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 ]
News tagged with:
#online retailer
#current market
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 05/07/2011 - 08:49 The Oldie magazine team is launching a new literary festival, based in London's Soho, with authors including Man Booker-winner Howard Jacobson and Michael Morpurgo set to appear. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#literary festival
Amazon.com has acquired The Book Depository International, a seven-year old online bookseller based in the UK, which also republishes titles that are no longer in print or poorly available. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Amazon is making a move to become even more international. The online bookseller has just acquired the Book Depository International, a U.K. bookseller that distinguishes itself as being home to "the largest range of titles in the world." The terms of the deal have not yet been released, but the... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book depository
#free shipping
#publishing arm
#operate independently
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 05/07/2011 - 09:44 Penguin and Sainsbury's are to jointly launch a new website to support the Sainsbury's Book Club, launching on 21st July. The Book Club will run from 7th July 2011 to July 2012. As reported in January, the book club this... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book club
#21st july
#including titles
#lesley pearse
#dawn french
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 04/07/2011 - 16:00 The Book Depository has said it will continue to operate independently of Amazon, as the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said it was "too early" to say if today's takeover of the online bookseller would trigger an investigation.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book depository
#operate independently
#online bookseller
#continuing growth
Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Mon, 04/07/2011 - 12:29 Amazon.com has reached an agreement to acquire The Book Depository, the fast-growing online retailer founded by Andrew Crawford in 2004. Greg Greeley, Amazon's vice president of European Retail, said: "Customers in more... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book depository
#vice president
#free shipping
Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 01/07/2011 - 09:00 Walker Books has launched an award for new illustration to help mark the 20th anniversary of the death of the company's founder, Sebastian Walker. The Sebastian Walker Award will be run in collaboration with the MA course in... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book illustration
#20th anniversary
#cambridge school
#presented annually
#walker books
Moffly Media, a regional publisher serving Fairfield County, CT, is launching a new publication called Fairfield Living in November 2011. Set to be a paid publication, the circulation at time of launch is expected to be 6,500. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 30/06/2011 - 15:58 An online view-on-demand books service dubbed the Spotify of books has launched today. 24symbols, created by a Spanish team co-founded by Justo Hidalgo, is offering access to 1,000 book titles for a subscription fee. The... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#read books
#service launches
#launched today
#justo hidalgo
#offering access
#offers customers
As the publishing industry continues to recover from the economic recession, 138 magazines launched in the first half of 2011, according to online periodical database MediaFinder. In the first half of 2010, only 90 new titles came to fruition. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#economic recession
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 30/06/2011 - 09:27 Macmillan Children's Books is launching a national competition with ITV1's breakfast show, "Daybreak". read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 28/06/2011 - 09:53 The Women's Institute has launched a Love Your Libraries campaign following a vote to support the beleaguered sector at its recent annual general meeting. It is urging members to sign up to their local library and write to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#libraries campaign
#urging members
#local library
The Atlantic announces its expanded digital presence with TheAtlanticCities.com, headed by newly appointed senior editor Richard Florida, to be launched in September. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 27/06/2011 - 08:48 Pan Macmillan has launched a new imprint to bring backlist titles to readers as digital editions or print on demand titles. Macmillan Compass will be managed by fiction publisher Jeremy Trevathan and digital director Sara... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#digital backlist
#digital editions
#rights holders
#digital pricing
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 27/06/2011 - 08:53 Pottermore has responded to retailers' frustrations over being unable to sell the Harry Potter ebooks, saying the idea was to "ensure ease of availability across all reading devices". read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#reading devices
Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 27/06/2011 - 15:45 National Book Tokens will launch the Euro Gift Card in the Republic of Ireland for the first time this Friday. The Euro Gift Card is being introduced by NBT after a great deal of interest in the system following its launch... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#great deal
#press advertising
#positive response
The publisher Algonquin is offering digital books at a discount or free to customers who buy certain trade paperback or hardback books. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#media decoder
#print versions
#trade paperback
#hardback books
Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Fri, 24/06/2011 - 11:14 Former Borders c.e.o. David Roche is working on a project to enhance reading as he launches his own business. Roche said David Roche Enterprises has been set up to "help exploit the links between the creative, media and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#david roche
Written By: Philip Jones and Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 23/06/2011 - 11:53 J K Rowling has confirmed that she will release paid-for ebook versions of her incredibly successful Harry Potter books from her new website Pottermore "in partnership with J K Rowlings publishers... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#pottermore website
#philip jones
#ebook versions
#website pottermore
Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 23/06/2011 - 07:26 Vintage Publishing has released the first ebooks from Nigella Lawson, with her Kitchen and Nigella Express books now available in digital format. Lawson's Nigella Quick Collection app has also been updated with 30... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#nigella lawson
#digital format