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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The mega-retailer has opened a dozen pickup locations to date, but it has yet to open its second Amazon Books, which was slated to be ready this summer. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon.com has launched a Singles Classics range on Kindle featuring short stories and essays from writers such as John le Carré and Gloria Steinem. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Self-published author Adam Croft has been snapped up for a publishing deal by Amazon imprint Thomas & Mercer after releasing what he says is the biggest-selling book by a self-published author in 2016. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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TV series based on cult comic book stars Dominic Cooper, Joseph Gilgun and Ruth NeggaThe TV series based on cult comic book Preacher is to launch in the UK on Amazon’s Prime streaming service from Monday.The episodes will be released by Amazon in the UK, Austria, Germany and Japan the day after... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jeff Bezos has sold 1% of his stake in Amazon - which is just over a million shares, at a value of $671m (£465.2m) - the New York Post has reported. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-05-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon has announced its thinnest and lightest e-reader, the Kindle Oasis, "designed to feel weightless". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-04-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon will see how customers respond to its Seattle bricks and mortar store before considering opening any in the UK, its vice president of global public policy has said. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon UK said Black Friday this year was its busiest day ever, as it sold around 86 items per second. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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One thing's for sure, Amazon's thinner new Fire HD tablets aren't iPad killers. Instead, they're being positioned as the ideal budget tablets for consuming video, ebooks and music. To that end, Amazon didn't even upgrade their hardware much -- bot... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2015-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon has launched a new budget tablet for under £50. The device will be priced at £49.99 and will include a 7 inch IPS display, “all-day” battery life and the new Amazon content ecosystem – Amazon Underground. Through Amazon Underground, customers can shop for items including books and movies... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon launched Kindle Unlimited in India with local publishing partners that include Jaico, Westland, Grapevine, Orient, and Sinclude, and more promised. The post Amazon Launch Kindle Unlimited in India with Local Partners appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train (Transworld) is Amazon.co.uk’s biggest selling ebook of 2015 so far, the retailer has revealed. The list of top 20 ebooks of the year is dominated by female authors, with E L James’ Fifty Shades of Grey companion novel, Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as told by... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tickets for Waterstones Piccadilly’s midnight opening for the launch of Terry Pratchett’s final Discworld novel The Shepherd’s Crown have sold out, only hours after going on sale. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon could be on the cusp of launching a grocery delivery operation in the UK after leasing a warehouse from Tesco, it has been reported. Retail Week reported the e-commerce giant has agreed a 10-year lease with Tesco for a warehouse in Surrey, which is currently being revamped by Clegg Food... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon is launching Prime Day, "a new global shopping event, offering more deals than Black Friday", open solely to members of its Prime service. The first such day will be held on Wednesday 15th July and will offer customers in the UK, US, Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Mexico has finally launched its full retail operations and a print bookstore; it had previously offered Kindle ebooks since 2013. The post Amazon Mexico Now Sells Print Books Online appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-07-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon UK has launched Prime Now in London, which will allow customers in the capital to receive purchases within one hour of ordering them. Only Amazon Prime members are eligible for the service, in a further move to encourage customers to sign up to the £79-a-year membership. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon UK has launched a subscription service for children that includes ebooks, educational apps, videos and games. The company has launched the service at the same time as revealing a new Amazon Fire Tablet aimed at children, priced £119 and upwards. The subscription service called Fire for... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A couple who were splashed across the national press when they delivered a petition to 10 Downing Street calling on Amazon to pay corporation tax in the UK have sold their two bookshops. Keith and Frances Smith who owned Warwick Books and Kenilworth Books have sold both the indies to new owners... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon has launched Kindle Textbook Creator in the US, allowing academics to turn their textbooks into digital editions. KDP EDU, a new segment of Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), gives educators and authors the online tools to prepare, publish and promote e-textbooks and other educational... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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