Who says print is dead? With its new Kindle MatchBook service, Amazon is looking to offer a carrot to customers who purchase physical books by letting them purchase the Kindle version for free or at a discounted price.
When the Kindle MatchBook service launches in October, more than 10,000 titles will be available, according to Amazon. MatchBook prices will range from $2.99, $1.99, $0.99 or free, and include such authors as Ray Bradbury, Michael Crichton, Blake Crouch, James Rollins, Jodi Picoult, Neil Gaiman, Marcus Sakey, Wally Lamb, Jo Nesbo, Neal Stephenson, and J.A. Jance.
According to Amazon, bundling print and digital purchases has been a much-requested feature from consumers, who will be able to look up their past purchases to see which books are part of the MatchBook service. It's a clever idea, and one that could enable users to, say, purchase a physical book as a gift, then get the digital copy for themselves.
