Misc

Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited eBooks subscription service is now officially live

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Earlier this week Amazon was found to be testing a service called Kindle Unlimited that would grant all-you-can-eat access to hundreds of thousands of eBooks for a low monthly fee of $10. We weren’t sure how long this “testing” would take, but apparently it wasn’t going to take Amazon very long to dole it out to everyone.

There aren’t any surprises here: the service is exactly what Amazon is advertising it to be. They’ll offer up suggestions on books from featured authors, spotlighted genres and the like, but otherwise that massive library is yours to dig into should you find yourself hankering for some pages on a rainy night.

We should note that — in a very non-Amazon-like way — there is no trial period. You’re paying $10 the moment you sign up, so think long and hard about whether this service is right for you before you do that. That said, there’s never an obligation to continue should you find yourself dissatisfied. And you’re always free to check out the roster of books they’re offering before signing up.

kindle unlimited

Digging through their terms of use didn’t unravel anything unusual. As with any subscription service of this sort, access to books may be removed without a moment’s notice, and the list will always change as licensing agreements are added or expire. Unfortunately, the one thing the terms did confirm that many of you might not like is that this is only available for folks in the United States right now, but that might change in the months and years to come. Let us know if you’ll be turning in your library card to give this a shot.

[Amazon Kindle Unlimited]

Quentyn Kennemer
The "Google Phone" sounded too awesome to pass up, so I bought a G1. The rest is history. And yes, I know my name isn't Wilson.

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17 Comments

  1. “We should note that — in a very non-Amazon-like way — there is no trial period. You’re paying $10 the moment you sign up, so think long and hard about whether this service is right for you before you do that.*”

    *30 day free trial

    1. Adding picture from amazon

      1. They even said to try it for 30 days free in the video.

  2. I wasn’t impressed with the content. I checked a few of the authors I read and I didn’t see a single ebook available w/ Kindle Unlimited.

  3. That did not take long…

  4. Well I guess I’ll do the free trial, but I’m pretty sure Sribd just lost a customer.

  5. It’s noteworthy that you can “only” have a maximum of 10 books checked out at any given time. Not a serious limitation, but still noteworthy.

  6. think long and hard before spending $10? I wipe my arse with 10 dollars.

  7. Wow searched for 5 authors and none are available to “rent.” When will the book industry finally embrace the digital era and understand they are the ones that are keeping it down? Let’s see…$17.99 for ebook or $19.99 for hardcover new release? Hardcover will win in my “book” (sorry) If I chose the ebook route I own nothing I can hold in my hand, nor anything I can put on a bookshelf. Make ebooks half the price of whatever the current version is listed and the business will finally make the jump to the norm. (IE Brad Thor just released ACT OF WAR…$19.99 at BN…make the ebook $9.99. Mass market $9.99….ebook $4.99.)

    1. I agree, eBooks must be half-price.

    2. When Amazon stops forcing them into exclusive deals. Brad Thor is a right wing terrorist anyway.

  8. Hours later, and still too incompetent to change the story to reflect it does have a trial? No wonder no one takes this site seriously.

  9. I was surprised that Fallon mentioned this yesterday.

  10. I am hugely unimpressed. The available selection, at least in the genres I favor, consists mostly of very old books or authors hardly anyone has heard of. Not one of the books I’ve read in the last 6 months is included. I checked my favorite authors: Out of the hundreds of books those authors have published, exactly ONE is available in this service.

    The few well known books that are included amount to bait and switch, designed to make you think current, popular books are available, when in reality they’re not. Pretty much a waste of time.

    By the way, the article above is wrong about a trial period. Amazon is offering a 30 day free trial, according to their web site.

  11. Why American companies think the whole world is living inside US. When you are on Internet you are global. I want to try this and I’m not in US.

    1. It’s not U.S. only. This is from the email that I received. Reach more readers – With each 90-day enrollment period, your book will appear in Kindle Unlimited in the U.S. and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL) in the U.S, U.K., Germany, France, and Japan which can help readers

  12. I would love to see something like this for textbooks

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