Kindle Scout: Readers as Editors, Readers as Salesmen

The Bookseller takes a look at Amazon's Kindle Scout, and is pessimistic.

What we do know is that when a reader-Scout-crowdist considers voting for a book, the author will have given Amazon a 45-day exclusivity period. During that 45 days -- and authors can submit only one MS at a time -- the programme will decide whether to offer readers a chance to vote on it. The previously unpublished manuscript must be in one of three genres: Romance, Romance, or Romance. Okay, I'm kidding. The three genres are Romance; Mystery and Thriller; Science Fiction and Fantasy.