The Guardian view on Amazon v Hachette: reading and writing | Editorial

Can a one-size-fits-all, low-price, consumer-dominated sales model support a diverse, innovative, challenging literary output?It is either an existential threat to intellectual freedom or a rustbelt media industry meeting its comeuppance at the hands of disruptive technology. The battle between the multibillion-dollar publisher Hachette (and now the Scandinavian publisher Bonnier) and the even more multibillion-dollar Amazon is usually discussed in high-minded tones, particularly by publishers and their authors. But at heart, it is merely another collision between producers and consumers that has a particular significance only if you ascribe a value to books as cultural artefacts. It is perfectly possible, instead of Hachette and Amazon, and the 900 writers who took out a two-page ad in the New York Times to protest, to substitute supermarkets, dairy farmers and the price of milk.Although books account for only 7% of the sales of the Everything store, Amazon sells a lot of them. In particular it has 60% of the ebook market. It believes a flat-rate sales price for new books and bestsellers delivers higher sales and bigger profits. Hachette disagrees. Amazon is forcing the issue by disadvantaging Hachette books (no buy button, no discounts and so on). Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #two-page ad #ebook market #buy button

Other Publishing stories related to: 'The Guardian view on Amazon v Hachette: reading and writing | Editorial'

Oh, Queer Canada: A Reading List for Americans in Search of LGBTQ Canadian History

When I was a child, my grandfather was embroiled in a quiet, and possibly entirely one-sided, feud with his next-door neighbor. Every summer I would visit my grandparents for a week, and follow Grandpa on his morning walks through the woodlot, along a path that skirted the neighbor’s field. Each... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-10 08:54:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #reading list

‘The crime writer crime writers read’: Garry Disher, author of 60 books and finding fame in his 70s

The Australian author is ‘incredibly influential’, but has had to survive decades of ‘cultural cringe’ and genre snobbery to make finally ‘a decent sort of living’Before parched and dusty towns across Australia became full of fictional sinister people; before the explosion of outback noir and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-04-05 23:00:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #writing workshops #bestseller lists #australian author

Crystal Hana Kim on Writing as a Mother, the Korean Diaspora, and How to Structure a Page-Turner

I first met Crystal Hana Kim at Women and Children First Bookstore in Chicago in 2017 for a book event, just after she just won the 2017 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. She greeted me with warm enthusiasm and we spoke about Korean history. Her debut novel, If You Leave... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-02 08:54:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book event #emerging writers #bookstore

Why you should read some Samuel Delany today (and every day).

Today Samuel Delany–inventor/expander of several galaxies–turns 82. And I for one would like to throw some birthday love towards this greatest of octogenarians. Known for his high-concept science fiction and his sharp theories on social contact, Delany’s canon spans genres and generations. I... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-01 17:53:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #science fiction

17 New Books to Read in April: Salman Rushdie, Emily Henry and More

New novels from Emily Henry, Jo Piazza and Rachel Khong; a history of five ballerinas at the Dance Theater of Harlem; Salman Rushdie’s memoir and more. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-03-28 20:59:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #salman rushdie #emily henry #memoir

The Books Women’s Rights Activists Recommend Your Children Read

A reading list about inspiring figures, empowerment and intersectional stories to help kids navigate the world. Continue reading at HuffPost

[ HuffPost | 2024-03-27 09:45:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #children read #reading list

Jenny Odell on Reading the Rocks

Emergence Magazine is an online publication with annual print edition exploring the threads connecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. As we experience the desecration of our lands and waters, the extinguishing of species, and a loss of sacred connection to the Earth, we look to emerging... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-03-27 08:36:11 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #emerging stories #jenny odell #emergence magazine #online publication #sacred connection #narrated essays #print edition

At Leipzig Book Fair: Young Germans’ Engagement With Books and Reading

Results of a new study presented at Leipzig Book Fair show young Germans reading more but later, buying fewer books but at higher prices. The post At Leipzig Book Fair: Young Germans’ Engagement With Books and Reading appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-03-25 20:27:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #reading appeared #higher prices #book fair

Mat Osman: ‘I wanted to write about a dirty, dangerous, working-class London’

The Suede bassist and author on writing without a safety net, terrifying himself for his next novel and which of the Thursday Murder Club books – by his brother Richard – he likes bestMat Osman is, along with Brett Anderson, a founding and current member of the band Suede, and the author of two... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-03-23 18:00:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #safety net #widely praised #older brother #tv presenter #first novel

The Kindle Paperwhite Signature is $30 off for Prime members during the Amazon Big Spring Sale

Amazon's Big Spring Sale has brought a $30 discount to the company's upgraded e-reader, the Kindle Paperwhite Signature. It's down to $160 instead of the $190 list price for Prime members. That's not an all-time low (we saw it drop to $125 for Prime Day last July) but still a decent discount on... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2024-03-20 16:30:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #8-inch screen #spring sales #expert editors #car experts #kindle

The best early Amazon Big Spring Sale deals you can shop today

There's another jumbo-sized Amazon sale on the way. The Big Spring Sale, as it's called, will run from March 20 to March 25 and include a variety of discounts on "seasonally relevant items." This doesn't look to be another Prime Day situation, however; Amazon says most of the offers will be... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2024-03-15 16:15:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #landing page #ve rounded #days ago #coming days #kindle

Titles to Be Restored After Bookwire, Amazon Strike New Deal

In a March 13 statement, Bookwire officials said that, while they were unable to share terms of the new agreement, "relisting of the e-book titles" on Amazon, following their delisting earlier this week during tense negotiations, "is expected shortly." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-03-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #e-book

How 19 years of Amazon Prime has satisfied our need for speed

Just as Engadget was hitting publish on its first posts, I was putting a freshly minted English degree to use working at an indie bookshop in Los Angeles. In seemingly unrelated news, Amazon had just reported its first profitable year after switching from selling books to selling “everything”... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2024-03-08 14:15:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #market data #20th anniversary #good book #bookstore #bookshop

Leslie Jamison Writes A Different Kind of Love Story In “Splinters”

Leslie Jamison’s new memoir Splinters follows the aftermath of divorce and the awakening of motherhood, but it explores desire more than it does any kind of death. Jamison wants to make meaning, to connect, to love, to feel, to mother, to write, and to revise her life endlessly. There are losses... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-03-08 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #leslie jamison #love story #electric literature #memoir