September 3rd, 2012
What’s Worse Than Sock Puppet Book Reviews?
The ongoing scandal of phony book reviews on Amazon now has a name, Sock Puppets. Perfect!
The Future Of Publishing Blog by Thad McIlroy
Blog
September 3rd, 2012
Worse Than Paying for Online Reviews
We’ve seen a lot of righteous indignation following David Streitfeld’s recent New York Times article on the occasional practice of paying for positive book reviews on Amazon. I read the story and moved on without giving it much thought: I assumed that everyone knew that the review system on Amazon was rigged.
September 2nd, 2012
Conversations on the Future of Publishing
Finn Harvor, a Canadian writer and artist living in South Korea, publishes a blog called Conversations in the Book Trade. He’s interviewed Rolf Maurer, publisher of New Star Books, noted journalist Ian Brown, Richard Nash from his Soft Skull days, provocateur Edward Champion and numerous others. Harvor asks each interviewee mostly the same questions and so I found…
August 30th, 2012
Barnes & Noble’s Largest UK Partner Also Sells Kindle, Kobo & Sony
Aside from being able to say “I told you so” I’m not quite sure why Barnes & Noble separated its UK reseller partner announcements by two days. The first announcement on August 28 rated low for impact: John Lewis has only 37 stores and already shills for Barnes & Noble’s competitors Amazon and Kobo.
August 28th, 2012
Barnes & Noble’s First UK Partner Also Sells Kindle & Kobo
I’ve got a soft spot for well-run employee-owned companies, so John Lewis is my kind of firm. Founded in 1864, the company’s 81,000 employees are all partners in an enterprise with 29 department stores, 8 at home shops, 283 Waitrose supermarkets and the John Lewis online and catalog business. The combined operation has annual gross…