Maybe this really is the biggest book biz story of 2009....
As we continue to keep an eye on the neck-and-neck sales battle between Amazon's Kindle and hardcover editions of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, Kit Eaton has some interesting analysis over at the FastCompany.com blog.
Eaton's felicitous phrasing for the main point here says it well: the prospect of Brown's book in Amazon's #1 position "is an astounding symbol all by itself: The electronic book age is really about to burst upon us."
If he misses anything, and far be it from me to say so, it might be -- when he wonders how their could be so many Kindle editions making that little ka-ching sound for Jeff Bezos and company -- the impact of the Kindle for iPhone (and iPod Touch) App on the entire phenomenon. There are millions of Steve Jobs' little darlings out there displaying Kindle content for their (mostly) young owners, and that's where a lot of the Kindle editions of Brown's tale are ending up, I suspect. (If you are wondering what I'm talking about here, it's only because you haven't read No Kindle Required).
If hundreds of thousands of readers get turned on to the ebook revolution by reading The Lost Symbol on the tiny screen of an iPod Touch, there may just be a whiff of change in the air.
And it says here that it is no accident, as all of this is swirling about us, that Amazon is beginning to undertake the strategic pricing realignment for the Kindle that we noted yesterday.
Related posts and updates:
- A modest prediction comes true, and Kindle Nation is awash in web love
- Kindle edition of The Lost Symbol outselling Amazon hardcovers!
- Fast Company Weighs in on Emergence of Kindle Edition of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol as #1 in Amazon Store
- Brownian Movement: When Will Dan Brown Climb to the Top of the Kindle Store?
- "Like New" Refurbished Kindle 2 Now for Sale by Amazon for $219
- Amazon Confirms Kindle Nation Scoop on The Lost Symbol
- 20% Pre-Publication Discount on Signed Pre-Orders of New Paperback Edition of The Complete User's Guide to the Amazon Amazon Kindle 2
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3 comments:
We are now entering an age where digital copy sales will surpass the physicals, by far. Welcome to 2010.
so how does Amazon "count" sales to determine its bestseller. The physical book has been a bestseller for 150+ days, is the current ranking just the people who have bought copies in the last few days or shipments of the pre-order backlog? The Kindle version has been a bestseller now for 4 days, so since release, I assume no pre-orders since why would you pre-order something that has instant delivery so are we comparing pent-up demand for the ebook vs spread out demand for the physical book?
Great for him I 'm glad he's selling millions...
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