Why You Can Trust CNET Double feature: Coppola and Amazon
Zoetrope, a literary magazine published by director Francis Ford Coppola, is getting top billing on Amazon.com.
The quarterly magazine is solely dedicated to publishing short stories and one-act plays by well-known and new authors. It was started by Coppola in 1997.
As part of the deal, Amazon.com gets exclusive rights among online bookstores to publish excerpts, interviews, and one story from each issue of Zoetrope. However, it does not get exclusive Web publishing rights to the material, and the deal does not involve any cash, Amazon spokeswoman Beth Garson said.
The magazine sells at bookstores and newsstands; Amazon will also sell single issues and provide a link for those who want to subscribe.
The Zoetrope feature marks the first time Amazon's site has offered content from a literary publication other than reviews. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has hinted that the company may enter the book publishing business.
Last month, in an earnings conference call, Bezos said the company had foregone publishing its own books for the holidays, instead focusing on expanding its infrastructure to accommodate rapid growth. "These opportunities do not disappear and only become more attractive," he said.
Publishing its own books could lead to conflict-of-interest accusations for the bookseller, whose content practices have been the subject of recent controversy. Earlier this month, Amazon denied it had featured certain books and authors prominently in return for fees from publishing companies but announced a new policy to inform readers about paid spots starting March 1.
The lure of Coppola's name wasn't the impetus behind the deal, according to Amazon. "The reason why we chose to partner was because of the content," Garson said. "It's an opportunity to highlight a particular genre, which is short fiction."