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Update July 2014: Amazon has launched an unlimited ebook subscription service called Kindle Unlimited. Find out more details at: Kindle Unlimited: All-You-Can-Read Ebooks and Audiobooks!
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Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon is negotiations with publishers to offer Kindle ebook subscriptions to its customers. Many sites speculated that the monthly plan would be like a Netflix online subscription for readers, a monthly fee for unlimited reading.
But I suspect that Amazon’s terms could be more like its subscription terms for Audible, Amazon’s audiobook site. With Audible, you purchase a subscription for a certain period of time gives you one or two credits a month, depending on the price. Most books are one credit and the average price of an audiobook becomes about $10 (books on CD are quite expensive, often costing $25 and above). Audible membership also provides discounted prices on all of its audiobooks (if you decide to spend cash instead of credits) and special members-only sales, such as three books for two credits.
This subscription model could work well for Amazon, making subscribers feel as if they have received bargains and further wedding them to the Kindle format. Publishers may feel less threatened by this model than the Netflix “all you can eat” type of subscription. Although readers can access Kindle books on computers, phones and tablets using Kindle apps, Amazon may sell more Kindle readers with a subscription plan, perhaps by offering subscribers discounts on the device.
So, I wonder, if Amazon offered a subscription for ebooks under the following terms, would you sign up?
- One year
- $84
- 12 Kindle ebooks ($7 a book)
- Significant discounts on additional Kindle ebooks
- Members-only sales
Would that offer be appealing to you? Vote in today’s poll and let us know!
If the terms I suggested aren’t appealing to you, but there are other terms that would make a Kindle ebook subscription desirable, what would it take? Let us know in the Comments section below.
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On a personal note, I want to thank all of you who supported me tremendously for CBS Philly’s Most Valuable Blogger award. I was deeply touched by everyone who took the time to vote and spread the word about the contest. Your support means the world to me.
I would like to congratulate the blogs who won the award, especially in the category Everything Else: Hawkwatch at the Franklin Institute who won the popular vote, and youwannatalkjive who won the judges’ vote.
Thank you again, dear readers, for all your support of The Wonder of Tech!
* Image by Mike Licht
** Image by Gisela Giardino
I have not yet embraced e-books and wonder if I will ever be able to give up books I can hold in my hand. That said, I could certainly see getting a Kindle with an Amazon subscription for my middle school son who reads (for school and pleasure) dozens of books every year. It would save money and keep my house from being overrun with books!
Hi Kathy, My girls are using Kindle for their school reading more and more. The books are delivered instantly and I have one daughter who uses the text to speech to read along while she reads. She says it helps keep her focused. It worked because she just got an “A” on her summer reading test!
I also like the instant delivery. To have a book delivered to your Kindle within seconds is the definition of instant gratification! 🙂
The kindle cassat picture interested me! 🙂 I like eBooks but I think readers have to improve. I read a lot of blogs and fiction by unknown writers. I also read the classics now and then. I would like to read more fiction and need to get away from lesser known writers at least for a while. They do a creative writing course and it shows. he thing that bugs me just lately is that stuff they tell them about ‘show and don’t tell’ if you take that advice all through a novel, you end up with War and Peace!
My photography has taken a new twist, I keep getting poor light and so have to get more technical and set camera speed and aperture on manual! I was lying in bed last night experimenting with different settings!
My writing as taken a new twist too, today it’s funnier and I have more readers and new subscribers!
Hi Mike, I’m so glad you enjoyed the Kindle Cassatt picture! I grew up very near where Mary Cassatt lived so I’ve always been fond of her work.
I love your funny blogs too. I noticed that you had gotten away from that lately so I’m looking forward to seeing them again.
I respectfully disagree with you about writing fiction. I can’t stand long descriptive prose, either reading or writing. Let me draw my own inferences from the character’s behavior, setting, dialogue, etc. I think showing instead of telling actually shortens the writing.
No matter what the lighting, you tend to come up with amazing shots. 🙂
I can’t answer this one either Carolyn since I don’t have a Kindle. I can see the convenience of having one but at the same time, I loan my books out for others to read so that would put a stop to that. I also can’t see how publishers can continue to make money if all books go to online reading. I have a feeling that will be somewhere down the road.
Okay, I’m BUMMED that you didn’t win the award. Darn it! What’s wrong with these judges! First Christian and now you! So did they even tell you how many votes you got so we would know how much support you received? Of course I know the votes and the recognition isn’t the most important thing but it would be really nice wouldn’t you agree?
Thanks for sharing this news with us. Sorry you didn’t win but we tried. Enjoy the rest of day okay! See you again soon.
Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, Actually, you can comment on this because of your brand new iPod Touch! You don’t need a Kindle to read a Kindle book. You can download the free Kindle app onto your iPod Touch and then download Kindle books onto your device.
Now before you think I’m crazy (okay, probably too late for that), I can give you very good reasons why you might want to consider having Kindle books on your iPod Touch. I agree it would be a pain to read a book on your small screen (though I have done it). But you may find it handy to have reference books on your iPod Touch. Perhaps a dictionary or David Pogue’s iPod Touch, The Missing Manual. I keep those on my iPhone’s Kindle app for handy reference.
You probably don’t need to have 12 book on your iPod Touch, so the subscription idea most likely holds little appeal. But I just wanted to give you ideas about using your new tech toy!
Thanks so much, Adrienne, for your brilliant comment and helpful tweet! 🙂
See, there is still so much to learn about what I can do with the iPod Touch. Wouldn’t you have to have a WiFi connection though to read via a Kindle. Man, that would be really small though. But I could read it.
Thanks Carolyn
Oops, I neglected to comment on the contest. See, I just get carried away when I talk about tech!
No, I don’t know how many votes were cast for The Wonder of Tech. The site just announced the winners without providing either the scores or the number of votes.
Yes, I could not have been more touched by all of the efforts made upon my behalf, especially your blog post, Adrienne! It would have been great to win, but I feel like a winner with the enormous support I received from awesome readers like you! Thank you so much for all that you did. You rock. 😀
You are a winner though Carolyn because there are so many people who admire and support you. I was more than happy to help, you definitely deserve the recognition for what you provide not only on your blog but as a friend. You rock! 🙂
Carolyn, aloha. Will comment on your post later, however, I did want to comment on the awards.
To begin, I will incorporate Adrienne’s paragraph beginning “Okay, I’m BUMMED . . .” because I so agree with her. So sorry to learn that there are some very confused people in Philadelphia.
Carolyn, if you didn’t know before, you do know now how much support there is for you in the blogosphere. We appreciate you because of what you blog and the person you are.
Best wishes for a magnificent day. Until later, aloha. Janet
Aloha, Janet. You’re right, I not only had no idea how much support there was out there, I definitely gained readers from the contest. Every day people visited my blog from the contest and from the readers spreading the good word asking for votes on my behalf. I got choked up more than once seeing all of the support.
So, although I would have liked to have won the competition, it’s very difficult to feel truly bummed by the outcome.
Thanks so much for all of your incredible support during the contest, Janet. I really appreciate you! 🙂
Really interesting idea.
I enjoy reading but find my time is very limited for when I can. Audio books make sense for me since I have 2 hrs of time each day for that kind of thing.
I know some kindle books included audio versions do you think that could be the case with their subscriptions?
That might turn the tide for me.
Bryce
Hi Bryce, I love your idea of combining an Audible subscription with a Kindle subscription. I’m an Audible subscriber so would love to combine the two.
Many people confuse the text to speech feature of the Kindle with true audiobooks so Amazon would have to make sure that people understand the value that they would be getting by combining an Audible subscription with a Kindle subscription.
Thanks for sharing your brilliant idea with us, Bryce!
thanks for sharing, i appreciate.
You’re welcome, Bless. I’m happy to share my ideas about tech! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
What? You didn’t win; I’ll go kick some blogger ass if I need to….just point me in the right direction…………..
Hey Bill, Lol, well you are going to have to go after the Franklin Institute Hawks. That’s right, Bill, I lost to animals. Not even humans.
I can just see you up on the roof, Bill, swinging your baseball bat at some hawks that are flying by, yelling, “I’ll get you! How dare you beat Carolyn at blogging!” Just save a room for me at the asylum. I should be there shortly.
Okay, maybe I’ll watch Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds this weekend. I mean, humans really don’t have a chance against birds, do we? :0
Yes, I’m that guy out in the yard swinging the bat while I’m in my housecoat w/ ratty slippers on…………
Not sure what I would do. I read a lot of books, both paper and e-book versions as well as from the local library so not sure I would sign up. Would have to be a good “start-up” deal for me to sign on.
Hi Carol, Great point! Amazon said earlier in the year that they would be offering library lending for Kindles. So they would have to make the subscription deal very attractive if they are going to compete with library lending.
It will be very interesting to see what Amazon’s next offerings will be!
Thanks so much for your visit and comment, Carol. 🙂
Hi, Carolyn.
I love Amazon and buy books from them all the time. I don’t have Kindle at the moment. If I did, I probably wouldn’t get an ebook subscription. I personally prefer purchasing books/ebooks only when I’m ready to read them.
By the way, I’m so sorry to hear you didn’t win the CBS Philly’s Most Valuable Blogger award. Well, you’re a winner to me!!! So, keep up the great work.
H Allyson, You don’t have to have a Kindle to read Kindle books. You can read them on other mobile devices or on your computer with a Kindle app. But I have to say, I have read entire Kindle books on my iPhone, but never on my computer. Maybe the screen of the computer is too big for a book?
Thank you for your kind words! 🙂
Hi Carolyn,
I’d love to buy a Kindle Ebook subscription. I guess it all depends if I can choose my own ebooks. I read a lot, but I read very different types of ebooks, from marketing, to novels about serial killers. So, I would need it to be a subscription where I can pick my own ebooks rather than they pick ebooks based on genre.
By the way, I have been using my Kindle every single day on my vacation thanks to you!!! 🙂
Jens
Hi Jens, If Amazon adopts the Audible format then, yes, you would be able to pick from any books available in the Kindle ebook format. So I’m thinking you would be a “yes”!
I’m so glad you were able to use your Kindle on your vacation in Italy. Brilliant for you to use the free 3G service to access Twitter!
Thanks so much for your visit and wonderful comment. It’s great to have you back from Italy! 🙂
The offer is reasonable. Kindle books is becoming really popular. I like it that it is portable and allows me to download any book I like from Amazon. The first ebook I had read was a fantasy novel and the experience was great. It is an amazing idea and I think it is convenient.
Hi Jeff, I’m glad you find the idea of a Kindle book subscription appealing. You’re right, the convenience of purchasing Kindle books is amazing and a subscription would be even more convenient.
Stay tuned to The Wonder of Tech for further details! 🙂
I have a friend who is a fan of reading books. But i think she have not yet embraced e-books in reading. She prefers the actual book in hand. I can try to encourage her to try e-books. And i may subscribe soon for my nephew.
Hi Alfred, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Some people really like ebooks when they try them. Others never make the switch and stick with printed books. It’s great either way, as long as they are reading. I happen to like audiobooks and ebooks because I find them so very convenient.
Thanks so much for your visit today, Alfred. I hope you come back to The Wonder of Tech soon! 🙂