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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Bloomsbury has launched a new imprint, Rouleur Books, in partnership with specialist cycling... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lekiosk, a digital magazine newsstand app, has launched in the UK and is offering subscriptions to around 100 titles from publishers including Condé Nast, Immediate Media and Dennis. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2012-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oxford University Press has launched a roaming service for students and academics who read... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pan Macmillan is searching for a panel of readers to help create reading group content for... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a speech at BookExpo America, the author and bookstore owner said Amazon 'wants to kill us.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Publishing and long-running book-maker Avalon now has more in common than rhyme schemes. The pair have struck up a deal to publish over 3,00 titles from the publisher's back-catalogue, broaching its romance, mystery and western genres. It'll be the first time that these books will be... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sony has decided to join the web-based shopping party, launching an online reader store for its e-inked devices and companion apps. Any e-Books purchased will arrive ready-to-read on the Reader app or other suitably wireless device, with titles also working on any Adobe DRM-supported apps and... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bonnier has launched a new company, Bonnier Books New Markets, to focus on strategic acquisitions... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jason Pontin has a daunting task at hand. The editor in chief and publisher of MIT’s Technology Review is the man charged with recalibrating the 112-year-old thought-leading publication, a duty he described to Adweek as an "on some level unwelcome, but intellectually interesting task, which is... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2012-06-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Authors Guild is encouraging its 8,500 members to submit comments against the proposed settlement between the Department of Justice and three large publishers. The settlement, the guild argues, will only benefit Amazon. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2012-06-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon has a bit of good news today for those that have opted for its least expensive e-reader. The company has just begun rolling out a new software update that brings with it a new reading font that's said to be "higher contrast and crisper" for an even more "paper-like reading experience."... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-06-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Everyone! Check under your chairs! It's a...new book club from Oprah! Yep, the former queen of daytime TV is revamping her famed literary organization for the 21st century. Winfrey says she was so taken by Cheryl Strayed's Wild, that she absolutely had to get back on the book peddling bandwagon.... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2012-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Carly Simon, the singer and songwriter who has had a rocky life and a storied career, has sold her autobiography to Random House for a sum in the seven figures, according to a person familiar with the deal. Ms. Simon, the author of several children's books, is writing the memoir herself. It's... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2012-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin and Macmillan have hit back at US government claims that they colluded to fix the price... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Guardian is launching an interactive map of the UK and Ireland’s bookshops in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon and the Independent Publishers Group in the US have reached a settlement over their ebook... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A three month long dispute over the sale of digital books between Amazon.com Inc. and a leading independent book distributor has been resolved, both parties said Friday. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2012-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A protest demonstration has disrupted Amazon.com's latest shareholder meeting in Seattle,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Eason is soon to launch an own-branded e-reader, the Irish Independent reports. A spokesman for... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Military history publisher Osprey has set up Digital Rights Management-free digital list aimed at... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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