Amazon Peer Review: Coming To A Preprint Near You
Starting today, anyone who visits the online retailer Amazon will soon be able to review manuscripts, just like pens, sneakers, and toiletry products.
Loaded Dice — The New Research Conundrums Posed by Mechanical Turk
The use of Mechanical Turk in research may generate misleading data and false information. Do we need to guard against such mechanical methodologies?
Hiding in Plain Sight — Is the Subscription Model the Optimal Business Model for the Digital Age?
The half-forgotten subscription model deserves our praise and renewed attention. In the Digital Age, it has become more popular than ever.
"Hating Amazon Is Not a Strategy" — The World Reacts As Amazon Opens a New Front in the Pricing Wars
The misplaced anxiety and consternation publishers and authors showed in the face of Amazon’s Price Check app revealed an industry and culture rooted in the past. And that’s not where the readers of the future are coming from.
Is Piracy Really the F**king Answer?
A viral book sensation’s obvious story may not be as obvious as some think, harder to replicate, and indicative of a strong counter-trend.
Algorithmic Pricing on Amazon — Is a Book About Flies Worth $23,698,655.93 (plus shipping)?
Algorithmic pricing on Amazon creates a book worth millions, and the problem seems to be repeating itself.
Truth Trumps Fiction: Amazon Unveils Its Latest Kindle Innovation — Signed E-Books
An April Fool’s post is bested by reality — but that doesn’t mean the idea isn’t silly anyhow.
Anchoring Communities and Trust Markets — Advantages Shift to the Users
While losing distribution and production advantages might have hurt our businesses, losing our roles as anchoring and trust centers might cut deeper.
E-reader Petting Zoo: The PSP Brings Us a Menagerie of Toys and Devices
E-reading devices were shown off at the 2010 PSP Annual Meeting. Unfortunately, the iPad probably still dominated the setting, even in abstentia.
Who Controls Publisher Prices? Amazon Fires the First Shot, Then Forges a Bitter Truce
This weekend Amazon pulled all of MacMillan’s books, both electronic and paper, from their store due to a dispute over eBook pricing policies. Is this the first battle in the war for control of the publishing industry?
The iPad: First Impressions of Its Importance to Publishers
Initial impressions of Apple’s new iPad device — how the tech press is missing the meaning, what it might mean for publishers, and a chance to tell us what you think.
Doing the Kindle Math — Does Amazon’s Opacity Conceal a Shameful Truth?
Is the Kindle really a success? Do the vague and convoluted statements from Amazon about Kindle sales mean anything? The backlash against Amazon’s lack of transparency has apparently begun.
Fighting Fire with Fire — The Only Remaining Option?
The shift to the Systems Age is happening so fast and completely that publishers are left with only one option — fight fire with fire. Will they? Can they? Some examples show the way.
Churn in the Book Space: Rational & Irrational Behavior Among Book Publishers
Two fiction publishers decide to delay release of their e-books, further marginalizing their books. Meanwhile, an STM book publisher gets it right.
A First Look at the Nook: An Also-Ran That Can Barely Get Out of the Box
The new Nook is over-packaged, and has design and technical issues that keep it from competing well with the Kindle. Too bad.