Book lovers will be happy to learn of Amazon’s new Kindle MatchBook program that it announced today.
Similar to its AutoRip service for CDs that it introduced last year, the new MatchBook program allows shoppers to receive a low-cost Kindle version of print books they purchase new from Amazon.
Previous purchases dating back to when Amazon first opened in 1995 are also eligible.
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 order for a book to be eligible, the publisher must first enroll the title in the Kindle Matchbook program. Once enrolled, Kindle editions will be available for amounts ranging from free to $2.99.
A customer’s entire print book order history will be available in their account so they will be able to easily discover which of their purchases are enrolled in MatchBook.
MatchBook editions will include all of the features unique to Kindle including Popular Highlights, Whispersync, and X-Ray.
Amazon also wants customers to know they can read Kindle editions of books on devices other than Kindles by downloading a free app. The app is available for the iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets, as well as PCs and Macs.
According to Amazon, bundling print and digital media has been one of its top customer requests.
The program is set to launch in October and over 10,000 books will be available at its start.
A list of well-known authors available at launch include: Ray Bradbury, Michael Crichton, Blake Crouch, James Rollins, Jodi Picoult, Neil Gaiman, Marcus Sakey, Wally Lamb, Jo Nesbo, Neal Stephenson, and J.A. Jance
Best-selling titles include: I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb, The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, The Thorn Birdsby Colleen McCullough, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch.
New titles and authors will be continually added over time.
Book lovers can learn more about Kindle MatchBook at: www.amazon.com/kindlematchbook.
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