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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Haynes Publishing is launching its first range of ebooks and selling them independently through... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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One of Germany’s largest retail groups is changing ownership in a deal that is anxiously... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Infinitum Nihi – Johnny Depp's new publishing imprint with partner HarperCollins – will publish titles including a Bob Dylan biography and a novel by Woody Guthrie. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Kindle Paperwhite is go on sale through Waterstones stores by the end of the month, the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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According to the terms of a settlement between the DoJ and three major American publishers, some customers may receive refunds on their ebook purchases. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon will offer partial refunds to customers who bought ebooks between April 2010 and May 2012 a result of the settlement in a price-fixing case between publishers and the attorneys general of most U.S. states. The retailer is notifying eligible customers by email. Compensation ranges from... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2012-10-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon has announced it will give Kindle owners refunds on past ebook purchases if a settlement with publishers accused of fixing prices is approved. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-10-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon contacts some US customers to detail partial refunds for ebooks as part of a settlement regarding price fixing. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2012-10-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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I bought my first ebook in 1999 and in recent years stopped purchasing print altogether. My wife is a relative ebook newbie, so I am surprised that she and not me received surprising email today from Amazon about a forthcoming purchasing credit. Perhaps you got similar message. In April, the... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2012-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In an interview with the BBC, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos confirmed what many surmised: Amazon is selling the Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Fire HD at cost. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The UK launch date for Nook e-readers has been delayed by two weeks, with the products now not... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jeff Bezos, in the U.K. to launch the Kindle Paperwhite and Amazon's Lending Library service, has told the BBC that his firm makes no money on its Kindles. "We make money from when people use our devices, not when people buy our devices," he told technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones. "That... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2012-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon has found a relatively clear day in the calendar on which to launch its excellent Kindle Paperwhite e-reader in the British Isles. The ad-supported basic model will knock you back £109, while an extra £60 will get you the 3G version. Amazon's Lending Library service will roll-out at the... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins will introduce a “globally integrated system” for its editorial,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon is to launch its controversial Kindle Owners' Lending Library in the UK from the end... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tribune Company has kicked off an ebook initiative in partnership with Agate Publishing, collecting stories and photos from the Chicago Tribune and two other newspapers and selling them as digital long-form features. Tribune, which has already relea ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's Kindle Owners' Lending Library has grown considerably since launching in the US, and it looks like the company's finally decided it was time to let some other countries in on the service as well. It announced today that Amazon Prime members in the UK, Germany and France would all have... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Complex Media, a trend-spotting network of style, sports and entertainment media aimed at 18-34 year old males, has now entered the food space with the launch of FirstWeFeast.com. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2012-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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National Book Tokens is to launch an e-gifting card for digital books with the content to be... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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UK erotica publisher Xcite Books is selling world rights to the first interactive Kama Sutra at... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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