Comments on: International Kindle: A Review From A Biblioholic Stuck In a Land of Expensive Print Books

By: Update on the Amazon International Kindle and What It Means For Authors | The Creative Penn

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:44:34 +0000

[...] Joanna Penn on November 23, 2009 I’ve had my International Kindle about a month now and wanted to report on how my reading has changed, and how this affects you as [...]

By: Why Authors Should Write a Series of Books: Lessons Learned From Patricia Cornwell | The Creative Penn

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:38:23 +0000

[...] by Joanna Penn on November 21, 2009 The eye-catching book marketing to the left caught my eye in the local mall, and for the first time I bought a Patricia Cornwell novel. It was available on the Kindle and so I just downloaded it there and then (yes, I love my Kindle!) [...]

By: Carol

Carol — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:00:32 +0000

I would have liked to see more of the kindle in your youtube?

By: Great Example of Author 2.0 Marketing and Connection...And What You Can Do Right Now! | The Creative Penn

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:12:06 +0000

[...] I have my International Kindle, I searched whilst still in the shop and found it was available in Kindle format. So I bought it [...]

By: Joanna Penn

Joanna Penn — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:08:51 +0000

My reply:

Hi Roger, thanks for your question.

Here is what I think is happening – there is a $2 charge for the wifi access, which I think uses the 3G network. I have not had any trouble downloading books.
I haven’t tried surfing the net on the Kindle, but I use my iPhone (happily) for this, so not really needed.

I also love the “save money” feeling as I have bought 3 business books in the last week for $11 each, which would have cost $42 in print. Books are so expensive here in Australia.

The biggest difference for Australians is that the range of books is not so great as for the US. The books are available by country so we don’t get a lot of the new fiction novels. I’m hoping this will change next year. Also, non-US authors/publishers still can’t publish on the kindle, although I’m also hoping this will change soon. I have published my books on there but through a friend in the US.

I hope that answers your question, but I think it will take off. I am showing people mine wherever I go and there is a lot of interest.
Exciting times indeed!

By: Joanna Penn

Joanna Penn — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:08:08 +0000

From Roger Sperberg by email – I thought other people might like to know the answer too.
***********
Joanna,
I was wondering about how the international Kindle will work in Australia.
In the U.S., the Kindle connects to Amazon via Sprint’s 3G network. (K2 and DFX, that is.) This is a really large network, so basically it means that wherever you can call on your cellphone you can also connect to Amazon to purchase a book or download an earlier purchase. On many occasions, I have also used the Kindle to access my email, Google and Wikipedia, in order to get some piece of information I needed from the internet when wifi was not accessible.

(As you know, surfing the web is not pretty on the Kindle, but it’s loads better than on a 300-pixel-wide cellphone screen. And there’s no charge for general internet use.)
Occasionally I convert a report or a book from another format into mobi format and email that to my Kindle; there’s no charge for that.

As a consumer, I have three strong responses to the Kindle:

*when I’ve just finished a book, I am more susceptible than at any other moment to purchasing a sequel or another book by the same author. With a new title costing $10 compared to $25-$28 in hardcover, I find buying a book on the Kindle to be very satisfying — it scratches my itch and leaves me with a feeling of “I saved money” (even though I’m spending money on a book I might not have purchased otherwise)

*reading other material on the Kindle screen makes me more contented than having to read it on a computer screen

*not paying by the minute for internet access makes me grateful to have the Kindle’s 3G-accessible browser (instead of frustrated at its navigational difficulties).

How well will these aspects translate to the international Kindle’s use in Australia? I know the network is different, I know there are charges I don’t incur. But how different will the book-buying and Kindle-using experiences be because of these differences? I’m hoping you can tell.

Thanks for taking the time to let me know.
Best regards,
Roger Sperberg

By: Amazon Kindle (International Version) Reviews | TechRivals

Amazon Kindle (International Version) Reviews | TechRivals — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:15:58 +0000