Thursday, December 01, 2011

Lending library

You've probably heard of Amazon's Kindle Owner's Lending Library for members of Amazon Prime. Well, word on the street is that Amazon will be extending the offer to us indies to include our books very soon. Now, since readers can only borrow up to one book per month, chances are they won't use their one loan for a 99c book. In fact, when I borrowed a book, I picked one that's priced for sale at $9.99, and I don't think that will be unusual. So authors are debating whether to raise their book's price in the hopes readers will choose to borrow it. To me, this strategy doesn't make sense. If a book isn't selling at 99 cents or even $2.99, what's the logic behind thinking readers will choose it for their once-a-month loan?

I'm planning to enroll The Venom of Vipers in the lending library (and keep its current price of $2.99), and my new omnibus edition of The Kinshield Saga (priced for sale at $5.99). Folks will be able to read both The Kinshield Legacy and The Wayfarer King for their one monthly loan, and those who choose to buy the omnibus edition will get a small discount. It's a win-win!