Amazon’s 2nd annual Prime Day is coming July 12th!

Amazon’s 2nd annual Prime Day is coming July 12th!

I guess you really know you’ve made it when you can make up your own holiday…and enough people celebrate it so it gets to a second year. 😉

Amazon did that last year with

Prime Day (at AmazonSmile: benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*)

which was on July 15th, 2015.

This year it is on July 12th (the second Tuesday…last year it was the third Wednesday, so we can’t predict for next year).

It was big…really big. According to Amazon peak sale rates were higher than for Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year in the USA).

They said they sold 4,000

Amazon Echo (at AmazonSmile: benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*)

in fifteen minutes.

One of the best deals last year was a discount on

Kindle Unlimited (at AmazonSmile: benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*)

It worked out to $5.99 a month for the best deal…a great savings over the normal $9.99! Look for that again this year, at least on July 5th and July 12th.

So, what is Prime Day?

Very simply, it is special sales just for

Amazon Prime (at AmazonSmile: benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*)

members.

The advice I gave last year

Get the most out of Prime Day

look to me like it should all still be valid.

In this year’s press release

Prime Day 2016 – More Than 100,000 Deals Worldwide Exclusively for Prime Members on July 12

they give us some hints.

One of the biggest thing is that, although it is Prime Day, they are going to have things happening starting tomorrow (July 5th) and running through the 12th.

I expect it will be even bigger this year. Prime members (even those on a free trial month) in the U.S., U.K., Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, Belgium, and Austria will have more ways to access…including through Echo devices.

There are special promotions for listening to Prime Music, uploading pictures…details are on that

Prime Day (at AmazonSmile: benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*)

and they may add new ones throughout the week.

I’ll be keeping an eye on it…my Amazon sense is tingling!  😉

Join thousands of readers and try the free ILMK magazine at Flipboard!

All aboard our new The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project!

* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get.  Shop ’til you help!  By the way, it’s been interesting lately to see Amazon remind me to “start at AmazonSmile” if I check a link on the original Amazon site. I do buy from AmazonSmile, but I have a lot of stored links I use to check for things.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy  Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

Interview with Kris Calvin, author of One Murder More: one year on

Interview with Kris Calvin, author of One Murder More: one year on

Note: Kris Calvin, who is interviewed below, is my sibling. I’ve been keeping readers of ILMK informed about the Kris’ experience as a first time author. I do not, though, have any financial interest in the book. We have had discussions about the book and the business, but that’s the extent of my involvement

ILMK: It’s been a bit over a year since the debut publication of your first novel, One Murder More (at AmazonSmile: benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*), a Maren Kane mystery. I appreciate you taking the time to check in with the readers of ILMK.

You mention a lot of books on your Twitter feed, so you must have had some thoughts about what it was like to be an author before One Murder More was published. What, if anything, has turned out pretty much the way you expected?

Kris Calvin: I’m not one of those people who thought “I had a book in me” or “always wanted to be an author”. I’ve been an avid reader all of  my life, but never gave any serious thought as to what it would be like to be on the other side of that partnership.  So, in that sense, all of it has been surprising. If I had to choose one thing, it would be how much I want to be writing whenever I’m doing something else, and yet how difficult it can be when I sit down to write to actually begin.

ILMK:  How important do you think it is as a writer that you are still reading as much as you do?

Kris Calvin:  It’s essential, I can’t write unless I’m  also reading. It’s kind of like priming the pump. I average about 2 to 3 novels a week. Conversely, although many of my author friends find that watching television series is another way to spur their creativity, if I watch TV or movies it seems to create a barrier to my putting words down on the page.

ILMK: In addition to reading and writing, it’s clear that you travel to a lot of literary events. Some of my readers know what’s it like to attend these as an audience member, but what it is like as an author? Do you see some of the same authors at different events?

Kris Calvin: Literary events  run the gamut,  from a  single author reading his or her work in front of 10 people in  a local bookstore to massive international conferences where many hundreds of authors and readers gather for several days of back-to-back speeches, interviews and panels, and all kinds of venues in formats that fall in between the two.

Attending as an author varies in experience, depending on timing and related goals. When I’m launching a new book I’ll spend the bulk of my time promoting it, often doing a signing and connecting with readers. If not, my schedule is more relaxed—I might  sit on a panel that is topic-related,  for example about creating a strong woman protagonist or writing a political thriller. But most of my time is spent doing the same thing I would do as a reader: attending other writers’ panels with the hope of being entertained and learning something! 

ILMK: One Murder More has gotten great reviews on Amazon, with an average of 4.7 stars out of 5 with 87 customer reviews. Take a look at this graph of the number of reviews the book has been getting.

Not surprisingly, the most reviews happened when it was first released, but the number of reviews has been trending upwards again this year. What have you done to maintain interest in the book?

Kris Calvin: The recent spike may be related to my doing a number of events, including speaking at rotaries and book clubs in-person and via Skype. These aren’t often large groups, but they are friendly and responsive and we have a lot of fun! I  don’t push purchasing my books when I speak, I share my experiences writing and in politics but I do specifically ask attendees to leave an honest review if they  get a chance to read the book. I think many folks don’t know that they can review a book on Amazon even if they buy it elsewhere, so maybe giving them that information has also helped.

ILMK: Generally, marketing must take some real time and energy. How do you prioritize your time between writing and marketing?

Kris Calvin: I’m a morning person, so that’s when I write.  It’s when my creative energy is best. I don’t do much direct marketing, but I’m aware that being active on social media connects me with people, some of whom then try out my books!  So I do that later in the day. 

ILMK: I understand that you are currently working on the second Maren Kane mystery. Was the plan always to make it a series?

Kris Calvin: I enjoy reading series a great deal, not only mysteries and thrillers but also sci-fi fantasy, and because I  work in politics in my day job I have no shortage of  motives for murder and mayhem!  I don’t outline, but I have a  premise in mind for the next five Maren Kane books. 

ILMK: Some authors have written several books in a series before releasing the first one. In your case, you are hearing from readers about what they like before you write the next Maren Kane mystery. How do you think that will affect it? Are there characters who may get more story line because the readers liked them more than you might have expected?

Kris Calvin: Each time I do an event with readers I ask them who their favorite and least favorite characters are, and what they might like to see happen to Maren and her friends next.  I’ve gotten lots of good ideas that way, although I also found some plot twist that I was already working onto be unpopular and  decided to rethink them! For example,  Polly, Maren’s British-born best friend, was sadly a victim of Sacramento  gang violence in the first draft of the second book. When I raised this at one event a woman told me she was going to start a #SavePolly  campaign as she couldn’t stand to see her go! So now Polly’s only been injured, and I’m pretty sure she’s going to be fine…

ILMK: You’ve also already had published a Maren Kane short story in the anthology, Tinsel and Temptation (at AmazonSmile*). How do short stories fit into the mix in your writing life?

Kris Calvin:  This story that you reference, That Merriest Murder, was the first short story that I’ve ever written,  at least since high school, and I’m not sure I wrote any then.  The most challenging part for me was the inability to put in false leads and “red herrings”  like I would normally do in a full-length novel. I felt like it would be obvious who the murderer was if I didn’t have room to create those alternate suspects.  You were quite helpful with that!  I don’t  know if you remember, but we had a discussion around that time about my frustration and you told me that short stories are fundamentally character-driven: that if I could create a compelling character, readers wouldn’t mind so much that the puzzle wasn’t as difficult.  That seems to have turned out to be true, as I had readers of that story tell me that they figured out who the murderer was, but that they enjoyed it nonetheless!  Since then I’ve written a second short story which is not out yet, and I greatly enjoyed the process.  It doesn’t require as much deferral of gratification  for the author as  writing a 300-page book! 

ILMK: One Murder More was published as an e-book, as a hardback, and now as a paperback. Do you find any differences in the reader reaction from the different formats? Do you do special marketing to appeal to readers of different formats?

Kris Calvin: It was my publisher’s idea to start with a hardback, as they feel it is the preferred format for reviewers. I’ve also since learned that it’s favored by many libraries.  I think they were right that that enabled me to get more attention for the book at launch. However, I think the typical consumer prefers to pay less for a new author’s work, and that makes both the paperback and the e-book far more appealing. The paperback is my favorite, I really like the way that it came out in terms of production value, we were able to add more “praise quotes” than we could at launch, which is fun,  and silly as it is to say, it’s much more lightweight and easy for me to carry around. I generally have a paperback copy of my book tucked in my purse to share with people that I meet who say they are avid thriller and mystery readers.  In terms of marketing, the only difference is I did a $.99 promotion for the e-book and that clearly had an effect. It lifted it into the top 100 Mystery and Thriller series out of approximately 64,000 titles in that category, and although it didn’t remain there,  sales  are still elevated.  Since my  primary goal is to gain readers,  having an available e-book at a low, low price is a really great way to do that. [Bufo’s note: the ninety-nine cent sale is still happening at time of writing, but I don’t know how long it will last]

ILMK: Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers?

Kris Calvin: If writing has taught me anything, it’s that it’s important to stay curious. As I mentioned, I didn’t begin writing my book because I “knew” that I wanted to be an author. I was just curious as to whether I could use the twist I had thought of to craft a mystery like the ones that I enjoy reading.  I’ve tried other things before this, running for local office, owning a vintage clothing store.  They were both interesting, but neither one landed as my “passion” the way writing has.  I know that being “a dilettante” is often viewed negatively, but I think there’s something to be said for dabbling in a number of different things until you find the one that truly lifts your heart.

Join thousands of readers and try the free ILMK magazine at Flipboard!

All aboard our new The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project!

* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get.  Shop ’til you help!  By the way, it’s been interesting lately to see Amazon remind me to “start at AmazonSmile” if I check a link on the original Amazon site. I do buy from AmazonSmile, but I have a lot of stored links I use to check for things.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy  Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

Monthly Kindle Deals for $3.99 or less each: July 2016

Monthly Kindle Deals for $3.99 or less each: July 2016

Amazon does the Kindle Daily Deal (at AmazonSmile…benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*), which used to discount four books a day (often general fiction, a romance, a science fiction/fantasy book, and a kids’ book). Now, it seems like it is generally more books than that, and not categorized.

They also do Monthly Kindle Book Deals for $3.99 or less each (at AmazonSmile)…which is branded this time as “Kindle Summer Reading Deals”, but still indicate it will change each month. There used to be about 100 of them, but there are many times that now: 806 at the time of writing…86 more than last month. They are up to 80% off…and breaking the trend of past three months, one of them is more than $3.99…it’s $7.99. That’s only listed as 50% off…but it does say “up to” 80%, not “at least”. Still, based on my headline, maybe I should say there are 805. 🙂

Those prices only apply to the USA, and one weird thing is that sometimes some of the books seem to sell out at that price sometimes (or become unavailable for some other reason).

Another thing is that 430 of them (73 more than last month) are available through

Kindle Unlimited (at AmazonSmile: benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*)

Amazon lists that information prominently…and it’s now commonly a filter in search results. If they are, then you need to consider whether it is worth buying them…even at these low prices. While they are in KU, you can, if you are a subscriber (and there’s a free month available right now), read them at no additional cost. There are, of course, advantages to owning books, especially if you want to re-read them. A book could move out of KU at any time. Even if you think you want to own it, if you are a KU member, you could always read it first to make sure. 😉 I will mark them with KU.

By the way, in the new version of the

eReaderIQ advanced search

you can make KU a filter. So, you can search for books by an author, a keyword, an average customer review which you can read as part of your KU membership…nice! I’m not associated with eReaderIQ except as a user (we have had some correspondence), but I do think it is the most valuable website for Kindleers.

I’m going to list some of the books in this sale that caught my eye…I’m not necessarily recommending them, but I do think they are interesting.

The ones I link (if I actually link to specific books) also don’t block text-to-speech access**…but I think blocking it is becoming rarer.

• Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (KU)
• The Beginning of the End (Apocalypse Z) by Manel Loureiro and Pamela Carmell (KU)
• Blood Feud: The Clintons vs. The Obamas by Edward Klein
• The Noticer: Sometimes, all a person needs is a little perspective by Andy Andrews
• I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
• The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot series Book 4) by Agatha Christie
• Auschwitz: A Doctor’s Eyewitness Account by Miklos Nyiszli and Bruno Bettelheim
• The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon
• Day by Day Armageddon by J. L. Bourne
• The Beach House by Georgia Bockoven
• The Empty Chair: A Novel (Lincoln Rhyme Book 3) by Jeffery Deaver
• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown
• The Boy from Reactor 4 (The Nadia Tesla Series Book 1) by Orest Stelmach (KU)
• The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change by Adam Braun
• The Eternal Wonder by Pearl S. Buck
• A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life by Donald Miller
• Raze: A Scarred Souls Novel by Tillie Cole
• Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors by Stephen Ambrose
• Easy Spanish Step-By-Step by Barbara Bregstein
• The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller and Dave Jenks
• Summer at Willow Lake: Lakeshore Chronicles Book 1 (The Lakeshore Chronicles) by Susan Wiggs
• President Me: The America That’s in My Head by Adam Carolla
• Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

There are some good choices here, better than last month!

If there were others you’d like to mention for me and my readers, please comment on this post.

Prime members, don’t forget to pick up your

Kindle First books (at AmazonSmile*)

You can get one of the six (same as last month…previously, it has often been four) books to own (not borrow) for free…these are books which will be actually released next month. The choices this month are:

• Everything We Keep by Kerry Lonsdale (contemporary fiction)
• Rage by Zygmunt Miloszewski, Antonia Lloyd-Jones (crime fiction)
• Doubt (Caroline Auden) by C. E. Tobisman (legal thriller)
• The Daughter of Union County by Francine Thomas Howard (historical fiction)
• Midair by Kodi Scheer (literary fiction)
• Emotional Rescue: Essays on Love, Loss, and Life–With a Soundtrack  by Ben Greenman (nonfiction essays)

People like to know which one I pick…I was tempted by Emotional Rescue, but  decided to go with Doubt. The reviews may have tipped me a bit, but my Significant Other will definitely like Doubt more, and that matters. 🙂

Enjoy!

Join thousands of readers and try the free ILMK magazine at Flipboard!

All aboard our new The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project!

* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get.  Shop ’til you help!  By the way, it’s been interesting lately to see Amazon remind me to “start at AmazonSmile” if I check a link on the original Amazon site. I do buy from AmazonSmile, but I have a lot of stored links I use to check for things.

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

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy  Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

Snapshot: July 1, 2016

Snapshot: July 1, 2016

Note: thanks to reader feedback, especially from Edward  Boyhan, this is the second Snapshot with a new strategy for the monthly Snapshots. Quite simply, continuing to add data had made them too large for some devices. I moved the other data (generally, more than two years old) to a page (Historical Snapshot) rather than a post. I’m also making some changes that may make it easier to read. For one thing, I’m moving the summary to the top of the post from the bottom. It used to be at the bottom because, well, I write it after I’ve done the analysis which makes up the rest of the post. 🙂 However, Edward pointed out that people probably prefer reading the summary first…and that may be all they read of it. Good advice! Feel free to let me know what you think about the changes by commenting on this post.

Summary:

Generally, this is a good looking month! More books being added (and more magazines), more free books, and prices were good…with one notable exception. I think we are continuing to see stratification, with the traditionally published, “frontlist”, “People magazine books”, going up in price. The New York Times bestseller hardback fiction equivalents went up, on average forty-five cents…that’s a lot! We may be headed for those $50 hardback novels I suggested some time back as a possibility. Overall, though, I like it. 🙂

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

July 1, 2016: 4,606,532
June 1, 2016: 4,535,673
May 1, 2016: 4,466,976
April 1, 2016: 4,433,082
March 1, 2016: 4,356,852
February 1, 2016: 4,260,301
January 1, 2016: 4,168,071
December 1, 2015: 4,046,825 (note: as I projected, the USA Kindle store broke 4 million titles)
November 1, 2015: 3,961,896
October 1, 2015: 3,875,694
September 1, 2015: 3,799,009
August 1, 2015: 3,714,509
July 1, 2015: 3,636,269
June 1, 2015: 3,530,378
May 1, 2015: 3,457,009
April 1, 2015: 3,378,436
March 1, 2015: 3,288,124
February 1, 2015: 3,178,962
January 1, 2015: 3,104,677
December 1, 2014: 3,027,234
November 1, 2014: 2,958,430
October 1, 2014: 2,888,225
September 1, 2014: 2,801,221
August 1, 2014: 2,724,012
July 1, 2014: 2,655,727
June 1, 2014: 2,596,747 (2,597,112 for second run)
May 1, 2014: 2,576,453
May 16 2009: 284,491

Approximate average of titles added per day:

July 1, 2016: 2,286
June 1, 2016: 2,216
May 1, 2016: 1,130
April 1, 2016: 2,459
March 1, 2016: 3,329
February 1, 2016: 2,975
January 1, 2016: 3,911
December 1, 2015: 2,831
November 1, 2015: 2,873
October 1, 2015: 2,556
September 1, 2015: 2,726
August 1, 2015: 2,524
July 1, 2015: 3,530
June 1, 2015: 2,446
May 1, 2015: 2,619
April 1, 2015: 3,225
March 1, 2015: 3,899
February 1, 2015: 2,396
January 1, 2015: 2,581
December 1, 2014: 2,293
November 1, 2014: 2,265
October 1, 2014: 2,900
September 1, 2014: 2,491
August 1, 2014: 2,276
July 1, 2014: 1954
June 1, 2014: 655 (2nd run: 689)
May 1, 2014: 2,131

Magazines:

July 1, 2016: 758
June 1, 2016: 741
May 1, 2016: 714
April 1, 2016: 711
March 1, 2016: 699
February 1, 2016: 685
January 1, 2016: 684
December 1, 2015: 667
November 1, 2015: 646
October 1, 2015: 632
September 1, 2015: 638
August 1, 2015: 636
July 1, 2015: 632
June 1, 2015: 631
May 1, 2015: 630
April 1, 2015: 643
March 1, 2015: 647
February 1, 2015: 638
January 1, 2015: 638
December 1, 2014: 643
November 1, 2014: 646
October 1, 2014: 652
September 1, 2014: 652
August 1, 2014: 649
July 1, 2014: 650
June 1, 2014: 668
May 1, 2014: 671

Newspapers:

July 1, 2016: 166
June 1, 2016: 167
May 1, 2016: 168
April 1, 2016: 168
March 1, 2016: 172
February 1, 2016: 172
January 1, 2016: 169
December 1, 2015: 168
November 1, 2015: 168
October 1, 2015: 168
September 1, 2015: 172
August 1, 2015: 173
July 1, 2015: 173
June 1, 2015: 173
May 1, 2015: 172
April 1, 2015: 173
March 1, 2015: 172
February 1, 2015: 170
January 1, 2015: 175
December 1, 2014: 174
November 1, 2014: 174
October 1, 2014: 174
September 1, 2014: 175
August 1, 2014: 174
July 1, 2014: 175
June 1, 2014: 177
May 1, 2014: 178

Blogs:

July 1, 2016: 15,746 (ILMK rank: #8)
June 1, 2016: 15,708 (ILMK rank: #8)
May 1, 2016: 15,669 (ILMK rank: #14)
April 1, 2016: 15,351 (ILMK rank: I could not find a ranking for bestselling blogs)
March 1, 2016: 15,144 (ILMK rank: #9)
February 1, 2016: 15,156 (ILMK rank: #10)
January 1, 2016: 15,122 (ILMK rank: #8)
December 1, 2015: 15,071 (ILMK rank: #8)
November 1, 2015: 15,030 (ILMK rank: #8)
October 1, 2015: 14,983 (ILMK rank: #8)
September 1, 2015: 14,923 (ILMK rank: #8)
August 1, 2015: 14,883 (ILMK rank: #8)
July 1, 2015: 14,837 (ILMK rank:#8)
June 1, 2015: 14,768 (ILMK rank: #8)
May 1, 2015: 14,679 (ILMK rank: #8)
April 1, 2015: 14,648 (ILMK rank: #9)
March 1, 2015: 14,588 (ILMK rank: #8)
February 1, 2015: 14,419 (ILMK rank: #8)
January 1, 2015: 14,392 (ILMK rank: #10)
December 1, 2014: 14,337 (ILMK rank: #14)
November 1, 2014: 14,267
October 1, 2014: 14,189 (ILMK rank: #11)
September 1, 2014: 14,151 (ILMK rank: #12)
August 1, 2014: 14,089 (ILMK rank: #13)
July 1, 2014: 13,985 (ILMK rank: #13)
June 1, 2014: 13,924 (ILMK rank: #8)
May 1, 2014: 13,811 (ILMK rank: #10)

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

June, 2016 (taken July 1, 2016): 86.1% (3,747,972 of 4,606,532)
May 2016, (taken June 1, 2016): 85.6% (4,26,357 of 3,678,86)
April, 2016 (taken May 1, 2016): 85.2% (3,598,659 of 4,225,884)
March, 2016 (taken April 1, 2016): 85.4% (3,587,825 of 4,203,311)
February, 2016 (taken March 1, 2016): 85.2% (3,522,742 of 4,133,304)
January, 2016 (taken February 1, 2016): 85.2% (3,440,910 of 4,038,776)
December, 2016 (taken January 1, 2016): 85.0% (3,350,232 of 3,490,070)
November, 2015 (taken December 1, 2015): 84.9% (3,242,119 of 3,818,499)
October, 2015 (taken November 1, 2015): 84.7% (3,166,691 of 3,736,839)
September, 2015 (taken October 1, 2015): 84.8% (3,096,037 of 3,652,166)
August, 2015: (taken September 1, 2015): 85.3% (3,048,620 of 3,575,587)
July, 2015 (taken August 1, 2015): 85.3% (2,969,714 of 3,482,960)
June, 2015 (taken July 1, 2015: 83.9% (2,893,481 of 3,408,090)
May, 2015 (taken June 1, 2015): 84.7% (2,800,318 of 3,306,054)
April, 2015 (taken May 1, 2015): 84.6% (2,736,106 of 3,232,290)
March, 2015 (taken April 1, 2015): 88.4% (2,802,470 of 3,171,379)
February, 2015 (taken March 1, 2015): 88.3% (2,721,649 of 3,083,344)
January, 2015 (taken February 1, 2015): 88.4% (2,630,162 of 2,976,291)
December, 2014 (taken January 1, 2015): 88.3% (2,567,412 of 2,907,638)
November, 2014 (taken December 1, 2014):88.3% (2,506,715 of 2,838,606)
October, 2014 (taken November 1, 2014): 88.4% (2,451,370 of 2,774,474)
September, 2014: (taken October 1, 2014): 88.2% (2,387,727 of 2,707,622)
August, 2014: (taken September 1, 2014): 87.9% (2,304,717 of 2,621,516)
July, 2014 (taken August 1, 2014): 87.7% (2,232,131 of 2,544,623)
June, 2014 (taken July 1, 2014): 87.7% (2,172,079 of 2,477,343)
May, 2014 (taken June 1, 2014): 74.6% (294,759 of 395,137) | Second run (to account for possible Amazon glitching): 87.6% (2,121,022 of 2,422,630)

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

Books for June, 2016: 93.2% (82,227 of 88,180)
Books for May, 2016: 93.1% (82,022 of 88,070)
Books for April, 2016: 92.2% (80,910 of 87,717)
Books for March, 2016: 94.% (95,732 of 101,747)
Books for February 2016: 95.4% (112,307 of 117,729)
Books for January, 2016: 94.2% (87,774 of 93,160)
Books for December, 2016: 94.9% (96,092 of 101,225)
Books for November, 2015: 92.6% (79,061 of 85,397)
Books for October, 2015: 92.2% (76,789 of 83,244)
Books for September, 2015: 92.7% (78,419 of 84,314)
Books for August, 2015: 94.2% (83,159 of 88,243)
Books for July, 2015: 94.3% (81,843 of 86,827)
Books for June, 2015: 94.0% (80,396 of 85,535)
Books for May, 2015: 93.5% (74,211 of 79,388)
Books for April, 2015: 93.3% (76,455 of 81,914)
Books for March, 2015: 93.6% (85,581 of 91,471)
Books for February, 2015: 94.7% (74,806 of 78,979)
Books for January, 2015: 94.6% (73,166 of 77,329)
Books for December, 2014: 95.1% (72,247 of 77,048)
Books for November, 2014: 93.2% (72,264 of 77,550)
Books for October, 2014: 94.0% (72,051 of 76,646)
Books for September, 2014: 95.0% (77,730 of 81,864)
Books for August, 2014: 95.8% (72,127 of 75,293)
Books for July, 2014: 95.8% (72,543 of 75,750)
Books for June, 2014: 94.4% (63,104 of 66,856)
Books for May, 2014: 81.4% (3,177 of 3,905) | 2nd run to account for Amazon possibly glitching: 94.7% (65,080 of 68,713)

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

July 1, 2016: 61.3% (2,821,664 of 4,606,532)
June 1, 2016: 61.0% (2,767,757 of 4,535,673)
May 1, 2016: 60.5% (2,704,477 of 4,466,976)
April 1, 2016: 61.1% (2,707,775 of 4,433,082)
March 1, 2016: 60.8% (2,647,699 of 4,356,852)
February 1, 2016: 60.7% (2,587,810 of 4,20,301)
January 1, 2016: 60.2% (2,507,452 of 4,168,071)
December 1, 2015: 60.5% (2,447,446 of 4,046,825)
November 1, 2015: 60.5% (2,398,461 of 3,961,896)
October 1, 2015: 60.3% (2,338,287 of 3,75,694)
September 1, 2015: 60.7% (2,306,295 of 3,799,099)
August 1, 2015: 60.6% (2,251,364 of 3,714,509)
July 1, 2015: 60.4% (2,195,452 of 3,636,269)
June 1, 2015: 60.5% (2,134,639 of 3,530,378)
May 1, 2015: 60.4% (2,088,376 of 3,457,009)
April 1, 2015: 64.1% (2,164,454 of 3,378,436)
March 1, 2015: 64.2% (2,111,025 of 3,288,124)
February 1, 2015: 64.3% (2,043,564 of 3,178,962)
January 1, 2015: 64.2% (1,992,162 of 3,104,677)
December 1, 2014: 64.2% (1,943,782 of 3,027,234)
November 1, 2014: 64.6% (1,909,982 of 2,958,430)
October 1, 2014: 64.3% (1,857,411 of 2,888,225)
September 1, 2014: 63.9% (1,778,889 of 2,801,221)
August 1, 2014: 63.6% (1,731,841 of 2,724,012)
July 1, 2014: 63.4% (1,684,876 of 2,655,727)
June 1, 2014: 8.7% (225,848 of 2,597,747) | second run to account for Amazon possibly glitching 63.4% (1,647,127 of 2,597,112)
May 1, 2014: 63.8% (1,644,029 of 2,576,453)

Books from one penny to $2.98

July 1, 2016: 20.9% (963,039 of 4,606,532)
June 1, 2016: 20.9% (947,387 of 4,535,673)
May 1, 2016: 20.8% (929,532 of 4,466,976)
April 1, 2016: 20.6% (914,517 of 4,433,082)
March 1, 2016: 20.8% (907,912 of 4,356,852)
February 1, 2016: 20.8% (884,290 of 4,260,301)
January 1, 2016: 20.8% (868,268 of 4,168,071)
December 1, 2015: 20.3% (819,885 of 4,046,825)
November 1, 2015: 20.0% (791,777 of 3,961,896)
October 1, 2015: 20.1% (780,371 of 3,875,694)
September 1, 2015: 20.1% (764,280 of 3,799,009)
August 1, 2015: 19.9% (739,684 of 3,714,509)
July 1, 2015: 19.8% (718,584 of 3,636,269)
June 1, 2015: 20.5% (685,609 of 3,350,378)
May 1, 2015: 19.3% (6,671,179 of 3,457,009)
April 1, 2015: 19.5% (657,728 of 3,378,436)
March 1, 2015: 21.3% (699,221 of 3,288,124)
February 1, 2015: 19.0% (603,638 of 3,178,962)
January 1, 2015: 19.1% (591,610 of 3,104,677)
December 1, 2014: 19.1% (579,121 of 3,027,234)
November 1, 2014: 18.8% (556,881 of 2,958,430)
October 1, 2014: 18.9% (545,350 of 2,888,225)
September 1, 2014: 18.9% (529,976 of 2,801,221)
August 1, 2014: 18.9% (513,541 of 2,724,012)
July 1, 2014: 18.8% (499,756 of 2,655,727)
June 1, 2014: 2.7% (70,679 of 2,596,747) | second run to account for Amazon possibly glitching: 18.7% (485,799 of 2,597,112)
May 1, 2014: 18.4% (474,202 of 2,576,453)

Price Point Analysis of New York Times Hardback Fiction Equivalents

July 1, 2016

14.99 13.99 13.99 14.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 13.99 14.99 14.99
14.99 13.99 13.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 13.99 12.99 9.99

Average: $13.84 (+0.45) 1 title under $10

June 1, 2016

14.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 13.99 14.99 14.99 10.99
13.99 12.99 14.99 9.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 13.99 12.99 8.99

Average: $13.39 (-0.10) 2 titles under $10

May 1, 2016:

14.99 12.99 13.99 13.99 12.99 9.99 13.99 13.99 12.99 12.99
13.99 13.99 12.99 $12.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 13.99 13.99 13.99

Average: $13.49 (+0.01) 1 title under $10

April 1, 2016

14.99 14.99 13.99 9.99 13.99 12.99 13.99 14.99 13.99 14.99
13.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 13.99 10.99 12.99 14.74 11.99

Average: $13.48 (+0.04) 1 title under $10

March 1, 2016

12.99 13.99 12.99 9.99 13.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99
13.99 12.99 13.99 10.99 14.99 14.99 12.99 13.99 14.99 13.99

Average: $13.44 (+0.17) 1 title under $10

February 1, 2016

12.99 13.99 12.99 13.99 13.99 9.99 12.99 N/A 12.99 12.99
12.99 13.99 14.99 12.99 12.99 14.99 N/A 12.99 11.99 13.99

Average: $13.27 (-.52) 1 title under $10

January 1, 2016

12.99 13.99 12.99 14.99 14.99 11.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 14.99
9.99 13.99 13.99 14.99 13.99 14.99 14.99 12.99 14.99 12.99

Average: $13.79 (+.70) 1 title under $10

December 1, 2015

13.99 14.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 14.99 13.99 14.99 10.99 12.99
13.99 9.99 11.99 13.99 4.99 14.99 11.99 13.99 14.99 12.99

Average: $13.09 (-.50) 2 titles under $10

November 1, 2015

12.99 14.99 14.99 14.99 14.99 13.99 13.99 12.99 11.99 14.99
13.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 14.99 9.99 12.99 13.99 12.99

Average: $13.59 (+.03) 1 title under $10

October 1, 2015

14.99 13.99 13.99 14.99 13.99 7.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 13.99
12.99 9.45 12.99 14.99 13.99 13.99 13.99 13.99 13.99 14.99

Average: $13.56 (+$0.72) 2 titles under $10

September 1, 2015

13.99 7.99 13.99 12.99 14.99 14.99 13.99 12.99 12.99 8.99
11.99 12.99 14.99 12.99 14.99 9.99 12.99 12.99 11.99 12.99

Average: $12.84 (+$1.33) 3 titles under $10

August 1, 2015

13.99 6.99 13.99 9.99 14.99 9.99 10.99 8.99 8.99 11.43
9.99 11.99 14.99 10.99 10.99 10.99 12.99 10.99 12.99 12.99

Average; $11.51 (-$0.62) 6 titles under $10

July 1, 2015

13.99 6.99 8.99 14.99 10.99 11.99 8.99 9.99 12.99 16.99
11.84 12.99 13.99 11.99 9.99 14.99 14.99 10.99 12.99 10.99

Average: $12.13 (+$0.16) 5 titles under $10

June 1, 2015

6.99 13.99 16.99 9.99 9.99 12.99 10.99 8.99 12.99 12.99
11.43 11.99 12.99 12.99 9.99 12.99 11.84 12.31 14.99 10.99

Average: $11.97 (+$1.69) 5 titles under $10

May 1, 2015

6.99 12.31 8.99 8.99 8.97 8.99 12.99 11.84 10.99 11.84
12.99 6.99 11.84 9.99 12.99 12.99 5.99 9.10 12.99 6.86

Average: $10.28 (-$1.40) 10 titles under $10

April 1, 2015

6.99 12.99 9.99 13.59 10.99 10.99 10.99 12.99 11.99 10.99
12.99 12.99 11.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 12.99 9.99 9.19 11.99

Average: $11.68 (+$0.57) 4 titles under $10

March 1, 2015

8.99 11.99 10.49 10.99 12.99 14.99 9.99 9.99 9.99 11.99
12.99 11.99 9.79 11.99 11.99 10.99 9.99 10.99 5.99 12.99

Average: $11.11 (+$1.34) 7 titles under $10

February 1, 2015

8.99 11.99 9.79 12.99 9.79 9.99 11.99 7.99 9.99 3.99
12.99 11.99 8.99 5.99 3.99 10.99 6.99 10.99 12.99 11.99

Average: $9.77 (+$0.11) 11 titles under $10

January 1, 2015

9.99 7.69 9.99 7.19 10.99 11.99 10.99 3.99 11.99 7.49
10.99 11.89 6.99 10.99 9.99 10.99 10.99 5.99 10.99 10.99

Average: $9.66 (+$0.09) 9 titles under $10

December 1, 2014

10.99 12.74 3.25 9.78 4.99 10.99 12.99 6.99 11.84 10.99
10.99 5.00 9.99 9.78 9.09 10.99 10.99 10.99 6.99 10.99

Average: $9.57 (-$0.65) 9 titles under $10

November 1, 2014

10.99 9.99 11.99 6.50 10.99 10.99 6.99 10.99 10.99 10.99
10.99 6.99 10.99 10.99 10.99 11.99 10.99 10.99 7.99 9.99

Average: $10.22 (-$0.86) 6 titles under $10

October 1, 2014

10.99 10.99 11.99 10.99 12.99 10.99 11.99 12.74 11.99 9.99
10.99 10.99 8.99 6.99 10.99 11.99 10.99 12.99 7.99 12.99

Average: $11.08 (-$0.43) 4 titles under $10

September 1, 2014

9.99 10.99 13.99 10.99 6.99 13.99 10.99 10.99 12.99 11.99
10.99 14.99 11.84 11.99 9.99 11.84 8.99 11.99 12.74 10.99

Average: $11.51 (+$0.56) 4 titles under $10

August 1, 2014

8.99 8.99 10.99 11.99 11.84 6.99 11.99 10.99 10.99 10.99
10.99 8.52 12.99 14.99 10.99 N/A 12.74 10.99 10.99 9.99

Average: $10.95 (+$0.30) 5 titles under $10

July 1, 2014

11.84 8.99 11.99 11.99 10.99 6.99 11.99 11.84 12.99 10.49
10.99 7.99 11.99 10.99 7.99 11.99 5.99 11.84 12.99 9.99

Average: $10.64 (+$0.22) 6 titles under $10

June 1, 2014

8.99 7.50 8.99 8.99 12.99 10.99 10.99 9.99 10.99 14.44
10.99 10.99 9.99 11.84 10.99 8.99 11.84 10.99 5.99 10.99

Average: $10.42 (-$0.16) 8 titles under $10

May 1, 2014

10.99 11.04 10.99 7.50 8.99 10.99 10.99 10.99 12.99 12.99
11.04 5.99 10.99 9.10 12.99 8.55 10.99 13.99 9.99 9.45

Average: $10.58 (-$0.27) 7 titles under $10

Textbooks in the Kindle Store

July 1, 2016: 63,869
June 1, 2016: 63,301
May 1, 2016: 62,577
April 1, 2016: 61,867
March 1, 2016: 61,532
February 1, 2016: 60,985
January 1, 2016: 59,826
December 1, 2015: 59,953
November 1, 2015: 58,582
October 1, 2015: 58,203
September 1, 2015: 48,650
August 1, 2015: 48,063
July 1, 2015: 47,977
June 1, 2015: 47,388
May 1, 2015: 46,799
April 1, 2015: 46,482
March 1, 2015: 46,145
February 1, 2015: 46,265
January 1, 2015: 45,345
December 1, 2014: 44,787
November 1, 2014: 44,250
October 1, 2014: 43,910
September 1, 2014: 43,385
August 1, 2014: 42,643
July 1, 2014: 42,114
June 1, 2014: 40,810
May 1, 2014: 39,687

Free books (including public domain)

July 1, 2016: 89,564 (+5%)
June 1, 2016: 85,502 (-0%)
May 1, 2016: 85,895 (+3%)
April 1, 2016: 83,725 (-1%)
March 1, 2016: 84,422 (+2%)
February 1, 2016: 82,583 (-0%)
January 1, 2016: 82,656 (+2%)
December 1, 2015: 81,264 (+1%)
November 1, 2015: 80,629 (+1%)
October 1, 2015: 79,676 (+2%)
September 1, 2015: 77,976 (-1%)
August 1, 2015: 78,922 (+1%)
July 1, 2015: 77,735 (+1%)
June 1, 2015: 76,688 (-1%)
May 1, 2015: 77,248 (+3%)
April 1, 2015: 74,974 (-0%)
March 1, 2015: 75,030 (+2%)
February 1, 2015: 73,489 (+0%)
January 1, 2015: 73,041 (+13%)
December 1, 2014: 64,805
November 1, 2014: 63,897
October 1, 2014: 61,828
September 1, 2014: 61,787
August 1, 2014: 61,381
July 1, 2014: 60,103
June 1, 2014: 59,848
May 1, 2014: 59,957

Free books (without public domain)

July 1, 2016: 45,814 (+11%)
June 1, 2016: 41,428
May 1, 2016: 41,755
April 1, 2016: 39,760
March 1, 2016: 41,277
February 1, 2016: 38,516 (-0%)
January 1, 2016: 38,550 (+4%)
December 1, 2015: 37,191 (+55%)
November 1, 2015: 23,872 (+2%)
October 1, 2015: 23,307 (+8%)
September 1, 2015: 21,575 (-3%)
August 1, 2015: 22,154 (+3%)
July 1, 2015: 21,572 (+4%)
June 1, 2015: 20,740 (-3%)
May 1, 2015: 21,362 (+9%)
April 1, 2015: 19,508 (+1%)
March 1, 2015: 19,232 (+4%)
February 1, 2015: 18,489 (+3%)
January 1, 2015: 17,983 (+5%)
December 1, 2014: 17,160
November 1, 2014: 16,735
October 1, 2014: 15,099
September 1, 2014: 15,190
August 1, 2014: 14,717
July 1, 2014: 13,300
June 1, 2014: 12,490
May 1, 2014: 13,191

Spanish edition books*

July 1, 2016: 190,183 (+2%)
June 1, 2016: 186,750 (+2%)
May 1, 2016: 183,132 (+1)
April 1, 2016: 180,538 (+2%)
March 1, 2016: 176,351 (+3%)
February 1, 2016: 172,246 (+5%)
January 1, 2016: 168,253 (+3%)
December 1, 2015: 163,218 (+2%)
November 1, 2015: 160,225 (+3%)
October 1, 2015: 156,158 (+2%)
September 1, 2015: 152,538 (+3%)
August 1, 2015: 148,388 (+4%)
July 1, 2015: 143,665 (+3%)
June 1, 2015: 139,519 (+2%)
May 1, 2015: 137,022 (+3%)
April 1, 2015: 132,496 (+3%)
March 1, 2015: 128,918 (+3%)
February 1, 2015: 125,505 (+2%)
January 1, 2015: 123,171 (+3%)
December 1, 2014: 119,963
November 1, 2014: 116,680
October 1, 2014: 113,491
September 1, 2014: 109,395
August 1, 2014: 101,643
July 1, 2014: 98,048
June 1, 2014: 95,632
May 1, 2014: 92,954

Books in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL)

July 1, 2016: 1,340,583 (29.1%)
June 1, 2016: 1,298,473 (28.1%)
May 1, 2016: 1,262,989 (28.3%)
April 1, 2016: 1,277,964 (28.8%)
March 1, 2016: 1,250,894
February 1, 2016: 1,199,281 (26%)
January 1, 2016: 1,168,736 (28.0%)
December 1, 2015: 1,132,942 (28.0%)
November 1, 2015: 1,109,339 (28.0%)
October 1, 2015: 1,084,779 (27.9%)
September 1, 2015: 1,057,291 (27.9%)
August 1, 2015: 1,022,270 (27.5%)
July 1, 2015: 995,047 (27.4%)
June 1, 2015: 957,481 (27.1%)
May 1, 2015: 920,564 (26.6%)
April 1, 2015: 890,629 (24.3%)
March 1, 2015: 853,036 (25.9%)
February 1, 2015: 823,258 (25.9%)
January 1, 2015: 794,093 (25.6%)
December 1, 2014: 764,249 (25.2%)
November 1, 2014: 724,218 (25.1%)
October 1, 2014: 710,979 (24.6%)
September 1, 2014: 673,206 (24.0%)
August 1, 2014: 638,545 (23.4%)
July 1, 2014: 604,950 (22.8%)
June 1, 2014: 586,812 (22.6%)
May 1, 2014: 566,893 (22.0%)

Books in Kindle Unlimited

July 1, 2016: 1,340,737 (29.1% of total)
June 1, 2016: 1,311,185
May 1, 2016: 1,282,695 (28.7% of total)
April 1, 2016: 1,295,483 (29.2% of total)
March 1, 2016: 1,268,842 (29.1% of total)
February 1, 2016: 1,217,059 (28.5% of total)
January 1, 2016: 1,189,911 (28.5% of total)
December 1, 2015: 1,156,686 (28.6% of total)
November 1, 2015: 1,133,293 (28.6% of total)
October 1, 2015: 1,108,762 +2%) (28.6% of total)
September 1, 2015: 1,084,510 (+3%) (28.5% of total)
August 1, 2015: 1,050,688 (+3%) (28.3% of total)
July 1, 2015: 1,023,395 (+4%) (28.1% of total)
June 1, 2015: 984,701 (+4%) (27.9% of total)
May 1, 2015: 948,638 (+3%) (27.4% of total)
April 1, 2015: 918,839 (+4%) (27.2% of total)
March 1, 2015: 880,916 (+4%)
February 1, 2015: 850,027 (+4%)
January 1, 2015: 820,865 (+4%)
December 1, 2014: 791,011 (+3%)
November 1, 2014: 765,236 (+4%)
October 1, 2014: 733,167 (+5%)
September 1, 2014: 696,171 (+5%)
August 1, 2014: 661,111 (new measurement)

Books in the Kindle Matchbook program

July 1, 2016: 75,794 (-0%)
June 1, 2016: 75,937
May 1, 2016: 76,194 (-0%)
April 1, 2016: 76,497 (-1%)
March 1, 2016: 77,175 (-1%)
February 1, 2016: 77,613 (-0%)
January 1, 2016: 77,877 (-0%)
December 1, 2015: 78,148 (-0%)
November 1, 2015: 78,422 (-0%)
October 1, 2015: 78,677 (-0%)
September 1, 2015: 78,940 (-0%)
August 1, 2015: 79,174 (-1%)
July 1, 2015: 79,656 (-0%)
June 1, 2015: 79,917 (-0%)
May 1, 2015: 80,311 (-0%)
April 1, 2015: 80,594 (-1%)
March 1, 2015: 81,045 (-0%)
February 1, 2015: 81,515 (-0%)
January 1, 2015: 82,228 (-1%)
December 1, 2014: 82,643 (+1%)
November 1, 2014: 81,969 (+81%)
October 1, 2014: 45,267 (-39%)
September 1, 2014: 73,820 (+8%)
August 1, 2014: 68,453 (+1%)
July 1, 2014: 67,466 (-1%)
June 1, 2014: 67,787 (-1%)
May 1, 2014: 68,240 (-16%)

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.
—

–

7/1/2016
Total	4,606,532
Prime	4,361,423
Under $10	3,747,972
Price Point	Count	Percentage	Diff
$0.99	555,258	12.05%	0.04%
$1.99	211,667	4.59%	0.02%
$2.99	852,080	18.50%	-0.02%
$3.99	351,616	7.63%	0.04%
$4.99	254,338	5.52%	-0.02%
$5.99	140,421	3.05%	0.01%
$6.99	85,088	1.85%	-0.06%
$7.99	120,451	2.61%	0.10%
$8.99	61,016	1.32%	0.02%
$9.99	336,093	7.30%	-0.05%
$10.99	31,772	0.69%	-0.04%
$11.99	37,888	0.82%	0.00%
$12.99	28,219	0.61%	0.01%
$13.99	18,732	0.41%	0.00%
$14.99	42,554	0.92%	0.15%
$15.99	12,223	0.27%	0.00%
$16.99	15,085	0.33%	0.02%
$17.99	5,735	0.12%	0.00%
$18.99	6,838	0.15%	0.02%
$19.99	15,340	0.33%	-0.03%
$20.99	2,270	0.05%	0.00%
$21.99	2,272	0.05%	-0.01%
$22.99	3,487	0.08%	0.00%
$23.99	3,984	0.09%	0.00%
$24.99	9,788	0.21%	-0.01%

—

6/1/2016
Total	4,535,673
Prime	4,296,347
Under $10	3,678,896
Price Point	Count	Percentage
$0.99	544,905	12.01%
$1.99	207,658	4.58%
$2.99	839,809	18.52%
$3.99	344,572	7.60%
$4.99	251,410	5.54%
$5.99	137,958	3.04%
$6.99	86,573	1.91%
$7.99	114,012	2.51%
$8.99	59,121	1.30%
$9.99	333,073	7.34%
$10.99	32,897	0.73%
$11.99	37,424	0.83%
$12.99	27,483	0.61%
$13.99	18,472	0.41%
$14.99	35,286	0.78%
$15.99	12,056	0.27%
$16.99	13,744	0.30%
$17.99	5,738	0.13%
$18.99	5,941	0.13%
$19.99	16,299	0.36%
$20.99	2,239	0.05%
$21.99	2,661	0.06%
$22.99	3,561	0.08%
$23.99	4,103	0.09%
$24.99	9,940	0.22%

Older data were drawn using http://www.jungle-search.com, newer data with http://www.ereaderiq.com (from the same people). There are a number of possible sources of errors (eRi, Amazon, me), but these are probably pretty good.

• 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, generally) textbook. That would find a book about 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

Join thousands of readers and try the free ILMK magazine at Flipboard!

* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get. Shop ’til you help!

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

The latest Tarzan movie still doesn’t get the books right

The latest Tarzan movie still doesn’t get the books right

For more than 100 years now, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan has been part of our popular culture.

From humble beginnings in the pulps to hugely successful movies to TV shows and comic books, it would be natural to assume that most people, and content creators, would know the story well.

I was a fan, reading all of the books. I memorized the known words of the language of the Mangani (more on that shortly). I watched the movies, and the Ron Ely TV series (along with other adaptations).

It surprised me a bit recently when it was reported that a parent outside an event for the new movie version

The Legend of Tarzan

which stars Alexander Skarsgård as Tarzan, Margot Robbie as Jane Porter (and who also stars as Harley Quinn in my most anticipated movie of the year, August’s Suicide Squad), Christopher Waltz, and Samuel L. Jackson, among others, said that their children didn’t know who Tarzan was.

Particularly during the 1970s, the books were often not present in school libraries, due in large part to concerns that they were racist. They are also violent, but that didn’t seem to be the main issue.

However, the character did continue, including cartoon series during that same decade of the 1970s.

Importantly, in 1972, author Philip José Farmer wrote Tarzan Alive, a biography which presented Tarzan as a real person, and connected the character to many other fictional characters.

In 1984, Greystoke was putatively closer to the books, and in 1999, there was a Disney animated version. The latter, in particular, made it seem odd to me that a child wouldn’t be  familiar with Tarzan, even if they haven’t read or been read the originals.

I haven’t seen the new movie yet, just trailers…but they are enough to point out a significant change from the original books.

The Mangani who raise Tarzan are not gorillas. They aren’t chimpanzees. They aren’t bonobos, who weren’t even recognized as a separate species at the time.

They certainly aren’t orangutans, or other non-African apes.

Actually, they clearly aren’t even apes at all.

They aren’t homo sapiens like us, but they appear to be another species of human.

There were rumors at the time of hairy humans in Africa, although that is undeniably complicated by racial attitudes and what little was known about gorillas.

Given their language and social structure, you are closer thinking that Tarzan was raised by the African equivalent of Bigfoot than gorillas.

Of course, Bigfoot isn’t a great analogy either, at least in the popular conception of the North American hairy hominid. Most people don’t think of them as having much of a structured culture, and given their reported sizes, seem pretty far from homo sapiens.

There are several species of humans which are recognized from the fossil history in Africa, and apparently, based on the books, Tarzan was raised by a relict population of one of those.

That makes a lot more sense. That’s not to say that gorillas couldn’t hypothetically raise a homo sapiens…there are many reports of various kinds of feral humans raised by a variety of animal species, but they may end up being unable to walk well, or have difficulty acquiring language.

Tarzan walks (and runs) fully upright, and as for language? The “Jungle Lord” is a thorough polyglot, fluent in several languages. Not the “Me Tarzan, you Jane” stereotype (which lots of people think the character says in the 1932 movie, but is actually something Johnny Weissmuller said referencing the role: This Day in Quotes), but fully fluent.

Tarzan first speaks Mangani, learning language from the adoptive culture. Tarzan also learns to read English to some extent from the books left behind from the English expedition. Tarzan also learns to speak French (not realizing at first that there is a relationship between spoken and written language), several African languages, and more.

If Tarzan had been raised by actual apes, and had no exposure to a human-style symbolic language until after becoming an adult (except for overhearing what locals are speaking), my understanding is that it would be quite difficult to learn one language, let alone several.

Let’s address the tantor (elephant) in the room: are the Tarzan books racist? There are insensitive, to say the least, portrayals in the books. Jane’s nurse in the first book, especially, is going to be offensive to many modern sensibilities.

However, the books do not argue that Tarzan is inherently superior due to a racial advantage. That’s the concept some people have: because Tarzan is white (“Tarzan” means “white skin” in Mangani…Europeans are “Tarmangani”, showing that the Mangani consider themselves and the Tarmangani similar ((“white Mangani”)), as they do the homo sapiens of African descent…Gomangani ((“black Mangani”)). Gorillas, by the way, are “Bolgani”…they don’t have the “man” part, indicating a more distant connection, although presumably, the syllable “man” would be a coincidence with the English word), the British Lord does much better in Africa than the indigenous people.

Actually, the Tarzan books are quite critical of the British aristocracy. Tarzan isn’t better than Africans by virtue of European descent; Tarzan is better than Europeans by virtue of being raised in Africa in nature, away from Western civilization.

Tarzan finds the violence within Mangani society, and with other species, more honest than the exploitative Europeans, who claim to be civilized, but behave much worse (in Tarzan’s view) than the other animals.

The movie certainly may be an enjoyable adventure, and it may present this view of Tarzan’s (other works have shown Tarzan’s distaste for European culture). Without portraying the Mangani as human, though, it can’t really be accurate to the books.

I don’t know that we’ll ever get type of Tarzan movie, in the mainstream. To suggest that there are other humans in Africa today than homo sapiens clearly would have to be handled very carefully.

If you choose to read the original books, expect to find things that are jarring, including racist portrayals (note that the books are also critical of European ethnicities and others), sexist characters, and serious violence. Part of that is the time in which they were written…see my post from more than six years ago,

The Chronological Cultural Context Conundrum

Don’t expect the main message, though, to be one of Caucasian superiority. Tarzan doesn’t have many non-Mangani human associates (the relationship with Jane is very deep, but that’s different), but they do include Muviro and others.

I’ll probably see the movie eventually, but I’ll be prepared for it to not be like the books.

What do you think? Did you read Tarzan as a child? Should children read the Tarzan books today? If so, is there context they should be given first or during it? If you have a close connection with children, how do you deal with them reading older books which presents ideas and events which can be considered offensive today? Feel free to tell me and my readers what you think by commenting on this post.

Join thousands of readers and try the free ILMK magazine at Flipboard!

All aboard our new The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project!

* When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get.  Shop ’til you help! 

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy  Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

 

Page Flip redesigned, improved and coming to EBRs, Fire tablets, and reader apps

Page Flip redesigned, improved and coming to EBRs, Fire tablets, and reader apps

Amazon is not showing any indications of a wavering commitment to EBRs (E-Book Readers) and e-books!

You may see stories about e-book sales declining, but I think those may be based on a too small dataset (getting reports from the big traditional publishers, and missing not only indies ((independent publishers)) but Amazon’s own publishing).

They’ve recently announced a new EBR

All-New Kindle E-reader – Black, 6″ Glare-Free Touchscreen Display, Wi-Fi – Includes Special Offers (at AmazonSmile: benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*)

which I wrote about here:

New Kindle EBR with text-to-speech via Bluetooth!

This has a giant innovation, which may come to other models: it will connect via Bluetooth to play audio. It can’t play audio on the device itself, but Bluetooth speakers/headsets can be pretty inexpensive. I use a pair of Arctic brand headphones, no longer available, with our Fire TV.  However, I also have Bluetooth speakers, the Amazon Echo, Dot, and Tap, and those should all work with it.

That new Kindle will also export your notes in a new way…another big improvement, nearly nine years in the making. 😉

Their latest innovation, announced today in this

press release

is a great improvement on the Page Flip we’ve had on newer EBRs (E-Book Readers). It is coming as a wireless update to EBRs (I would be sure about all of the current generation…don’t know how far back it will go), Fire tablets, and the free Kindle reader apps for iOS and Android.

They wrote me personally and were nice enough to share links to some animations that show how it works on a

tablet
iPhone
EBR

Not surprisingly, not exactly the same on the three type of devices, but I think it is good on all of them!

With the current Page Flip (on, for example, the current Paperwhite), you can flip back and forth in the book while maintaining your current spot in the book.

The new version shows you several pages at once in “thumbnails” (small representations):

Page Flip on a Kindle

This will make it much easier to navigate to graphs and other images. It’s possible this will turn the tide on the reluctance some students have had in using e-textbooks. It will also work well in things like cookbooks and encyclopedias…you could flip ahead to find a picture of a red panda, for example…maybe not as quickly, but more easily than you could with a p-book (paperbook).

They’ve done a help page, which also embeds a cute ad for it, with a sort of duel between a kid with a p-book and an adult with an e-book:

Page Flip feature page (at AmazonSmile*)

Throughout the short history of the Kindle (not even a decade yet), Amazon has continued to make our devices better after we’ve bought them, at no additional cost to us. Certainly, not every feature comes to every model ever made (in some cases, that wouldn’t be feasible technically) and there have been a few reversals (not to the device you already own, generally, but Bluetooth restores TTS…text-to-speech…access to books which has been absent from EBRs for soe time), but overall, onwards and upwards. 🙂

You should just receive the update “over-the-air” if you leave your device connected to wireless…it won’t necessarily happen in the next day, of course. When connected to wireless, be aware that you are using more battery charge…I sometimes leave by EBRs plugged in overnight.

I’m not seeing it for manual download yet at

http://www.amazon.com/kindlesoftwareupdates (at AmazonSmile*)

but I would guess it will show up there eventually.

I’m looking forward to getting it…thanks, Amazon!

Bonus deal:

Today’s

Kindle Daily Deal (at AmazonSmile…benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*)

includes The Color Purple (at AmazonSmile*) by Alice Walker for $2.99. The Pulitzer Prize/National Book Award winner is perhaps even more popular right now, with a successful Broadway musical. This is also a good opportunity to buy it as a gift, since you can get it at this price and delay the delivery until the appropriate gift-giving occasion. Remember to check the price before you click or tap that Buy button…the sale may not apply in your country, for one thing.

Join thousands of readers and try the free ILMK magazine at Flipboard!

All aboard our new The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project!

* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get.  Shop ’til you help! 

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy  Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

 

Introducing Amazon Inspire: new free educational resource

Introducing Amazon Inspire: new free educational resource

School books used to be strongly associated with McGraw-Hill.

ALM used to do a lot of foreign language learning materials.

Amazon has been involved in schools for some time, but what they announced in this

press release

has the potential to have the e-tailer deeply integrated into primary school learning in the USA for decades.

I’m sure some people will have a knee-jerk reaction to that, but this is not Amazon writing textbooks for profit or to shape public opinion in its favor. It is essentially a curriculum sharing program…and it is free.

I’m a trainer (for the most part) in my “day job”, and there are similarities in a minor way with what I do and what happens in school districts across the country.

We have a number of smaller geographical area groups within my area, Northern California.

We logically cover a lot of the same things. One of the tools we use (but only one) is job aids, where we created a document which someone can use to follow step by step how to complete a process.

There is no point in, say, twenty of these being created independently from scratch to cover the same process. Probably 90% of the job aid content would be the same.

We have worked (and are still working) on having an efficient curriculum sharing system. If one of us creates something, it is made available to the others of us in different areas…who can modify it for local needs if they need to do that.

That problem of parallel development is vastly multiplied when you look at American school districts.

We aren’t particularly talking about textbooks here: those will continue to be produced by professional publishers and authors.

Let’s say the topic is, oh, Gutenberg. While there will be a lot of different approaches to the importance of what Gutenberg did, the basic narrative and issues are going to be the same. It could greatly enhance the teaching of that topic if a teacher in San Francisco had access to what a teacher in Atlanta had written, and vice versa.

However, you want that access to be efficient. You want a robust infrastructure, searchability, and you want it to be friendly to students with disabilities.

You also want it to be affordable, ideally free.

That’s the mission of

AmazonInspire

It’s in the early stages, and they are encouraging the involvement of educators in its evolution.

I think this is going to be big, although there are some difficulties in implementation. Textbooks are often charged with prejudice, both by what they include and what they exclude. There will be a much bigger scrutiny of Amazon, even if they are just really the platform here. Some people aren’t comfortable with Coca-Cola providing services for school lunches, even if all they provide is water.

This is going to be interesting to watch…

Bonus deal: my sibling’s book One Murder More (at AmazonSmile: benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*) is ninety-nine cents right now…I don’t know why or for how long. 🙂

Join thousands of readers and try the free ILMK magazine at Flipboard!

All aboard our new The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project!

* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get.  Shop ’til you help! 

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy  Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

Today’s KDD: “20 New York Times best sellers are up to 80% off”

Today’s KDD: “20 New York Times best sellers are up to 80% off”

Today’s

Kindle Daily Deal (at AmazonSmile…benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*)

has some well-known books and well-known authors at really great prices!

When people think of discounted e-books, I sometimes see them complaining that they are only from indies (independent publishers). First, let me say that many indies are great books!

Second, well, it just isn’t always true. Today’s list will make that point…and a simple refutation to someone would be to say five words: “The Hunt for Red October” which is $1.99 in this sale.

As always, check the price before you click or tap that Buy button. The prices may not apply in your country, and it’s possible you’ll be reading this post after the sale has ended.

These can also make great gifts! Remember that you can buy the book at the sale price and delay the delivery until the proper gift-giving  occasion…these can make great small gifts, or a way to celebrate a vacation.

Books  in the sale include:

• The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy | $1.99
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett | $1.99 | 4.7 stars out of 5 | 9,472 customer reviews
• The Big Short by Michael Lewis
• Memory Man by David Baldacci
• The Murder House by James Patterson
• The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman
• David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell
• What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
• The Stranger by Harlan Coben
• Because of Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
• The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
• Daring Greatly by Brenet Brown
• The Witness by Sandra Brown
• Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
• Winer by Marisa Meyer
• Fall of Giants by Ken Follett (this one created quite a buzz when the e-book was first released at, as I recall, $19.99…in this sale, it is $1.99)
• Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Housseni
• George Washington’s Secret Six by Brian Kilmeade
• The Big Burn by Timothy Egan

Enjoy!

Join thousands of readers and try the free ILMK magazine at Flipboard!

All aboard our new The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project!

* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get.  Shop ’til you help!  By the way, it’s been interesting lately to see Amazon remind me to “start at AmazonSmile” if I check a link on the original Amazon site. I do buy from AmazonSmile, but I have a lot of stored links I use to check for things.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy  Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

Barnes & Noble financials: NOOK sales continue to tank, so the stock…

Barnes & Noble financials: NOOK sales continue to tank, so the stock…

I freely say that I’m no expert on stocks. How the investors react to financials is often a mystery to me.

I can humbly say that I have more expertise on bookstores and book sales. I’m the former manager of a brick-and-mortar bookstore, and I’ve been covering the world of e-books in this blog for close to seven years, averaging more than a post a day and more than 1,000 words a post, I believe.

Barnes & Noble, the largest remaining physical bookstore chain in the USA, reported their financials for the fiscal year:

press release

None of it was a reason to celebrate, and the NOOK sales (both devices and content) continued their freefall…dropping 27.4% year over year. The press release helpfully explains that it is due “…primarily to lower device and content sales.”

Yep.

Now, that doesn’t automatically mean that Amazon is crushing them. I think that in devices, the NOOK is simply an anchor for them right now. Amazon’s devices continue to sell well, from what we can see. My intuition is that Kobo is doing reasonably well. People are reading on phones and tablets, and  I suspect that audiobooks and text-to-speech use is going to spike  in the next few years, with them becoming one of the colors in people’s audio palette. People who rarely sight read books may listen to books more, increasing their exposure to literature.

In terms of NOOK content: that is largely traditional published e-books, and that part of the market is likely dropping over all. A much larger part of Amazon’s e-book sales than NOOK book sales comes from indies (independent publishers…often just the author) and from the company’s own publishing.

However, if NOOK hardware becomes largely a legacy thing (no new development), that will drag down NOOK book sales, even though you can read them on other devices. Serious readers are likely to want the option for an EBR (E-Book Reader)…I think Amazon’s newer version of its least expensive model, which has Bluetooth so you can listen to audio, is going to do quite well. I wrote about it yesterday:

New Kindle EBR with text-to-speech via Bluetooth!

Without that option for NOOK books, and since you can’t read NOOK books on a Kindle EBR, that’s going to be a problem.

Overall, the B&N bookstores, not counting the impact of the NOOK on them, actually slightly increased.

Barnes & Noble stock, as you can see in this

Money/CNN graph

dropped on the 22nd, the day of the announcement, but more than recovered on the 23rd.

Just about everything will drop today, because of reaction to the Brexit (British Exit from the European Union) referendum vote. The UK voted to leave the EU. This will have a big impact, at least in the short term.

Amazon, by the way, is a much more international company than Barnes & Noble, and is therefore safer when any market is affected…I would say, honestly, even when all markets are affected.  It’s a bit like having a robust gene  pool versus a narrow one. Purebred dogs tend to have more and more serious health problems than those with a robust background.

I know I have NOOK users amongst my readers. My guess is that your prior purchases will continue to be available to you…that someone will buy and service the accounts if B&N were to stop doing NOOKs and NOOK books. I think the NOOK hardware is nearly dead. B&N as a company can survive, although they will become decreasingly focused on books…we already see them looking more intently at food and beverage sales, and they do toys, games, shirts, that sort of thing.

How does this affect publishing overall?

One key change is that publishers are decreasingly getting pre-sale money. With an e-book, the publisher does not get paid until the book is purchased…and it’s often some time after that. With a p-book (paperbook), we would pay them for the books before we sold them. If they didn’t sell, we could generally return them for future purchase credit.

That’s  a very different economic model, and it will create a different strategy.

If you knew you had a blockbuster bestseller coming, like the new Harry Potter book, you could count on using the money from that to invest in prestige books which would have a smaller market. Pre-sales means that the money comes in over a longer period of time…it has the sales period, plus the pre-sales period.

With e-books, by the way, when you pre-order them Amazon and the publisher don’t get the money until the book is sent to you…not on the day you order it.

Paper publishers will become more risk averse. They will do fewer prestige books, try fewer new authors…unless the latter prove they have a market through independent publishing first.

On the other hand, that will increase indie publishing of new author and prestige books, with less competition.

One remedy to the loss of pre-sales from brick-and-mortar sales can be crowdfunding. While some crowdfunding waits to  collect the money until the product is released, much of it is intended to create development capital.

I’ve had great times in brick-and-mortar Barnes & Noble bookstores (although I didn’t get good customer service online). I love bookstores: I used to spend at least five days a week in one. 😉 I have to say, though, that even though I love books more than I love bookstores, I think the bookstore experience is not at risk. I think indie bookstores, and destination/experience stores, can do very well in the next five years.

What do you think? Will B&N survive? If so, how much will paperbooks play into their strategy? How does Brexit affect publishing and what we read? Feel free to tell me and my readers what you think by commenting on this post.

Join thousands of readers and try the free ILMK magazine at Flipboard!

All aboard our new The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project!

* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get.  Shop ’til you help!  By the way, it’s been interesting lately to see Amazon remind me to “start at AmazonSmile” if I check a link on the original Amazon site. I do buy from AmazonSmile, but I have a lot of stored links I use to check for things.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy  Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.

 

 

New Kindle EBR with text-to-speech via Bluetooth!

New Kindle EBR with text-to-speech via Bluetooth!

Big, big news!

Amazon has introduced a new EBR (E-Book Reader…not a backlit tablet) which can do TTS (text-to-speech) via Bluetooth!

All-New Kindle E-reader – Black, 6″ Glare-Free Touchscreen Display, Wi-Fi – Includes Special Offers (at AmazonSmile: benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*)

This is extraordinarily good news, as far as I am concerned.

Text-to-speech (software which reads a book out loud to you) has been a big part of my life since it was introduced to the Kindle line with the Kindle 2. I typically listen to it for hours in a week in the car. I actually prefer it to audiobooks (recorded versions of a book, usually read by an actor or the author)…I don’t like the narrator interpreting the characters for me, unless I’ve already read the book, in which case it is like seeing a movie.

This is the new “entry level” Kindle: $79.99 with Special Offers, $99.99 without them.

Yes, you’ll need a Bluetooth speaker of some kind to hear the audio (which also includes navigation audio), but I have plenty of those…even in the car.

It’s a game changer.

Well, honestly, I’ll probably still be using my now discontinued Kindle Fire HDX in the car…I use it for other things, and I don’t want to carry an EBR and a tablet with me to work (although I do bring my Amazon Tap Echo device in my laptop case).

Other stats are also good on this: it’s thinner, lighter, and comes in black or white.

It does not have the frontlighting of the Paperwhite, Voyage, or Oasis.

The screen sharpness isn’t as good as those other models either, but this is a good workhorse: great for a guest Kindle, for example.

I would have bought an Oasis, but Amazon will not sell it without an animal leather cover (at least, that was the case the last time I asked them), and I don’t use leather.

It’s possible this Bluetooth TTS will come to the Oasis, by the way.

I think this will be a popular model, although if you don’t care about the text-to-speech, I wouldn’t say that you need to upgrade from the previous version.

Here’s the

User Guide

You can pre-order now for July 7th delivery (I have). 🙂

Nice to see Amazon still innovating on EBRs! They are also answering a concern people have had who want a non-backlit reading device and TTS: thanks, Amazon!

Join thousands of readers and try the free ILMK magazine at Flipboard!

All aboard our new The Measured Circle’s Geek Time Trip at The History Project!

* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you’ll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you’ll get.  Shop ’til you help!  By the way, it’s been interesting lately to see Amazon remind me to “start at AmazonSmile” if I check a link on the original Amazon site. I do buy from AmazonSmile, but I have a lot of stored links I use to check for things.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy  Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.