It certainly looks interesting. In an "interesting times" kind of way. I can think of ways in which this is not a monopolistic disaster in the making; I'm not coming up with any ways in which this is a good creative venture that I'd like to support.
Fiction Circus is not happy about it:
Amazon Unleashes Final Piece of the Puzzle and is Now the World's Biggest Publisher (And Everything Else)
Quote:
This is Amazon's equivalent of a "slush pile." They are still profiting from the slush pile, because to read one of their titles in consideration, you have to buy it.
The difference between Amazon's slush pile and the slush pile of every other publishing house is that while publishing houses make unpaid interns read their unlikely manuscripts, Amazon will be charging people to read them, and taking a cut. People's unsolicited reviews will somehow dictate which books get earmarked for the "Encore" program.
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