Amazon is testing “Kindle Unlimited,” an ebook subscription service for $9.99/month

[Bookworm_Girl]

Not enough selection to entice me yet to join. There is much more that interests me in the competition such as Oyster. I will continue to watch and see if any big publishers sign up.

[DuckieTigger]

Anyone know if the 10 book limit is per device or per account? I assume it would be per account, but can't anything without signing up for the trial - not sure if I want to yet. Will depend on selection mainly.

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

Not enough selection to entice me yet to join. There is much more that interests me in the competition such as Oyster. I will continue to watch and see if any big publishers sign up.

Oyster doesn't work on eink Kindles, right? That would be a deal breaker for me regardless of content.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Oyster doesn't work on eink Kindles, right? That would be a deal breaker for me regardless of content.

Correct Oyster, and Scribd, only work using their iOS and Android apps.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Anyone know if the 10 book limit is per device or per account? I assume it would be per account, but can't anything without signing up for the trial - not sure if I want to yet. Will depend on selection mainly.


Oyster doesn't work on eink Kindles, right? That would be a deal breaker for me regardless of content.

I prefer to read on e-ink. However I don't have a problem reading on a tablet. My iPad Mini Retina is great for reading and so is my Nook HD. I don't care so much for reading on my full-size iPad. To me the content is most important. I mostly read mainstream books and very little by independent authors. If Amazon can attract BPH to expand their selection, then I will cancel my Oyster subscription in favor of KU because of the eink advantage, especially if they expand the Audible titles.

[6charlong]

I'm tempted to subscribe just for the audiobooks. I saw several I'd like to listen to, in fact I would have already subscribed if I could synchronize the Kindle Unlimited audiobooks with my Aura HD.

[anesthezea]

So far as I can tell from a few hours of browsing, Amazon Unlimited has some of the titles I want to read, but not nearly as many as Scribd does. I read a lot of indie/small press titles and Scribd just has the biggest selection of those (via Smashwords). I do like that AU is readable on an eink screen. I find I don't care for the font/text/color options in the Scribd app.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

You can read offline on compatible mobile devices.

so the check for valid subscription/ within your 10 book limit must be done once only when you download the loan ?

how do you return a book to free up a slot within your 10 - can you do that from any connected device or app?

& are are the no time limits like for normal libraries - so someone needing textbooks could if they had them, take out the best 10 & keep them for a full yet ?

I guess they will have some velocity check under the bonnet, as Overdrive has, I have never managed to trigger that, but I read it locks you out temporarily if you churn books like crazy. Some muppet is bound to try borrowing & copying all 600,000 books with a 30 day trial window via some auto script, if there's no restriction.

From all I have read so far, it seems they are NOT using the prime lending tech as a basis for this new service. Prime lending is to real kindle hardware only, there's no way to get the loan onto K4PC , or into an app on a on Kindle tablet, and you have to go to amazon web site to return a book. I wonder if they will quietly drop the prime service, no sense really in running both & confusing for customers if they work differently

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by cybmole

so the check for valid subscription/ within your 10 book limit must be done once only when you download the loan ?

No idea.

how do you return a book to free up a slot within your 10 - can you do that from any connected device or app?

Go to Manage Your Content and Devices --> Your Content --> Books --> find the book you want to return --> Actions --> Return this book

& are are the no time limits like for normal libraries - so someone needing textbooks could if they had them, take out the best 10 & keep them for a full yet ?

You can keep books checked out as long as you want; subject to the 10 book limit and as long as you have an active subscription.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I would hazard a guess that it would only allow access to books which can be borrowed through the current Kindle lending library, which excludes most BPH books. ie it'll be the same as the Kindle lending library, but remove the one book a month limit.

From what I've seen the books have a button on the page that identifies them as available for Kindle Unlimited and you have a 10 book limit. Meaning you can have up to any 10 books checked out at once and there is no expiration date so that you return them when you want which then frees up a space for you to borrow another one. Sort of like my local library which also has a 10 ebook limit but without the expiration date that library books have. Of course the library doesn't charge $9.99 a month for access either so I guess it balances out.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by cybmole

so the check for valid subscription/ within your 10 book limit must be done once only when you download the loan ?

According to Amazon

To use Kindle Unlimited, you must have an Amazon account with a current, valid credit card and you must have 1-Click payments enabled.

And that's all there is to it. Once you have chosen to try the free month of Kindle Unlimited and if you have the above you can start downloading books. Of course after the free month is up they charge you $9.99 a month to continue the service but that isn't bad considering how many books they are offering for free borrowing.

[Top100EbooksRank]

Amazon paid about $2 -$2.50 per borrow to author (fluctuated from month to month) with its Kindle Select.

I would guess it might be the same with this new venture.

[tubemonkey]

To use Kindle Unlimited, you must have an Amazon account with a current, valid credit card and you must have 1-Click payments enabled.

I hate 1-click ordering and find the practice to be despicable; especially since apps, MP3s, and digital videos are not eligible for refunds. All purchases should require confirmation before going through and in-app purchases should require a password for each and every purchase.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I hate 1-click ordering and find the practice to be despicable; especially since apps, MP3s, and digital videos are not eligible for refunds. All purchases should require confirmation before going through and in-app purchases should require a password for each and every purchase.

i agree completely but if they insist then I'd just enable it - borrow a book, disable it....

I figured out how to protect my kindle fire from the dreaded one false tap & you've bought it - i'ts go to parental controls & turn on password needed to buy anything.... Hopefully they'll be forced to make that default setting on new devices, one day.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

No idea.


Go to Manage Your Content and Devices --> Your Content --> Books --> find the book you want to return --> Actions --> Return this book

You can keep books checked out as long as you want; subject to the 10 book limit and as long as you have an active subscription.

so return a book works like the existing prime service - can only be done via the web site.
but if you are on the road with only a basic kindle, & 3G wifi, that's very inconvenient. You may be able to navigate the amazon.com web site with the "experimental browser" but that's VERY dififficult on a small black & white screen. So if you are your 10 limit you can't easily return one & get another one without access to a PC.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I hate 1-click ordering and find the practice to be despicable; especially since apps, MP3s, and digital videos are not eligible for refunds. All purchases should require confirmation before going through and in-app purchases should require a password for each and every purchase.

From a business POV, one-click encourages spur of the moment purchases, so I can see why Amazon wants you to leave it on.