In a significant move today, Amazon announced that it had acquired the publication rights of 121 books previously published by literary and commercial fiction publisher, The Toby Press. Amazon plans to re-publish the titles using their AmazonEncore and AmazonCrossing imprints. The books will be made available in both print and Kindle editions throughout the USA,…
Amazon Hit Out at Agency Model Pricing on eBooks
Amazon UK has released its first official statement on the Agency Model agreement they signed up to with publishers. Amazon UK say that like the US Kindle market, sales of books by publishers operating the Agency Model have ‘slowed’, though once again, Amazon are short on actual figures and make no mention of the recent…
Amazon Kindle Singles Coming Soon to Kindle Store
Amazon today announced that the digital ebook service, ‘Kindle Singles’ will be arriving to their retail platform soon. The novella-sized ebooks will have their own section in the Kindle Store and will be aimed at ebooks between 10,000 to 30,000 word length (30 to 90 pages approximately). From the Press Release: Less than 10,000 words or…
Amazon Unveil Sleaker and Cheaper Kindle
Today Amazon announced the release of the newest generation of devices to the Kindle ereader family. The new Kindle is thinner and comes with improved screen contrast and double the storage space of its predecessor. The latest WiFi model will retail at $139 and all new generation devices should be ready to ship from August 27th. The Kindle…
Larsson Enters the ‘Kindle Million Club’
Stieg Larsson has become the first author ever to sell over one million Kindle e-books. In a press release today, Amazon declared Larsson, author of the bestselling Millennium Trilogy, the first member of the ‘Kindle Million Club’. The Swedish author died of a massive heart attack in 2004 and really only achieved his literary success after his…
Gloves Off in Wylie Agency Row
I said this morning that the announcement by the Wylie Agency to circumvent publishers and use the Amazon Kindle Store to publish e-books by their leading list of authors and the author estates they represent was highly significant. I said it may be the most important publishing news to happen this year. This evening, I’ll…
CNET’s David Carnoy Looks Beneath The Amazon Numbers
David Carnoy on CNET Reviews has some pretty sharp analysis on Amazon’s announcement this week that e-books were now outstripping hardback sales. His piece yesterday called What Amazon didn’t say about e-books questions what might really be case if Amazon actually revealed gross revenue figures behind e-books and hardbacks. “I’d like to see gross revenue from…
Kindle e-Books Outstrip Hardback Sales
Amazon reported yesterday that sales of Kindle e-books has outstripped hardback books for the first time. From the press release: Millions of people are already reading on Kindles and Kindle is the #1 bestselling item on Amazon.com for two years running. It’s also the most-wished-for, most-gifted, and has the most 5-star reviews of any product…
Amazon Start Taking Pre-orders on New Kindle DX
Amazon will begin shipping the newest generation of the Kindle DX on July 7th, but the device is available for pre-order from today. The latest Kindle DX will also be available at a new lower price of $379, down from $489, and with free 3G wireless. The new Kindle DX features a new graphite casing…
Amazon Launch 70% Royalty Option on Upgraded Kindle Platform
Some weeks ago Amazon announced that it was introducing a 70% royalty option for authors on their Kindle Digital Platform. What I had not noted back then was the fact that this option will only be available to US-based authors and on book sales within this territory. Today, Amazon announced that the 70% royalty option…