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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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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Amazon's market share of book sales significantly increases once a customer buys a Kindle... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Called 'the best e-reader you can buy,' the Paperwhite has debuted to almost universal praise. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-10-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Egmont, Simon & Schuster and Templar Publishing have all landed two titles on the W H Smith... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children's author Jeremy Strong has launched a new national schools reading competition... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite technology is in high demand, and the online retailer wants consumers to know how it works. The company has released a new video explainer. Kindle Paperwhite, which Amazon introduced earlier this month, has generated strong interest. Consider this: Amazon’s... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2012-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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J K Rowling's The Casual Vacancy has become "the fastest-selling book in the UK in three... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Investcorp has put New York-based publisher SourceMedia up for sale, according to multiple sources. SourceMedia, which provides news, analysis and research in the b-to-b space through publications Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2012-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Albuquerque Publishing Company – the advertising sales, production and distribution agent for New Mexico’s largest and most read newspaper, the Albuquerque Journal – is live with Atex Advertising. The Atex syst ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble has announced Dixons as another British retail partner to sell Nook devices.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble has announced Dixons as another British retail partner to sell Nook devices.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble Nook is ramping up its digital media offerings with a new video-download and rental service. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2012-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kobo has announced a partnership to sell its e-readers through Fnac stores in Portugal as it ups... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury is expanding internationally, with the launch of Bloomsbury India today (21st... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Booksellers are gearing up for the release of J K Rowling’s new novel next Thursday (27th... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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IAC/InterActiveCorp Chairman Barry Diller, producer Scott Rudin and publishing executive Frances Coady are investing in a book venture that will attempt to challenge Amazon.com Inc.’s dominance in the industry. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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German book chains Weltbild and Hugendubel have reacted swiftly to Amazon's announcement... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Headline is launching a new digital imprint Eternal Romance, with three paranormal romance novels... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Just four days after a federal judge approved a settlement in the ebooks price fixing case, HarperCollins has already started discounts. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Wow. Judge Denise Cote certainly knows how to put a spring in the step of mega corporations. Mere days have passed since she ordered HarperCollins to let retailers to set their own ebook prices, and yet already Kindle bestsellers from that publisher are selling for around $9.99 -- in some cases... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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