I Love My Kindle

Archive for 2013

Snapshot: April 1 2013

April 1, 2013

Snapshot: April 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.

Titles in Kindle Store

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:

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:

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:

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:

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

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 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)

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

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

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

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)

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)

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*

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)

April 1, 2013: 319,676 (5.8%)
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%

—

Summary

I think something really big happened, and we’re likely to hear about it. We have never had this low a number of books net added to the USA Kindle store since I’ve been tracking it. It’s really an anomalously low number. However, the number of books added last month was, I think, the highest since I’ve been tracking it (but not by much). That suggests to me that a lot of books were removed by Amazon. That’s happened a couple of times before: they pulled the Macmillan buy buttons during the dispute over the Agency Model, and they removed a bunch of books that appeared to be duplicates. I don’t know what the reason is here, and maybe this is just some sort of glitch, buy my intuition is that something deliberate happened here. Outside of that, things look pretty good. More magazines, newspapers, and blogs are available to us. The percentage of books from one penny to $50 that are under $10 did drop a bit, but not much. The average price of New York Times bestseller hardback fiction equivalents was down more than fifty cents. There were more free books to own, and more books in the KOLL (Kindle Owners’ Lending Library) to borrow (although the rate of growth in the latter slowed). Overall, I like it…but I do want to know what happened with the net growth!

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.

Posted in Analysis, Snapshots | Leave a Comment »

AFD News: “Amazon buys the English language”

April 1, 2013

AFD News: “Amazon buys the English language”

April 1, 2013 (AFD News)

Amazon (AMZN) announced today that it had purchased the English language from Webster & Johnson, for an undisclosed amount.

“We are pleased to become part of the Amazon family,” said Nosam Johnster, current CEO. “We want to assure our customers that we will continue to operate English, and do not anticipate any major changes. Amazon brings us the additional resources that we need to stay preeminent in a changing marketplace.”

Industry speculation is that this purchase comes in light of recent advances by Japanese in the global market.

While Amazon has not said anything specific about changes it might make, it is known to have had a light hand in other acquisitions. Despite a recent rumor from HEYIREADITONTHEWEB.com, it seems unlikely that the e-tailer would standardize the language across countries. As pointed out by Geebee Shaw in the New York Times, the current situation of being able to have multiple versions of the same book for different markets is likely a moneymaker for the e-tailer.

The Best Authors Haven (BAH) has issued a statement declaring that they were exploring legal options to counter the move, and that the end of the world was upon us.

The news comes on the heels of Apple’s recent buy of the language now styled iTaliano, and Google’s announcement that it was discontinuing support for its language platform, Esperanto, on July 27th.

===

Happy April Fool’s Day! 🙂

Update: you might also find this AmazonLocal deal interesting:

AmazonLocal deal for today

Update: thanks to my reader Bailey for this one:

http://www.google.com/landing/nose/

Update: in a case of apparent parallel creativity, author Michael Bourne also published a piece this morning on Amazon purchasing English…

Amazon Announces Purchase of English™

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

Posted in Humor | 10 Comments »

Round up #157: AMZN 5% tax refund bonus, LibraryThing free today

March 31, 2013

Round up #157: AMZN 5% tax refund bonus, LibraryThing free today

The ILMK Round ups are short pieces which may or may not be expanded later.

A Skrumpshus deal

One of today’s Kindle Daily Deals is the original Ian Fleming Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, as well as two 21st Century sequels, for $1.99 each. I would have said this was a “Truly Scrumptious” deal, but that character (and spelling) was added for the movie. This book does have the Whispersync for Voice option for $6.49…audiobook read by Andrew Sachs, who played Manuel in Fawlty Towers. I have to admit, I was sort of hoping for Dick Van Dyke. 😉 WSV lets you switch back and forth between an audiobook and sight-reading.

As always, check the prices before you buy…this is a Kindle Daily Deal, and it may not apply in your country.

Use TurboTax, get a 105% refund as an Amazon gift card

This was quite a nice surprise! We use TurboTax to do our taxes. Note: I’ve linked to the version in the Amazon Appstore to keep this more Kindley, but I was using the website on my desktop. I assume this deal would be the same, though.

When it got time to do the Federal refund (we got a refund from the Feds…I have extra withheld to handle the writing, and we owed the State…not uncommon in California, I think), I had an interesting option.

If I took all or part of the refund as an Amazon gift card, they would give me 5% extra!

You can do it in increments of $100…so if you took $100 that way, you’d get $105. If you take $500 that way, you get $525.

Free money!

Of course, you do have to use it at Amazon, but with all of our Subscribe and Save items and such, we know we’ll spend it.

That also, in a way, keeps us from treating it like “found money” and just spending it frivolously (we wouldn’t tend to do that, actually, but there is certainly some temptation).

My Significant Other commented that “Amazon is everywhere.” 😉

Now, it’s important to note that this likely isn’t the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) making a deal with Amazon…it’s Intuit, the makers of TurboTax.

When you “refer” a gift card, just like with other items, you can get an “advertising fee”. That might cut down the cost on this from the Intuit side, but this is probably a big money maker for Amazon. I think most people will splurge a bit with it with Amazon, and buy things they wouldn’t have done otherwise.

Amazon does a similar thing with Coinstar, where you can turn in your coins and elect to get an Amazon gift card, saving the normal counting fee (which is now 9.8 cents per dollar in the USA).

This didn’t pay for entirely for using Turbotax for us, but it was nice. 🙂 I’m certainly hoping they continue to do it in the future.

“Experimental streaming viewer”

Thanks to Colleen, one of the Kindle Forum Pros, who noticed this new feature!

This appears to be since the recent Kindle Fire updates. Adobe made the decision to stop supporting Flash on mobile devices. I downloaded Flash to my Kindle Fire and use the Maxthon browser…I rarely use the Fire’s own Silk browser.

Now, though, there is a new setting.

If you go from Home to Web, then hit the Menu (horizontal lines in a box), you can now see a choice to “Prompt for experimental streaming viewer” (mine was checked automatically). You apparently must have “Accelerate page loading” on to have that option.

This is not just on Kindle Fire 8.9″ (which is where I’ve seen it)…my guess is that it is all of the second generation Kindle Fires that just got the update.

Amazon says here:

Using the Web on Kindle Fire HD 8.9″

in part, that

“Adobe Flash content is not supported on Kindle Fire HD 8.9”.

We have developed the experimental streaming viewer to allow you to view Flash content from a limited number of websites using your Kindle Fire. If you choose to view Flash content using the experimental streaming viewer, content for the Flash-enabled site (including any SSL content) will pass through Amazon’s servers if Silk’s cloud accelerator feature is enabled. Individual identifiers like IP and MAC addresses are not associated with browsing history, and are only collected for technical troubleshooting. Please see the Amazon Silk Terms and Conditions for more information.

To use the experimental streaming viewer:

Tap the Menu icon at the bottom or right side of the screen.

Select Open experimental viewer.

You may also open the experimental streaming viewer by tapping the notification message that appears at the bottom of the screen when Flash content is detected.”

I’ve explored a bit, and haven’t found it showing up yet…but videos are working. However, I do have Flash installed, so maybe it only shows up if you don’t.

If they have figured out some way to get Flash videos to work in Silk without extra installations, that’s big news!

Oh, wait…I did find a place where I got the “puzzle piece” missing plug-in indicator, and I’m not seeing anything about the experimental browser (even when I click the menu). However, I suppose it’s possible that the plug-in it wants is something else. I tried opening the same video with Maxthon, and it did work…

Video now working in Enhance versions

When I first did the new update, I tested some Vook books I had gotten for free to see if they would now play the video on my Fire. They didn’t at first. I had downloaded them fresh for the test (I got them when they were free some time ago, partially in case video ever did work). 😉

Now, though, they do!

I used

The 1970s: A Brief History

as one test, and was rewarded with a cool short video of some ads from the period (including a very young John Travolta in an Army recruiting ad).

I wanted to share it with my Significant Other, and was very pleased that it worked with

Juice for Roku

My SO doesn’t like to see things on a small screen, and Juice lets me throw some videos (and still images) to our TV through our Roku…wirelessly. It was great to be able to just say, “Hey, I want to show you something.”), switch to the Roku input, open the channel, and show the video.

LibraryThing free accounts through today (Sunday, 31 March)

I was just going to mention LibraryThing’s open thread on Amazon’s acquisition of Goodreads

LibraryThing: How to succeed in an Amazon/Goodreads world

when I noticed this announcement from LibraryThing. Ordinarily, there is a fee for adding more than 200 books, but they say (in part):

“…we’ve had some blow-back on the fact that LibraryThing charges for a membership to add more than 200 books. In fact, when you go to pay, it’s pay-what-you-want. The money helps pay for the site, and keeps us advertisement-free for members. Also, we believe customers should be customers, with the loyalty and rights of customers, not the thing we sell to our real customers.

However, some people don’t like it. And we want everyone. So, as a test and a welcome, we’re giving out free year’s accounts to everyone who signs up through the end of Sunday. We’ve also upgraded everyone who signed up since 4pm yesterday.”

I’m already a member (since 2009, although I haven’t used it much), so I guess that doesn’t help me, but some of you might be interested.

You can join here:

http://www.librarything.com/

Joining is always free, but this gets you a pass when you are adding a lot of books.

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

Posted in Round-ups | 1 Comment »

KDD: The Host, AmazonLocal deal on kids’ books

March 30, 2013

KDD: The Host, AmazonLocal deal on kids’ books

One of today’s Kindle Daily Deals is The Host by Stephenie Meyer for $1.99. Undoubtedly, this is to tie into the movie version of The Host, which is opening this weekend.

Actually, that’s one of six books from that author that are on sale.

Another one is in the author’s mega-popular Twilight series:

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella (The Twilight Saga)

That’s not one of the main books, of course…so why aren’t I linking to those?

Simple: they block text-to-speech access.

I really haven’t written much about that for a long time (although I do mention it), but I don’t deliberately link to books which block text-to-speech access.

Publishers have to basically insert code into a book to stop text-to-speech (software which reads a book out loud) from working. If they do nothing, it works…that’s why you can use text-to-speech on personal documents: nothing needs to be done to prepare them.

I used to not buy anything from companies that blocked text-to-speech, but I decided it was a better statement just to not buy the specific books. That gives more data to the publishers: e-books on which we don’t block TTS do X, e-books on which we do block it do Y.

I think blocking it has become more uncommon. These six books are all published by Hachette. Why block some and not others (especially when one is in the same universe)? I think it might be because the decision to block was made a couple of years ago, and hasn’t been reversed…whereas newer books didn’t block it.

Let’s see:

Date listed on the Amazon product page: July 18, 2007: blocked
August 7, 2007: blocked
August 8, 2007: blocked
August 3, 2008: blocked
June 5, 2010: not blocked
August 26, 2010: not blocked
November 8, 2010: complete collection, not blocked*

I tried to isolate variables: five of the six books are from the same imprint (they are all from the same publisher), and all have Whispersync for Voice enabled. So, it doesn’t appear that the presence of an audiobook version is the deciding factor. Hm…I may need to do some more analysis of this at some point.

The

http://local.amazon.com/national

AmazonLocal deal skews a bit younger. 🙂

Get a free voucher at the above link in the next two days or so, and you can use it to buy up to 32 kids’ e-books from the group shown here:

Exclusive Offer for Amazon Local Customers: Select Kindle Kids’ Books for $2 Each

for $2 each. There are some interesting titles there, including a Jane Yolen.

You must use your voucher by April 10th…please read the details at the link immediately above to make sure this applies to you, and remember, you need the code first before buying the book(s).

This is the second time in the past two weeks that Amazon has done an AmazonLocal deal on a bunch of books…I like it. 🙂

Enjoy!

* Update: one of my regular readers and commenters, Tom Semple, pointed out that you can get the complete collection bundle without text-to-speech blocked

The Twilight Saga Complete Collection

That’s the four main novels and the novella. Right now (today), that’s not the best deal, if you ignore the advantages of text-to-speech: it’s priced at $32.78. You can get them individually right now for $13.95. It does seem to follow the timeframe idea, though. Otherwise, why block it in one edition and not another edition of the same book from the same publisher?

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

Posted in Sales, Text to speech | 2 Comments »

A Day in the Life of a Kindleer 2013

March 29, 2013

A Day in the Life of a Kindleer 2013

How things have changed since I did my first

A day in the life of a Kindleer

back in 2010!

I followed that up in 2011 with

A tale in the life: the Enhanced Reading Experience

but I thought it was worth doing another one.

One of the key changes, of course, is that I’m mostly using a Kindle Fire, rather than an RSK (Reflective Screen Kindle).

The goal here is to give you an idea of how I use it, so you can maybe get some ideas and/or ask some questions. I’m going to describe a typical workday.

===

I wake up, usually on my own before any alarm. My Significant Other is out of the house at the gym swimming before I get up. We now have two older dogs, and when I want them up, I’ll get them…they don’t try to wake me up early.

I pick up my Kindle Fire 8.9″ from the nightstand. I leave it hanging off the edge by an inch or so…otherwise, it’s heavy enough that’s it’s hard to scoop up.

I have an autowake cover…I just have to open it, and the Kindle wakes up. I use this one: CaseCrown Ridge Standby Case (Purple) for Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9 Inch (Built-in magnet for sleep / wake feature). Even though I keep the brightness turned down (partially to save battery), I still have to cover my eyes when I flip open the cover. I’m pretty light sensitive, though, which may have to do with some color vision deficiency (“color blindness”).

I open up Flipboard, and give it a bit of time to update. I do leave the wi-fi connected when I go to sleep. It could take, oh, twenty seconds or so for the “spinners” to stop, and everything is updated.

I head into the bathroom, where I exercise (I don’t want to get the dogs going yet).

I work out for about forty-five minutes or so. During most of it, I am reading Flipboard with my Fire on the towel rack. I “favorite” things on Twitter that I might want to write about later…I’m actually pretty disappointed when I can’t favorite a specific article.

I read both the “cover stories” and my Twitter feed. The author Amanda Hocking really knows how to use Twitter! I look forward to those tweets every day.

I also check a few other things with the Fire on the towel rack. I use the WordPress app to check for comments that happened over night, and generally approve them. I’m not going to reply until I can sit down. 😉

I use the Maxthon browser (which I think I sideloaded for this model of Kindle) to check the Free App of the Day (which I almost always get…it takes some pretty bad reviews to get me to skip one), and Kindle Daily Deal. I might buy something from the KDDs right then.

Again, using the Maxthon browser, I check IMDb. I know there is an app for it on my Fire, but I prefer looking at the full site. I might also check BoxOfficeMojo (also owned by Amazon), which is linked at the bottom of the IMDb page.

I’m probably through with that part of the exercise by then, but I may also check my e-mail using the built-in e-mail app. I’ve said this before, but I am far more responsive to comments on the blog than to e-mails… occasionally, a reader finds my e-mail address and sends me something, and it may be days or longer before I respond to it. 😦

For the next part of the exercise, I can’t stand next to the towel rack (I need more room). So, I put the Fire on the counter, and open iSpy Cameras. I get to my favorites, and while they are still in “thumbnail” (which is actually pretty big), I can see what the weather is like where my adult kid lives. Then, I usually open up the Snooty the manatee cam. There is more than one manatee, actually, and they can be pretty active at that time of day. It’s fun to watch them swim around, slowly…like dolphins in slow motion (without all that jumping). 😉 I also, love, love, love to see the dogs swimming in the Olde Town Pet Resort pool, but there’s usually nobody there that early.

Then I finish getting ready to that point, and wake up the dogs for breakfast.

If I haven’t read my e-mail, I do that during breakfast. I also plug in the Fire…it will fully charge before I get to the car. Before I leave the house, I’ll also play some Dabble…that tends to wake me up. 🙂

I’ll still use the desktop to deal with the forums and usually to write replies to comments and a blogpost. I can do it with a Bluetooth keyboard and my Fire, but it’s easier on the desktop.

I check my daily schedule using the built-in calendar app, which draws from the Google calendar I use for work. I have an irregular schedule, and want to make sure I don’t go to the wrong place. 🙂

Off to work…I put the Kindle Fire in Airplane Mode to save power, and then it’s text-to-speech in the car. I use my Coby CA-745 Wireless FM Car Transmitter and a car charger. We are thinking about getting a new car…this one (a Scion) has over 150K on it, and it’s still doing okay, but it’s about time. I presume my next one will have Bluetooth, or at least an audiojack. 😉

Park the car, go in…well, one more game of Dabble first. 😉 Hey, I’m always early. 🙂

During work, I’m not typically connected. I do have a 4G model, but don’t use the 4G much at all. If I need to use any documents, I will have e-mailed them to myself (using my regular e-mail address…not sending it through the Kindle Personal Document Service, usually) when I was at home…that’s usually the easiest. I download them at home. Then, I open them with OfficeSuite Professional 7 at work. I do that for PowerPoint, Excel, and Word.

If I need to make a quick note at work, I still use ColorNote Notepad Notes, which I first started using on my Kindle Fire 1st generation. I have Evernote, which is a lot more robust, but I rarely need all that. I’m just jotting down a few words, and ColorNote is simple for that.

I don’t like to read Flipboard at night…I’m treating it like a morning paper, and I want to make sure there’s enough of it to read. 🙂

So, I am reading books on my Fire at home. I do use an RSK (Reflective Screen Kindle) a bit every day, but the bulk of my reading is on my Fire. That certainly surprised me!

I’m also likely to read magazines on my Fire…Entertainment Weekly every week, TV Guide, Fortean Times (which I read in the Zinio app…it’s not available in the Kindle Newsstand).

End of the night, I exercise again. The dogs are awake, so I’m not doing that in the bathroom and reading, usually, for most of it. When I do part of it with the Kindle on the towel rack (and while I brush my teeth and such), that’s usually a book.

Go to bed, play a little Dabble, read a bit more…put the Kindle Fire back on the nightstand, with a bit of it hanging off to make it easy to lift the next morning…scratch one of the dog’s heads thirty times before going to sleep: we have that ritual. 🙂 My Significant Other doesn’t think the dog can count that high, but I can…

That’s not all that I do with the Kindle Fire during a week…the weekends are different. For example, I’ll use Fandango to check movie times on Saturday…we go almost every week.

Well, hope that helps! If you have any question, feel free to comment on this post. I can just hear some of you now…”Scratching the dog’s head the same number of times each night? Hm…” 😉

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

Posted in A Day in the LIfe of a Kindleer, Bufo's Life | 4 Comments »

Amazon buys Goodreads

March 28, 2013

Amazon buys Goodreads

Honestly, it was a bit of a surprise when I got this

Amazon press release

in my e-mail!

I doubt anyone has been talking more about the idea of Amazon getting more social than I have (although it’s possible), but I didn’t really expect them to buy

Goodreads.com

After all, Amazon already bought a readers’ social site:

Shelfari.com

back in 2008 (in the first year of the Kindle, which was released late in 2007).

Shelfari never had the cache that Goodreads does, though, so this is a big deal.

In fact, if this was a major industry, there might be a lot of scrutiny about the “merger”. Yes, there are others out there:

LibraryThing

for one, and earlier this year, I suggested Amazon buy the BookAnd app.

Goodreads reportedly has more than 16 million members…when you think about the total number of “serious readers” in the USA, that’s a really sizable chunk (it wouldn’t surprise me if it is half of the people who buy, oh, more than 100 books a year).

Goodreads wrote about this in a

Goodreads blog post

and there are a couple of interesting things there. One, this means Goodreads is hiring, and two, they want to know what integration you want between your Kindle and Goodreads.

Now, I want to point out that this may not mean a lot of changes at Goodreads (outside of that integration thing). IMDb.com was the best movie reference site on the web (in my opinion) before Amazon bought it, and it still is.

The obvious question for me is, what happens to Shelfari?

I have an account there, and I have used it some. Social sites take a lot of work in you personalizing your use of it (ask the doomed Google Reader what people think when you take something away). Migrating to a new one is like moving to a new school when your are ten years old. It might be a better school, but it’s a still a hard adjustment.

Amazon just could keep running them both, but my guess is that they will migrate Shelfari accounts to Goodreads, and shut down the former eventually.

That’s going to be a bit complicated, because they aren’t the same, but there probably is a lot of duplication of features.

My guess is, though, that this is going to result in a better site for Amazon users. I do think they’ll lose some of the anti-ammys (People who are against Amazon…I just made that one up), but they’ll make up for it with other people.

The acquisition is expected to be complete by the end of June of this year.

I’m looking forward to it, but I know that might not be your reaction. I’ve been a Shelfari user, but not really a Goodreads one (I’m going to start exploring the Goodreads options). Part of that was because you could import your books from Amazon to Shelfari, and I assume they’ll add that to Goodreads later.

I’m also curious about what your involvement with readers’ social sites has been up to this point:

I’m not quite ready to poll about what features you would like this to bring to the Kindle service, but feel free to make suggestions by commenting on this post. I’m particularly interested in what you love about Goodreads. 🙂

Thanks to my reader, Ed Foster, for giving me a heads-up on this! I saw the press release first, but it’s always appreciated. Ed linked to this

Publishers Weekly article

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

Posted in News, Social Media | 23 Comments »

Round up #156: major update for Kindle Fire, X-Ray for TV shows

March 28, 2013

Round up #156: major update for Kindle Fire, X-Ray for TV shows

The ILMK Round ups are short pieces which may or may not be expanded later.

Major 2nd Generation Kindle Fire updates

The Kindle Fire HD 7″ just got a major

Update 7.3.0

This brings significant new features:

X-Ray for Textbooks (previously on the 8.9″, and taking an advantage away from the big screen model)
Simplified Chinese Support
Time To Read (which calculates how time you have left in a book and in a chapter
Support for Kindle Editions with Audio/Video…this is a huge change! Hm…I just checked one of the Enhanced Editions in the Kindle Store, and it still says the multimedia only works on iOS devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod)…I’ll have to test it out. Maybe it means different editions, maybe the page is behind
Print Replica Textbook enhancements

I want to let you know about the update right away…I’ll download it and check it out for you later. It should download on its own, or you can go to the update page I linked above, and follow the instructions to do it manually.

Oh, cool! There is also an update for the 8.9″ (which is my main device):

Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ Software Update Version 8.3.0

It brings:

Support for 8 languages (including Simplified Chinese)
Time to Read
Enhanced Editions support
Print Replica Textbook enhancements

And here it is for the Kindle Fire 2nd generation (not HD):

Kindle Fire (2nd Generation) Software Update Version 10.3.0

No update for the Kindle Fire 1st generation right now…I know that will disappoint some of you.

X-Ray for TV shows

Amazon gave me a personal heads-up, and it is in this

press release

X-Ray for Movies comes to TV shows. I’ve tested this already with a Dr. Who episode I bought…yep, it was there. You can tap the screen, and get information about the actors on the screen right then. You can leapfrog from there over to other movies in which they appear.

It’s a nice feature, and nice to get it at no additional cost. 🙂

It’s not available for every TV show yet, but they do plan to expand it.

Well, this is a relatively short round-up, but I want to go test the new update. 🙂 I may add more to this later. I’ll probably test it on my 8.9″, by the way…

Update: I’ve updated my 8.9″. I did it the way I usually do, even though it’s not exactly what Amazon says to do. They tell you to download the update to your computer, then transfer it to your Kindle Fire. I download directly from my Fire (I actually went from the link in this blog) 🙂 , then use the free

ES File Explorer

to locate the Kindle update file, and move it to my Kindle Updates folder. I’m not sure that’s the exact name, but it was easier to search on “update” and find both of those.

The update took a couple of minutes…not long. I think it took about 7% of my battery charge (including the download).

The update file seems to have deleted itself after I updated it.

You update by doing this:

Swipe down – More – Device – About

If you have the update in the right place, the “Update Your Kindle” button will be active.

Okay, the changes:

To change the language, it’s

Swipe down – More – Language & Keyboard

Tap Language, and you can choose between

Deutsch (German)
English (United Kingdon)
Espanol (Spanish)
Francais (French)
Italiano (Italian)
Japanese
Chinese (Simplified)

That will change the language on the menus (for example, Games becomes Juegos). It does not change the text-to-speech language, or the language in the books. It did appear to change the keyboard for Spanish, but not for Japanese.

You do not need to restart the Kindle for the new language to take effect.

“Time to Read” was visible in my bottom left corner of the page…it started with saying something about learning the speed, and then converted quickly.

I was disappointed to open up a couple of free Vook books that I’d gotten that were Enhanced editions…it still couldn’t play the video. Either it will work with different books, or I may need to redownload them. I did not have a print replica handy to try yet.

Update: those Vook books work now! I can see the videos, and, even cooler, use Juice for Roku to throw it to my TV.

I also downloaded a sample of a print replica book. It does appear to look just like the paperbook would. You can pinch and zoom on it, but you are pretty limited. There is a Go To button, one for Notes, and one to Bookmark. No text-to-speech, no font size changing, which is what I thought the situation would be.

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

Posted in Round-ups | 6 Comments »

Re-imagining copyright

March 27, 2013

Re-imagining copyright

Maria A. Pallante, the Register of Copyrights, recently spoke before Congress about the future of copyright:

The Register’s Call for Updates to U.S. Copyright Law

The transcription linked above is fairly short. I’ve read it, and I had a couple of people direct me to it as well (thanks for that…even if I’ve already found something, I appreciate getting a heads up).

There are certainly interesting things in this Federal document. I’m going to reproduce a couple of paragraphs here:

“A central equation for Congress to consider is what does and does not belong under a copyright owner’s control in the digital age. I do not believe that the control of copyright owners should be absolute, but it needs to be meaningful. People around the world increasingly are accessing content on mobile devices and fewer and fewer of them will need or desire the physical copies that were so central to the 19th and 20th century copyright laws.

Moreover, while philosophical discussions have a place in policy debates, amending the law eventually comes down to the negotiation of complex and sometimes arcane provisions of the statute, requiring leadership from Congress and assistance from expert agencies like mine. The list of issues is long: clarifying the scope of exclusive rights, revising exceptions and limitations for libraries and archives, addressing orphan works, accommodating persons who have print disabilities, providing guidance to educational institutions, exempting incidental copies in appropriate instances, updating enforcement provisions, providing guidance on statutory damages, reviewing the efficacy of the DMCA, assisting with small copyright claims, reforming the music marketplace, updating the framework for cable and satellite transmissions, encouraging new licensing regimes, and improving the systems of copyright registration and recordation.”

However, while the Register says that “…Congress does not need to start from scratch…”, I wanted to do just that.

I’m going to free us from the requirement to think about what could pass, and what is technically possible, and ask us just to re-imagine copyright. I’m going to act as if there had never been copyright, and look at the idea afresh.

After all, the original concepts of copyright largely had to do with protecting people who made maps. There was a lot of risk in mapping a coast, and if you couldn’t benefit from it (since other people just reproduced your map and sold it), there would be a lot less incentive for people to invest in the enterprise. Certainly, people would still have explored, but it wouldn’t be likely to produce the kinds of relatively accurate maps that other people could use.

So, let’s start at the very beginning.

Someone creates something intangible, a book, a song, which can be consumed by others.

Why should the government be involved in what happens next?

What are the societal benefits in creating law which controls what happens to that work?

Well, there are a couple of things.

The first thing we could say is that there is just a moral right that the person who created the work should have control over how it is used. In that argument, we are protecting people from unreasonable exploitation by others.

We do pass a lot of laws for that reason. For example, if someone is a “Peeping Tom”, that’s illegal. There doesn’t have to be any monetary use of that…the observer doesn’t have to sell, or even record, images of you for it to be a crime. We just say that you have the right to that privacy, and someone who violates that right can be charged with a crime. We could think of copyright the same way: you created that work, and you should get to control who consumes it.

The other big argument is an advantage to the economy.

That says that there is a plus to the society in people creating something, and that they won’t tend to do it without the ability to make money from it (this is akin to the map argument).

Would somebody spend $100 million to make a movie if there wasn’t a way to make that money back?

Would someone spend two years researching a non-fiction book, if they couldn’t be compensated?

This one suggests that copyright makes it more likely for valuable ideas to get into societal use, even if that use is controlled by the creator of the work. If you can’t make money with that documentary, would you share it with other people the way movie makers do now?

While emotionally, the moral argument is powerful to me, I think I would tend to set up a government system based on making money. The taxes from that clearly benefit the society, and an economic motive is going to encourage production and risk.

Here’s my first new copyright postulate:

If you create something, you have the right to make money from it.

Now, current copyright recognizes something called “Fair Use”.

U.S. Copyright Office – Fair Use

When you look at the elements of Fair Use, it currently suggests that there are times when your right to control your material is overridden by a societal good…such as criticism of your work, or teaching (within limits).

I’m going to expand this in my thinking.

Here’s my second new copyright postulate:

If what someone does does not impact your ability to make money on your work, you do not have control over it.

This is sweepingly broad, and would be a big change. It would create a lot of arguments when there was transmission involved from one person to another, but it would remove a lot of controversies over personal use.

The burden would be on the rightsholder to prove that making money was impacted.

For example, let’s say you have a p-book (paperbook). You want to scan it and turn it into an e-book for your own personal use. While many people assume that’s legal, and it may be, that isn’t clear.

Under my re-imagined copyright, the rightsholder has to prove that you would otherwise have bought an e-book if you couldn’t do that. There isn’t a presumed control over every copy produced, just a control over making money from your work.

This is, incidentally, how a lot of readers seem to think it should work (that doesn’t make it right, of course). If they bought the book once in paper, they think they are entitled to a free copy in e-book form. The same could be said for going from a hardback to a paperback…if you wouldn’t have bought the paperback, should it be okay for you to photocopy the book and reproduce it in a more convenient form?

I need to be very clear that I am not advocating these changes, I’m just thinking about them.

Under this new concept, it isn’t reproduction that matters: it’s consumption.

Could it be worked out that the rightsholder collects a fee every time you read a book? In other words, you buy the book, pay for reading it the first time, don’t pay anything more if it sits around in your archives (on your bookshelves in the paper world), then pay for it again if you read it again years later?

As you can see, I’m not worried about the technological implementation in this “thoughtabout”. I’m looking for the guiding principles.

What about somebody licensing/buying a book from you, and then distributing it for free over the internet?

Hm…if the purchaser could be charged for everybody who read that free copy, that could work.

Somebody reads it, the rightsholder gets paid.

Ideally, of course, the rightsholder gets paid before somebody reads it.

That might be the best way to go, in this hypothetical world. The rightsholder is paid per use.

Of course, that would mean that there would be some sort of record of who was using what, and people would resist that…but I’m not concerned with what’s practicable right now.

Another major issue is whether creative works eventually belong to society at large. I’ve asked this question before:

Should copyright be permanent?

Under my first postulate, if copyright is purely to protect an economic value, then you give up copyright if you are not using it to make money.

That sends shivers down my spine in a bad way…I want artists to be able to control their art, emotionally. However, is that what the government should be doing?

We do this already with patents…if you don’t use your patent, you can lose it.

We could say that if your book isn’t available to the public (“in print”, in the old parlance), or if you aren’t making a good faith effort to make it available, you lose control over it.

What about educational use? If the educational use doesn’t cut into the market, then it would be allowed in this new conception. If it did, if the students don’t buy the work because they can read for it free whenever they want to as part of a class, that would fail the test.

Oh, those might be some complicated court cases in the beginning!

Actually, I think these two postulates create an interesting balance. You control your creative works as long as you are using them to make money, and any other use of them is okay.

What do you think? I’m not terribly happy with this myself, and can poke holes in it. 🙂 I just really want to rethink things. We shouldn’t have copyright which is based on individual ownership of physical containers, because that’s just not the entire future.

Do you think copyright should take into account art for art’s sake? Should educational use get any special and separate rules? Parody is legal in the USA, not legal in Canada…what should it’s status be? What do you think of what Register Pallante has actually suggested? Feel free to let me and my readers know by commenting on this post.

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

Posted in Copyright, Thoughtabouts | 5 Comments »

Round up #155: what is the future of coffee table books, B&N shuns S&S

March 26, 2013

Round up #155: what is the future of coffee table books, B&N shuns S&S

Barnes & Noble stops carrying some Simon & Schuster books

The ILMK Round ups are short pieces which may or may not be expanded later.

As a former brick-and-mortar bookstore manager, this just makes my head spin. Well, it would if I hadn’t already done the full Linda Blair with Barnes & Noble deciding not to sell specific books to make a point in the past. 😉

Look, for me, this isn’t complicated. If you are a bookseller, you need to sell books to people to keep them as your customers.

They aren’t going to care about why you don’t have the book they want…they are just going to buy it somewhere else.

They also will form the opinion (perhaps irrevocably, at least for years) that you aren’t worth checking in the future.

It’s a huge hurdle to place in your own path.

Amazon did something similar with Macmillan more than three years ago. I went back and looked: I wasn’t as negative about that as I’ve been with Barnes & Noble.

However, I’ll argue that Amazon was fighting the Agency Model when they pulled the “Buy” buttons from Macmillan books. That was a hugely disruptive, industry affecting initiative…one where Macmillan (along with every other publisher in the case) eventually settled with the Department of Justice.

The issues cited in this

Wall Street Journal article

by Jeffrey Trachtenberg (and to which I was directed by a reader in a private e-mail) just don’t sound that existential.

There’s been quite a bit written about this…I thought this

Huffington Post article

by Terence Clark was a good one.

It looks like part of what is going on is that Barnes & Noble wants to charge more for the things that its stores can provide (like prominent display of specific books), now that there is a reduced supply of those services. In other words, when there were other big bookstore chains, there were more opportunities for publishers to have their books displayed prominently, and competition for the privilege. “I’ll put your books right at the counter for $25 a month.” “I’ll do it for $20!”

Now, Borders isn’t around any more to put competitive pressure on the price…and publishers still believe bookstore discovery of titles is valuable.

However, I might argue that bookstore discovery isn’t as important as it was, and that it will become increasingly less important as people get their books from other places.

Coffee table books face a challenge in the digital world

Should B&N be focusing on big, beautiful books that work better in paper?

First, let me say that I’m sure the time will come when big books with a lot of pictures (“coffee table books”) will be better consumed as e-books.

There are some similarities between glossy magazines and coffee table books, and Entertainment Weekly is now figuring out how to do e-versions to the point where my reading it on my Kindle Fire 8.9″ is a much more pleasant experience than reading it in paper, even though the screen is smaller than the page.

For example, it may be a question of tapping one in a series of images to see the “caption” for that image. While that might sound like it would be less convenient, it makes the page much less “busy”. You don’t have to mix words and images in the same space, and the text size can be bigger. I only see one caption at a time, but it’s much nicer. Having scrollable text also means that an image can stay next to the words I’m reading as I go through a longer text piece. I find that more pleasant as well, as compared to flipping the page, and perhaps having to flip back to see the image again.

Coffee table books will probably eventually work the same way. You’ll pinch and spread to zoom in and see detail, see captions as you “roll over” images, and not have to have those confusing “opposite page clockwise from the top left” legends. 🙂

Can’t you also see throwing the picture from your coffee table book to a big screen monitor (which we might now call a TV), or to someone else’s tablet?

As this

Wall Street Journal article

by Rory Gallivan points out about the publisher Quarto, sales of those books in bookstores may have a tough row to hoe in the future.

Interestingly to me, they do sell them in non-bookstores…places like Urban Outfitters.

I don’t think that paper coffee table books will save Barnes & Noble. I think they are especially ripe for direct publisher to consumer sales through the internet. In our store, we didn’t particularly like people flipping through those books, just because they would tend to get damaged, and that’s a relatively big loss. Remember that in a brick-and-mortar store, you are always fighting rent…and a coffee table book has taken up a lot more rent than a mass market paperback before you sell it, so having “shrinkage” due to damage is a bigger deal. They also were prone to being shoplifted, despite the size (shoplifters would stack them up on a shelf, then scoot out the door with them when it was not being observed).

Daily Progress: “Literary agents discuss publishing industry”

In this

Daily Progress article

literary agents talk about the state of the industry. I found this quotation particularly interesting:

“Things are actually very healthy in terms of readers and in terms of authors,” Patrick said. “What’s sick is the business model of publishing and that’s what I’m finding is so depressing.”

Are agents hurt by a model that may incorporate more of publishers selling directly to consumers?

Not necessarily: their involvement comes before that. The publishers still have to decide which books to publish, and that’s one of the places where an agent has a function.

However, if the tradpubs (traditional publishers) increasingly look like (and therefore have more competition with) independent publishers, then it gets trickier. Ten years ago, if you wanted to sell your books, you had to get them into brick-and-mortar stores. If you wanted to get them into brick-and-mortar stores, they had to come from tradpubs. If you wanted to have your book published by a tradpub, you had to have an agent. That’s a simplification, but that’s generally how it worked.

Now, that’s not the way it works. If you want to sell your books, e-books especially, you have to get them on to an e-tailer (especially Amazon). You don’t need an agent to do that.

There is still a place for agents, certainly, but they’ll have to look carefully at the model. My guess is that the opportunities will be reduced for tradpubbed books, but the reward per book will increase. Let’s say that a tradpub currently publishes 1,000 books a year and an agent averages $1,000 per book (I’m completely making up these figures, to make the math easy). I suspect that in the future, that same publisher might publish one hundred books…but the agents might average $10,000 per book (which is being sold at a higher price and with a greater likelihood of success, because they’ll stop doing riskier titles).

That’s a big way that I can see the industry going. The risk is taken by indies, and only after the books are proven do they have a chance of being picked up by a tradpub. The tradpubs will concentrate on brand name authors and sure bets.

I would guess that will make it less fun to be a publisher. I would think that taking a risk would be part of the attraction, a place where you could show your skills in picking a winner nobody expected. I think the art part of publishing is going to be harder to justify to the stockholders as things go forward. Indies will try wild things, a few of which will succeed…and those are the ones the tradpubs will license.

What do you think? Do customers understand a book not being in a store because there are business negotiations going on? Are customers so bound to brick-and-mortar bookstores that B&N won’t lose them as long as they are the only chain in town? Will tradpubs take fewer risks? If so, what does that mean for publishing? 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.

Posted in Brick-and-mortar bookstores, Round-ups | 4 Comments »

How often do you use these Kindle features/services?

March 26, 2013

How often do you use these Kindle features/services?

It’s been a while since I’ve asked how you use your Kindle device, and I actually want to expand the question this time to Kindle services as well.

We’ll start out with different types of content, then move on from there. On these questions, a “Kindle” would include a Kindle Fire, an RSK (Reflective Screen Kindle…any hardware Kindle but a Fire). If your device can not do something, please skip the question rather than answering “Never”. For example, skip the music question for the Mindle, which does not have speakers.

Now, let’s talk about some of the other types of things.

One of the cool things about the Kindle service has been Whispersync. You can start reading a book on one device (say, a Kindle) and continue reading it on another (such as your SmartPhone). This can work very well when one person is reading the same book on more than one device.

Another great thing is that more than one person on an account can read the same book…for one purchase price. For example, my Significant Other and I might buy a book once, and then both read it.

Whispersync for Voice (WSV) is a fairly new feature that lets you switch back and forth between an audiobook and the e-book, and lets you buy the audiobook for a reduced price (after having bought the e-book).

Well, that’s probably enough for this time. 🙂

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

Posted in Polls | 7 Comments »

I Love My Kindle

Archive for 2013

Snapshot: April 1 2013

AFD News: “Amazon buys the English language”

Round up #157: AMZN 5% tax refund bonus, LibraryThing free today

KDD: The Host, AmazonLocal deal on kids’ books

A Day in the Life of a Kindleer 2013

A day in the life of a Kindleer

A tale in the life: the Enhanced Reading Experience

Round up #156: major update for Kindle Fire, X-Ray for TV shows

Re-imagining copyright

Round up #155: what is the future of coffee table books, B&N shuns S&S

How often do you use these Kindle features/services?

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Want to contact Bufo? Use the About page below

Top Posts

Categories

About Bufo and ILMK

Amazon Aisles

Amazon Programs and Help Pages

Blogroll

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Kindle Fire

Kindles and Accessories

Other EBRs

Recommended

Resources

Sources for Free Books

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Pages

Archives

Meta

Want to support ILMK?