Kindle Canada book availability

chilli · 11-06-2010, 05:53 PM

I have researched the available devices and would love to get a Kindle. However, I'm in Canada and am somewhat concerned about the books that are available here. I've learned from my research that not all the e-books on Amazon are available in Canada

Can anyone tell me how the selection compares to what is available in the US?

ATDrake · 11-06-2010, 08:54 PM

Canadians are fairly lucky in that we seem to have fewer geo-restrictions on what we can get via the Kindle store than people in other countries.

But still, there are titles and authors that we can't get at all, and recently a lot of the promotional freebies from publishers who used to include Canadians in on the deal are full price to us now. Also, certain widely-advertised promotional pricedrops simply don't appear for us, which can be frustrating if you see a novel you're interested in being promoted as "$2.99 for a limited time!" and it ends up being $9.99 when you go to buy it.

Sometimes this runs along publisher/imprint lines.

For example, none of Subterranean Press' e-book editions are available to Canada, which is a shame, because they're DRM-free and I like to support small specialty publishing houses when they put out stuff I like, especially when it's by an author whose work I've previously enjoyed when I sampled it for free in the Hugo Awards voter packet.

Similarly, you can't get certain of Canadian science-fiction author Robert J. Sawyer's works or anything by also Canadian mystery writer Louise Penny.

They are both published by Tor and Minotaur imprints respectively, whose parent company Macmillan has a habit of doing that from time to time. Although not consistently since while Sawyer's Calculating God and his latest works are not available, his entire early Quintaglio Ascension trilogy with the dinosaurs in it can be gotten for the same price in Canada as in the US.

Sometimes the disparity works to our advantage, as Agency 5 books that can't be discounted by Amazon in the States sometimes end up being discounted in Canada. Their price for Rollback is 6.99, ours 5.59.

Probably the best thing to do is draw up a list of authors/titles you're interested in, set your country in the Manage Your Kindle page on the Amazon site, and start browsing in the Kindle store to see if you run into any issues regarding availability/pricing, especially if you notice a particular author/imprint you tend to follow having a pattern of unavailability.

Hope this helps, and welcome to MobileRead!

Blue Tyson · 11-06-2010, 08:55 PM

It will be worse.

You can check yourself if you have an Amazon account with a Canada address and lot at the Kindle store - it should list a total available.

11-06-2010, 05:53 PM	#1
chilli Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kindle 3	Kindle Canada book availability I have researched the available devices and would love to get a Kindle. However, I'm in Canada and am somewhat concerned about the books that are available here. I've learned from my research that not all the e-books on Amazon are available in Canada Can anyone tell me how the selection compares to what is available in the US?

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11-06-2010, 08:54 PM	#2
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Canadians are fairly lucky in that we seem to have fewer geo-restrictions on what we can get via the Kindle store than people in other countries. But still, there are titles and authors that we can't get at all, and recently a lot of the promotional freebies from publishers who used to include Canadians in on the deal are full price to us now. Also, certain widely-advertised promotional pricedrops simply don't appear for us, which can be frustrating if you see a novel you're interested in being promoted as "$2.99 for a limited time!" and it ends up being $9.99 when you go to buy it. Sometimes this runs along publisher/imprint lines. For example, none of Subterranean Press' e-book editions are available to Canada, which is a shame, because they're DRM-free and I like to support small specialty publishing houses when they put out stuff I like, especially when it's by an author whose work I've previously enjoyed when I sampled it for free in the Hugo Awards voter packet. Similarly, you can't get certain of Canadian science-fiction author Robert J. Sawyer's works or anything by also Canadian mystery writer Louise Penny. They are both published by Tor and Minotaur imprints respectively, whose parent company Macmillan has a habit of doing that from time to time. Although not consistently since while Sawyer's Calculating God and his latest works are not available, his entire early Quintaglio Ascension trilogy with the dinosaurs in it can be gotten for the same price in Canada as in the US. Sometimes the disparity works to our advantage, as Agency 5 books that can't be discounted by Amazon in the States sometimes end up being discounted in Canada. Their price for Rollback is 6.99, ours 5.59. Probably the best thing to do is draw up a list of authors/titles you're interested in, set your country in the Manage Your Kindle page on the Amazon site, and start browsing in the Kindle store to see if you run into any issues regarding availability/pricing, especially if you notice a particular author/imprint you tend to follow having a pattern of unavailability. Hope this helps, and welcome to MobileRead!

11-06-2010, 08:55 PM	#3
Blue Tyson Blue Captain Posts: 1,595 Karma: 5000236 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Australia Device: Kindle Keyboard 3G,Huawei Ideos X3,Kobo Mini	It will be worse. You can check yourself if you have an Amazon account with a Canada address and lot at the Kindle store - it should list a total available.