In what seems like a natural followup to their MP3 Auto Rip program, Amazon has announced that starting in October, they’ll offer “Kindle Matchbook,” a program to allow Amazon customers the ability to buy digital editions of physical books they purchased previously on Amazon for $3 or less, and yes, there will be freebies.
Amazon today introduced Kindle MatchBook, a new benefit that gives customers the option to buy–for $2.99, $1.99, $0.99, or free–the Kindle edition of print books they have purchased new from Amazon. Print purchases all the way back to 1995–when Amazon first opened its online bookstore–will qualify once a publisher enrolls a title in Kindle MatchBook.
Amazon’s Kindle MatchBook service will launch with books from Ray Bradbury, Michael Crichton, Blake Crouch, James Rollins, Jodi Picoult, Neil Gaiman, Marcus Sakey, Wally Lamb, Jo Nesbo, Neal Stephenson, and J.A. Jance, among others. Amazon Publishing will be including all its titles in Kindle MatchBook.
Over 10,000 books will already be available when Kindle MatchBook launches in October. You can learn more by visiting www.amazon.com/kindlematchbook.
In related news, The Verge reports that Amazon briefly listed an updated, second-generation Kindle Paperwhite on its website this morning.
…the new Kindle Paperwhite — scheduled to begin shipping September 30th — features more iterative improvements like a higher contrast display, improved lighting setup, and more accurate touch response. The device has also seen speed improvements, according to the now-pulled page.
