Here is a little news quiz.
1. Dean Koontz’s recent statement that  “The times are changing, and it’s invigorating to be where change is understood and embraced.” referred to Koontz…

• A) Attending Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize for Literature ceremony
• B) Attending the NYC Pride March – Worldwide Pride – Stonewall50
• C) Signing a five-book deal with Amazon Publishing
• D) Attending President Trump’s Rally in Greenville, N.C.

Answer

2. The change referred to by Koontz will involve…

• A) Amazon’s plan to attain a critical mass of text, ebook, and audiobook markets, sign a critical mass of major authors and then shift to an exclusionary model similar to the video streaming industry, breaking the back of traditional publishers and causing the demise of brick and mortar bookselling.
• B) The Justice Department enforcing antitrust laws to preserve the robust marketplace for ideas that a diverse, independent book industry provides and which is essential to a healthy democratic society.
• C) Amazon’s plan to mark the triumph of their exclusionary book acquisition, production, distribution and retailing platform by establishing an Independent Publishing and Bookselling wing in their Museum of Retailing to provide an evolutionary keepsake for future generations.
• D) The building of a complete replica of the Roman Coliseum to provide representational competition in which publishing executives and bookstore owners will enter the coliseum floor naked and unarmed to battle Amazon gladiators in 80-foot weaponized mechanical suits.

3. Koontz’s remark that Amazon had “presented a marketing and publicity plan smarter and more ambitious than anything I’d ever seen before” referred to…

• A) Amazon’s development of the in utero market with their Amagram, a sonogram enhanced Alexa device which can project book content directly to developing fetuses, opening up a whole new market for Koontz’s work.
• B) Amazon’s acquisition of America’s public school system, The Alexacademy, providing a whole new market for Koontz’s work.
• C) Amazon’s new Genremizer application which automatically converts book content from one genre to another, easily converting an adult thriller to an early chapter book version, for example, opening up a whole new market for Koontz’s work.
• D) Leveraging Amazon’s vast vertical and horizontal holdings to benefit its publishing program.

Answer Key
1 C
2 A,C,D
3 All of the above