You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Amazon has unveiled a new US initiative to bundle print and e-books, called Kindle MatchBook.
The online retailer is to offer customers the opportunity to buy Kindle editions of print books bought from Amazon.com for prices said to range typically from $2.99 down to completely free.
The offer will set to be available not only on newly published titles, but also titles bought as far back as 1995, where the books are signed up to the scheme.
Russ Grandinetti, vice-president of Kindle content, said: “If you logged onto your CompuServe account during the Clinton administration and bought a book like Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus from Amazon, Kindle MatchBook now makes it possible for that purchase—18 years later—to be added to your Kindle library at a very low cost. In addition to being a great new benefit for customers, this is an easy choice for publishers and authors who will now be able to earn more from each book they publish.”
There are 10,000 books already enrolled in the Matchbook service, with authors including Neil Gaiman, Jo Nesbo, Marcus Sakey, Jodi Picoult and Ray Bradbury. Gaiman's recently published The Ocean At the End of the Lane, currently priced at $13.16 on Kindle, is one of the books listed on the scheme. Amazon also issued a call for more authors to join the Kindle Matchbook programme.
The service will allow readers to look up their entire print book order history to discover which of their past purchases are enrolled in the Kindle MatchBook programme.