Used book sales are also not counted in creating the bestsellers lists or the publishers' sales records. The crux of the complaint is that Amazon is making used books available within weeks of a new release. Marketing, accounting, and publicity mattered, but not nearly as much as editorial preference. The corporate mindset. The formula's not so difficult.
Critics decry the consolidation of the book business and the declinee of independent book stores.
But anyone who has walked into a Barnes and Noble or Borders can see that most Americans have more access to a wider range of books of all qualities and types than ever before. It was thought that the combination of apartheid censorship and lack of educational advantage had held them back, but now their time had come. Yet they are scarcer than viable South African feature film projects. The readers of Lingua Franca vote. Lottery money has led to massive building of theatres in Britain.