Kevin Nguyen, former Editor at Amazon Books, has joined Oyster as Editorial Director. In his new role, he will spearhead new editorial initiatives and continue to evolve the brand’s content offerings.
“We believe the best product lies in the pairing of high-quality editorial with our work in personalization, data science, and design,” wrote Oyster CEO Willem Van Lancker in a blog post. “I am excited to have Kevin join Team Oyster as we continue to innovate at the intersection of product, data, and editorial—connecting readers with books they would have otherwise never discovered.”
After 3.5 years at Amazon, Nguyen revealed in a post on Oyster’s blog that it was a tough decision to leave. However, he said that he wants to work at a place where people are passionate about reading — a mood that he feels is going away at Amazon. Check it out:
As Amazon grows, it continues to move away from its core books business. The company is interested in maximizing revenue and it doesn’t matter whether those dollars come from books, music, video games, or pet supplies. In fact, at Amazon, we referred to our audience as customers; at Oyster, they’re readers. It’s a subtle but powerful distinction; one that reinforces that Oyster is a company that wants to build a lasting relationship with people who care about reading.
