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Named to "Writer's Digest 101 Best Websites," this #SharingwithWriters blog is a way to connect with my readers and fellow writers, a way to give the teaching genes that populate my DNA free rein. Please join the conversation using the very tiny "comment" link. For those interested in editing and grammar, go to http://thefrugaleditor.blogspot.com.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Amazon Kindle Lets Book Buyers Lend Books!

Based in past experience, I can hear some of my subscribers virtually groaning. Many will see this as a way to sidestep their chance to collect more royalties!

Stop it! Right now!

This is a program designed to help you sell more books, not fewer! Amazon is letting your readers recommend your book—easily! By keeping the loan period short,  Amazon has actually rigged the program for authors so that many who get a book loaned to them will go back and buy it for themselves . I mean, Kindle editions aren’t expensive, right? And we all know that word-of-mouth sells books. Now, if a reader of your Kindle edition lends your book, you’ll have two mouths out there working for you.


Here’s the announcement directly from Amazon:

“We are excited to announce Kindle book lending (http://www.amazon.com/kindle-lending). The Kindle Book Lending feature allows users to lend digital books they have purchased through the Kindle Store to their friends and family. Each book may be lent once for a duration of 14 days and will not be readable by the lender during the loan period.

“All DTP titles are enrolled in lending by default. For titles in the 35% royalty option, you may choose to opt out of lending by deselecting the checkbox under "Kindle Book Lending," in the "Rights and Pricing" section of the title upload/edit process. You may not choose to opt out a title if it is included in the lending program of another sales or distribution channel. For more details, see section 5.2.2 of the Term and Conditions.

“For more info on how Kindle Book Lending works, see our FAQ here: http://forums.digitaltextplatform.com/dtpforums/entry.jspa?externalID=581

Sincerely,
Amazon Digital Text Platform”



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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog:

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:34 AM

    At first I didn't like the idea, but seeing that the lender will not be able to read it while the book is being loaned to the friend makes it similar to a book situation and would be following copyright laws. Allyn

    ReplyDelete
  2. Catherine7:14 AM

    Check out the Kindle Lending Club page on Facebook - lots of people lending and borrowing Kindle books there. Discover great new books for free, and share your collection with other book lovers:

    http://www.facebook.com/KindleLendingClub

    ReplyDelete
  3. Excellent article, Carolyn. I hadn't thought through all the pros, but was focusing on the cons.

    ReplyDelete

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