No one buys books • Hacker News Board

bjelkeman-again wrote: post #70

joshuamcginnis wrote: post #38

I'm currently writing a book about independent thinking and I have zero expectations that it will sell even a single copy. However, the net gain I will get from having completed the goal of writing the book is invaluable to me personally.

I had this idea for a hard science fiction story that I have been thinking about for years. Nobody else is going to write it, so I started. 20 000 words in my beta readers say it is good, so I think I will continue. And I don’t expect to sell it, but I want to know what happens and so do the beta readers. So on we go.

hell yeah, keep on writing!

Re: No one buys books

#100

Post by ethbr1 » Mon, Apr 22, 2024, 10:04 PM UTC

>> Q. And Penguin Random House pays Amazon to improve its search results?

>> A. There is something that is available to our publishers, it’s called Amazon Marketing Services, AMS, and all publishers can spend money and give it to Amazon to have hopefully better search results.

>> — Markus Dohle, CEO, Penguin Random House

Wait, "hopefully better"?

What the hell is Amazon selling, magic publishing advertising snake oil?

If I'm paying for placement, I'd expect something more than hope.