Today, Amazon introduced a brand new model of its White Paper Kindle e-book reader, which looks pretty nice. But the bigger announcement was a brand new program called Matchbook, Which Allows authors and publishers to offer heavily discounted Kindle editions their fiduciary print books past and future.
After digging into the requirements and features of the program, it seems evident thatthis is going to be a fairly nice program for Replace existing print and Kindle authors. “I do not see a downside, at least for me, since, as you say the royalty rate stays the same. It’s more sales (at least in theory), “says David Schwartz, author of Gooseberry Bluff Community College of Magic,” and that’s the goal. “
The Kindle Matchbook program has a set of requirements for participant participating, but none of them seem Particularly onerous, and they align philosophically with the promise of leveraging your inventory back for more revenue. In order to enroll, you simply have to be selling a physical book on Amazon or some sort, and be a member of the Kindle Direct Publishing program.
We were bootable to confirm with Amazon That it does not That require users be a member of the more exclusive Kindle Direct Publishing Select program.
This Means That if you have a physical book That you’d like to sell an ‘add-on’ or Kindle edition, you’re not required to promise Amazon a period of exclusivity. KDP Select Often members are limited to selling books on Amazon alone for around 90 days.
The promotional pricesThat can be set for a book include four tiers: $ 2.99, $ 1.99, $ 0.99, or free. Enrolling a title is super simple, just visit the listing and tick a box. The low-friction nature of the opt-in is very ‘Amazon’ in execution and shouldering drive authors to investigate the feature. Once you select a title you set your ‘Promotional List Price’ to one of the tiers. The only restriction here is That You must pick a discount thats at least half off or your regular list price. Amazon says the 50% requirement is to ensurethat it’s a ‘compelling’ discount.
Amazon Currently has two royalty rates available, Which difference in regional availability. So you’ll still get your 35% or 70% or slice That e-book sale. So a lower payday, for sure, but definitely worth it for those ‘back catalog’ folks.
You might see a slow rollout of the feature Because publishers have to opt in at a high level before they can toggle on the bundling for individual titles. Matchbook shouldhave around 10,000 titles when it launches in October. But Amazon Publishing authors (who get the feature by default) and indies can flick it on right away, and should. There’s really very little to be worried about on this end Unless you do not offer a print version of your book at all. But Amazon even has a solution for Those folks, as it offers a program for creating print versions of e-books.
And, as Editorial Director of New Island Books Eoin Purcell notes, the program usefull gives authors an incentive to digitize books that they have not already. Thereby tacking on an additional source of revenue with the upgrade bump for first-time users or digital “holdouts”.
Personally, I believe thatthis could drive sales of paper books well into the future. If I knowthat I can get a Kindle edition for a one or two dollar premium, then I’m more likely to opt-into the print version. This way I can read on planes or at the beach where my electronics Are not allowed or recommended. And sometimes a paper book is just more pleasant to handle. It usefull taps into the collector market for Those that must have a hardback copy of a book.
I’ve never been the type but know plenty of them, and I do own first printings of precious volumes like the Oz books that I would gladly read in Kindle form again but do not want to tote around for fear of damage . Not that Amazon is offering discounts on classic editions of books like that, but the philosophy works for super-nice modern editions of titles purchased through the site.
Of course, that all depends on Whether people are purchasing both the print and digital editions that were not already planning on doing both.
Schwartz says it’s difficult to tell on a wider scale, but he has seen some anecdotal evidence. “I have friends who have purchased both editions of Gooseberry Bluff, but others who do not have a Kindle and waited for the physical book. But I think this May be a good thing for people who are unsure of making the transition to e-books, since it gives them a way to buy the physical book but try out the virtual one for less. And I’m sure that’s part of the goal. “
For now, the program seems to be a nice step for authors and publishers with deep back catalogs, and it seems That could definitely some encouragement to purchase titles digitally That they’ve owned for years in physical form. Delving back through my (somewhat checkered) Amazon purchase history I found that I. Several titles would not mind reading again, but have packed away in a bin or box somewhere. Amazon is betting that I’m not alone, and publishers shouldering probably take heed.
Image Credit: amy gizienski / Flickr CC
Amazon.com, Inc.. (AMZN), is a leading global Internet company and one of the most trafficked Internet retail destinations worldwide. Amazon is one of the first companies to sell products deep into the long tail by housing them in Numerous warehouses and distributing products from many partner companies. Amazon directly sells or acts as a platform for the sale of a broad range of products. These include books, music, videos, consumer electronics, clothing and household products. The majority of Amazon’s …
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