Fantasy author accuses the online giant of using its market dominance ‘to control what we write and what we read’The grande dame of fantasy Ursula K Le Guin has weighed in forcefully to the debate about Amazon’s role in publishing. In a blogpost on the site Book View Cafe, entitled “Up the Amazon with the BS Machine, or Why I Keep Asking You Not to Buy Books from Amazon”, the American author has spoken out against what she describes as the company’s increasing influence not only on the bookselling market but also on which books get published, promoted and read. Her fierce conclusion is: “Every book purchase made from Amazon is a vote for a culture without content and without contentment.”After an analysis of how the “Best Seller Machine” has worked in the last decades, Le Guin writes that the online retailer is changing the culture of publishing. The Amazon model, she writes, is “easy salability, heavy marketing, super-competitive pricing, then trash and replace”. The ideal book, under this template, is “a safe commodity, a commercial product written to the specifications of the current market, that will hit the BS list, get to the top, and vanish. Sell it fast, sell it cheap, dump it, sell the next thing.” Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2015-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin division Michael Joseph has launched a major marketing campaign to support the paperback... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon and six US publishers have asked a US court to dismiss a lawsuit by three American... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Only 23 magazines launched in the first quarter of 2013, compared with 44 in the same period a year ago, but the number of titles that shut down between Jan. 1 and the end of March also dropped, according to figures released Monday by online database MediaFinder.com.The new titles include Condé... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2013-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent publisher Myrmidon has launched an e-first genre imprint for drama romance, called... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It's kind of a natural for a company that, despite its many other ventures, still makes a lot of its money selling books. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2013-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon continues to socialize itself. The e-commerce giant announced today that it has acquired bibliophilic social platform Goodreads. “Goodreads has helped change how we discover and discuss books and, with Kindle, Amazon has helped expand reading around the world. In addition, both Amazon... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2013-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Foreign Affairs will cover topics like crises in the Middle East, arms treaties and international law--and now they're writing about Game of Thrones. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2013-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Eight publishers worldwide will team up for a near-simultaneous release of the as-yet-untitled... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Academic indie publisher Edward Elgar has launched its online platform with no digital rights... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BBC is selling Lonely Planet, to NC2 Media, a Nashville-based digital media company, for $77.8 million — a $120 million less than what BBC bought it for in 2007. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With The Fast Diet, UK publisher Short Books has the biggest hit in its history. Co-founder Rebecca Nicolson reflects on why, and the role of independent publishers today. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Stockholm Text, a young publishing house translating and publishing Swedish literature in English, share lessons learned from their first year in business. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-03-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's Little A imprint will release novels, memoirs, and story collections, while Day One will focus on short stories and new writers. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Literary fiction publisher Europa Editions is releasing a new crime list called World Noir this... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reference publisher Ilex Press has created what it describes as a "proving ground" for... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A L Kennedy's The Blue Book and Jake Arnott's The House of Rumour are to be the first... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent publisher Caffeine Nights is making two chapters of every one of its books free to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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UK bookstores are experimenting with exclusive chapters and other offers to lure customers into stores and away from online shopping at Amazon, but some doubt its efficacy. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publisher Conde Nast is creating video networks based on its Glamour and GQ magazines. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild, are fighting Amazon's bid to own new global domain names including .book, .author, and .read. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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