Amazon Announces Kindle MatchBook Service

Posted on September 3, 2013

Amazon.com announced a new service today called Kindle MatchBook. Customers who purchased a hardcover or paperback copy of a book from Amazon will now be able to buy the ebook version for a steeply discounted price, from free to a maximum cost of $2.99. The price points will be $2.99, $1.99, $0.99, or free, depending on the title. Amazon is working with publishers to get books and authors on board, but already has more than 10,000 books enrolled from authors such as Neil Gaiman, James Rollins, Ray Bradbury, Michael Crichton, Blake Crouch, Jodi Picoult, Marcus Sakey, Wally Lamb, Jo Nesbo, Neal Stephenson, and J.A. Jance.

Amazon is asking all authors and publishers to enroll their books in the service. The program covers book purchases all the way back to 1995, when Amazon first opened its online bookstore.

Russ Grandinetti, Vice President of Kindle Content, explained the new service this way: "If you logged onto your CompuServe account during the Clinton administration and bought a book like Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus from Amazon, Kindle MatchBook now makes it possible for that purchase—18 years later -- to be added to your Kindle library at a very low cost. He further explained, "In addition to being a great new benefit for customers, this is an easy choice for publishers and authors who will now be able to earn more from each book they publish."

In a statement, Amazon said bundling bundling print and digital versions of books has been on of the most requested features from customers. You can read more about the service, which we think is a great idea, here.