The Kindle marketing trick: giving away "bestsellers"
To make their books popular on the Kindle e-reader, many publishers resort to a simple trick: they give the books away for free, thereby propelling them to the top of the sales charts. These free promotions are highly controversial in the publishing industry.
More than half of the "best-selling" e-books are currently available for free, writes the New York Times. In addition to older works that are no longer under copyright, there are also many new books that are available free of charge for some time. The aim is to introduce new writers to consumers free of charge so that they will then buy other books by the author. The giveaway campaigns are not universally well received. Some publishers fear that readers will soon no longer be willing to pay the usual 25 dollars for new hardcover books or 13 dollars for paperbacks, according to Pressetext.ch. By comparison, Amazon and other providers have set 9.99 dollars as the standard price for new releases and bestsellers.
