Kindle MatchBook: Amazon has the power

Kindle MatchBook: Amazon has the power

Amazon recently announced an upcoming program called Kindle MatchBook. Customers will be able to get an e-book copy of a p-book (paperbook) they previously purchased from Amazon (back to 1995) for a reduced price…sometimes for free.

When I wrote about it, I looked to anticipate some complaints that people would have.

I underestimated one…I should know better than to think I’ve plumbed the depths of people’s ability to complain on the internet. 😉

I said people would say this:

“Why isn’t XYZ book part of the program?”

[My response]: It’s going to take a while to get this going…there are agreements to make, and features (like X-Ray, which gives you information about the book) to add.

Well, I read right away in the Kindle forums that people thought this wouldn’t include books from the Big 5 (Big 6 at the time of a lot of these purchases, before the recent merger of Penguin and Random House) USA trade publishers.

After all, those publishers commonly don’t enable lending for their books, and they are the ones that sometimes (but diminishingly, I think) block text-to-speech access.

Let’s start out with the fact that we already know Big 5 books will be part of the deal.

Amazon shows some titles on the Kindle MatchBook page linked above.

They include several books from HarperCollins, one of the Big 5.

So, the basic premise of the complaint is invalid…but hey, that’s never stopped anybody from complaining before. 🙂

I, however, also jumped to a mistaken conclusion…which I will correct now.

When I wrote about “agreements being made”, I was picturing Amazon getting publishers to choose to put their books into this program.

You know what? Amazon doesn’t need their permission.

This is a rare case where Amazon really does have the power. Typically, when Amazon goes up against the publishers, they lose…text-to-speech, the Agency Model (the latter needed the Department of Justice to intervene).

That’s not going to happen here.

There are no additional uses covered under copyright being proposed here.

It’s just a sale.

With the end of the Agency Model (and maybe Amazon waited to announce this until they had new agreements with Penguin and Random House), Amazon can discount all of the Big 5’s books.

That’s all this is: discounts.

Let’s say that a given e-book normally has a digital list price of $9.99, and Amazon normally sells it for $7.99. Amazon probably paid the traditional publisher something like $5 in that case (it might be $7, but let’s go with the traditional 50%).

Amazon could choose to sell that book to somebody for $2.99, and take a $2.01 loss on that sale.

Would they do that?

Sure, if they thought it would inspire other sales. That’s part of what the publishers were so mad about when Amazon made many New York Times bestsellers $9.99. Amazon was often losing money on each sale, even though the publisher got the same amount for the book as if Amazon had sold it for full price.

Amazon was  driving  down consumer price perceptions about what a book is worth. The publishers thought customers might start thinking $25 for a hardback was too high if you could buy an e-book for $9.99…and that low price was possible if Amazon was willing to lose money on that sale.

As a former brick-and-mortar bookstore manager, I can tell you that you have to think in terms of populations of sales, not individual transactions. We could lose money on a TV Guide sale, if it meant we made money on other books the customer bought at the same time.

Consumers often, reasonably, only think of it as one sale at a time…what am I, as the customer, paying?

Amazon could do the same thing here. They could offer every single book in Kindle MatchBook right now, no deals needed.

However, Amazon doesn’t want to lose money…despite what some investors may think. 😉

Ideally, they can make these Kindle MatchBook offerings and still make money on them…in addition to cementing customer relations like few programs before.

How could they do that?

If the publishers take less money for Kindle MatchBook sales.

Basically, the publisher would agree that the price of the e-book is less if the customer bought the p-book from Amazon, and their wholesale payment would be based on that.

Amazon doesn’t need that price-lowering to do this, but it’s better for the e-tailer if they get it.

So, my guess is that what is happening is that Amazon will not put traditional publishers’ books into the program unless the publishers agree to lower payments.

It’s Amazon’s choice whether a book is available for Kindle MatchBook, not the publishers.

HarperCollins tends to be pretty consumer forward in their policies (leaving out the weird thing they did with e-books for public libraries). They didn’t block text-to-speech access, for example. I’m not surprised they would have agreed to this earlier than some others who tend to be more drag-foot about these kinds of innovations.

Why can’t the publishers simply do this themselves, and maybe charge $3.99 instead of $2.99?

Simple…they don’t know which customers bought their books in paper.

When you buy a book from a retailer (online or in a brick-and-mortar), the publisher isn’t told that you, as an individual, bought it.

They don’t know who you are…but Amazon does.

Nobody would want to just offer this discount to everybody, regardless of whether or not they bought the p-book. That’s just lowering the price across the board, and not using a special discount to influence future shopping behavior (which is what makes discounting work).

Amazon has the data needed to make this program work. Amazon can discount the books without the publishers’ permission…they could even discount an e-book that is from a different publisher than the p-book (say, an Open Road e-book of a p-book published by Random House). However, they would rather have the publisher give them a better wholesale price when they do it.

My guess is that publishers generally want to be in this program. I think customers will make buying decisions on whether or not they get this…I also think it will draw people away from Barnes & Noble and Kobo. Those two would have a tough time matching it, especially if they lost money. Remember, Amazon can make money on “diapers and windshield wipers” (as like to say) when you are their customer. B&N and Kobo just aren’t diversified enough in their offerings to use that strategy.

Yes, it’s possible that bundling costs publishers some money in the future. Will customers buy p-books as gifts, and that way get the e-books for themselves as a reduced price? Sure, that’s possible.

However, if it shifts that people don’t want to buy the books at all unless they get this bundle, being in the bundling business is almost necessary.

Looking at the future, I wouldn’t want to be the only Big 5 publisher not in this deal…authors might not want to go with me if I wasn’t part of it, customers might opt against my books even if they don’t know one publisher from another.

Well played, Amazon!  Leveraging your data to give you an advantage…and for once, having the power over the publishers.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Kindle New York Times besteller prices drop dramatically

Kindle New York Times besteller prices drop dramatically

Thank you, US Department of Justice!

I’ve been tracking the prices of New York Times bestselling fiction hardback equivalents in the USA Kindle store in my monthly Snapshot analysis posts since September 1, 2010, and this is the lowest I’ve seen them.

This follows on the heels of the last remaining publishers dropping the Agency Model, which had meant that Amazon could not discount those publishers’ e-book prices.

Penguin had been the last to settle with the DoJ, and Random House was bound by the settlement (that was sort of a condition of the two of them merging).

The average NYT bestseller hardback fiction equivalent is down to $10.08…that’s the first time it has been under $11 since I’ve been tracking it, and that’s way under!

No title is as high as $12.99, which had been the de facto standard after the Agency Model, although many books were higher.

While, interestingly, none of them are at exactly $9.99, several of them are below that.

We can also thank Amazon, of course…they didn’t have to lower prices just because they had the power to do so again, but they have.

This is the current list:

1. The Cuckoo’s Calling: $6.50
2. Inferno: A Novel (Robert Langdon): $10.99
3. Mistress: $11.99
4. And the Mountains Echoed: A Novel: $10.99
5. The Third Kingdom (Richard and Kahlan): $11.04
6. Night Film: A Novel: $10.99
7. The Bone Season: $4.99
8. Gone Girl: A Novel: $10.99
9. The Kill List: $10.99
10. The Husband’s Secret: $6.50
11. The English Girl: A Novel (Gabriel Allon): $9.00
12. The Ocean at the End of the Lane: $8.00
13. A Dance with Dragons: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Five: $11.99
14. Rose Harbor in Bloom: $10.99
15. William Shakespeare’s Star Wars: $7.48
16. Book published by Atria (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) not listed due to blocking text-to-speech access*: $10.67
17. The Girl You Left Behind: $11.99
18. Compound Fractures (Dr. Alan Gregory): $11.99
19. The Last Witness (Badge of Honor 11): $10.99
20. Book published by Simon & Schuster not listed due to blocking text-to-speech access*: $12.60

While some of you may be wondering why the average is over $9.99 if Amazon is setting the prices, well, there were always some (the original November 19 2007 press release said “…current New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases, which are $9.99, unless marked otherwise…”). That price was set more than four years ago…and the Agency Model did create price inflation.

On the other hand, look at the books on this list that are under $7.50! Also, compare these to the p-book (paperbook) prices. That weird situation where the e-book prices were sometimes higher also ended with the Agency Model (although it can happen from time to time due to other reasons, like the paperback being a pre-order and the Kindle price still being based on the hardback).

It’s a great time to be a reader. 🙂

Here are some of the earlier stats:

August 1, 2013:

11.99 12.99 9.99 12.99 11.99 10.99 9.99 12.99 9.99 9.99

12.99 12.99 11.04 12.99 8.52 12.99 14.99 10.91 11.04 11.84

Average: $11.71

July 1, 2013:

7.99 12.99 11.04 12.99 12.99 11.04 11.04 7.99 11.04 11.04

12.99 12.99 7.99 7.49 11.04 14.99 7.49 12.99 10.99 12.74

Average: $11.09

June 1, 2013:

12.99 12.99 12.99 11.99 8.99 12.99 13.99 12.99 12.99 9.00

14.99 12.99 9.99 9.99 10.99 14.99 10.99 12.80 9.68 12.99

Average: $12.12

May 1, 2013:

12.99 10.99 12.74 12.99 7.99 12.99 10.99 12.99 12.99 12.99
12.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 10.99 10.99 12.99 7.49 14.99 12.59

Average: $12.23

April 1, 2013:

12.74 12.99 11.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 9.45
11.99 14.99 14.99 9.68 12.99 12.99 12.99 9.78 11.04 10.67

Average: $12.36

March 1, 2013:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 N/A 10.99 12.99 12.99 11.99 12.99
12.74 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99

Average: $12.92

February 1, 2013:

N/A 12.99 12.74 12.99 9.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 11.04 12.99

9.99 8.00 12.99 11.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 13.59

Average: $12.38

January 1, 2013:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 11.04 11.04 12.74 11.43 12.74 12.99

11.99 9.99 12.99 7.50 12.99 8.00 19.99 13.49 13.99 14.99

Average: 12.49

December 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 11.99

12.99 12.99 19.99 9.50 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

Average: $13.22

November 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 19.99 12.99 9.50 12.99

11.99 12.99 12.99 11.99 12.99 13.99 14.99 12.80 11.99 12.99

Average: $13.26

October 1, 2012:

19.99 12.99 12.99 9.50 12.99 12.99 9.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

12.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 11.99 9.45 12.99 11.99 12.99 12.99

Average: $12.84

September 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 11.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

12.99 12.99 12.99 11.99 12.99 12.99 9.99 14.99 12.99 14.99 1.99

Average: $12.49

August 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 12.99

12.99 12.99 12.99 11.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

Average: $13.04

July 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

12.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99 14.99 12.99 12.99

Average: 13.29

June 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 11.99

12.99 9.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 11.99 12.99 14.99

Average: $12.94

May 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99 11.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

Average: $13.04

April 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

14.99* 12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99 11.9912.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

Average: $13.14

March 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99* 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

9.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

$13.04

February 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99* 12.99 9.99 12.99 12.99

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

Average: $13.04

* There was also an enhanced audio/visual version of this book for $16.99. I chose to enter it here only in the standard version, since that most closely represents the comparison between paper and e-book versions. It isn’t necessary to pay $16.99: it’s an additional payment for more features

January 1, 2012

Average: $13.14

December 1, 2011

Average: $12.40

November 1, 2011:

Average: $12.45

October 1, 2011:

Avg: $13.09

September 1, 2011:

Avg: 12.99

August 1, 2011:

Avg $13.29

July 1, 2011

Avg $13.09

June 1, 2011

Avg: $12.81

May 1, 2011

Average: $12.84

April 1, 2011

Average: $12.69

March 1, 2011

Average: $12.83

February 1, 2011

Average: $12.25
Agency Model average: $12.86
Non-Agency Model average: $9.99

January 1, 2011

Average: $12.52

Agency Model: $12.99

Non-Agency: $9.99

December 1, 2010:

Average: $12.78
Agency Model average: $13.52
Non-Agency Model average: $9.99

November 1, 2010:

Average: $12.83
Agency Model average: $13.59
Non-Agency Model average: $9.99

October 1, 2010:

Average: $12.38
Agency Model average: $12.79
Non-Agency Model average: $10.87

September 1, 2010:

Average: $12.52
Agency Model average $12.99
Non-Agency Model average $9.99

* A Kindle with text-to-speech can read any text downloaded to it…unless that access is blocked by the publisher inserting code into the file to prevent it. That’s why you can have the device read personal documents to you (I’ve done that). I believe that this sort of access blocking disproportionately disadvantages the disabled, although I also believe it is legal (provided that there is at least one accessible version of each e-book available, however, that one can require a certification of disability). For that reason, I don’t deliberately link to books which block TTS access here (although it may happen accidentally, particularly if the access is blocked after I’ve linked it). I do believe this is a personal decision, and there  are legitimate arguments for purchasing those books. 

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

I’m back from Boston

I’m back from Boston

Well, in case you couldn’t tell from my two full-featured posts this morning

• New Kindle Paperwhite announced
• Amazon announces Kindle MatchBook: discounted e-books for previous p-book buys

I’m back to having all my resources.

It was nice of Amazon to hold off on these two major announcements until I returned. 😉

It was a good trip, although there was a lot of work involved. My Significant Other and I went to the Boston area to help our adult kid move to a different apartment. Obviously, we didn’t go just to help (although we were helpful). It was also a good chance to see our kid. One of my siblings also took the train down from New York and stayed in our hotel room for a few days to help as well.

The hotel room was one of the most useful things we could provide. Apparently, everybody in Boston moves on September 1st. 🙂 My SO describes it as people just high-fiving each other on the staircase as the old tenant moves out and the new tenant moves in. Seriously, when does the landlord clean the place?

It’s because of the universities, but in our kid’s case, they actually arranged the lease so it was also up on September 1st…even though this is a post-college situation.

That meant that, not only did our kid have a place to sleep, we could store the furniture in the hotel room over night. Lots of people did it, which was a relief…we didn’t want to be the only ones. We got on the elevator with a queen-sized mattress, and got a bit of a look from someone who was already on it. I said, “Ms. Streisand prefers to travel with her own mattress,” but didn’t get a laugh…

People leave lots of furniture and such just on the sidewalk…we were told they call that “Allston Christmas”. People cruise around and pick up what they want. I do, by the way, recommend a site called

Freecycle

We didn’t use it this time, but have before. It’s a good way to get rid of stuff in decent condition that you don’t want or need any more. Whenever I see a piece of furniture on the sidewalk with a note saying, “Free”, I want to knock on the door and give them the information for Freecycle.

Also useful? We rented an F-150 (not our normal type of vehicle). That came in handy for moving a mattress and such…not our normal type of vehicle, though. I kept kind of expecting objects to fly across the road and stick to it, drawn by its massive gravitational field.

We do like Boston a lot, but driving in it isn’t easy.

One thing is that people honk their horns…a lot. We live in the San Francisco Bay Area, which I think tends to be relatively polite, or at least quiet about what they think. It was quite the running joke for us, how often those horns happened. I was sitting in the truck while it was being unloaded once, and a pedestrian, with that distinctive Boston accent, just looked straight ahead, not breaking pace, and responded to a loud blast with a long, drawn out, “Honk the hoooorrrrnnn.”

Part of why it is difficult to get around is that they seem to be very conservative in some ways in Boston. I’m not talking about the “Proper Bostonian” prudish reputation. They just don’t like to waste things.

For example, why refer to a street by its full name when you can just use the first syllable? It’s hard to ask for directions, when someone says “Make a left on Calm Avenue” when the street is actually “Commonwealth Avenue”. The same thing goes with “Massachusetts Avenue”…it’s always just “Mass Ave”.

They are also conservative with street signs…there aren’t very many. If something is known by multiple names (Mass Ave and 2A West), they only put one of them on the directional sign. That certainly means that your GPS (we were using a phone) and the street signs may not match up.

A third thing? Lane dividers. We often weren’t sure if there was one lane or two…that was always sort of a guess. 🙂

I decided that they must advise people in Boston to “Honk if you don’t know where you are.” 😉 I honestly saw somebody honk a horn…when there wasn’t another car driving on that whole block, and there were no pedestrians around.

I brought my Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ 4G LTE Wireless 32GB and a Bluetooth keyboard, but no laptop. A couple of times, I did go down to the business center to use a desktop. The Fire is great for a lot of things, and with the keyboard, I can deal with things like e-mails. If I have to copy and paste and have multiple websites open at the same time, though? It’s a challenge.

The Fire performed well (my SO also had one: my sibling had a non-Fire Kindle, as did our kid). I watched movies, some episodes of Torchwood: Miracle Day, read books (of course), and magazines. I would say the most helpful app on it for me was AccuWeather. It gives you predictions down to the hour for the current day…important when it is going to rain.

It was also great on the long plane flights. The first one was longer than we expected. I’m pretty knowledgeable about what should happen in commercial air flights, and I pointed out to my SO about a half hour before we were supposed to land that we should have started out descent and hadn’t.

It turned out, ironically for us since we are from the San Francisco Bay Area, that the Boston Airport (Logan) was closed due to fog. The captain got on and said that they were somewhat consiervative at JetBlue, and they were concerned we would run low on fuel with endless circling…so they diverted to Portland, Maine just to refuel. I had actually checked out the drive time to Portland from Boston…I’ve never met Loren Coleman in person, and the author has the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland. I thought I’d see what a day trip would be like to go there…but I didn’t expect to fly there! 🙂

We could have gotten off the plane…but not back on it. Also, if people did elect to get off, their luggage would still have gone to Boston.

So, we sat on the tarmac for a while, then flew back to Logan. Yay, Kindle Fire for entertainment!

The one thing I worry about is running out of battery charge, but it was fine. A movie runs me down about ten percent. One trick on that…turn the brightness down. That saves power, I believe.

Many people on the plane and in the airport had EBRs (E-Book Readers) and tablets…I would guess as many as had p-books (paperbooks). The flight attendant did ask my to turn off my “iPad”. 😉 That was at an appropriate time…I wasn’t breaking any rules.

I chatted with a different flight attendant about the rules…that person was quite happy to hear that the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) may change the rules so we can read our EBRs and tablets (in airplane mode) on take-off and landing. They don’t like having to enforce the current rules…leads to conflicts, sometimes.

Anyway, it was a good trip. I’ve gotten smart about bringing some things to hotels. I always pack a powerstrip: so much easier to plug them all in in one spot, even though there are now a lot of outlets in many hotels. I bring empty Ziploc bags. As vegetarians, we get a hotel with a kitchen, near a Whole Foods. The first day, we go grocery shopping…and then we can cook meals if we need to do that. Of course, you don’t always eat a whole package of something at a time, so having some Ziplocs in various sizes is really helpful. We also bring one large plastic bag for dirty laundry…it keeps it separate and makes it easier to pack.

Speaking of eating, I did particularly enjoy Kathmandu Spice, a restaurant in Arlington (just outside of Boston). We eat at Indian restaurants quite a bit, and there was a Tibetan fast food restaurant I used to frequent in Palo Alto. Kathmandu isn’t in India, of course, but the food is somewhat similar to Northern Indian cuisine (which is my preference). We had a cauliflower appetizer, where they were prepared somewhat like falafel, that was really good.

I’m happy to be back! My life is good (knock virtual wood), and I think that’s  why I prefer to be home, given a choice. This was a good, valuable trip, though…nice family time. I appreciate your patience while I was on somewhat reduced access.

Hope I haven’t buried you too much today! 😉

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

New Kindle Paperwhite announced

New Kindle Paperwhite announced

It’s official!

The new version of the Kindle Paperwhite is available for pre-order, and is scheduled to start shipping September 30th:

Kindle Paperwhite, 6″ High Resolution Display with Next-Gen Built-in Light, Wi-Fi – Includes Special Offers

It’s $119 in the ad-supported Special Offers version, $139 without ads.

Update: here’s the 3G version:

Kindle Paperwhite 3G, 6″ High Resolution Display with Next-Gen Built-in Light, Free 3G + Wi-Fi – Includes Special Offers

Not as much information on that one. Expected to be released on November 5 for $189 (presumably, that’s with Special Offers). You can’t pre-order yet, but you can sign up for an e-mail when it becomes available.

There are some new features, so I may need to get one to be able to write about it effectively…poor me. 😉

Here are some high(front)lights: 😉

• higher contrast and better reflectivity
• new generation light (it looks completely even in the picture)
• 25% faster processor (that will affect page turns)
• More responsive touchscreen
• better navigation…by page, by chapter, and to the end of the book (“without losing your place”)
• enhanced lookup combining dictionary, Wikipedia, and X-Ray
• vocabulary builder…people have wanted this. You’ll be able to add dictionary words to a special list, and review them with “flashcards”
• in-line footnotes (another greatly requested feature)

Two other features are “coming soon”:

• Goodreads (which Amazon bought recently) integration
• Kindle FreeTime for Paperwhite (not the same as the FreeTime on the Kindle Fire…more below)

Kindle FreeTime for Paperwhite will let you control which books your kids see on the device. That’s good! It also gives badges (they show a screenshot):

• Bookworm (read for at least 35 minutes today)
• Super Bookworm (read at least 7 days in a row)
• Over Achiever (I don’t like this name…40 minutes today)
• Serious Reader (read 500 pages)
• Kilo-Pages (read 1,000 pages)

Oh…it appears you can set the goal for Bookworm. The parents can choose how many minutes for the badge, I think. That’s better.

It also looks like they want you to enter the child’s name, birthdate…and gender. I really don’t like that last one…I would contend it is irrelevant here. I’m guessing they want it so they can use gender specific pronouns (“Emily’s report: she has read 10 books this month”). I think parents and other legal guardians will worry about this information being used for marketing, but we’ll see.

Here’s the Goodreads pop-up:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AWH595M/ref=amb_link_382772722_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=gateway-center-column&pf_rd_r=07MM2WMJEJ6FDNK5Y641&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1611619942&pf_rd_i=507846#

That decides it. I need to get it. 🙂 Unless they retro this to the old Paperwhite right away, this appears to be exactly what I’ve been saying they need to do with the social platform for Kindle.

When available, it will make it possible for you to see what your friends are reading (if they volunteer that, I assume), add your Amazon books (Kindle or not) to Goodreads, give you a “want to read” shelf, and so on.

Now, for the super negative: still no audio, so no text-to-speech (or MP3s or audiobooks).  😦

I’m hoping they have more gadgets announcing soon, including a non-backlit device with audio.

As some people have been saying in the Amazon forums, it doesn’t need speakers. We can attach it with a headphone jack to car audio, external speakers we buy, and so on. That’s got to make it pretty price effective to do it that way, I would think. I understand the cost of adding actual speakers to it (although I’d still like that best.

Enjoy!

Update: here’s the first commercial for the new Paperwhite. It gives you a better look at some of the features…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaHQqI3fksM&sns=em

I was amused by them saying that it can hold over 1,000 books, which means you can put your whole library on it. 😉 Amazon’s been saying that for a while, but 1,000 books isn’t a tenth of my personal library…

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Amazon announces Kindle MatchBook: discounted e-books for previous p-book buys

Amazon announces Kindle MatchBook: discounted e-books for previous p-book buys

Big, big, big news!

From the very beginning of the Kindle store, people have been asking why they couldn’t get an e-book for free or a reduced cost if they already owned the p-book (paperbook).

There were good reasons why it wasn’t happening, and much of it had to do with an unawareness of Amazon’s relationship with publishers.

Amazon can’t just scan a p-book and give you that elementary e-book for free…that’s not within their legal rights.

I wrote something about this nearly four years ago:

Would you like bytes with that? Buy a p-book, get an e-book…sort of

However, I have said that it is something Amazon might be able to arrange with publishers…not do it simply on their own, but get authorization. You can think of that a bit like Kindle Worlds: that’s not simply unauthorized fan fiction. Amazon pays a rightsholder to allow people to write fiction in that world.

Now, in this

press release

Amazon announces

Kindle MatchBook

This not only a most requested feature…it’s incredibly good. 🙂

You will be able to purchase e-books of p-books that you bought from Amazon for price ranging from $2.99 down to free.

This goes all the way back to books you bought in 1995.

It won’t happen for all books right away, but Amazon will let you know which books are available for the program.

Believe me, I will be all over this when it launches in October!

I would not currently want a p-book when I bought an e-book…I don’t really buy p-books for myself any more. I mean, I love books…I’m a former brick-and-mortar bookstore manager with something like 10,000 p-books on shelves in my house. However, I’ll repeat myself: I love books, which doesn’t mean that I love p-books over e-books. E-books have a lot of advantages.

Getting e-books of p-books I already own? That’s perfect for me. I’ll certainly get the free ones, and I’ll consider buying some of the others.

This will presumably continue for books going forward…so if you bought a p-book for a gift, you’d have the option to get the e-book for yourself.

Here is a key point from the press release:

“Kindle MatchBook is the latest in a series of customer benefits exclusive to the Amazon ecosystem of digital content”

This may only be available from Amazon…which makes the Kindle a much more attractive purchase for a lot of people.

Now, whenever that feels really good to me like this happens, I look for the flipside. What will be people’s complaints? What are the negatives?

One complaint seems obvious to me: “If I’d known this was coming, I wouldn’t have spent $9.99 on an e-book version two years ago.”

I can understand that one…the first book I bought as an e-book I already owned as a p-book. However, I (and you) made the rational decision as a consumer that the e-book was worth that price to me and that time…this doesn’t change what happened then, it just makes things better in the future.

“Why are they charging us anything? It’s just a digital download and they don’t cost anything to produce.”

It’s because they still need to pay the rightsholder (who can then pay the author) except in the case of books in the public domain (and those are the ones I think will be free, for the most part).

“Why isn’t XYZ book part of the program?”

It’s going to take a while to get this going…there are agreements to make, and features (like X-Ray, which gives you information about the book) to add.

“This is just a trick to force you to buy Kindles.”

Actually, no…because you can read these on free Kindle reading apps. Sure, you might prefer to read them on an EBR (E-Book Reader), and that’s not going to be an out-of-the-box option with a NOOK or a Kobo…but that’s a choice. 🙂 You can install the Kindle app on many tablets, and that’s different.

“Amazon is ripping off authors with this deal.”

What authors get is going to depend on the publishers’ deals with the authors, it’s not really Amazon in that mix…except for books from Amazon publishing.

“Amazon is trying to kill brick-and-mortar bookstores.”

Well, we hear that a lot. I think Jeff Bezos has been right when saying that Amazon doesn’t look for a way to hurt a competitor: they look for a way to improve their relationships with customers and when they do that, that may certainly hurt their competitors…but the latter isn’t the focus.

Of course, I’m really an optimist, and I know I tend to see things as being good and getting better…life’s just more fun that way, both for me and for people who encounter me. At least, that’s how I feel about it. 🙂 I also always look for ways that something feels bad to me initially to have a positive, or at least, not to have the negative motivation that seems intuitively obvious to me at first.

For the free ones, I don’t really see any reason not to do this. I know some people don’t like having lots of books in their archives/Cloud. If they aren’t re-readers, and they don’t think anyone who is or may be on their account in the future is going to read something, it does add to the noise to signal ration. I don’t feel that way, though, and if we get some sort of collection management in the Cloud, it will be less of a negative.

Hey, this may even help supply in used bookstores. There are people who may be willing to get rid of p-book copies they own if they can have the e-book at a reasonable price.

Is that moving even more of the world’s literature into Amazon’s hands? Yep, I think it will tend to do that. Conspiracy theorists…on your marks (“Wait, why is it called your ‘marks’? Are you trying to tie us into Karl Marx? Who put those marks there…and why aren’t they all exactly the same size? No way I’m doing that!”). 😉

I mentioned that I thought this year might be more about software and services than about hardware, as far as e-reading is concerned…I consider this to fit right into that idea.

Thanks, Amazon! Once again, you are innovating to give us more.

Update: my adult kid posts things  for the Boston Volunteers website, and I think this one is particularly good for the optimist/pessimist discussion:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=515866665157914&set=a.279975625413687.67148.227583143986269&type=1&theater

My Significant Other would also tell you that is such a “Calvin concept”. 😉

Update: there was an idea out there that this does not include the “Big 5” publishers (HarperCollins, Random Penguin (as I prefer to call the merged entity…formerly Random House and Penguin), Hachette, Simon & Schuster, and Macmillan). It does. 🙂 The books shown on the service page linked above include some from HarperCollins…here’s one example:

Dandelion Wine

They also have Prey and The Art of Racing in the Rain from HarperCollins. They may be the only Big 5 on board at this point (I haven’t checked other titles), but I think we’ll see them well represented.

Also, if you use Kindle Direct Publishing, you need to go to

https://kdp.amazon.com/

to enroll your books.

The key thing, of course, is that your book does have to have (or have had?) a print version at Amazon for this to work. It only goes one way: buy a p-book, get an e-book at a special price. It’s not “buy an e-book, get a p-book at a special price”. Their FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) have some interesting information. The publisher sets the price as one of these:

• free
• $0.99
• $1.99
• $2.99

That price has to be no more than 50% of the digital list price (also set by the publisher). So, a ninety-nine cent book will have to be offered for free, if they are in this program.

I encourage KDP authors to look at the rest of the FAQs. You’ll see a link on your Bookshelf page to the program.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

How to save large bookstores

How to save large bookstores

There was always something glorious about walking through a giant bookstore.

Sure, it’s a very different attraction than being in a tiny, genre-focused store, or a used bookstore so crammed with dusty tomes that you have to turn sideways to get down the aisles. 😉

Still, until they decayed to the point that there were cavernously large sections where the shelves had been removed, and nobody was merchandising them, I have to say it felt great to browse through a place with tens of thousands of volumes.

That experience has been going away.

Crown Books is long gone.

Waldenbooks is gone.

B. Dalton is gone.

Borders is gone.

Barnes & Noble…is not gone when I am writing this. 😉 They are, however, planning to reduce the number of stores.

Now, some of you are probably saying, “Good riddance”. After all, the “dinostores” were one of the reasons that a lot of local bookstores closed.

Even though I love shopping for books (especially e-books) on the internet, I do think there is a place in the market for large bookstores.

How can they survive, though, when they aren’t as convenient or have as big a selection and aren’t as cheap as the internet?

As a former brick-and-mortar bookstore manager, I can think of a way…two of them, actually.

They both could be done by Barnes & Noble, but it requires a major change in thinking. Customers would welcome them, I think.

The Pop-up Store

When you manage a brick-and-mortar bookstore, you are constantly fighting your rent. When a book is sitting on the shelf, it costs you money, because you are paying rent for the space underneath it. The longer you have it, the less you profit on the sale.

You are also fighting salaries. Even when your employees aren’t selling something, if they are in the store and “on the clock”, money is ticking away.

The answer here would be to only have the store open for a few months in the year (specifically, I would go with mid-November to mid-January).

That is a high demand period for books, especially for gift books (which can be more profitable, partially because people don’t really expect you to mark down a $100 gift book…in fact, it can reduce the sales if you discount it, because they are looking for a luxury item at that point).

You could choose to only stock books with a pretty high likelihood of selling. People could get their monthly romances somewhere else…this would be more for high-ticket items.

There is a parallel to this…Halloween stores. There is plenty (puh-lenty) of large cheap retail space around that would work very well for this.

You wouldn’t have to put it right downtown in a high-rent space…people would travel for this. Adults would remember getting paperbooks (p-books) as kids, and want to duplicate that experience.

You could get investors for those few months…sort of selling shares in the performance.

The rest of the year?

You sell through the internet.

I think this could really work. I picked those dates, by the way, because they are pre-Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) and then they go through when people return items (January is actually a good sales month). Returns often mean additional sales. A luxury store like this would also be likely to have fewer returns…the person who got the book isn’t the person who bought the book, so that can complicate them bringing it back. There’s also the factor of not wanting to hurt somebody’s feelings when it is an expensive book.

Franchises

This is another model that could work well.

Many, many people have a fantasy about running a bookstore. I’ve done some weird things in my life, but I never have to have any reluctance to mention that I managed a bookstore…everybody thinks that’s cool. 😉

The great thing for the franchisor (let’s say Barnes & Noble, in this case) is that the store doesn’t have to make any money. That’s not how the franchisor makes the money.

I was part of a franchise (I didn’t own it, I just worked in it). The franchisor got six percent of the gross every year. Note that it was of the gross (everything taken in), not the profit. There basically wasn’t any profit…I think we had something like five owners in seven years, because nobody could really run it profitably. They thought they could, though. 🙂 With a bookstore, people would think they could make it work, and even if they couldn’t, it would be a dream job for many people…if they could afford it. I’ve been in many used bookstores where I can guarantee you that they did not make a profit. They ran it because they wanted to run a bookstore…that’s it.

Another way that a franchisor can make money is by having a buy-in fee. Let ‘s say the buy-in fee is $75,000 per location…and there are three locations in our group (and people buy all three together). So, every time the ownership changes, the franchisor makes $225,000! Let’s see, if that happens five times, that’s $1,125,000…not a bad way to profit on somebody else’s failure. 😉

Naturally, people will generally want to think there is a chance to succeed, or you won’t have people buying the franchise (although some might still do it, for the experience). The odds are that some people would figure out a way…and B&N could keep a few profitable company-owned stores (hand-picked, of course) as examples.

Franchisees would have to follow certain guidelines for the right to use the Barnes & Noble name…so B&N can keep up the quality. If you are a franchisee and you don’t meet those obligations (maybe a B&N snap inspection shows the store is too dirty), you could conceivably lose the franchise, because you would have agreed to those conditions.

Yes, I think both of these models would be a way to keep big bookstores around. Consumers would like them, even if they don’t entirely replicate the chain bookstore experience of the 1980s.

I know it would be tough to get B&N to do either of these…although I do think you may see mini-B&N pop-up stores this holiday season.

What do you think? Am I missing something here? Would you want the experience of running a bookstore…even if it was only for a few months one year? Do you think you would travel, oh, fifteen miles for a well-run, large bookstore with gift books? Feel free to tell me and my readers what you think by commenting on this post.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Radio Shack has Kindle Touch 3G for $29.97

Radio Shack has Kindle Touch 3G for $29.97

Special thanks to reader ManyDawgs for the heads-up on this!

In a

post in my Amazon forum (authors can have their own forums at Amazon, through the Amazon Author Central program)

ManyDawgs alerted me to a fantastic deal!

Radio Shack has the Kindle Touch 3G (no longer sold new by Amazon, but a popular model in its day) for $29.97!

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12320227

That’s great!

This is a touchscreen, non-backlit model…with audio capabilities and text-to-speech! Again, this is the 3G model.

This is probably a Labor Day sale, and won’t last.

ManyDawgs also wisely suggested you print out the ad and bring it with you to the store (this is only available in store, not online).

I’m always thinking about gifts, and this would be a great one for somebody, even if it doesn’t have the frontlighting of the Paperwhite. I’m not going to be able to get to a Radio Shack today, but if I could, I might buy one to donate somewhere.

They also have:

• The “Mindle” (the entry level Kindle…that’s just what I call it) for $49.97
• Weirdly, the wi-fi only Touch for $69.97 ($40 more than one that comes with 3G and wi-fi)
• Check for accessories…they have a big sale going on

I always appreciate my readers giving me alerts, so I can pass them along to you…enjoy!

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Agency Model ends for Random House, Penguin: new discounts

Agency Model ends for Random House, Penguin: new discounts

Earlier today, I gave you a heads-up that something was happening, when some of the New York Times bestseller hardback fiction equivalents were unavailable in the USA Kindle store. I noticed they were from Random House (including its imprints), and speculated that it had to do with the end of the Agency Model for that publisher.

Well, that was it!

It no longer says, “This price was set by the publisher.” for Random House or Penguin (they merged recently).

Penguin was the last of five publishers to settle with the U.S. Department of Justice in a legal action against them (and Apple) for price-fixing, utilizing the Agency Model.

That is now over for e-books in the USA.

The Agency Model could return in a couple of years, but the situation would be different.

The key thing is that Amazon (and other retailers) can now discount e-books from Penguin and Random House again…and we’ve started seeing those already.

This will allow for price wars for the holiday season..yay!

We should also stop seeing e-books priced higher than the p-books (paperbooks) as much…it will still happen sometimes. A few reasons it happens that are unaffected by this:

• The paperback price is a pre-order, and the e-book price is still based on the hardback
• The p-book is either used, a bargain copy, or not coming from Amazon
• Someone is looking at two different territories when doing the comparison (the USA and France, for example)

There are many imprints (typically, a part of the company that specializes in a particular sort of book, like mysteries or science fiction, and that has a different name) for Random House and Penguin, which makes a comprehensive search complicated. Here are a couple of links for their books in the USA (outside the USA will not be directly affected by this change) Kindle store, and then I’ll link to some books that recently dropped.

Penguin books in the Kindle store
Random House books in the Kindle store

Note that the price-changing won’t happen on every title, and it make take a few days for them to process it all. Amazon now gets to decide the consumer prices again, and there is a lot involved in that (as a former bookstore manager, it surprised me that the publishers wanted to set the consumer prices, which the Agency Model enabled them to do…it wasn’t their area of expertise).

Here are a few titles I noticed. I got these by going to the most useful site for Kindle owners on the internet:

eReaderIQ

Among their many free and excellent services is tracking price drops for you. You can list books, and they’ll send you a free e-mail when it drops an amount you specify. You should go check those lists, your wishlists, and any other way you are tracking books to see what has gone down. They list the most recent drops…that’s what I checked.

I specifically chcecked price drops in the past 24 hours, and went down at least a dollar.

As usual, I won’t knowingly link to books which block text-to-speech access.

• A Game of Thrones 4-Book Bundle: A Song of Ice and Fire Series: A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, and A Feast for Crows (Song of Ice & Fire) by George R.R. Martin (down to $15.72…it’s been as high as $35.99…the bundle does not have TTS blocked, although the individual first book does. Consider this a bargain for these books, and think about it as a gift for a holiday or birthday…you can delay when gifts are delivered)
• Augustus: A Novel (Vintage) by John Williams (down to $8.39)
• Defending Jacob: A Novel by John Laday (down to $6.83)
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Random House Reader’s Circle Deluxe Reading Group Edition): A Novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (down to $7.79)
• The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (down to $6.42)

There are, of course, many, many more.

By the way, I’m going to try some new code here…it’s supposed to let you see a preview of the book cover when you hover over it (that probably will work in a browser, maybe on a Fire, but probably not on a non-Fire Kindle. I’d appreciate feedback on it…I don’t want to cause anybody any problems with it, and I hope it helps. I just tested it on this computer (which I have borrowed), and it didn’t seem to do or hurt anything. 🙂

Enjoy the discounts!

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Snapshot: September 1 2013

Snapshot: September 1 2013

I generally run this information through eReaderIQ.com (it’s just easier than Amazon), and there are some vagaries in the searches (both there and on Amazon). I do try to run it the same way every time, so unless Amazon changes something, it should give you a pretty good idea.  NOTE: I’ve changed this explanation from saying “Jungle-Search.com” to “eReaderIQ.com”. It’s the same people and I assume the results are the same. eReaderIQ is just for the Kindle, Jungle-Search does Amazon generally. eReaderIQ has a slightly better interface for the searches.

Special note: i am away from my normal resources today. I will do what I can, but some elements (such as the price point analysis) may be pending for a couple of days. Update: this now be completed. The only one where the data was taken at a later date than the 1st was the price point analysis.

Titles in Kindle Store (graph added 9/4 based on data taken 9/1)

September 1, 2013: 2,081,800
August 1, 2013:  2,060,431
July 1, 2013: 1,998,705
June 1, 2013: 1,972,277
May 1, 2013: 1,940,274
April 1, 2013: 1,924,138
March 1, 2013: 1,913,164
February 1, 2013: 1,849,479
January 1, 2013: 1,805,001
December 1, 2012: 1,742,991
November 1, 2012: 1,641,362
October 1, 2012: 1,579,329
September 1, 2012: 1,531,069
August 1, 2012: 1,486,649
July 1, 2012: 1,451,504
June 1, 2012: 1,407,210
May 1, 2012: 1,358,922
April 1, 2012: 1,315,927
March 1, 2012: 1,265,632
February 1, 2012: 1,207,522
January 1, 2012: 1,165,654
December 1, 2011: 1,112,876
November 1, 2011: 1,058,635
October 1, 2011: 1,033,611
September 1, 2011: 995,265 (roughly 40,000 removed one day: PLR?)
August 1, 2011: 1,015,056
July 1, 2011: 980,434
June 1, 2011: 974,841
May 1, 2011: 937,831
April 1, 2011: 897,663
March 1, 2011: 868,351
February 1, 2011: 828,708
January 1, 2011: 796,131
December 1, 2010: 768,865
November 1, 2010: 743,692
October 1, 2010: 714, 663
September 1, 2010: 687,246
August 1, 2010: 659,479
July 1 2010: 627,343
June 1 2010: 596,300
May 1 2010: 509,229
April 1 2010: 476,653
March 1 2010: 450,625
February 1 2010: 415,100
January 1 2010: 401,773
December 1 2009: 385,484
November 1 2009: 368,813
October 1 2009: 342,865
September 21 2009: 355,805
July 28 2009: 332,813
May 16 2009: 284,491

Approximate average of titles added per day:

September 1, 2013: 689
August 1, 2013: 1,991
July 1, 2013: 881
June 1, 2013: 1,032
May 1, 2013: 538
April 1, 2013: 354
March 1, 2013: 2,274
February 1, 2013: 1,435
January 1, 2013: 2,000
December 1, 2012: 3,388
November 1, 2012: 2,001
October 1, 2012: 1,609
September 1, 2012: 1,433
August 1, 2012: 1,134
July 1, 2012: 1,476
June 1, 2012: 1,558
May 1, 2012: 1,433
April 1, 2012: 1,622
March 1, 2012: 2,004
February 1, 2012: 1,351
January 1, 2012: 1,703
December 1, 2011: 1,808
November 1, 2011: 807
October 1, 2011: 1,278
September 1, 2011: -638
August 1, 2011: 1,117
July 1, 2011: 186
June 1, 2011: 1,194
May 1, 2011: 1,339
April 1, 2011: 946
March 1, 2011: 1,416 (corrected from last post)
February 1, 2011: 1,051
Taken January 1, 2011: 880 (average for December 2010)
December: 839
November:  968
October: 914
September: 896
August: 1,037
July: 1,035
May: 2,809 (may be affected by Penguin return)
April: 1,086
March: 840
February: 1,146
January: 430 (may be impacted by Macmillan removal)
December 2009: 525
November: 556
October: 837

Magazines:

September 1, 2013: 630
August 1, 2013: 628
July 1, 2013: 628
June 1, 2013: 626
May 1, 2013: 620
April 1, 2013: 609
March 1, 2013: 605
February 1, 2013: 601
January 1, 2013: 586
December 1, 2012: 573
November 1, 2012: 567
October 1, 2012: 558
September 1, 2012: 547
August 1, 2012: 510
July 1, 2012: 497
June 1, 2012: 476
May 1, 2012: 469
April 1, 2012: 453
March 1, 2012: 430
February 1, 2012: 409
January 1, 2012: 370
December 1, 2011: 340
November 1, 2011: 132
October 1, 2011: 129
September 1, 2011: 127
August 1, 2011: 119
July 1, 2011: 115
June 1, 2011: 110
May 1, 2011: 93
April 1, 2011: 86
March 1, 2011: 81
February 1, 2011:  80
January 1, 2011: 74
December 1, 2010:  83
November 1, 2010: 84
October 1, 2010: 80
September 1. 2010: 70
August 1, 2010: 64
July 1, 2010: 61
June 1, 2010: 60
May 1, 2010: 58
April 1, 2010: 53
March 1, 2010: 50
February 1, 2010: 46
January 1, 2010: 43
December 1, 2009: 40
November 1, 2009: 38

Newspapers:

September 1, 2013: 181
August 1, 2013: 181
July 1, 2013: 179
June 1, 2013: 180
May 1, 2013: 185
April 1, 2013: 181
March 1, 2013: 198
February 1, 2013: 201
January 1, 2013: 200
December 1, 2012: 198
November 1, 2012: 202
October 1, 2012: 200
September 1, 2012: 201
August 1, 2012: 204
July 1, 2012: 201
June 1, 2012: 199
May 1, 2012: 195
April 1, 2012: 194
March 1, 2012: 193
February 1, 2012: 190
January 1, 2012: 188
December 1, 2011: 211
November 1, 2011: 191
October 1, 2011: 184
September 1, 2011: 177
August 1, 2011: 176
July 1, 2011: 176
June 1, 2011: 169
May 1, 2011: 167
April 1, 2011: 164
March 1, 2011: 161
February 1, 2011:  156
January 1, 2011: 153
December 1, 2010: 148
November 1, 2010: 145
October 1, 2010: 144
September 1, 2010: 138
August 1, 2010: 135
July 1, 2010: 136
June 1, 2010: 133
May 1, 2010: 128
April 1, 2010: 118
March 1, 2010: 107
February 1, 2010: 93
January 1, 2010: 89
December 1, 2009: 76
November 1, 2009: 58

Blogs:

September 1, 2013: 14,792
August 1, 2013: 14,555
July 1, 2013: 14,432
June 1, 2013: 14,157
May 1, 2013: 14,552
April 1, 2013: 14,234
March 1, 2013: 13,870
February 1, 2013: 13,461
January 1, 2013: 13,110
December 1, 2012: 13,559
November 1, 2012: 13,178
October 1, 2012: 12,908
September 1, 2012: 12,417
August 1, 2012: 12,087
July 1, 2012: 12,759
June 1, 2012: 12,680
May 1, 2012: 12,914
April 1, 2012: 13,295
March 1, 2012: 13,038
February 1, 2012: 13,984
January 1, 2012: 13,571
December 1, 2011: 13,178
November 1, 2011: 14,286
October 1, 2011: 15,116
September 1, 2011: 14,801
August 1, 2011: 14,477
July 1, 2011: 14,053
June 1, 2011: 13,616
May 1, 2011: 12,901
April 1, 2011: 12,502
March 1, 2011: 12,080
February 1, 2011: 11,355
January 1, 2011: 11,087
December 1, 2010: 10,585
November 1, 2010: 10,255
October 1, 2010: 10,056
September 1, 2010: 10,036
August 1, 2010: 9,716
July 1, 2010: 9,429
June 1, 2010: 9,228
May 1, 2010: 9,094
April 1, 2010: 8,944
March 1, 2010: 8,754
February 1, 2010: 8,651
January 1, 2010: 7992
December 1, 2009: 7589
November 1, 2009: 7365

Percentage of books priced from one penny to $50 that are under ten dollars

August (taken September 1, 2013): 88.5% (1,706,130 of 1,928,837)
July (taken August 1, 2013): 87.9% (1,681,162 of 1,913,454)
June (taken July 1, 2013): 87.7% (1,627,666 of 1,855,614)
May (taken June 1, 2013): 87.8% (1,605,912 of 1,828,577)
April (taken May 1, 2013): 87.8% (1,582,685 of 1,801,844)
March (taken April 1, 2013): 88.1% (1,573,845 of 1,785,986)
February (taken March 1, 2013): 88.4% (1,564,429 of 1,770,452)
January (taken February 1, 2013): 89.6% (1,534,604 of 1,713,256)
December (taken January 1, 2013): 89.9% (1,502,267 of 1,671,220)
November (taken December 1): 89.8% (1,451,437 of 1,615,716)
October (taken November 1): 90.0% (1,371,227 of 1,522,810)
September (taken October 1): 90.1% (1,322,272 of 1,466,890)
August (taken September 1): 90.0% (1,278,733 of 1,421,168)
July (taken August 1): 89.9% (1,240,642 of 1,379,399)
June (taken (July 1): 89.7% (1,204,888 of 1,343,776)
May (taken June 1): 89.8% (1,1174,668 of 1,308,331)
April (taken May 1): 89.9% (1,113,793 of 1,261,606)
March (taken April 1): 89.6% (1,089,619 of 1,215,625)
February (taken March 1): 89.7% (1,044,889 of 1,165,368)
January (taken February 1): 89.4% (994,448 of 1,112,467)
December (taken January 1): 89.0% (955,187 of 1,073,539)
November (taken December 1): 88.8% (907,647 of 1,021,647)
October (taken November 1): 88.7% (859,492 of 968,948)
September (taken October 1): 88.6% (835,590 of 943,545)
August (taken September 1): 88.4% (803,271 of 908,602)
July (taken August 1): 89.1% (829,823 of 931,713)
June (taken July 1): 89.2% (801,631 of 898,735)
May (taken June 1): 89.4% (799,845 of 895,091)
April (taken May 1): 89.2% (769,798 of 862,970)
March (taken April 1): 88.9% (739,192 of 831,867)
February (taken March 1): 92.4% (752,043 of 814,009)
January (taken February 1): 88.9% (692,840 of 779,683)
December (taken January 1): 88.8% (663,315 of 746,963)
November (taken December 1): 88.8% (639,676 of 720,179)
October: (taken November 1): 88.8% (617,133 of 695,278)
September (taken October 1): 93.0% (589,877 of 634,375)
August: 88.2% (565,260 of 640,936)
July: 87.7% (522,046 of 595,370)
June: 87.1% (479,793 of 563,436)
May: 86.8% (462,359 of 532,646)
April: 84.8% (377,624 of 445,421)
March: 83.9% (413,302 of 346,665)
February: 84.2% (328,597 of 390,178)
January: 83.4% (295,634 of 354,499)
December: 83.1% (283,497 of 341,112)
November: 82.8% (268,366 of 324,230)
October: 82.2% (252,511 of 307,241)
September: 82.0% (239,666 of 292318)
August: 83.2% (245,524 of 295,210)

Percentage of books with a publication date of the previous month priced from one penny to $50 that are under ten dollars

Books for August: 94.5% (55,159 of 58,358)
Books for July: 93.7% (55,648 of 59,365)
Books for June: 93.6% (52,745 of 56,323)
Books for May: 92.3% (51,237 of 55,482)
Books for April: 93.3% (53,929 of 57,818)
Books for March: 94.5% (53,632 of 56,758)
Books for February: 94.0% (48,876 of 52,015)
Books for January: 93.8% (50,100 of 53,418)
Books for December: 95.7% (49,147 of 51,337)
Books for November:  93.3% (47,702 of 51,103)
Books for October: 93.5% (48,869 of 52,243)
Books for September: 95.0% (52,571 of 49,491)
Books for August: 94.9% (45,180 of 47,593)
Books for July: 95.2% (46,712 of 49,072)
Books for June: 90.8% (50,056 of 55,143)
Books for May: 93.8% (44,463 of 47,396)
Books for April: 96.6% (45,211 of 46,800)
Books for March: 95.6% (48,578 of 50,788)
Books for February: 97.1% (51,180 of 52,734)
Books for January 2012: 96.9% (49,134 of 50,703)
Books for December: 96.8% (46,619 or 48,151)
Books for November: 96.0% (41,067 of 42,678)
Books for October: 96.2% (37,305 of 38,792)
Books for September 96.1% (33,889 of 35,254)
Books for August: 95.8% (37,440 of 39,100)
Books for July: 96.7% (42,922 of 44,400)
Books for June: 96.4% (45,332 of 47,018)
Books for May: 96.9% (51,840 of 53,484)
Books for April: 96.2% (42,795 of 44,464)
Books for March: 96.1% (38,961 of 40,558)
Books for February: 94.7% (32,379 of 34,206)
Books for January: 95.9% (29,010 of 30,260)
Books for December, 2010: 95.2% (23,419 of 24,593)
Books for November: 96.4% (28,189 of 29.251)
Books for October: 94.6% (22,005 of 23,268)
Books for September: 94.7% (22,338 of 23,592)
Books for August: 95.6% (24,514 of 25,638)
Books for July: 95.3% (24,375 of 25,579)
Books for June: 94.9% (21,774 of 22,945)
Books for May: 94.9% (24,436 of 25,737)
Books for April: 95.9% (23,695 of 24,714)
Books for March: 96.0% (23,703 of 24,699)
Books for February: 96.5% (26,850 of 27,815)
Books for January: 93.3% (11,857 of 12,704)
Books for December: 90.6% (8,948 of 9,879)
Books for November: 94.1% (11,520 of 12,239)
Books for October: 91.2% (6,789 of 7,445)
Books for September: 91.0% (5,104 of 5,608)
Books for August: 96.4% (20,239 of 21,079)

Books in the Seventy Percent Royalty Range ($2.99 – $9.99)

September 1, 2013: 64.5% (1,342,522 of 2,081,800)
August 1, 2013: 64.4% (1,327,280 of 2,060,431)
July 1, 2013: 64.5% (1,288,838 of 1,998,705)
June 1, 2013: 65.0% (1,282,211 of  1,972,277)
May 1, 2013: 65.0% (1,261,991 of 1,940,274)
April 1, 2013: 65.7% (1,264,685 of 1,924,138)
March 1, 2013: 66.2% (1,265,680 of 1,913,164)
February 1, 2013: 67.4% (1,247,401 of 1,849,479)
January 1, 2013: 67.8% (1,224,368 of 1,805,001)
December 1, 2012: 67.9% (1,183,346 of 1,742,991)
November 1, 2012: 64.7% (1,061,871 of 1,641,362)
October 1, 2012: 61.4% (969,791 of 1,579,329)
September 1, 2012: 60.4% (924,771 of 1,531,069)
August 1, 2012: 59.4% (883,612 of 1,486,649)
July 1: 61.3% (890,148 of 1,451,504)
June 1:  62.1% (874,145 of 1,407,210)
May 1: 62.6% (850,030 of  1,358,922)
April 1: 66.8% (812,423 of 1,215,625)
March 1: 61.1% (773,783 of 1,265,632)
February 1: 60.5% (731,051 of 1,207,522)
January 1, 2012: 61.6% (718,191 of 1,165,654)
December 1: 62.5% (694,766 of 1,112,876)
November 1: 61.8% (653,971 of 1,058,635)
October 1: 64.6% (667,521 of 1,033,611)
September 1: 65.8% (654,521 of 995,265)
August 1: 66.8% (677,646 of 1,015,056)
July 1: 63.5% (622,648 of 980,434)
June 1: 65.8% (641,867 of 974,841)
May 1: 67.4% (631,871 of 937,831)
April 1: 67.5% (606,223 of 897,663)
March 1: 68.2% (592,077 of 868,351)
February 1: 67.7% (561,035 of 828,708)
January 1: 66.8% (532,092 of 796,131)
December 1, 2010: 66.9% (514,086 of 768,865)
November 1: 66.7% (493,644 of 743,692)
October 1: 68.2% (487,833 of 714,863)
September 1:  66% (453,408 of 687,246)
August 1: 58% (382,691 of 659,479)
July 1: 57.3% (359,361 of 627,343)
June 1: 57.1% (340,379 of 596,300)
May 1: 51.4% (261,869 of 509,229)
April 1: 51.1% (243,718 of 476,653)
March 1: 52.5% (236,418 of 450,625)
February 1: 50.8% (210,978 of 415,100)

Books from one penny to $2.98

September 1, 2013: 17.9% (372,207 of 2,081,800)
August 1, 2013: 17.5% (361,079 of 2,060,431)
July 1, 2013: 17.3% (346,301 of 1,998,705)
June 1, 2013: 16.8% (330,723 of 1,972,277)
May 1, 2013: 16.9% (326,947 of 1,940,274)
April 1, 2013: 16.4% (315,280 of 1,924,138)
March 1, 2013: 15.9% (304,800 of 1,913,164)
February 1, 2013: 15.8% (293,041 of 1,849,479)
January 1, 2013: 15.7% (283,545 of 1,805,001)
December 1, 2012: 15.5% (270,520 of 1,742,991)
November 1, 2012: 19.2% (315,137 of 1,641,362)
October 1, 2012: 22.7% (358,015 of 1,579,329)
September 1, 2012: 23.5% (359,257 of 1,531,069)
August 1, 2012: 24.3% (361,675 of 1,486,649)
July 1: 22.0% (319,951 of 1,451,504)
June 1:  21.7% (305,794 of 1,407,210)
May 1: 21.3% (288,796 of  1,368,922)
April 1: 23.2% (282,254 of 1,215,625)
March 1: 21.8% (275,556 of 1,265,632)
February 1: 22.2% (268,203 of 1,207,522)
January 1, 2012: 20.7% (241,553 of 1,165,654)
December 1: 19.5% (217,026 of 1,112,876)
November 1: 19.8% (209,435 of 1,058,635)
October 1: 16.7% (172,745 of 1,033,611)
September 1: 15.5% (153,891 of 995,265)
August 1: 15.6% (158,010 of 1,015,056)
July 1: 18.9% (185,041 of 980,434)
June 1: 17.0% (165,687 of 974,841)
May 1: 15.6% (146,540 of 937,831)
April 1: 16.2% (145,638 of 897,863)
March 1: 16.9% (147,076 of 868,351)
February 1: 18.1% (149,809 of 828,708)
January 1: 18.7% (148,681 of 796,131)
December 1, 2010: 18.5%  (142,549 of 768,865)
November 1: 18.4% (136,964 of 743,692)
October 1: 17.9% (127,830 of 714,863)
September 1: 18.5% (127,165 of 687,246)
August 1: 21.1% (139,277 of 659,479)
July 1: 21% (131,432 of 627,343)
June 1: 20.5% (121,981 of 596,300)
May 1: 22.7% (115,756 of 509,229)
April 1: 21.6% (102,948 of 476,653)
March 1: 20.5% (92,180 of 450,625)
February 1: 20.4% (84,721 of 415,100)

Price Point Analysis of New York Times Hardback Fiction Equivalents

September 4, 2013:

6.50 10.99 11.99 10.99 11.04 10.99 4.99 10.99 10.99 6.50
9.00 8.00 11.99 10.99 7.48 10.67 11.99 11.99 10.99 12.60

Average: $10.08

August 1, 2013:

11.99 12.99 9.99 12.99 11.99 10.99 9.99 12.99 9.99 9.99

12.99 12.99 11.04 12.99 8.52 12.99 14.99 10.91 11.04 11.84

Average: $11.71

July 1, 2013:

7.99 12.99 11.04 12.99 12.99 11.04 11.04 7.99 11.04 11.04

12.99 12.99 7.99 7.49 11.04 14.99 7.49 12.99 10.99 12.74

Average: $11.09

June 1, 2013:

12.99 12.99 12.99 11.99 8.99 12.99 13.99 12.99 12.99 9.00

14.99 12.99 9.99 9.99 10.99 14.99 10.99 12.80 9.68 12.99

Average: $12.12

May 1, 2013:

12.99 10.99 12.74 12.99 7.99 12.99 10.99 12.99 12.99 12.99
12.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 10.99 10.99 12.99 7.49 14.99 12.59

Average: $12.23

April 1, 2013:

12.74 12.99 11.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 9.45
11.99 14.99 14.99 9.68 12.99 12.99 12.99 9.78 11.04 10.67

Average: $12.36

March 1, 2013:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 N/A 10.99 12.99 12.99 11.99 12.99
12.74 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99

Average: $12.92

February 1, 2013:

N/A 12.99 12.74 12.99 9.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 11.04 12.99

9.99 8.00 12.99 11.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 13.59

Average: $12.38

January 1, 2013:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 11.04 11.04 12.74 11.43 12.74 12.99

11.99 9.99 12.99 7.50 12.99 8.00 19.99 13.49 13.99 14.99

Average: 12.49

December 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 11.99

12.99 12.99 19.99 9.50 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

Average: $13.22

November 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 19.99 12.99 9.50 12.99

11.99 12.99 12.99 11.99 12.99 13.99 14.99 12.80 11.99 12.99

Average: $13.26

October 1, 2012:

19.99 12.99 12.99 9.50 12.99 12.99 9.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

12.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 11.99 9.45 12.99 11.99 12.99 12.99

Average: $12.84

September 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 11.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

12.99 12.99 12.99 11.99 12.99 12.99 9.99 14.99 12.99 14.99 1.99

Average: $12.49

August 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 12.99

12.99 12.99 12.99 11.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

Average: $13.04

July 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

12.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99 14.99 12.99 12.99

Average: 13.29

June 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 11.99

12.99 9.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 11.99 12.99 14.99

Average: $12.94

May 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99 11.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

Average: $13.04

April 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

14.99* 12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99 11.9912.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

Average: $13.14

March 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99* 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

9.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

$13.04

February 1, 2012:

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99* 12.99 9.99 12.99 12.99

12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 12.99

Average: $13.04

* There was also an enhanced audio/visual version of this book for $16.99. I chose to enter it here only in the standard version, since that most closely represents the comparison between paper and e-book versions. It isn’t necessary to pay $16.99: it’s an additional payment for more features

January 1, 2012

Average: $13.14

December 1, 2011

Average: $12.40

November 1, 2011:

Average: $12.45

October 1, 2011:

Avg: $13.09

September 1, 2011:

Avg: 12.99

August 1, 2011:

Avg $13.29

July 1, 2011

Avg $13.09

June 1, 2011

Avg: $12.81

May 1, 2011

Average: $12.84

April 1, 2011

Average: $12.69

March 1, 2011

Average: $12.83

February 1, 2011

Average: $12.25
Agency Model average: $12.86
Non-Agency Model average: $9.99

January 1, 2011

Average: $12.52

Agency Model: $12.99

Non-Agency: $9.99

December 1, 2010:

Average: $12.78
Agency Model average: $13.52
Non-Agency Model average: $9.99

November 1, 2010:

Average: $12.83
Agency Model average: $13.59
Non-Agency Model average: $9.99

October 1, 2010:

Average: $12.38
Agency Model average: $12.79
Non-Agency Model average: $10.87

September 1, 2010:

Average: $12.52
Agency Model average $12.99
Non-Agency Model average $9.99

Textbooks in the Kindle Store

September 1, 2013:  30,925
August 1, 2013: 29,956
July 1, 2013: 29,070
June 1, 2013: 28,194
May 1, 2013: 27,110
April 1, 2013: 26,35
March 1, 2013: 26,100
February 1, 2013: 25,000
January 1, 2013: 23,256
December 1, 2012: 21,507
November 1, 2012: 19,796
October 1, 2012: 19,095
September 1, 2012: 18,369
August 1, 2012: 17,756
July 1, 2012: 24,629
June 1, 2012: 15,581
May 1, 2012: 14,868
April 1, 2012: 16,509
March 1, 2012: 15,434
February 1, 2012: 14,827
January 1, 2012: 13,828
December 1, 2011: 13,396
November 1, 2011: 13,131
October 1, 2011: 12,788
September 1, 2011: 11,966
August 1, 2011: 10,316
July 1, 2011: 9,852
June 1, 2011: 9,442
May 1, 2011: 9,193
April 1, 2011:  8,952
March 1, 2011: 8,633
February 1, 2011: 8,342
January 1, 2011: 7,926
December 1, 2010: 7,637
November 1, 2010: 7,355
October 1, 2010: 7, 162
September 1, 2010: 6,831
August 1, 2010: 6,661
July 1, 2010: 6,481
June 1, 2010: 6,249
May 1, 2010: 6,117
April 1, 2010: 5,973
March 1, 2010: 5,728
February 1, 2010: 5,673
January 1, 2010: 5,549
December 1, 2009: 4,892
November 1, 2009: 4,768
October 1, 2009: 4,633
September 24, 2009: 4,678
August 11, 2009: 4,381

Free books (including public domain)

September 1, 2013: 57,547
August 1, 2013: 56,113
July 1, 2013: 55,068
June 1, 2013: 55,811
May 1, 2013: 54,033
April 1, 2013: 55,670
March 1, 2013: 54,946
February 1, 2013: 54,567
January 1, 2013: 54,538
December 1, 2012: 50,869
November 1, 2012: 50,938
October 1, 2012: 50,982
September 1, 2012: 52,601
August 1, 2012: 51,680
July 1: 53,728
June 1: 50,470
May 1: 48,904
April 1: 49,826
March 1: 51,860
February 1: 48,207
January 1, 2012: 46,201
December 1: 43,757
November 1: 42,657
October 1, 2011: 42,710
September 1, 2011: 39,540
August 1, 2011: 38,936
July 1, 2011: 38,627
June 1, 2011: 37,415
May 1, 2011: 36,481
April 1, 2011: 33,469
March 1, 2011: 15,931
February 1, 2011: 15,947
January 1, 2011: 16,758
December 1, 2010: 16,708
November 1, 2010: 16,703
October 1, 2010: 16,702
September 1, 2010: 16,726
August 1, 2010: 20,634
July 1, 2010: 20,628
June 1, 2010: 20,590
May 1, 2010: 20,601
April 1, 2010: 20,619
March 1, 2010: 20,143
February 1, 2010: 19788
January 1, 2010: 19,802
December 1, 2009: 19,895
November 1, 2009: 18,547
October 1, 2009: 7,428
February 28, 2009: 7,401

Free books (without public domain)

September 1, 2013: 10,794)
August 1, 2013: 9,816
July 1, 2013: 8,921
June 1, 2013: 9,582
May 1, 2013: 7,807
April 1, 2013: 7,761
March 1, 2013: 7,710
February 1, 2013: 7,404
January 1, 2013: 7,261
December 1, 2012: 7,089
November 1, 2012: 7,186
October 1, 2012: 7,259
September 1, 2012: 8,701
August 1, 2012: 7,829
July 1, 2012: 9,660
June 1, 2012: 6,715
May 1, 2012: 5,195
April 1, 2012: 5,622
March 1, 2012: 8,356
February 1, 2012: 6,109
January 1, 2012: 4,102
December 1, 2011: 2,007
November 1, 2011: 1,681
October 1, 2011: 1,449
September 1, 2011: 1,283
August 1, 2011: 1,046
July 1, 2011: 883
June 1, 2011: 707
May 1, 2011: 20,984
April 1, 2011: 17,832
March 1, 2011: 241
February 1, 2011: 240
January 1, 2011: 230
December 1, 2010: 183
November 1, 2010: 171
October 1, 2010: 161
September 1, 2010: 143
August 1, 2010: 621 (125 without Amazon Breakthrough nominees)
July 1, 2010: 599 (102 without Amazon Breakthrough nominees)
June 1, 2010: 559 (63 without Amazon Breakthrough nominees)
May 1, 2010: 556 (57 without Amazon Breakthrough nominees)
April 1, 2010: 560 (59 without Amazon Breakthrough nominees)
March 1, 2010: 67
February 1, 2010: 52
January 1, 2010: 53
December 1, 2009: 84
November 1, 2009: 64
October 1, 2009: 67

Spanish edition books*

September 1, 2013: 73,649
August 1, 2013: 71,335
July 1, 2013: 68,643
June 1, 2013: 66,070
May 1, 2013: 63,842
April 1, 2013: 61,264
March 1, 2013: 54,839
February 1, 2013: 52,638
January 1, 2013: 51,302
December 1, 2012: 48,905
November 1, 2012: 46,790
October 1, 2012: 44,232
September 1, 2012: 41,659
August 1, 2012: 40,214
July 1, 2012: 38,684
June 1, 2012: 36,891
May 1, 2012: 34,308
April 1, 2012: 32,157
March 1, 2012: 29,480
February 1, 2012: 22,834
January 1, 2012: 22,492
December 1, 2011: 19,928
November 1, 2011: 15,758
October 1, 2011: 16,874
September 1, 2011: 14,805
August 1, 2011: 11,383
July 1, 2011: 10,552
June 1, 2011: 9,917
May 1, 2011: 9,251
April 1, 2011: 8,362
March 1, 2011: 9,244
February 1, 2011: 8,608
January 1, 2011: 8.045
December 1, 2010: 5,839
November 1, 2010: 5,286
October 1, 2010: 4,982
September 1, 2010: 4,723
August 1, 2010: 4,623
July 1, 2010: 4,398
June 1, 2010: 4,078
May 1, 2010: 3,735
April 1, 2010: 3,383
March 1, 2010: 2,841
February 1, 2010: 2,548
January 1, 2010: 2,363
December 1, 2009: 3,483

Books in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL)

September 1, 2013: 408,514 (19.8%)
August 1, 2013: 389,380 (18.9%)
July 1, 2013: 369,622 (18.5%)
June 1, 2013: 352,649 (17.1%)
May 1, 2013: 336,351 (17.3%)
April 1, 2013: 319,676 (16.6%)
March 1, 2013: 302,080 (15.8%)
February 1, 2013: 283,641 (15.3%)
January 1, 2013: 264,444
December 1, 2012: 242,716
November 1, 2012: 235,957
October 1, 2012: 216,873
September 1, 2012: 198,009
August 1, 2012: 180,133
July 1, 2012: 168,440
June 1, 2012: 159,937
May 1, 2012: 146,182
April 1, 2012: 131,110
March 1, 2012: 117,652
February 1, 2012: 95,020
January 1, 2012: 69,850 (new measurement)

Price Point Analysis

April 1, 2010 was “Agency Day”, when the pricing system for some of the largest trade publishers in the US changed. I’ve started tracking price points, to see how that is affecting things. These are not ranges: it’s how many books are at a specific price point.

	4/1/2010
Total	476653
Prime	413032
Under $10	346665
	83.9%
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$ 0.99	43,993	9.17%	0.01%
$ 1.99	7,704	1.61%	0.00%
$ 2.99	14,560	3.03%	0.00%
$ 3.99	17,390	3.62%	-0.02%
$ 4.99	9,758	2.03%	-0.01%
$ 5.99	2,691	0.56%	0.00%
$ 6.99	1,800	0.38%	0.00%
$ 7.99	10,927	2.28%	-0.25%
$ 8.99	1,312	0.27%	0.00%
$ 9.99	51,857	10.80%	-0.26%
$ 10.99	191	0.04%	0.00%
$ 11.99	196	0.04%	0.00%
$ 12.99	308	0.06%	0.00%
$ 13.99	93	0.02%	0.00%
$ 14.99	806	0.17%	0.00%
$ 15.99	114	0.02%	0.00%
$ 16.99	67	0.01%	0.00%
$ 17.99	43	0.01%	0.00%
$ 18.99	21	0.00%	0.00%
$ 19.99	201	0.04%	0.00%
$ 20.99	11	0.00%	0.00%
$ 21.99	11	0.00%	0.00%
$ 22.99	21	0.00%	0.00%
$ 23.99	5	0.00%	0.00%
$ 24.99	50	0.01%	0.00%

—

4/1/2011
Total	897,663
Prime	831,867
Under $10	739192
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$    0.99	71,036	7.91%	-0.84%
$    1.99	15,994	1.78%	0.06%
$    2.99	50,033	5.57%	0.30%
$    3.99	23,986	2.67%	0.24%
$    4.99	20,374	2.27%	0.48%
$    5.99	10,560	1.18%	0.16%
$    6.99	7,422	0.83%	0.07%
$    7.99	18,354	2.04%	0.20%
$    8.99	4,436	0.49%	-0.04%
$    9.99	96,211	10.72%	0.88%
$   10.99	766	0.09%	0.02%
$   11.99	1,383	0.15%	-0.01%
$   12.99	2,122	0.24%	0.01%
$   13.99	506	0.06%	0.00%
$   14.99	1,519	0.17%	-0.01%
$   15.99	172	0.02%	0.01%
$   16.99	225	0.03%	0.00%
$   17.99	403	0.04%	0.02%
$   18.99	199	0.02%	0.01%
$   19.99	568	0.06%	-0.01%
$   20.99	45	0.01%	0.00%
$   21.99	152	0.02%	0.00%
$   22.99	21	0.00%	0.00%
$   23.99	22	0.00%	0.00%
$   24.99	104	0.01%	-0.04%

—

5/1/2011
Total	937,831
Prime	862,970
Under $10	769,798
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$        0.99	74,929	7.99%	0.08%
$        1.99	16,497	1.76%	-0.02%
$        2.99	56,878	6.06%	0.49%
$        3.99	22,937	2.45%	-0.23%
$        4.99	24,880	2.65%	0.38%
$        5.99	13,387	1.43%	0.25%
$        6.99	5,215	0.56%	-0.27%
$        7.99	18,992	2.03%	-0.02%
$        8.99	5,053	0.54%	0.04%
$        9.99	103,463	11.03%	0.31%
$      10.99	865	0.09%	0.01%
$      11.99	1,412	0.15%	0.00%
$      12.99	2,271	0.24%	0.01%
$      13.99	490	0.05%	0.00%
$      14.99	1,577	0.17%	0.00%
$      15.99	134	0.01%	0.00%
$      16.99	235	0.03%	0.00%
$      17.99	471	0.05%	0.01%
$      18.99	207	0.02%	0.00%
$      19.99	465	0.05%	-0.01%
$      20.99	29	0.00%	0.00%
$      21.99	172	0.02%	0.00%
$      22.99	34	0.00%	0.00%
$      23.99	79	0.01%	0.01%
$      24.99	110	0.01%	0.00%

—

6/1/2011
Total	974,841
Prime	895,091
Under $10	799,845
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$        0.99	81,095	8.32%	0.33%
$        1.99	16,628	1.71%	-0.05%
$        2.99	54,630	5.60%	-0.46%
$        3.99	22,026	2.26%	-0.19%
$        4.99	18,976	1.95%	-0.71%
$        5.99	10,685	1.10%	-0.33%
$        6.99	7,039	0.72%	0.17%
$        7.99	15,841	1.62%	-0.40%
$        8.99	4,226	0.43%	-0.11%
$        9.99	90,005	9.23%	-1.80%
$      10.99	619	0.06%	-0.03%
$      11.99	1,481	0.15%	0.00%
$      12.99	2,112	0.22%	-0.03%
$      13.99	571	0.06%	0.01%
$      14.99	1,720	0.18%	0.01%
$      15.99	176	0.02%	0.00%
$      16.99	230	0.02%	0.00%
$      17.99	251	0.03%	-0.02%
$      18.99	178	0.02%	0.00%
$      19.99	468	0.05%	0.00%
$      20.99	25	0.00%	0.00%
$      21.99	200	0.02%	0.00%
$      22.99	29	0.00%	0.00%
$      23.99	59	0.01%	0.00%
$      24.99	121	0.01%	0.00%

—

July 1, 2011

7/1/2011
Total	980,434
Prime	898,735
Under $10	801,631
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$        0.99	73,957	7.54%	-0.78%
$        1.99	18,207	1.86%	0.15%
$        2.99	34,414	3.51%	-2.09%
$        3.99	26,942	2.75%	0.49%
$        4.99	8,926	0.91%	-1.04%
$        5.99	5,117	0.52%	-0.57%
$        6.99	3,725	0.38%	-0.34%
$        7.99	14,537	1.48%	-0.14%
$        8.99	2,009	0.20%	-0.23%
$        9.99	79,377	8.10%	-1.14%
$      10.99	491	0.05%	-0.01%
$      11.99	1,574	0.16%	0.01%
$      12.99	1,863	0.19%	-0.03%
$      13.99	509	0.05%	-0.01%
$      14.99	1,555	0.16%	-0.02%
$      15.99	453	0.05%	0.03%
$      16.99	201	0.02%	0.00%
$      17.99	138	0.01%	-0.01%
$      18.99	118	0.01%	-0.01%
$      19.99	271	0.03%	-0.02%
$      20.99	18	0.00%	0.00%
$      21.99	186	0.02%	0.00%
$      22.99	32	0.00%	0.00%
$      23.99	111	0.01%	0.01%
$      24.99	125	0.01%	0.00%

—

August 1, 2011

8/1/2011
Total	1,015,056
Prime	931,713
Under $10	829,823
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$    0.99	76,233	7.51%	-0.03%
$    1.99	17,083	1.68%	-0.17%
$    2.99	66,967	6.60%	3.09%
$    3.99	12,921	1.27%	-1.48%
$    4.99	27,893	2.75%	1.84%
$    5.99	12,894	1.27%	0.75%
$    6.99	2,715	0.27%	-0.11%
$    7.99	18,431	1.82%	0.33%
$    8.99	5,638	0.56%	0.35%
$    9.99	111,705	11.00%	2.91%
$   10.99	473	0.05%	0.00%
$   11.99	1,691	0.17%	0.01%
$   12.99	2,129	0.21%	0.02%
$   13.99	576	0.06%	0.00%
$   14.99	1,768	0.17%	0.02%
$   15.99	252	0.02%	-0.02%
$   16.99	230	0.02%	0.00%
$   17.99	128	0.01%	0.00%
$   18.99	249	0.02%	0.01%
$   19.99	468	0.05%	0.02%
$   20.99	46	0.00%	0.00%
$   21.99	166	0.02%	0.00%
$   22.99	64	0.01%	0.00%
$   23.99	90	0.01%	0.00%
$   24.99	59	0.01%	-0.01%

September 1, 2011

9/1/2011
Total	995,265
Prime	908,602
Under $10	803,271
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$    0.99	77,793	7.82%	0.31%
$    1.99	16,614	1.67%	-0.01%
$    2.99	56,503	5.68%	-0.92%
$    3.99	21,995	2.21%	0.94%
$    4.99	21,595	2.17%	-0.58%
$    5.99	11,312	1.14%	-0.13%
$    6.99	7,477	0.75%	0.48%
$    7.99	16,948	1.70%	-0.11%
$    8.99	14,883	1.50%	0.94%
$    9.99	102,626	10.31%	-0.69%
$   10.99	485	0.05%	0.00%
$   11.99	983	0.10%	-0.07%
$   12.99	1,374	0.14%	-0.07%
$   13.99	316	0.03%	-0.02%
$   14.99	1,501	0.15%	-0.02%
$   15.99	160	0.02%	-0.01%
$   16.99	159	0.02%	-0.01%
$   17.99	285	0.03%	0.02%
$   18.99	165	0.02%	-0.01%
$   19.99	446	0.04%	0.00%
$   20.99	50	0.01%	0.00%
$   21.99	171	0.02%	0.00%
$   22.99	41	0.00%	0.00%
$   23.99	33	0.00%	-0.01%
$   24.99	109	0.01%	0.01%

—

10/1/2011
Total	1,033,611
Prime	943,545
Under $10	835,590
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$        0.99	81,946	7.93%	0.11%
$        1.99	16,172	1.56%	-0.10%
$        2.99	48,287	4.67%	-1.01%
$        3.99	16,808	1.63%	-0.58%
$        4.99	17,389	1.68%	-0.49%
$        5.99	8,259	0.80%	-0.34%
$        6.99	5,300	0.51%	-0.24%
$        7.99	10,833	1.05%	-0.65%
$        8.99	12,478	1.21%	-0.29%
$        9.99	89,175	8.63%	-1.68%
$      10.99	395	0.04%	-0.01%
$      11.99	804	0.08%	-0.02%
$      12.99	1,285	0.12%	-0.01%
$      13.99	302	0.03%	0.00%
$      14.99	1,386	0.13%	-0.02%
$      15.99	146	0.01%	0.00%
$      16.99	151	0.01%	0.00%
$      17.99	144	0.01%	-0.01%
$      18.99	75	0.01%	-0.01%
$      19.99	368	0.04%	-0.01%
$      20.99	22	0.00%	0.00%
$      21.99	150	0.01%	0.00%
$      22.99	26	0.00%	0.00%
$      23.99	35	0.00%	0.00%
$      24.99	66	0.01%	0.00%

—

11/1/2011
Total	1,058,635
Prime	968,948
Under $10	859,492
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$    0.99	84,612	7.99%	0.06%
$    1.99	7,659	0.72%	-0.84%
$    2.99	19,157	1.81%	-2.86%
$    3.99	10,245	0.97%	-0.66%
$    4.99	7,451	0.70%	-0.98%
$    5.99	3,026	0.29%	-0.51%
$    6.99	2,533	0.24%	-0.27%
$    7.99	8,414	0.79%	-0.25%
$    8.99	11,882	1.12%	-0.08%
$    9.99	70,312	6.64%	-1.99%
$   10.99	348	0.03%	-0.01%
$   11.99	1,144	0.11%	0.03%
$   12.99	1,068	0.10%	-0.02%
$   13.99	280	0.03%	0.00%
$   14.99	1,171	0.11%	-0.02%
$   15.99	69	0.01%	-0.01%
$   16.99	118	0.01%	0.00%
$   17.99	116	0.01%	0.00%
$   18.99	59	0.01%	0.00%
$   19.99	234	0.02%	-0.01%
$   20.99	33	0.00%	0.00%
$   21.99	153	0.01%	0.00%
$   22.99	29	0.00%	0.00%
$   23.99	28	0.00%	0.00%
$   24.99	89	0.01%	0.00%

—

12/1/2011
Total	1,112,876
Prime	1021677
Under $10	907,647
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$    0.99	90,203	8.11%	0.11%
$    1.99	17,711	1.59%	0.87%
$    2.99	29,634	2.66%	0.85%
$    3.99	23,617	2.12%	1.15%
$    4.99	23,320	2.10%	1.39%
$    5.99	4,606	0.41%	0.13%
$    6.99	4,887	0.44%	0.20%
$    7.99	13,241	1.19%	0.40%
$    8.99	10,646	0.96%	-0.17%
$    9.99	71,709	6.44%	-0.20%
$   10.99	466	0.04%	0.01%
$   11.99	598	0.05%	-0.05%
$   12.99	1,038	0.09%	-0.01%
$   13.99	317	0.03%	0.00%
$   14.99	1,234	0.11%	0.00%
$   15.99	78	0.01%	0.00%
$   16.99	109	0.01%	0.00%
$   17.99	132	0.01%	0.00%
$   18.99	50	0.00%	0.00%
$   19.99	278	0.02%	0.00%
$   20.99	25	0.00%	0.00%
$   21.99	168	0.02%	0.00%
$   22.99	31	0.00%	0.00%
$   23.99	25	0.00%	0.00%
$   24.99	104	0.01%	0.00%

—

1/1/2012
Total	1,165,654
Prime	1073539
Under $10	955,187
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$        0.99	99,225	8.51%	0.41%
$        1.99	16,088	1.38%	-0.21%
$        2.99	38,295	3.29%	0.62%
$        3.99	24,602	2.11%	-0.01%
$        4.99	18,289	1.57%	-0.53%
$        5.99	4,438	0.38%	-0.03%
$        6.99	5,002	0.43%	-0.01%
$        7.99	11,495	0.99%	-0.20%
$        8.99	12,412	1.06%	0.11%
$        9.99	68,467	5.87%	-0.57%
$      10.99	421	0.04%	-0.01%
$      11.99	549	0.05%	-0.01%
$      12.99	1,010	0.09%	-0.01%
$      13.99	270	0.02%	-0.01%
$      14.99	1,272	0.11%	0.00%
$      15.99	142	0.01%	0.01%
$      16.99	102	0.01%	0.00%
$      17.99	192	0.02%	0.00%
$      18.99	44	0.00%	0.00%
$      19.99	279	0.02%	0.00%
$      20.99	19	0.00%	0.00%
$      21.99	134	0.01%	0.00%
$      22.99	30	0.00%	0.00%
$      23.99	36	0.00%	0.00%
$      24.99	108	0.01%	0.00%

—

2/1/2012
Total	1,207,522
Prime	1,112,467
Under $10	994,448
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$        0.99	107,238	8.88%	0.37%
$        1.99	8,528	0.71%	-0.67%
$        2.99	28,515	2.36%	-0.92%
$        3.99	7,463	0.62%	-1.49%
$        4.99	6,509	0.54%	-1.03%
$        5.99	2,761	0.23%	-0.15%
$        6.99	2,740	0.23%	-0.20%
$        7.99	7,571	0.63%	-0.36%
$        8.99	13,377	1.11%	0.04%
$        9.99	58,244	4.82%	-1.05%
$      10.99	331	0.03%	-0.01%
$      11.99	476	0.04%	-0.01%
$      12.99	914	0.08%	-0.01%
$      13.99	186	0.02%	-0.01%
$      14.99	988	0.08%	-0.03%
$      15.99	82	0.01%	-0.01%
$      16.99	98	0.01%	0.00%
$      17.99	194	0.02%	0.00%
$      18.99	59	0.00%	0.00%
$      19.99	167	0.01%	-0.01%
$      20.99	15	0.00%	0.00%
$      21.99	163	0.01%	0.00%
$      22.99	20	0.00%	0.00%
$      23.99	19	0.00%	0.00%
$      24.99	58	0.00%	0.00%

—

3/1/2012
Total	1,265,632
Prime	1,165,368
Under $10	1,044,889
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$        0.99	113,150	8.94%	0.06%
$        1.99	10,638	0.84%	0.13%
$        2.99	43,320	3.42%	1.06%
$        3.99	18,776	1.48%	0.87%
$        4.99	8,565	0.68%	0.14%
$        5.99	3,879	0.31%	0.08%
$        6.99	3,591	0.28%	0.06%
$        7.99	8,164	0.65%	0.02%
$        8.99	14,825	1.17%	0.06%
$        9.99	62,009	4.90%	0.08%
$      10.99	375	0.03%	0.00%
$      11.99	673	0.05%	0.01%
$      12.99	936	0.07%	0.00%
$      13.99	249	0.02%	0.00%
$      14.99	1,005	0.08%	0.00%
$      15.99	117	0.01%	0.00%
$      16.99	102	0.01%	0.00%
$      17.99	210	0.02%	0.00%
$      18.99	55	0.00%	0.00%
$      19.99	213	0.02%	0.00%
$      20.99	12	0.00%	0.00%
$      21.99	170	0.01%	0.00%
$      22.99	26	0.00%	0.00%
$      23.99	20	0.00%	0.00%
$      24.99	73	0.01%	0.00%

—

4/1/2012
Total	1,315,927
Prime	1,215,625
Under $10	1,089,619
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$        0.99	118,411	9.00%	0.06%
$        1.99	12,440	0.95%	0.10%
$        2.99	53,686	4.08%	0.66%
$        3.99	30,997	2.36%	0.87%
$        4.99	10,786	0.82%	0.14%
$        5.99	5,026	0.38%	0.08%
$        6.99	4,705	0.36%	0.07%
$        7.99	8,988	0.68%	0.04%
$        8.99	5,461	0.41%	-0.76%
$        9.99	71,568	5.44%	0.54%
$      10.99	654	0.05%	0.02%
$      11.99	1,281	0.10%	0.04%
$      12.99	1,835	0.14%	0.07%
$      13.99	438	0.03%	0.01%
$      14.99	1,739	0.13%	0.05%
$      15.99	323	0.02%	0.02%
$      16.99	236	0.02%	0.01%
$      17.99	86	0.01%	-0.01%
$      18.99	118	0.01%	0.00%
$      19.99	395	0.03%	0.01%
$      20.99	25	0.00%	0.00%
$      21.99	272	0.02%	0.01%
$      22.99	34	0.00%	0.00%
$      23.99	17	0.00%	0.00%
$      24.99	96	0.01%	0.00%

—

5/1/2012
Total	1,358,922
Prime	1,261,606
Under $10	1,133,793
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$        0.99	122,040	9.27%	0.28%
$        1.99	13,124	1.00%	0.05%
$        2.99	64,106	4.87%	0.79%
$        3.99	37,072	2.82%	0.46%
$        4.99	12,631	0.96%	0.14%
$        5.99	6,288	0.48%	0.10%
$        6.99	4,897	0.37%	0.01%
$        7.99	10,145	0.77%	0.09%
$        8.99	3,156	0.24%	-0.18%
$        9.99	76,063	5.78%	0.34%
$      10.99	809	0.06%	0.01%
$      11.99	1,816	0.14%	0.04%
$      12.99	2,159	0.16%	0.02%
$      13.99	565	0.04%	0.01%
$      14.99	2,010	0.15%	0.02%
$      15.99	140	0.01%	-0.01%
$      16.99	306	0.02%	0.01%
$      17.99	78	0.01%	0.00%
$      18.99	91	0.01%	0.00%
$      19.99	471	0.04%	0.01%
$      20.99	24	0.00%	0.00%
$      21.99	283	0.02%	0.00%
$      22.99	34	0.00%	0.00%
$      23.99	27	0.00%	0.00%
$      24.99	150	0.01%	0.00%

—

5/1/2012
Total	1,407,210
Prime	1,308,331
Under $10	1,174,668
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$        0.99	125,811	9.56%	0.29%
$        1.99	13,076	0.99%	0.00%
$        2.99	66,685	5.07%	0.20%
$        3.99	36,204	2.75%	-0.07%
$        4.99	11,225	0.85%	-0.11%
$        5.99	5,903	0.45%	-0.03%
$        6.99	4,569	0.35%	-0.02%
$        7.99	10,524	0.80%	0.03%
$        8.99	2,717	0.21%	-0.03%
$        9.99	71,733	5.45%	-0.33%
$      10.99	885	0.07%	0.01%
$      11.99	1,818	0.14%	0.00%
$      12.99	2,140	0.16%	0.00%
$      13.99	684	0.05%	0.01%
$      14.99	2,042	0.16%	0.00%
$      15.99	182	0.01%	0.00%
$      16.99	302	0.02%	0.00%
$      17.99	73	0.01%	0.00%
$      18.99	108	0.01%	0.00%
$      19.99	513	0.04%	0.00%
$      20.99	29	0.00%	0.00%
$      21.99	251	0.02%	0.00%
$      22.99	35	0.00%	0.00%
$      23.99	29	0.00%	0.00%
$      24.99	97	0.01%	0.00%

—

7/1/2012
Total	1,451,504
Prime	1,343,776
Under $10	1,204,888
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$        0.99	129,323	8.91%	-0.65%
$        1.99	12,780	0.88%	-0.11%
$        2.99	64,315	4.43%	-0.64%
$        3.99	27,128	1.87%	-0.88%
$        4.99	12,335	0.85%	0.00%
$        5.99	6,307	0.43%	-0.01%
$        6.99	5,118	0.35%	0.01%
$        7.99	10,689	0.74%	-0.06%
$        8.99	2,871	0.20%	-0.01%
$        9.99	78,303	5.39%	-0.06%
$      10.99	875	0.06%	-0.01%
$      11.99	1,804	0.12%	-0.01%
$      12.99	2,291	0.16%	0.00%
$      13.99	688	0.05%	0.00%
$      14.99	2,225	0.15%	0.00%
$      15.99	218	0.02%	0.00%
$      16.99	332	0.02%	0.00%
$      17.99	79	0.01%	0.00%
$      18.99	104	0.01%	0.00%
$      19.99	443	0.03%	-0.01%
$      20.99	26	0.00%	0.00%
$      21.99	319	0.02%	0.00%
$      22.99	44	0.00%	0.00%
$      23.99	30	0.00%	0.00%
$      24.99	109	0.01%	0.00%

—

8/1/2012
Total	1,486,649
Prime	1,379,399
Under $10	1,240,062
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$        0.99	137,876	9.27%	0.36%
$        1.99	9,880	0.66%	-0.22%
$        2.99	46,971	3.16%	-1.27%
$        3.99	12,096	0.81%	-1.06%
$        4.99	8,445	0.57%	-0.28%
$        5.99	4,956	0.33%	-0.10%
$        6.99	3,180	0.21%	-0.14%
$        7.99	10,781	0.73%	-0.01%
$        8.99	2,877	0.19%	0.00%
$        9.99	70,140	4.72%	-0.68%
$      10.99	962	0.06%	0.00%
$      11.99	1,910	0.13%	0.00%
$      12.99	2,371	0.16%	0.00%
$      13.99	636	0.04%	0.00%
$      14.99	2,056	0.14%	-0.01%
$      15.99	192	0.01%	0.00%
$      16.99	357	0.02%	0.00%
$      17.99	121	0.01%	0.00%
$      18.99	82	0.01%	0.00%
$      19.99	337	0.02%	-0.01%
$      20.99	35	0.00%	0.00%
$      21.99	364	0.02%	0.00%
$      22.99	38	0.00%	0.00%
$      23.99	24	0.00%	0.00%
$      24.99	86	0.01%	0.00%

—

9/1/2012
Total	1,531,069
Prime	1,421,168
Under $10	1,278,733
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$        0.99	144,288	9.42%	0.15%
$        1.99	13,399	0.88%	0.21%
$        2.99	68,395	4.47%	1.31%
$        3.99	14,760	0.96%	0.15%
$        4.99	11,627	0.76%	0.19%
$        5.99	6,456	0.42%	0.09%
$        6.99	5,407	0.35%	0.14%
$        7.99	11,697	0.76%	0.04%
$        8.99	3,050	0.20%	0.01%
$        9.99	74,605	4.87%	0.15%
$      10.99	955	0.06%	0.00%
$      11.99	1,973	0.13%	0.00%
$      12.99	2,119	0.14%	-0.02%
$      13.99	582	0.04%	0.00%
$      14.99	2,039	0.13%	-0.01%
$      15.99	212	0.01%	0.00%
$      16.99	347	0.02%	0.00%
$      17.99	127	0.01%	0.00%
$      18.99	81	0.01%	0.00%
$      19.99	385	0.03%	0.00%
$      20.99	19	0.00%	0.00%
$      21.99	313	0.02%	0.00%
$      22.99	38	0.00%	0.00%
$      23.99	26	0.00%	0.00%
$      24.99	99	0.01%	0.00%

—

10/1/2012
Total	1,579,329
Prime	1,466,890
Under $10	1,322,272
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$        0.99	147,931	9.37%	-0.06%
$        1.99	16,053	1.02%	0.14%
$        2.99	87,788	5.56%	1.09%
$        3.99	20,853	1.32%	0.36%
$        4.99	14,656	0.93%	0.17%
$        5.99	7,558	0.48%	0.06%
$        6.99	6,642	0.42%	0.07%
$        7.99	13,807	0.87%	0.11%
$        8.99	3,256	0.21%	0.01%
$        9.99	84,003	5.32%	0.45%
$      10.99	972	0.06%	0.00%
$      11.99	2,052	0.13%	0.00%
$      12.99	2,189	0.14%	0.00%
$      13.99	587	0.04%	0.00%
$      14.99	2,123	0.13%	0.00%
$      15.99	216	0.01%	0.00%
$      16.99	339	0.02%	0.00%
$      17.99	109	0.01%	0.00%
$      18.99	117	0.01%	0.00%
$      19.99	509	0.03%	0.01%
$      20.99	32	0.00%	0.00%
$      21.99	371	0.02%	0.00%
$      22.99	38	0.00%	0.00%
$      23.99	32	0.00%	0.00%
$      24.99	109	0.01%	0.00%

—

Total	1,641,362
Prime	1,522,810
Under $10	1,371,227
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$    0.99	155,732	9.49%	0.12%
$    1.99	24,777	1.51%	0.49%
$    2.99	134,461	8.19%	2.63%
$    3.99	49,221	3.00%	1.68%
$    4.99	29,671	1.81%	0.88%
$    5.99	15,629	0.95%	0.47%
$    6.99	12,969	0.79%	0.37%
$    7.99	22,527	1.37%	0.50%
$    8.99	6,642	0.40%	0.20%
$    9.99	134,811	8.21%	2.89%
$   10.99	1,576	0.10%	0.03%
$   11.99	2,986	0.18%	0.05%
$   12.99	3,292	0.20%	0.06%
$   13.99	894	0.05%	0.02%
$   14.99	2,717	0.17%	0.03%
$   15.99	319	0.02%	0.01%
$   16.99	481	0.03%	0.01%
$   17.99	235	0.01%	0.01%
$   18.99	237	0.01%	0.01%
$   19.99	902	0.05%	0.02%
$   20.99	68	0.00%	0.00%
$   21.99	431	0.03%	0.00%
$   22.99	87	0.01%	0.00%
$   23.99	86	0.01%	0.00%
$   24.99	218	0.01%	0.01%

—

12/1/2012
Total	1,742,991
Prime	1,615,716
Under $10	1,451,437
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$        0.99	163,634	9.97%	0.48%
$        1.99	40,111	2.44%	0.93%
$        2.99	192,449	11.72%	3.53%
$        3.99	122,419	7.46%	4.46%
$        4.99	50,073	3.05%	1.24%
$        5.99	27,780	1.69%	0.74%
$        6.99	20,681	1.26%	0.47%
$        7.99	40,348	2.46%	1.09%
$        8.99	10,692	0.65%	0.25%
$        9.99	236,101	14.38%	6.17%
$      10.99	2,423	0.15%	0.05%
$      11.99	4,346	0.26%	0.08%
$      12.99	4,614	0.28%	0.08%
$      13.99	1,299	0.08%	0.02%
$      14.99	3,439	0.21%	0.04%
$      15.99	840	0.05%	0.03%
$      16.99	595	0.04%	0.01%
$      17.99	354	0.02%	0.01%
$      18.99	495	0.03%	0.02%
$      19.99	1,498	0.09%	0.04%
$      20.99	120	0.01%	0.00%
$      21.99	383	0.02%	0.00%
$      22.99	153	0.01%	0.00%
$      23.99	136	0.01%	0.00%
$      24.99	370	0.02%	0.01%

—

1/1/2013
Total	1,805,001
Prime	1,671,220
Under $10	1,502,267
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$    0.99	172,149	10.49%	0.52%
$    1.99	42,262	2.57%	0.13%
$    2.99	206,531	12.58%	0.86%
$    3.99	126,369	7.70%	0.24%
$    4.99	52,158	3.18%	0.13%
$    5.99	29,128	1.77%	0.08%
$    6.99	20,656	1.26%	0.00%
$    7.99	41,417	2.52%	0.07%
$    8.99	10,775	0.66%	0.01%
$    9.99	235,662	14.36%	-0.03%
$   10.99	2,195	0.13%	-0.01%
$   11.99	4,123	0.25%	-0.01%
$   12.99	4,319	0.26%	-0.02%
$   13.99	1,207	0.07%	-0.01%
$   14.99	3,600	0.22%	0.01%
$   15.99	966	0.06%	0.01%
$   16.99	581	0.04%	0.00%
$   17.99	377	0.02%	0.00%
$   18.99	547	0.03%	0.00%
$   19.99	3,087	0.19%	0.10%
$   20.99	105	0.01%	0.00%
$   21.99	418	0.03%	0.00%
$   22.99	144	0.01%	0.00%
$   23.99	136	0.01%	0.00%
$   24.99	359	0.02%	0.00%

—

Percentages for February 1, 2013 were corrected on March 1, 2013

2/1/2013
Total	1,849,479
Prime	1,713,256
Under $10	1,534,604
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$    0.99	178,913	9.67%	-0.81%
$    1.99	45,121	2.44%	-0.14%
$    2.99	214,748	11.61%	-0.97%
$    3.99	130,320	7.05%	-0.65%
$    4.99	54,653	2.96%	-0.22%
$    5.99	31,434	1.70%	-0.08%
$    6.99	21,941	1.19%	-0.07%
$    7.99	42,620	2.30%	-0.22%
$    8.99	10,835	0.59%	-0.07%
$    9.99	230,800	12.48%	-1.88%
$   10.99	2,463	0.13%	0.00%
$   11.99	4,593	0.25%	0.00%
$   12.99	4,563	0.25%	-0.02%
$   13.99	1,304	0.07%	0.00%
$   14.99	3,703	0.20%	-0.02%
$   15.99	1,004	0.05%	0.00%
$   16.99	659	0.04%	0.00%
$   17.99	435	0.02%	0.00%
$   18.99	598	0.03%	0.00%
$   19.99	5,276	0.29%	0.10%
$   20.99	116	0.01%	0.00%
$   21.99	458	0.02%	0.00%
$   22.99	178	0.01%	0.00%
$   23.99	154	0.01%	0.00%
$   24.99	395	0.02%	0.00%

—

3/1/2013
Total	1,913,164
Prime	1,770,452
Under $10	1,564,429
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$        0.99	187,353	9.79%	0.12%
$        1.99	49,309	2.58%	0.14%
$        2.99	227,956	11.92%	0.30%
$        3.99	133,323	6.97%	-0.08%
$        4.99	58,386	3.05%	0.10%
$        5.99	35,339	1.85%	0.15%
$        6.99	25,102	1.31%	0.13%
$        7.99	45,755	2.39%	0.09%
$        8.99	12,282	0.64%	0.06%
$        9.99	224,082	11.71%	-0.77%
$      10.99	3,590	0.19%	0.05%
$      11.99	7,838	0.41%	0.16%
$      12.99	6,533	0.34%	0.09%
$      13.99	2,318	0.12%	0.05%
$      14.99	4,760	0.25%	0.05%
$      15.99	1,341	0.07%	0.02%
$      16.99	1,129	0.06%	0.02%
$      17.99	719	0.04%	0.01%
$      18.99	920	0.05%	0.02%
$      19.99	5,711	0.30%	0.01%
$      20.99	303	0.02%	0.01%
$      21.99	280	0.01%	-0.01%
$      22.99	359	0.02%	0.01%
$      23.99	250	0.01%	0.00%
$      24.99	482	0.03%	0.00%

—

4/1/2013
Total	1,924,138
Prime	1,785,986
Under $10	1,573,845
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$        0.99	193,771	10.07%	0.28%
$        1.99	50,993	2.65%	0.07%
$        2.99	240,734	12.51%	0.60%
$        3.99	138,910	7.22%	0.25%
$        4.99	60,568	3.15%	0.10%
$        5.99	37,409	1.94%	0.10%
$        6.99	25,863	1.34%	0.03%
$        7.99	47,298	2.46%	0.07%
$        8.99	12,791	0.66%	0.02%
$        9.99	235,041	12.22%	0.50%
$      10.99	3,781	0.20%	0.01%
$      11.99	9,716	0.50%	0.10%
$      12.99	6,538	0.34%	0.00%
$      13.99	2,325	0.12%	0.00%
$      14.99	4,848	0.25%	0.00%
$      15.99	1,403	0.07%	0.00%
$      16.99	1,182	0.06%	0.00%
$      17.99	759	0.04%	0.00%
$      18.99	922	0.05%	0.00%
$      19.99	5,772	0.30%	0.00%
$      20.99	249	0.01%	0.00%
$      21.99	277	0.01%	0.00%
$      22.99	3,212	0.17%	0.15%
$      23.99	281	0.01%	0.00%
$      24.99	519	0.03%	0.00%

—

5/1/2013
Total	1,940,274
Prime	1,801,844
Under $10	1,582,685
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$    0.99	201,240	10.37%	0.30%
$    1.99	52,243	2.69%	0.04%
$    2.99	251,311	12.95%	0.44%
$    3.99	141,835	7.31%	0.09%
$    4.99	62,839	3.24%	0.09%
$    5.99	37,835	1.95%	0.01%
$    6.99	25,567	1.32%	-0.03%
$    7.99	42,663	2.20%	-0.26%
$    8.99	13,147	0.68%	0.01%
$    9.99	237,096	12.22%	0.00%
$   10.99	3,738	0.19%	0.00%
$   11.99	9,891	0.51%	0.00%
$   12.99	7,097	0.37%	0.03%
$   13.99	2,922	0.15%	0.03%
$   14.99	5,166	0.27%	0.01%
$   15.99	1,523	0.08%	0.01%
$   16.99	1,263	0.07%	0.00%
$   17.99	795	0.04%	0.00%
$   18.99	992	0.05%	0.00%
$   19.99	5,704	0.29%	-0.01%
$   20.99	403	0.02%	0.01%
$   21.99	282	0.01%	0.00%
$   22.99	325	0.02%	-0.15%
$   23.99	278	0.01%	0.00%
$   24.99	513	0.03%	0.00%

—

6/1/2013
Total	1,972,277
Prime	1,828,577
Under $10	1,605,912
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$    0.99	203,653	10.33%	-0.05%
$    1.99	59,583	3.02%	0.33%
$    2.99	269,149	13.65%	0.69%
$    3.99	177,673	9.01%	1.70%
$    4.99	64,192	3.25%	0.02%
$    5.99	39,122	1.98%	0.03%
$    6.99	26,506	1.34%	0.03%
$    7.99	44,572	2.26%	0.06%
$    8.99	13,388	0.68%	0.00%
$    9.99	246,384	12.49%	0.27%
$   10.99	3,809	0.19%	0.00%
$   11.99	10,090	0.51%	0.00%
$   12.99	7,409	0.38%	0.01%
$   13.99	3,008	0.15%	0.00%
$   14.99	5,322	0.27%	0.00%
$   15.99	1,560	0.08%	0.00%
$   16.99	1,298	0.07%	0.00%
$   17.99	772	0.04%	0.00%
$   18.99	970	0.05%	0.00%
$   19.99	5,749	0.29%	0.00%
$   20.99	239	0.01%	-0.01%
$   21.99	287	0.01%	0.00%
$   22.99	307	0.02%	0.00%
$   23.99	238	0.01%	0.00%
$   24.99	513	0.03%	0.00%

—

7/1/2013
Total	1,998,705
Prime	1,855,614
Under $10	1,627,666
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$        0.99	213,310	10.67%	0.35%
$        1.99	62,342	3.12%	0.10%
$        2.99	278,848	13.95%	0.30%
$        3.99	193,610	9.69%	0.68%
$        4.99	66,074	3.31%	0.05%
$        5.99	40,374	2.02%	0.04%
$        6.99	27,288	1.37%	0.02%
$        7.99	45,103	2.26%	0.00%
$        8.99	13,847	0.69%	0.01%
$        9.99	284,366	14.23%	1.74%
$      10.99	4,009	0.20%	0.01%
$      11.99	10,950	0.55%	0.04%
$      12.99	7,321	0.37%	-0.01%
$      13.99	3,474	0.17%	0.02%
$      14.99	5,331	0.27%	0.00%
$      15.99	1,596	0.08%	0.00%
$      16.99	1,391	0.07%	0.00%
$      17.99	791	0.04%	0.00%
$      18.99	997	0.05%	0.00%
$      19.99	5,888	0.29%	0.00%
$      20.99	427	0.02%	0.01%
$      21.99	316	0.02%	0.00%
$      22.99	315	0.02%	0.00%
$      23.99	303	0.02%	0.00%
$      24.99	536	0.03%	0.00%

—

8/1/2013
Total	2,060,431
Prime	1,913,454
Under $10	1,681,162
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$    0.99	222,737	10.81%	0.14%
$    1.99	64,606	3.14%	0.02%
$    2.99	291,135	14.13%	0.18%
$    3.99	198,365	9.63%	-0.06%
$    4.99	68,727	3.34%	0.03%
$    5.99	41,493	2.01%	-0.01%
$    6.99	26,838	1.30%	-0.06%
$    7.99	43,276	2.10%	-0.16%
$    8.99	14,083	0.68%	-0.01%
$    9.99	250,215	12.14%	-2.08%
$   10.99	4,366	0.21%	0.01%
$   11.99	10,785	0.52%	-0.02%
$   12.99	5,311	0.26%	-0.11%
$   13.99	5,063	0.25%	0.07%
$   14.99	5,243	0.25%	-0.01%
$   15.99	1,700	0.08%	0.00%
$   16.99	1,496	0.07%	0.00%
$   17.99	884	0.04%	0.00%
$   18.99	1,112	0.05%	0.00%
$   19.99	6,138	0.30%	0.00%
$   20.99	525	0.03%	0.00%
$   21.99	452	0.02%	0.01%
$   22.99	1,217	0.06%	0.04%
$   23.99	492	0.02%	0.01%
$   24.99	603	0.03%	0.00%

—

9/5/2013
Total	2,125,648
Prime	1,975,738
Under $10	1,740,605
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$        0.99	231,849	10.91%	0.10%
$        1.99	66,882	3.15%	0.01%
$        2.99	306,025	14.40%	0.27%
$        3.99	205,151	9.65%	0.02%
$        4.99	70,590	3.32%	-0.01%
$        5.99	50,259	2.36%	0.35%
$        6.99	26,971	1.27%	-0.03%
$        7.99	46,685	2.20%	0.10%
$        8.99	14,005	0.66%	-0.02%
$        9.99	259,151	12.19%	0.05%
$      10.99	7,970	0.37%	0.16%
$      11.99	7,437	0.35%	-0.17%
$      12.99	4,779	0.22%	-0.03%
$      13.99	4,446	0.21%	-0.04%
$      14.99	4,586	0.22%	-0.04%
$      15.99	1,481	0.07%	-0.01%
$      16.99	1,635	0.08%	0.00%
$      17.99	1,117	0.05%	0.01%
$      18.99	902	0.04%	-0.01%
$      19.99	6,213	0.29%	-0.01%
$      20.99	529	0.02%	0.00%
$      21.99	596	0.03%	0.01%
$      22.99	1,651	0.08%	0.02%
$      23.99	557	0.03%	0.00%
$      24.99	651	0.03%	0.00%

Summary

I may update this summary later. Except for the weirdness with some books being unavailable, things look quite good. The number of books added per day looks much lower, which is not good, but that could be due to books being temporarily pulled. If so, we could guess that the number of pulled books may be around 9,000. That would be very, very approximate. I’d base that on 1,000 as a typical number of books added per day, and this month came out closer to 700. 300 (the difference) multiplied by 30 (I know there are thirty days in August, but just doing this roughly) would be about 9,000. The percentage of books under $10 in the range of one penny to fifty dollars was up. The number of free books (with and without domain) was up…as was the books you can borrow at no additional charge from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (if you are an eligible Prime member with a hardware Kindle). Most content categories had more options for you…although newspapers stayed the same. More content at lower prices, on average…sounds pretty good to me. 🙂

Data were drawn using http://www.ereaderiq.com. There are a number of possible sources of errors (eRi, Amazon, me), but these are probably pretty good.  The same people now do eReaderIQ.com, and I may switch to that eventually.  However, I’m reluctant to change my methods in order to maintain consistency.

• The free books referenced here are from the Kindle store: there are many other sources for free books
• My search for textbooks definitely has false positives (books that aren’t really textbooks). I search for -domain (to eliminate public domain titles, which would be older books, generall) textbook. That would find a bookabout textbooks, for example
• I searched for “Spanish edition” to find Spanish language books. That has some false positives as well
• I look at price percentages of books in the range of one penny to fifty dollars, to eliminate freebies and limit textbooks
• The price point analysis is for books at that specific price: it does not represent a range of prices
• I compared the percentage of price points in the Price Point Analysis when I showed the difference…not the number of books
• This information is based on what a United States customer sees

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Something’s up…some Random House books not in Kindle store

Something’s up…some Random House books not in Kindle store

Well, I was working on my monthly Snapshot this morning, and something is definitely up!

It might be something good…this could be the transition to non-Agency Model pricing for Penguin and Random House.

However, Penguin has been a tough negotiator with Amazon before…it’s hard to say exactly what is happening.

I went to gather the prices of the New York Times hardcover fiction equivalents as Kindle books, which I typically do on the first of the month.

#3, Rose Harbor, was not available in Kindle format.

Now, that used to happen sometimes…bestsellers would not be in Kindle format, but it was always pretty unusual…and i haven’t seen it for a while, I think.

The hardback is published by Ballantine, which is part of Random House.

Continuing down the list, I hit Inferno, by Dan Brown being unavailable. That’s been a top Kindle seller. Published by Doubleday,..part of Random House.

I went to eReaderIQ.com, and checked Doubleday as a publisher…there are Doubleday books currently in the Kindle store.

Maybe it is just the bestsellers…as Amazon lowers the prices?

Maybe. I suspect we’ll know pretty quickly. I don’t think this happened with the other publishers on the transition, though.

Random House is bound by the conditions to which Penguin agreed in a settlement with the US Department of Justice in a legal action against a price fixing conspiracy involving the Agency Model…that was basically one of the conditions of their recent merger.

I’ll let you know when I know more and can update you.

Bonus deal: another thing I noticed while doing the research for the Snapshot: The Cuckoo’s Calling by J.K. Rowling, writing as Robert Galbraith, is only $6.50. That’s a lot lower than it was…this could make a good gift for the holidays (or for yourself). You can delay the delivery date on gifts. This could be the result of a price war (Amazon generally does matching), and other books could be involved. This book is published by Mulholland, which is ultimately part of Hachette. The price could change at any time: check that Buy button before clicking or tapping it.

Update: there is an indicator that the number of missing books may be around 9,000. Here is what I wrote in the summary in my Snapshot;

” The number of books added per day looks much lower, which is not good, but that could be due to books being temporarily pulled. If so, we could guess that the number of pulled books may be around 9,000. That would be very, very approximate. I’d base that on 1,000 as a typical number of books added per day, and this month came out closer to 700. 300 (the difference) multiplied by 30 (I know there are thirty days in August, but just doing this roughly) would be about 9,000. “

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.