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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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 02/11/2011 - 13:55 The Independent Publishers Guild has accepted the OFTs decision to clear the merger of Amazon and The Book Depository, but called on Amazon to work hard with its members to allay their concerns. Following a survey, IPG... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 28/10/2011 - 08:00 Peter Bazalgette, the man responsible for introducing "Big Brother" to the UK, is turning his hand to publishing, launching a new company with a biography of food critic Egon Ronay. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 26/10/2011 - 10:05 Amazons profits have dropped by 73% in its third quarter, with the company's investment in its Kindle e-readers blamed for the slump. In the three months to 30th September, net income fell from $231m (£144.4m) to $63m... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 24/10/2011 - 15:53 Amazon customers can now have their purchases sent to lockers in London, instead of to their homes and offices. The company has lockers in Seattle and New York as well as the metropolitan area of London. Customers can choose... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 21/10/2011 - 08:25 Anthony Cheetham will unveil his new publishing company, Head of Zeus, in the summer of next year, with a biography of Catherine the Great by Robert K Massie bought from Random House US. The venturewhich Cheetham had planned... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Business-to-business media company WTWH Media, LLC isnt afraid of the uncertainty surrounding the magazine market placethe company is launching a new title this month called Solar Power World magazine in an effort to expand its portfolio. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Wed, 19/10/2011 - 15:01 Tim Godfray, chief executive of The Booksellers Association, has asked British Library c.e.o. Dame Lynne Brindley to review the Librarys relationship with Amazon as a matter of urgency, following the furore over links to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Releasing a book on one of the worlds largest publishing marketplaces could help your company. Here's a quick guide to the basics of self-publishing. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 19/10/2011 - 14:51 Kobo has launched a tablet rival to the Kindle Fire, which it is launching in the US and Canada priced at $199. The surprise device is called the Kobo Vox eReader, and ships on 28th October, two weeks ahead of Amazon's Kindle... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 18/10/2011 - 07:15 HarperCollins is planning to release a Hello Kitty branded version of its Collins Dictionaries as part of a new deal with the global brand. Richard Haines, brand manager at HarperCollins Children's Books, signed the deal with... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jim Lee, co-publisher of DC Entertainment, showcases the graphic novel "Superman: Earth One" on the Kindle Fire. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 18/10/2011 - 15:19 Digital publisher Open Road is launching a new imprint, Iconic E-books, with Erica Jong's Fear of Flying and Alice Walker's The Color Purple to be among its first titles. The Iconic E-Books titles will be those that have... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Tue, 18/10/2011 - 09:56 The British Library is reinstating its link to Amazon on online catalogue records, after briefly removing the feature last week in response to criticism from leading booksellers. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 14/10/2011 - 09:27 read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 13/10/2011 - 09:25 W H Smith has partnered with Kobo to launch the first wifi touch-screen e-reader in the UK later this month. The chain bookseller announced the partnership today (13th October) at the same time as its financial results for the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The NOOK Newsstand is getting another addition, Time Inc. has announced that Real Simple magazine will be exclusively sold on the digital platform for the month of November and will begin a full digital integration with the December issue. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Thu, 13/10/2011 - 12:33 The Booksellers Association/Publishers Associations Environmental Action Group (EAG) has launched Book-carbon, a tool for publishers and printers to measure the carbon footprint of a books production. The online web... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 12/10/2011 - 13:30 Authonomy, HarperCollins' writing community for unpublished authors, is launching a new imprint with plans to publish 12 titles per year as digital editions. The imprint will be headed by Scott Pack, who runs Authonomy and is... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Specialist magazine publisher Future is launching a new monthly print and digital magazine, N-Photo, next month. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2011-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 11/10/2011 - 14:30 Amazon.com has announced its seventh imprint, a science fiction, fantasy and horror brand called 47North, which has launched with 15 books. The imprint name is based on the latitude co-ordinates of Seattle, where Amazon was... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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