Amazon is filled with garbage ebooks, often a result of keyword scrapers finding trending topics, and then so-called publishers using AI and cheap ghostwriters to generate books. "If, as they used to say, everyone has a book in them, AI has created a world where tech utopianists dream openly about excising the human part of writing a book — any amount of artistry or craft or even just sheer effort — and replacing it with machine-generated streams of text," writes Vox's Constance Grady. Here's her story about the underbelly of online self-publishing.
TL;DR: #Shudder will be getting an ad- supported tier. If they offer this as a cheaper alternative, ok, but if #AMC+ eventually pushes this on current subscribers unless they pay more a la #Amazon, I'm out.
We already have an ad supported horror channel; it's called #TUBI.
If an #ebook subscription service sounds like it might be for you, please consider supporting one that isn’t owned by #Amazon, that exploits its dominant position to force authors into exclusivity deals that prevent their work from being available elsewhere. There are alternatives to #KindleUnlimited, including (but not limited to) #Everand. @bookstodon
Very interesting thorough article on the outsize role writers and publishing professionals alike ascribe to #goodreads for the mis/fortunes of a book. I'm not quite convinced by Nicole Brinkley's argument that goodreads has no significant impact on sales numbers (this is #Amazon, there's no way they're running it purely for some nebulous market insights, imo), but most of her other arguments I find quite compelling.
Reflections on Water: New Approaches to Transboundary Conflicts and Cooperation
This book offers conceptual and empirical support for the idea that the human relationship with water must move beyond rationalist definitions of water as product, property, and commodity. Depending on context, water may be a security issue, a gift of nature, a product of imagination, or an integral part of the natural or cultural ecology.
None of these people exist, but you can buy their books on Amazon anyway. Here's an article on Amazon authors with GAN-generated faces and the books these authors publish (which appear to be almost entirely devoid of original human-created content).
@pivic@bookstodon one of the strangest things about #goodreads is how absolutely terrible its algorithm is at recommendations. You might assume that Daddy #Bezos and #Amazon would know how to make that work but its truly awful. I think I'm like a lot of people in that I use it to track what I'm reading and ignore most of the social functions.
I had a good idea about who I wanted Lauren to be when I started writing The Challenges of Being Me. She appeared as a character in a previous book of mine, and she was the one character I got overwhelmingly positive feedback in DMs back on the bird site and emails. I am so glad I got to dive into growing her character with this latest book.
I had a good idea about who I wanted Lauren to be when I started writing The Challenges of Being Me. She appeared as a character in a previous book of mine, and she was the one character I got overwhelmingly positive feedback in DMs back on the bird site and emails. I am so glad I got to dive into growing her character with this latest book.
"Hephaistos watched himself in the great silver mirror. The magic had worked, well, like a charm. It wasn't his crude, bearded face staring back at him. Instead, he saw smooth cheeks, long, dark lashes and flowing golden hair."
"Hephaistos watched himself in the great silver mirror. The magic had worked, well, like a charm. It wasn't his crude, bearded face staring back at him. Instead, he saw smooth cheeks, long, dark lashes and flowing golden hair."
Self-Publishing News: Lawsuits – Amazon Takes on Scammers and Mixed Success in Artist Lawsuit Against Stability AI
Amazon is taking on a group of people and companies exploiting Amazon’s name. And artists against Stability AI lawsuit has hit the rocks. After reporting several times about Amazon’s experience on the receiving end of legal proceedings, it’s good to... https://selfpublishingadvice.org/self-publishing-news-amazon-takes-on-scammers/
Creatives: Would you like to better understand why writers & authors (+ musicians and artists) are being squeezed? The impact Amazon has had on the publishing industry, the chequered history of DRM, the dirt on copyright? How about 'how news got broken', 'why streaming doesn't pay' & what people in the creative industries can actually do about the current state of affairs? Highly recommend Choke Point Capitalism (by Rebecca Giblin & Cory Doctorow) as a read. Please ask your local library to get it in too so more people can have access.