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Your Christmas Morning E-Book Shopping Spree Will Be 'Curated' by Random House

by Matthew Zuras on December 20, 2010 at 12:30 PM

ebook insiderThe New York Times states that, on Christmas Day, "hundreds of thousands of consumers are expected to unwrap new e-readers that they received as gifts, and quickly begin downloading books to read." No surprise there, really, since Christmas Day 2009 doubled as the Bataan Death March of the popular printing press -- the first time that Amazon sold more digital books for its Kindle reader than it did physical ones. But, apparently, new e-reader owners will be so confounded by their alien devices that they won't even know how or what to read. "Should I download some Proust? Rhonda Byrne? This Martian contraption has destroyed my faculty of understanding!"

Thankfully, there's an e-book guide to e-books, for people who can't figure out e-books. 'The E-Book Insider,' being made available for free by Random House on December 25th, will offer reviews and recommendations for people who have forgotten how to look at the New York Review of Books and other such quaintly antiquarian relics of the Pre-Kindle Period. The Times helpfully notes that "many of the [e-book] suggestions are books from the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, the division of Random House that is heading the promotion." So it's a thoughtfully crafted list, to be sure.

Anne Messitte, publisher of Random House's division Vintage/Anchor, told the Times that Christmas, the nativity of so many e-readers, is "an ideal moment to really begin helping a reader curate the collection of e-books that they want." Remember when the word "curate" used to denote a religious official, or the process of presenting artworks according to history, aesthetics and concept?

In the past, you'd go to a physical store, and buy a physical book, creating and adding to your personal library. Now, you get advice from publishers about why you should buy their digital books, and that's called "curation." Maybe we need this guide to reading in the digital age, because this new language is really confusing us. "The future of book marketing is increasingly going to be about curating books for readers," Messitte added. See, there's that word again.

Tags: curation, e-book, E-bookInsider, e-reader, E-readers, hgg, kindle, Publishing, RandomHouse, top

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