MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Ursula K. Le Guin: “I keep Asking You Not to Buy Books from Amazon”

conan50 · 07-25-2015, 04:27 PM

The fantasy that traditional publishers found these great new authors to present to us died long ago. Actually the place to discover great new authors is Amazon and other self-publishing outlets. Those same 'great' traditional publishers turned down "Harry Potter" numerous times and had closed the door to many new authors.
She is trying to make Amazon into the boogeyman, but the problem was/is a dying and diminishing traditional publishing system being crushed by its own inadequacy and short-sighted gains. And she tries to defend the very thing that caused many of the problems she blames Amazon for.
There are good reasons to bash on Amazon, but she doesn't address them. Such as the book/ebook monopolistic power Amazon is quickly becoming, but not for the reasons she mentions. She should rather blame the failing of the traditional publishers and their greed for what Amazon has become. In the end you are writing for the reader, and the readers are the best judges of what rises to the top. If Amazon takes a shotgun approach to publishing, I prefer that to the stranglehold of traditional publishing.

07-25-2015, 04:27 PM	#163
conan50 Fanatic Posts: 597 Karma: 14054112 Join Date: Jun 2014 Device: kindle	The fantasy that traditional publishers found these great new authors to present to us died long ago. Actually the place to discover great new authors is Amazon and other self-publishing outlets. Those same 'great' traditional publishers turned down "Harry Potter" numerous times and had closed the door to many new authors. She is trying to make Amazon into the boogeyman, but the problem was/is a dying and diminishing traditional publishing system being crushed by its own inadequacy and short-sighted gains. And she tries to defend the very thing that caused many of the problems she blames Amazon for. There are good reasons to bash on Amazon, but she doesn't address them. Such as the book/ebook monopolistic power Amazon is quickly becoming, but not for the reasons she mentions. She should rather blame the failing of the traditional publishers and their greed for what Amazon has become. In the end you are writing for the reader, and the readers are the best judges of what rises to the top. If Amazon takes a shotgun approach to publishing, I prefer that to the stranglehold of traditional publishing. Last edited by conan50; 07-25-2015 at 04:31 PM.