Wales will give royalties to Sally Rooney
Rooney stopped selling her books in the UK after saying she would use the proceeds to support the proscribed group Palestine Action. Ireland's Chris Haughton and Wales's Nicola Davies say they will send her royalties from their own books in solidarity, with Davies giving her earnings from The Day War Came, reports Haroon Siddique for The Guardian.
Read at The Guardian (UK)
Florida school board members must testify on why they removed 126 books, appeals court rules
The 11th Circuit ruled 2-1 on 19 October that Escambia County board members cannot claim legislative privilege to avoid questioning about their votes to pull books from school libraries. It is a win for PEN America, Penguin Random House and the authors and families who sued in 2023, reports Nicolas Gary for ActuaLitté.
Read at ActuaLitté (France)