More than 180,000 Kindle-exclusive titles are available in the Kindle
Owners’ Lending Library – Prime members can borrow them for free with no
due dates
Exclusive Kindle book selection continues to grow as another benefit
for Kindle readers – you won’t find these titles anywhere else
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 28, 2012--
(NASDAQ:AMZN)—Amazon.com today announced that its catalog of over
180,000 exclusive Kindle books have been purchased, downloaded, or
borrowed from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library more than 100 million
times. Nearly all of these exclusive books are available for Kindle
owners with a Prime membership to borrow for free, as frequently as once
a month, with no due dates.
Popular Kindle-exclusive titles include “War Brides” by Helen Bryan,
which has been purchased or borrowed over 270,000 times and has remained
on the Kindle Top 10 list for the past 8 weeks; Karen McQuestion’s books
“A Scattered Life,” “Easily Amused” and “The Long Way Home,” which have
been purchased or borrowed more than 500,000 times; and Ed McBain’s
classic and long-running 87th Precinct series, which debuted
in 1956 and is now published for the first time in digital and has been
purchased more than 250,000 times since December. Other best-selling
exclusive books include several titles from Debora Geary, particularly
“A Modern Witch” which recently hit #1 on the Kindle best seller list
(briefly unseating “Fifty Shades of Grey”) and “Our Husband” by
Stephanie Bond, which has been on the Kindle best seller list since
July. Both of these authors have sold at least 200,000 copies of their
books.
“We have a huge library of books that are only available on Kindle, and
they’re super popular – in less than a year they’ve been downloaded more
than 100 million times,” said Russ Grandinetti, Vice President of Kindle
Content. “Exclusive books are another great benefit for Kindle readers,
and we’re going to continue to work hard to make sure the Kindle
ecosystem is the best in the world for our customers.”
Authors have the option of making their titles exclusive to Kindle by
joining KDP Select. So far in August, KDP Select books that enrolled in
July earned 77% more royalties from paid sales than the three months
before they were enrolled in the program. This figure is conservative
and only includes books that were available via KDP for the entire three
months prior to enrolling in KDP Select. If you include the money that
authors earned from the KDP Select fund, their earnings are even higher.
Stephanie Bond is the best-selling writer of the humorous romantic
mystery “Our Husband,” which is available exclusively in the Kindle
Store and currently #10 on the Kindle best seller list. Since joining
KDP Select in March 2012, royalties from paid sales of her books in the
program have increased by over 2000%. “I can't say enough good things
about the KDP Select program,” said Bond. “The exposure has given my
books visibility on a level I could never have achieved on my own. In
this age when consumers are faced with endless entertainment choices,
the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library allows busy readers to sample a book
at no risk – that’s priceless discoverability to an author like me who's
trying to be heard above the noise. And it’s working! I receive emails
every day from readers who tried one of my books through the lending
library, and now have read all of my backlist.”
Andrew E. Kaufman is the author of “The Lion, the Lamb, the Hunted,” an
exclusive title and a top 100 Kindle best seller this year. Kaufman’s
books are the most-borrowed independently-published books in the Kindle
Owners’ Lending Library. “I don't just think KDP Select opened new doors
in my publishing career – I know it did,” said Kaufman. “My two novels
skyrocketed shortly after I ran my first promotion, with sales
eventually reaching far beyond the 100,000 mark. It was an opportunity
I’m thankful I didn’t miss.”
Thomas Benigno is the author of “The Good Lawyer,” a legal thriller
inspired by a true story. He published his novel in March 2012 and
enrolled it in KDP Select, earning $63 in the first month. In August,
his royalties grew to over $50,000 from paid sales and loans combined.
“The KDP Select program has helped my book in more ways than I can say,”
said Benigno. “Without the ability to do my first free promotion wherein
I reached number one on the free best seller list, I would not have been
able to get the exposure that eventually made ‘The Good Lawyer’ a best
seller on the paid list too.”
For more information about the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, please
visit http://www.amazon.com/kindleownerslendinglibrary.
Independent authors can enroll their books in KDP Select at http://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/KDPSelect.
To learn about all of the additional benefits included with Amazon
Prime, or to start an Amazon Prime free trial visit www.amazon.com/prime.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle,
opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s
Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most
customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything
they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the
lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of
unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books;
Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home
& Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health &
Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web
Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to
in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end
technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any
type of business. The new latest generation Kindle is the lightest, most
compact Kindle ever and features the same 6-inch, most advanced
electronic ink display that reads like real paper even in bright
sunlight. Kindle Touch is a new addition to the Kindle family with an
easy-to-use touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages,
search, shop, and take notes – still with all the benefits of the most
advanced electronic ink display. Kindle Touch 3G is the top of the line
e-reader and offers the same new design and features of Kindle Touch,
with the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G. Kindle Fire is the
Kindle for movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, apps, games and
web browsing with all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud,
Whispersync, Amazon Silk (Amazon’s new revolutionary cloud-accelerated
web browser), vibrant color touch screen, and powerful dual-core
processor.
Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com,
www.amazon.co.uk,
www.amazon.de,
www.amazon.co.jp,
www.amazon.fr,
www.amazon.ca,
www.amazon.cn,
www.amazon.it,
and www.amazon.es.
As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms
include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context
indicates otherwise.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly
from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve
risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to
competition, management of growth, new products, services and
technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international
expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center
optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and
strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption,
inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More
information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's
financial results is included in Amazon.com's
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most
recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.
Source: Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc.
Media Hotline, 206-266-7180
www.amazon.com/pr
