Mass-market retail and self-publishing democratized fringe idea distribution

Evidence

New technologies and marketing devices have vastly increased the ease with which unusual and unpopular ideas may be spread. For print media, this has been facilitated by the ubiquitous availability of massmarket paperbacks through large bookstore chains, such as Borders and Barnes and Noble, and specialty stores catering to niche audiences such as evangelical Christians and New Age believers. Millenarian books have proved to be massive sellers—epitomized by the extraordinary success of the Left Behind series of millennialist novels by Tim La Haye and Jim Jenkins, which has sold more than fi fty million copies. — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy, 143

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Bucket-shop speculation democratized participation in early finance capitalism — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living With…, 121

Broader Connections

• Bucket-shop speculation democratized participation in early finance capitalism #expands (0.72) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 121