To drive Kindle e-book gross sales, Amazon launched a program in 2013 known as Kindle Matchbook. It allowed authors to supply a Kindle e-book model of their work at a considerably diminished worth, and even free, for patrons who bought a hardcover or paperback. The Kindle model might be provided to these prospects, giving them a digital copy that couldn’t be misplaced or broken.
Main publishers strongly opposed this system, pondering that giving a Kindle e-book away free of charge or at a diminished worth would devalue their books. Like most of Amazon’s legacy packages, it was by no means marketed in advertising materials, and most of the people on the time didn’t even comprehend it existed. The overwhelming majority of the obtainable ebooks have been primarily from unbiased authors.
Matchbook was a boon for authors when this system was round. Authors benefited from increased discoverability, and readers wouldn’t have to decide on between print and e-book. I additionally put more cash into authors’ pockets.
Amazon discontinued the Matchbook program in 2019. They didn’t disclose why they cancelled it, however not many individuals have been utilizing it anymore. Nonetheless, on condition that the panorama for print and ebooks has modified through the years, it is perhaps value it for Amazon to revisit and relaunch it underneath a brand new model. Proudly owning a print e-book and e-book would help Amazon in a worth proposition that might give it a aggressive edge in opposition to Barnes and Noble and different retailers.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the previous fifteen years. Newspapers and web sites such because the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Submit and the New York Occasions have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
