Cory and I Talk at Goodreads
Posted on May 22, 2017 Posted by John Scalzi 9 Comments
Because when we were on tour together, we went to Goodreads and talked! Here’s the interview.
(Interestingly but not entirely surprisingly, what they didn’t put in this interview transcript was the question where we were asked to offer our opinions on Amazon, which is the parent company of Goodreads. My answer to that was, basically, that Amazon had done some great things for my career and also had done some not so great things for my career, and that I don’t operate under the impression that Amazon cares about me more than it cares about itself. I suggested that other authors operate likewise.)
Amen re Amazon, which, like other companies in publishing and elsewhere, deserves neither hate nor love.
I dunno, I could make a case for Amazon deserving a bit of hate.
I agree with John (and the other John). The only way in which Amazon can deserve hate seems to be, “It’s not a quirky mom n pop bookshop and instead is a vast monolithic corporation,” which may be grounds for hate, but not in any greater degree or kind than Tor, or Barnes and Noble, or CVS, or Boeing, or any other large corporation.
They’re neither praiseworthy nor targets for vitriol. They just are.
Can’t imagine why Amazon-owned cut out that part!
“Amen re Amazon, which, like other companies in publishing and elsewhere, deserves neither hate nor love.”
Well, thats just silly. Thats like saying United Airlines, like other airlines, deserves neither love nor hate, after dragging a man off a plane, and then refusing to apologize until the PR storm forced them to.
There are a number of horrible vanity presses that are geared towards separating the uninformed from their money and providing the bare minimum in return. Regular publiishers fall along a similar spectrum, from good to bad.
“They’re neither praiseworthy nor targets for vitriol. They just are.”
Yeah….kinda like Exxon and BP: They just ARE. Like mountains and god. (laughs uproariously)
I like your commenting about not wanting to live in the worlds you write. Very honest.
@itinerantpedant
“[there] may be grounds for hate, but not in any greater degree or kind than Tor, or Barnes and Noble”
I disagree because there is a fundamental difference between Amazon and other book publishers, namely that Amazon doesn’t see itself as a book publisher. It’s a technology company with historical ties to books. They are also operating on a much larger scale than anyone else in the industry. If there is ever an opportunity to turn a profit that happens to involve burning the entire publishing industry into the ground, they will do it without a second thought. TOR, for example, would never be in a situation where such a thought could even make sense.
What was Cory’s answer to the Amazon question?