Yesterday, Simon & Schuster imprint Touchstone announced it will publish a book by a first-time author who wins an online vote (and a round of panel judging). Folks who presumably don't have the attention span to choose charismatic pop stars will be asked to read the first chapters of unpublished authors' manuscripts and vote, and the top 20 manuscripts will move on to future voting rounds, and so forth, according to a New York Times piece. And then these people will eventually buy the winning book after having already read, what, half of it? Or will they just wait for the inevitable audiobook tie-in to leak?
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