Posted on 08/14/2014 6:01:35 PM PDT by truthfinder9
Hmm, what's this? We noticed that overnight eight 5-star reviews for Stephen Meyer's book Darwin's Doubt were mysteriously erased. Just vanished. Since these were positive reviews, it is unlikely they were "abusive" which is the normal criterion that Amazon has for removing reviews. Interesting.
These kinds of shenanigans always seem to happen when our critics are feeling maximally pressed because they can't answer our arguments on the merits. They thus see the need to resort to schemes and tricks. It's an admission of intellectual defeat.
We've also heard claims about people trying to reshelf Meyer's book in the religion section at the bookstore or get it officially reclassified as a Christian title instead science, and so on. University of Chicago biologist and evolution defender Jerry Coyne applauds such efforts. Anything to avoid a real debate.
No words could be more appropriate than those of Coyne's University of Chicago colleague, mathematician Leo Kadanoff, in thanking William Dembski for his presentation there yesterday:
"I think the ball is in the court of people who believe in evolution. They have to deal with these questions. ...Bill [Dembski] has made his case and we should all go home and think."
So...that was yesterday, and hours later someone is trying to sweep the positive reviews off the Amazon page for Darwin's Doubt. No doubt a coincidence.
Dr. Kadanoff, whose own views on intelligent design we don't know, thinks Darwinists should man up and address the evidence for ID rather than dodging, as per their usual custom. That would be most welcome.
Someone on Amazon wrote a glowing review of 'Killers from Space', calling it the greatest film ever made. LOL!
And you don’t think the big publishers had a monopoly? That’s exactly what the Federal judge found them guilty of.
Is that the monopoly you’re talking about?
Amazon wasn’t found guilty. The big publishers were.
And what ‘one’ author are you referring to?
I gave you ‘one’ author out of the 7500+ that signed the petition supporting Amazon.
It’s call an ‘example’.
Is this the place where you point to the only 900+ authors who signed the Hachette support petition?
Yes, you are a chaos agent who has no common sense, that conversation was over awhile back.
This is a great book, is well researched and highly persuasive. Myers asks: where does the information in DNA come from?
If you take the time to read it, your views of neo Darwinism will change forever. The last three chapters outline seven new theories begin proposed to explain origins since neo Darwinism is so weak.
I had to go and look at the Amazon reviews for sugar free gummie bears...you’re right...hilarious.
One near the top that I read:
April 25, 2014 - A day that will live in infamy – I was suddenly and deliberately attack by these evil gummy bears
It all started the day prior when my sugar tooth persuaded me to eat 2 handfuls of these sugar-free delights. Fast forward 15 hours 23 minutes and 44 seconds, the world shook. All hell broke loose inside me, a sudden headache, my skin began to perspire and something tore around in my abdomen with force enough to make me latch onto my couch with both hands and let out a sheer cry that sent my dog retreating into the bedroom, she probably knew the battle was already lost. I tried to make for the bathroom but the pressure was so intense I had to wait it out on the couch until a lapse in the gut-busting occurred and I regained control of my muscles. It took only moments before the volcano Mt Anus had blown its top. The air quickly turned poisonous from the methane and sulfuric fumes that spewed forth. Violence and terror are understatements of what happened for the next 45 minutes. I sustained 3rd degree burns from contact with the lava that flowed abruptly from my bowels, my blood pressure was at record levels, and my body mass was reduced by 4 lbs. After ample ventilation of the crime scene I quickly took a shower and changed clothes because the powerful fumes had soaked through the fabric and into the skin. I almost had a mental breakdown in the shower after realizing those little gummy bears had nearly defeated such a man that I thought I was. I can now hardly bare to look forward through the night-terrors and PTSD that will come of this horrid event. . .
Boston’s Howie Carr was caught up in this. Now I know why.
Guess this is the point in the conversation when you realized you don’t really have a cogent argument.
For authors with conventional publishing contracts, Amazon might not be optimal, since they are splitting the Amazon royalties with their legacy publishing companies.
For a self-published author like myself, Amazon is tops, paying me 70% royalties, and I can set my price anywhere I like. My printed books retail for $20, Amazon discounts them for about $15. Originally I set my Kindle prices at $10, but that is too high for an e-book by a non-famous author. I set them to 4.99 for my first novel and 6.99 for the others, and my income increased.
I think that this is the golden age for self-published authors. I have no desire to get a dinosaur contract with a legacy publisher just for bragging rights. I like the 70% royalty better than the bragging rights of being on the shelf at the few brick and mortar bookstores remaining.
Thanks, I am glad that is voluntary and that it works for you.
....heh - just to jerk a chain this morning.
WOW! Same thing happened to me!
Fully agree.
As I said I have a good friend who’s done VERY well on Amazon. Well enough so that Amazon paid the $1000 stipend to have all 5 of his fiction books turned into Audiobooks.
I’m just passing along my experience, YMMV of course.
Golden Age indeed ... check out the story of the modern Historian, Richard Dolan. He now has his own publishing company taking in other authors.
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