June 24

University Presses Start to Sell Via Kindle

Amazon’s Kindle

The Subprime Solution: How Today’s Global Financial Crisis Happened, and What to Do About It is a promising title for Princeton University Press. The topic couldn’t be more timely and the author is Robert Shiller, a Yale University economist who has managed with works such as Irrational Exuberance to attract big audiences for complicated topics.

The Princeton press is planning something new for the release: Two weeks before print publication the book will be available as a Kindle e-book. Kindle is Amazon.com’s portable reader that allows for downloading of complete books. Launched in November, and already attracting attention (and competition from other companies planning their versions), Kindle has been hailed as potentially opening up a new kind of reading experience. Of course, plenty of people have heard earlier such claims, but Kindle’s Amazon backing has given it a market that is attractive to many publishers — including university presses.

By the beginning of the fall, Princeton plans to have several hundred books available for sale through Kindle. Yale University Press and Oxford University Press already have a similar presence there. The University of California Press recently had about 40 of its volumes placed on Kindle and is ramping up.

Press officials say that they are generally putting a wide selection of current and backlist volumes on Kindle, and aren’t selecting any one particular kind of volume as more likely to sell in this format. However, you are unlikely to find on Kindle any books that benefit from illustrations. Permission is so difficult to obtain for online books that most presses aren’t trying — and many believe that Kindle doesn’t yet provide optimal viewing for all illustrations. Yale, for example, is known for its publishing of art books, but is not putting them on Kindle.

The university presses participating in Kindle were reluctant to describe the specific financial arrangements they have with Amazon (which also declined to discuss them), but said that they were revenue-sharing deals, and that preparing the books for release on Kindle was not particularly burdensome or expensive.

While it’s too early to see if Kindle results in a significant sales boost, several press officials pointed to promising signs. Stephen Cebik, Internet accounts manager for the Yale press, said he has started to receive e-mail messages from Kindle fans who find a Yale book not available in that format who want to buy it that way. Erich van Rijn of the University of California Press said that one of its volumes was sold more than a dozen times in a month on Kindle.

“There is definitely an audience out there looking for content in this way,” he said.

Priscilla Treadwell, marketing manager for electronic publications at Princeton, said that the current interest reflects a change in attitudes about electronic distribution of university press books. A few years ago, Princeton experimented with some book aggregation services, but stepped back when the market didn’t build. The single book model, combined with improvements in technology may make this a better time to push this option for scholarly books, she said.

The experimentation with Kindle comes at a time that many experts are urging university presses to try new business models.

Readers would save some on Kindle books, but at least now modestly, and only after recouping the costs of the reader (currently at $359). The Kindle version of an Oxford book called Punishment and Democracy: Three Strikes and You’re Out in California sells for $21.96, compared to $24.40 for the paperback through Amazon. The latter also takes two to four weeks to ship and requires shipping fees. A Yale book, Churchill’s Promised Land: Zionism and Statecraft, is available for $25.20 via Kindle and $28 plus shipping in hardcover.

— Scott Jaschik

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Comments

It’s good to see UPs at least getting into the Kindle game, but those prices are going to have to come down if they expect to see sales. Mass-market publishers are already setting the expectation that Kindle editions are going to be priced much more cheaply than paper. Given the limited adoption of this device so far, most sales through this channel are going to be incremental revenue (gravy!), not replacements for print sales. Why not be a little more aggressive on the pricing?

Eric, at 10:15 am EDT on June 24, 2008

Pricing

Many publishers are pricing Kindle books as though they were bought, but they are only borrowed for as long as the reader has the Kindle, and devices like this have short obsolescence curves. The Kindle has clear design flaws, evident to anyone who has one, so its lifespan is likely shorter than most.

Books downloaded into a Kindle are not an addition to a permanent reference library. They are not yet as easy to read as a paper book. And they are not easy to reference in footnotes since the pagination does not follow the original.

Moreover, the publishers save the cost of paper production but are not yet passing those savings along to electronic readers. The Kindle initiative has a long way to go before it will become more mainstream than just a clever gadget.

Jack Cumming, at 11:05 am EDT on June 24, 2008

Does the Kindle replace _a_ book, or does it replace a _stack_ of books?

MSUMLarry, at 1:15 pm EDT on June 24, 2008

Kindle

Everyone loves low prices. But I don’t object to paying for the incredible flexibility of having any number of books available on my Kindle at any given time. I love the portability. I also love the Kindle’s ability to ramp up the font size, thus turning an academic tome with 6-point type that might otherwise have to be read with a magnifying glass into a pleasurable reading experience. My Kindle makes all books more accessible, and I think that’s worth paying for.

In addition, I think it is a misrepresentation to say that a Kindle copy of a book is only a “borrowed” copy. The lifespan of any individual Kindle will of course be limited, but the file for the book can be backed up on a personal computer, and any purchased title is, for the forseeable future, available perpetually for redownload from Amazon. Assuming that the technology continues to grow, I’m relatively happy to trust that my e-titles will be available when I need them.

Kim, at 3:40 pm EDT on June 24, 2008

Yippee! More Kindle publishings!

Oh thank HEAVENS some of the University Presses are getting into the Kindle game! This device will radically transform the chiropractic needs of college students as soon as they can get textbooks on there ... it’s coming!

To answer another recent comment writer, the Kindle does not REPLACE paper books. In certain areas of publishing, it will (I hope) SUCCEED them. It will be excellently suited particularly to textbooks, where the annotation capability and the promise of automatically updating editions will actually add to the reading experience.

To answer the Kindle complaint commented above, any new technology takes getting used to and will not be convenient for everyone; yet I find reading regular novels and nonfiction on my Kindle just as convenient as turning pages—and reading the NYTimes is a true joy.

Jinnayah, at 3:45 pm EDT on June 24, 2008

kindling false hopes?

I don’t have any objection to UPs trying this revenue stream (even self-published authors are doing it), but I doubt the Kindle will revolutionize the textbook market.

First, if illustrations and color and permission-based images are problematic, that’s a hurdle. Second, the publisher sets the price, and they haven’t shown much inclination to price electronic versions at a steep enough discount to tempt students in huge numbers. Third — students object to paying a lot for a book that they can’t share or resell, and they won’t be all that thrilled that they can’t buy a used copy. (I’m skeptical that you can download a Kindle book to your computer — isn’t that a violation of their terms of service?)

Add to that students in Montana and Alaska are outta luck (the wireless network that Amazon uses doesn’t reach there) and students would be forced to spend a lot of money for the a gadget that limits their shopping to a single store.

Barbara Fister, at 8:25 pm EDT on June 24, 2008

kindle this

Will the Kindle be the fire that burns our modern library at Alexandria, when in the future only scraps of etexts are left from our prolific, evanescent literary output, a cachophany whose gist is lost among the missing parts because the last digital copies were lost long ago?

Merrill Peterson, at 5:20 am EDT on June 26, 2008

Actually, “Churchill’s Promised Land: Zionism and Statecraft” is available on the Kindle for $9.99 right now. This means saving lots of money over the list price!

ellen, at 11:15 pm EDT on July 17, 2008

Hi, I’m a medical student, and just came across the idea of Amazon’s Kindle. I think the concept is two things, fantastic!

Second, I have enough material to read when it comes to schoolwork. I’ll be first in line to shell out the bucks when all my University texts can be downloaded onto Kindle. Maybe sooner than later we’ll be able to use workbooks through it too.

But the concept is medical has a lot of pictures, charts and diagrams. At this time, would those be available to view on Kindle?

Please feel free to send me any updates about the product — jsxz@bigstring.com

Jsxz, University Textbooks, at 11:26 am EDT on September 25, 2008

This article was very interesting, but it raised a critical question for consumers:

Are universities such as Princeton and Yale making their books available to all e-books such as the Sony Reader PRS 505 or 700?

This is important as consumers try to decide which 3-book to purchase. I’m not an expert, but it seems as though the Kindle is proprietary and a consumer can only download through Amazon.com? It appears as though other e-readers are permitting consumers to download from multiple sources?

Clarification would be very helpful.

sharon richardson, at 4:45 pm EST on December 15, 2008

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