Originally posted January 15, 2010 - Copyright Kindle Nation Daily 2010
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By Stephen Windwalker
Here's an interesting screen shot from Amazon's main bookstore page for Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime
, a new hardcover from HarperCollins for which the publisher has intentionally delayed release of the Kindle edition until February 23:What it reflects is the effect on the book's overall customer review rating (currently about 2.6 stars out of 5) from dozens of Kindle owners who have weighed in with 1-star reviews -- of the publisher, obviously, rather than the content -- because the publisher is trying to protect its expensive hardcover sales by withholding release of the Kindle edition for almost eight weeks after the hardcover release.
Is all fair in reading and war? We'll impose no judgment here, and let you vote with your feet, or your keyboard. Some wags have said that the bad reviews mean that the Kindle delay has blown up in HarperCollins' face, and while I would love to agree, I have to observe here that the hardcover is currently #1 on Amazon's bestseller list.
Will Kindle owners jump to buy the Kindle edition when it becomes available, like they did with another recently delayed literary triumph from the political sphere
, also from HarperCollins? As with some other delayed titles on which I reported recently, either Amazon or the publisher or some combination of the two have arranged to discount pre-orders of the Kindle edition about 14% for now, but only until the "pre-order period" ends February 22
. Unlike print-book pre-orders, Kindle pre-orders aren't reflected in Amazon sales rankings until a Kindle edition's release date, but it will be interesting to see where Game Change appears on the Kindle Store sales ranking on February 23.My guess? #1.
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1 comments:
There's more dangers to the publishers that I don't think have been mentioned yet.
When that other "recently delayed literary triumph" was announced, I was very excited about it. However, during the delay between hardback and Kindle publishing, I got involved in other books, and still have not purchased my Kindle copy of that book. I am not sure if I am alone or if there are others that find the same thing happening as the "buzz" about a given book declines.
The other danger is that hardcover purchasers may pan the book in the reviews, leading Kindle owners to skip it, when if both had been released at the same time the Kindle owners wouldn't have seen the bad reviews and therefore purchased it (even if they were disappointed with the book, the publisher would have had their money).
All in all, delaying Kindle editions makes very little sense, economic, business, or otherwise.
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