In an earnest quest for relevance, the report's authors name three areas where the bank could do better: corruption, inequality and the environment.

ECONOMIST: The World Bank

Amazon has used its retail clout to make deals directly with brand-name authors.

WSJ: Digital Self-Publishing Shakes Up Traditional Book Industry

The post now has 350 comments, many from other authors putting their name to the letter, and was covered by The Telegraph.

FORBES: Reviews Redux: Let's Up The Ante

The second is managing large-scale tentpole releases for big name authors.

FORBES: A Few Minutes with Richard Nash of Small Demons

Enhanced Editions, a U.K. book-app publisher founded in 2008, released enhanced titles from big-name authors such as Stephen King, Barack Obama, Nick Cave and Hilary Mantel.

WSJ: Enhanced E-Books: Blowing Up the Book

The big-name politicians and authors being out of his range, he decided he would pick the folk who looked promising in the long term, and also beg for the pity and favour of celebrities he liked.

ECONOMIST: Howard Gotlieb

Christopher Campbell, one of the authors of the tax alert, says several large S corporations, which he refused to name, are banding together to form a coalition and fight the bill.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Books lend themselves particularly well to an Internet-selling tool known as "collaborative filtering": Amazon and other Web vendors ask you to name some of your favorite products -- in Amazon's case, the books, authors, or genres you like best -- and then the retailers' software program tells you what other people with similar tastes liked so you can add to your shopping list.

FORBES: Does Amazon.com really matter?

Over 50 authors, including Mark Billingham, Lee Child, Jo Nesbo, Ian Rankin and Karin Slaughter, put their name to an open letter condemning unethical behaviour.

FORBES: Reviews Redux: Let's Up The Ante