CreateSpace is the new name of Amazon's on-demand self-publishing service for the super long tail of books, audio CD's and film DVD/Blue-ray. Products automatically get an ISBN number and are listed on Amazon.com, including "Search Inside" for books. The National Archives and CreateSpace will be publishing movies from its collection of over 200,000 public domain films, raising some provocative copyright issues.
posted by stbalbach on Aug 8, 2007 - 34 comments

So amazon.com has 1.06 million pre-orders (scroll down the page to see the "Muggle Counter on the right side) in (even though the press is hilariously reporting that as 1.6 million - go figure) for the seventh and final Harry potter book with two weeks to go before the release date - and yes, that means amazon is selling almost 10% of the 12 million book first printing by itself. However, if you think that amazon is swimming in cash, you'd be wrong. Apparently Jeff Bezos decided to sell the book at no profit and throw in free shipping to boot. This is not just a one time strategy though, apparently Amazon "sacrifices $600 million in shipping revenue each year" just to keep it's customers loyal. Bezos also noted in the same press conference that "platform sandals...make my calves look really good".
posted by jourman2 on Jul 5, 2007 - 45 comments

Another victim of 'The Amazon Treatment'. Remember the Amazon post from the other day? Well, if you liked that, you'll love this one. This time, it's an anal douche getting what I'm calling "The Amazon Treatment". Amazon's going to scope this out and delete the 'reviews' - therefore if you're so inclined here's your chance to wallow in the merriment. If it's gone by the time you read this, I've copied some of the posts here.
posted by humannature on Mar 26, 2005 - 19 comments

"I was stunned by its lyrical beauty and easy cadence. The tempo, the choice of words, and the layout on each page captured my imagination so much that it took me about seven minutes to recover my bearings." Amazon users review My Pet Goat. (via Sadly, No!)
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Jul 17, 2004 - 20 comments

"First, look up the most popular and critically-acclaimed books, movies, and music on Amazon. Click on 'Customer Reviews,' and sort them by 'Lowest Rating First'..." The Amazon.com Knee-Jerk Contrarian Game.
posted by reklaw on Jul 2, 2004 - 48 comments

A concerned reader in St. Louis just might be Dave Eggers. A weekend glitch on Amazon Canada allowed people to see the true secret identities behind reviews on the site. [NYT Link]
posted by drezdn on Feb 17, 2004 - 30 comments

Amazon accepts political contributions? Amazon.com takes the friction out of grass-roots contributions to presidential candidates. 1-Click® payments are the easiest way to make small contributions--from $5 to $200.
posted by mrgrimm on Jan 23, 2004 - 3 comments

Starting today, every word (33 million) in ALL the books (270,000) sold at Amazon.com can now be searched word for word. File this under technologies used to implement more sales and better service to the end user aka marketing at work for you.
posted by omidius on Oct 23, 2003 - 95 comments

Use P2P? You might be unknowingly stealing money from one of your favorite websites. Add-on software that come with the programs divert commission money from affiliate sales on popular websites like Amazon.com to the creators of the file sharing programs. Follow the link for instructions on how to uninstall the software. Yet another reason I use KaZaa Lite. I've got to get those MST3K episodes from somewhere.
posted by Pinwiz on Sep 28, 2002 - 17 comments

Authors Guild seeks to stop Amazon from selling used books. It's the analog version of RIAA vs. Napster!

"Amazon's practice does damage to the publishing industry, decreasing royalty payments to authors and profits to publishers. In time, as we pointed out to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos when it first began this practice over a year ago, the financial loss to the industry could affect the quality and diversity of literature made available through booksellers. If profits suffer, publishers will cut their investments in new works, and authors facing reduced advances and royalties will have to find other ways to earn income. "

Read Jeff Bezos' email to Amazon Associate Members.
posted by Brilliantcrank on Apr 18, 2002 - 30 comments

Want to be the first kid on the block to own a Segway? Amazon and Dean Kamen are auctioning off three of them. All proceeds go to Dean's non-profit organization, FIRST.
posted by corpse on Feb 19, 2002 - 10 comments

Fake profits are causing the stock market to descend. Could someone explain to me the meaningful difference between Enron and Amazon.com? One company recently reported fake profits of $5 million, while having billions in debt. Enron, well...no profits either, and billions in debt. So why is Amazon.com considered "promising"? Enron had a revenue stream too.... Prediction: Amazon.com's stock will be "revalued" sharply lower as people get lucid about real profits and as the accounting/profit scandals spread.
posted by ParisParamus on Feb 4, 2002 - 19 comments

Amazon spamming search engines? Looking around for reviews on Cooper tires, I came across 2 links in the top 20 search results on Google for sites that look legitimate, but are actually redirect pages to Amazon.com (which doesn't even sell auto tires!). What's going on here? Since when is it legitimate for large corporations to spam search engines!??
posted by yarf on Dec 21, 2001 - 43 comments

Yet another design rip-off. This really bugs me. I have no problem with sites stealing layout and code, but actual graphics should be a no-no.
posted by jasonepowell on May 11, 2001 - 54 comments

Amazoning the news It seems weird at first, but maybe I would want to see the news this way... Anyone want to do it? (via nublog)
posted by owillis on Mar 20, 2001 - 5 comments

Another great amazon review hack is up, arguing about the character of "Indiana" in its state law books. It's not the first time (the story of ping and reviews of a CD rack come to mind), but for me, writing like this never gets old.
posted by mathowie on Mar 15, 2001 - 12 comments

A short film by an ex-Amazon employee who snuck into the main building....something for some of us to watch while awaiting more layoff news.
posted by gluechunk on Jan 30, 2001 - 5 comments

More Pseudo-Amazon Layout Fun It used to amaze me that people have entire careers based on ripping off others. Now it's just standard (I apologize for the thousandth post of an amazon.com tabs comment). The site actually looks like the old Amazon interface hooked up with the current Altavista site, and created some bizarre, overly-influenced mélange.
posted by Hankins on Dec 3, 2000 - 12 comments

Amazon.com keeps adding to the black hole. Looks like Amazon.com has taken a page from the Government's "running the country" book - they keep throwing money at a black hole instead of restructuring what they already have.
posted by bkdelong on Oct 3, 2000 - 2 comments

I have no doubts that people will get exercise from watching this workout video, but somehow, I don't think it's going to be aerobics. Check the reviews, I didn't even know there was a genre like this. This is the weirdest thing I've ever seen at Amazon, anyone seen anything weirder?
posted by mathowie on Sep 16, 2000 - 13 comments

Amazon.com to offer online car-buying service. I guess this explains why they've changed their navigation once again. A little more information for those hungry for it. I wonder if I can 1-click a car? Will it be shipped within 24 hours? And I don't want any damn bookmark!
posted by jdiaz on Aug 23, 2000 - 1 comment

If you thought Microsoft's Amazon.com Purchase Circle was amusing, check out the ecletic cocktail of the members of the United States Senate, with their Federalist papers, sugar diets, and Geisha memories. And, of course, there's their George Stephanopoulos fetish.
posted by tdecius on Aug 27, 1999 - 1 comment