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Re:Ask HN: What passive income investments exist to suppleme... by wyclif on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @03:16AM (#27115179)
because now you have to sort out 'real' knowledgeable authors from this carpet bagging

I don't believe that's difficult. You can almost always differentiate real books from the grift-type ebooks by looking at them by publisher. Big difference between serious non-fiction publishers and print on demand titles.

Re:Ask HN: What passive income investments exist to suppleme... by chwitters on Saturday May 15, 2021 @03:20PM (#27168056)
The problem is that if you're looking for information about a niche subject, there are sometimes independent researchers who study for their own fulfillment, and then self-publish or publish through small publishers or vanity publishers. If you happen to find a book like this it can be a treasure since it's literally several years labor of love on the topic you want to know about. That person is also happy to have reached someone interested in their topic, even if their financial reward is negligible, zero or negative.

Because of the 'business' described above, that book is now impossible to find. It's been swamped by hundreds of easily generated titles which are at best copy pasted from the wikipedia, at worst utter gibberish.

Re:Ask HN: What passive income investments exist to suppleme... by quickthrower2 on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @05:51AM (#27116135)
I always want a recommendation I trust or a book chapter preview or an author I trust.