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Book Nook provides readers with insights into the world of books. Vick Mickunas takes you into the center of the publishing world with the latest book buzz, book reviews, and exclusive chats with authors..Home > Blogs > Book Nook > Archives > 2009 > December > 29 > Entry
The pungent fragrance of books being cooked ?
Amazon.com continues their leadership in the electronic book reader wars. And their market share for e-book readers must be growing? Hard to say for sure since they won’t reveal exact numbers but according to an article in PC World:
“It appears the holiday season was a very, very good one for e-reader sales. According to Amazon, the Kindle was the “most-gifted product” in the company’s history. And for the first time ever, the online retailer’s customers bought more Kindle e-books than physical books on Christmas day.”
Holy smokes! All those Kindle owners were downloading so many books to their Amazon e-book readers that downloads outsold traditional paper books on Christmas Day! Amazon sells tons of “physical” books. That is an astonishing statistic. Could e-book readers like the Amazon Kindle be catching on in a big way?
Do you have a Kindle or other e-book reader? How do you like it? Was it a gift? Have you given an e-book reader as a gift? Who are all these people buying book downloads? I want to hear from some of you.
And on a skeptical note; Amazon is giving away Kindle downloads in a big way. If you look at their top ten sales chart for Kindle downloads you’ll see that 8 out 10 of those titles are free downloads. So, how many of those Christmas Day downloads were free? Thousands and thousands of them, right? How many “physical” books were they giving away? ZERO. Was Amazon counting all those free downloads when they compared the tallies? Those numbers are a closely guarded secret. It sure sounds good from a PR standpoint, right? We are kicking you know what….no need to mention if the numbers for downloads include all those free downloads. Tsk, tsk.
Where I come from they call it “cooking the books”
To read the article click HERE:
Vick Mickunas
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment | Categories: in the Amazone
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By vick
December 30, 2009 12:51 PM | Link to this
Thanks, Beastmomma, Blowfly, and Page Turner. I just checked out the top Amazon downloads for the Kindle. The top nine are all FREE downloads. Number 10 is a book by James Patterson, the only Kindle download in the top ten that costs anything to obtain. Amazon is giving away the download store to build up their Kindle market share. Pretty smart on their part-build it and they will download. Some day those downloads won’t be free any longer…
By beastmomma
December 30, 2009 11:56 AM | Link to this
That is incredible and I like your analysis of the book’s Vick. Personally, I do not have a kindle or other e-book because I get tired of starting at a computer screen all day. Plus, I love the physical feel of the book. Although, this year I have purchased less books overall. I am using my library more which is a good thing.
By Blowfly
December 29, 2009 4:20 PM | Link to this
I insist that I’m not interested in an e-book reader for all the traditional reasons; but, I have to admit I’m getting more interested as the options increase and price comes down. Now, I’m wondering if e-book readers will go the way of pda’s, which have been obsoleted by smart phones. I think in the future a multi-purpose portable net book device may replace these.
By Page Turner
December 29, 2009 12:45 PM | Link to this
Way to call BS on these “sales” figures, Vick. It should also be noted that the alleged multitudes who received Kindles for Christmas needed to fill their empty devices. Those who received the gift of “physical” books could begin reading with no further preparation.