But it's not a conflict of interest, it's an absolutely clear connection. The point would be that they'd only want to publish books they love, because otherwise they have no credibility and they've risked not only their reputation, but now their pocketbooks as well. I think the thing is that this would only work for people who have some credibility to begin with and people trust what they think -- otherwise, sure, I have no interest in a book just because, say, Britney Spears is standing behind it and calling herself the publisher. But if Tina Fey is risking her reputation to say something is funny, sure, why not, maybe I'll take a look. The fact that they're profiting from it just gives them more incentive to love the book in the first place, otherwise no one will listen to them if they keep publishing bad books -- the same way no one would listen now if Oprah kept recommending bad books.

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