In welcome move, Amazon has decided to open up the Kindle platform to authors who are situated outside the US. So now authors from all over the world can sell their works on the various Kindles. This ensures a win-win situation for everyone involved — Amazon, Kindle users and the authors/publishers.
A lot of good literature gets published outside in the US. In fact, if you look at popular fiction genres, you will see that many of the world best sellers come from outside the US. I mention works of fiction mainly because those are the ones that sell the most. And with those facts in mind, it is easy to see why this would benefit Amazon. Amazon has really ushered the era of eBooks by making the Kindle and tying it up with the Whispernet platform. With this new move, they ensure that there is a steady supply of fresh material that is much greater in number than their current competitors. The great diversity that the Kindle Store will gain as a result of this will be really good for Amazon’s business.
For the average user, this means more choices and that is always a good thing. Plus it will also mean that you can finally carry your favorite non-US author on your Kindle, in addition to having the printed editions. With better choices and more diversity, you will probably end up buying even more books on your Kindle and less from physical bookstores. And that is exactly what Amazon wants.
As for the Authors, this basically means a new market has opened up to them. Book sales have been down for a long time now and they have been getting worse. But eBooks are gaining momentum by keeping the print media relevant. So many of them will undoubtedly see the great opportunity that it is for them and jump right in.
I believe that the author of this post has been misinformed. There are already plenty of non-US authors available on the Kindle. I just bought one by Margaret Atwood.
> Publishers can submit texts in English, German, or French languages.
So it still is limited to the existing Latin script only…
> Amazon reports that it will add support for more languages in the coming months.
Hopefully this will include Japanese (primarily), Korean, and Chinese as these are the only languages that I regularly read.
nice, but i hope amazon soon starts SHIPPING the kindle from other countries than US too. i’m still not willing to pay horrendous toll-fees for that thing…
Actually it just means a lot more kindle store spam.
Actually, it’s about time! I’ve been somewhat frustrated by the Amazon restrictions for the books I can buy from Australia. I want more books, and this will help a lot.
@taro I would love to read some Chinese stuff on the Kindle. I found this hack, but did not have the time and courage to try it yet: http://kenliu.name/simplicitas/2009/03/19/reading-chinesejapanese-on-the-kindle/
Also like to see how Amazon tackles the question of fixed book prices here in Germany (in Germany all new publications are sold everywhere at the same price point).
“Actually, it’s about time! I’ve been somewhat frustrated by the Amazon restrictions for the books I can buy from Australia. I want more books, and this will help a lot.”
Really, don’t get your hopes up. It’s self-published spam they’re going to be filling the store with, not stuff from real publishers.
“The Kindle Digital Text program is sort of like a self-publishing route for the Kindle digital bookstore. ”
Don’t be looking for authors you’ve heard of.