Amazon announced Kindle for the Web today. With Kindle for the Web, you can read the first chapter of a book right in your browser, but what I find interesting and exciting is ability to embed book samples in your blog or share via Twitter, Facebook, or email. If you are an Amazon affiliate, and you embed a book in your website, you have the potential to earn referral fees if visitors choose to purchase the book. I think this has great potential for readers to share books, especially book bloggers, and to test out a book for free in an easy way before deciding if they want to read the rest.
Of course, if you have a Kindle, you may have already tried out the sample book feature, and in my opinion it’s not this feature that really adds value to the Kindle experience. I think the selling point will be the ability to share samples of books through blogs an social networks. Amazon seems bent on making the Kindle experience better all the time, which can only be a good thing for folks who own one.
I have a narrow blog template, and I don’t think it looks as nice on my blog as it might on a wider template, but here’s a sample of the book I’m reading right now:
And did you know you can also get Scrabble for your Kindle?
photo credit: goblinbox (queen of ad hoc bento)
Ooh, that is a really nice feature — I did not know about that. That does make a bit of difference for my choice. I was thinking about going to get a Nook at Barnes and Noble, but this Kindle feature seems to be inching past the Nook now.
You might want to check out this post I wrote comparing the two devices. Of course, I wrote it before the Kindle 3 was released, so Kindle has a few more good features and a lower price. However, if borrowing books from your library on your e-reader and being able to read ePub formatted books are both important features for you, the Nook can do both, and the Kindle can't. I am not sorry for the choice I made—I think it was a good one. Nook also allows you to buy more memory, but the Kindle does hold 1,500 books. I have to wonder if more memory would be necessary.
I definitely have utilized this feature on my Kindle. I have found it very useful!
I have sampled a couple of books, but I usually know if I want to go ahead and buy beforehand. I can see how it would be really helpful to sample if you're not sure, though.