The dark lesson of a $24 million Amazon book

This is what happens when algorithms call the shots. I can still recall my surprise when a book by evolutionary biologist Peter Lawrence entitled The Making of a Fly came to be priced on Amazon at $23,698,655.93 (plus $3.99 shipping). While my colleagues around the world must have become rather depressed that an academic book could achieve such a feat, the steep price was actually the result of algorithms feeding off each other and spiraling out of control. It turns out, it wasn’t just sales staff being creative: Algorithms were calling the shots.Read Full Story Continue reading at 'Fast Company'

[ Fast Company | 2019-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #academic book #steep price #sales staff

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Bologna Children’s Book Fair Honors “Best Publishers” with New Prizes

To mark its 50th anniversary the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, will award six new prizes for publishers at the "forefront of innovation" and "creative editorial choices." Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lance Armstrong faces lawsuit over book

Lance Armstrong's memoir, "It's Not About The Bike" is the focus of a class-action lawsuit filed this week in California on behalf of unhappy readers.For years, Lance Armstrong denied he had used performance-enhancing drugs to win seven Tours de France. There had been accusations; he'd even been... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon launches Kindle in Canada

Amazon today (24th January) launches its Kindle range in Canada, the e-reading heartland of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book sales down 6% at WHS

Book sales at WH Smith have dropped 6% like-for-like across the high street and travel divisions... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book sales slump as temperatures tumble

Sales of printed books plummeted with the mercury last week, with data from book sales monitors... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Spar installs Amazon collection lockers

Spar has installed Amazon collection lockers into nine of its convenience stores to make them... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon quietly introduces Kindle rentals for US readers, bases prices on duration

Think you can finish a 168-page novel in a month? It might pay to opt for Amazon's new Kindle rental feature, now available on an incredibly limited number of titles. A few options published by Princeton University Press appear to represent the site's introductory offering. The 5 Elements of... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Is Online Book Discovery Broken? Here’s How to Fix It

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Touching the Bases at Digital Book World

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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3 Key Ideas from Digital Book World 2013

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PublishNews Brazil: Amazon Opens Kiosks to Sell Kindles in Brazil

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Frankfurt Book Fair names Costa as Brazil partner

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[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Predecessor To Google Books, Facebook Graph Search, And Rewind.me--In The Early 1900s

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[ Fast Company | 2013-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An unexpected discovery yields a charming children's book

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[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children still prefer reading physical books, finds Scholastic

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[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dan Brown to release new book in May

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[ BBC News | 2013-01-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rewrite for National Book Awards

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[ Crains New York | 2013-01-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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National Book Critics Circle Awards Shortlist Includes Just One Translation

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-01-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ PC World | 2013-01-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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