Oct 29 2008
Oprah chooses Kindle, a few reasons why you should too
It is not uncommon for book publishers to stumble over themselves to get Oprah’s attention. Although it’s difficult to find individuals who have such a large impact on publishing as a whole, Oprah Winfrey is clearly one of those people. We throw books in front of her in the hopes she gives them a second glance, our publicity crews anxiously court her to get her to mention our books (with lofty hopes of getting an author on her show, and the ever-elusive fairy tale of having her choose a book of ours for Oprah’s Book Club). Last week, Winfrey did one thing that made publishers everywhere very happy: She endorsed Amazon’s Kindle. An ebullient Winfrey called the e-reader “life changing” and her “new favorite device.” Now we can only sit and hope that women find out about the endorsement, that they follow it up by purchasing the Kindle (available with a $50 discount with the keyword OprahWinfrey), and start buying up books we publish. For publishers who haven’t gotten their books on e-readers yet, now is clearly the time.
What are the realistic effects of her endorsement though? Well, buyers are already buzzing. According to a commenter at CNET who monitors the Kindle user forums on Amazon:
The activity this weekend on the Forums was through the roof - I actually had to turn off the subscribe option because my inbox was flooded with Forum posts. The daily forum posting volume easily tripled. My guess is that the Oprah recommendation was what trigged all of the activity from new users or potential new users with questions.
Consider the other advantages of the Kindle that fit so remarkably with the concerns of our time:
It’s a cheap hobby. In this economy, people are looking for things to do without spending tons of money. Considering the value of wireless Internet everywhere (save some dead spots, much like cell phone service), access to Amazon’s full library, and a reasonable cost per book (cheaper than paperback), it’s very inexpensive.
Save space. This is big plus for so many young readers who live in studios, apartments, and condos with limited room for shelves.
It’s an educational tool. Give one of these to a child, teen, or student and they have an incredible learning tool wherever they go.
Save trees. With everyone going green, this is a no-brainer. There’s no need for a stack of paper and cardboard to sit on your shelf for 99% of the time you own it when it can travel with you, invisibly. Furthermore, it costs virtually nothing for a publisher to produce once the text is created, saving manufacturing costs, shipping, and space in warehouses.
Get content immediately. No driving to a store, waiting in line, or waiting for a book to ship.
Learn more. With better access to books, it’s going to make you read more. And that helps develop brains.
Hmm, maybe I should get one, right?
