03-22-2012, 11:25 PM | #1 |
Montreal wins Grey Cup!
Posts: 7,583
Karma: 31484197
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Raleigh, NC
Device: Paperwhite, Kindles 10 & 4 and jetBook Lite
|
What % of Canadian market does Kindle have?
I am writing a book that I expect will be more popular in Canada than anywhere else.
I realize that there is no perfect solution no matter which publishing route I choose to go. Amazon's enticements to award them exclusivity are appealling, but I wouldn't want to shut out a major percentage of the Canadian eBook market. Does anyone have an idea of what percentage of eBook readers in Canada are Kindles? |
03-23-2012, 01:00 AM | #2 |
Groupie
Posts: 174
Karma: 1498858
Join Date: Aug 2010
Device: Kindle 3
|
Your question caught my attention. I sell a nonfiction Kindle and CreateSpace POD on Amazon.com .uk .de .it and .es .... once I uploaded to Amazon.com, the ebook version was listed after a bit on the European Amazon pages. I just took a look at Amazon.ca and was surprised to see that it wasn't listed there. I'm speaking in the Yukon next month and when I let the people that had signed up know about the book, I had a bump in sales.
Searching on Amazon.ca for Kindle books lists only 147 books. It tells me that Canadians shopping for Kindle books shop on Amazon.com Wish I could tell you more–I don't get it. |
03-23-2012, 01:08 AM | #3 |
Wizzard
Posts: 11,517
Karma: 33048258
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Roundworld
Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia
|
I don't know what actual percentage there is, but anecdotally, I can tell you that I am often the only person on public transit/campus with a Kindle, whereas others sitting around me with visible readers will much more usually have a Kobo or a Sony or an iPad. They're simply much easier to buy in Canada and the cost of shipping from the States probably renders the usual US price difference moot.
Incidentally, Kindle books are not sold via Amazon.ca, which only sells physical products and has not been turned into a dedicated digital site like Amazon UK or DE. We have to get ours via the Amazon.com store (and are charged in US dollars for it). |
03-23-2012, 11:31 AM | #4 |
Lunatic
Posts: 1,691
Karma: 4386372
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Land of the Loonie
Device: Kindle Paperwhite and Keyboard, Kobo Aura, iPad mini, iPod Touch
|
The last numbers I saw had Kindles at about 25% of the market, behind Kobo and ahead of Sony.
|
03-23-2012, 12:01 PM | #5 |
Montreal wins Grey Cup!
Posts: 7,583
Karma: 31484197
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Raleigh, NC
Device: Paperwhite, Kindles 10 & 4 and jetBook Lite
|
Thanks guys! I'll ask again later this year when the book is finished.
The fact that Amazon.ca doesn't sell Kindle books suggests to me that I should not give Amazon an exclusive. |
03-23-2012, 12:17 PM | #6 |
Lunatic
Posts: 1,691
Karma: 4386372
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Land of the Loonie
Device: Kindle Paperwhite and Keyboard, Kobo Aura, iPad mini, iPod Touch
|
|
03-23-2012, 02:31 PM | #7 | |
Groupie
Posts: 174
Karma: 1498858
Join Date: Aug 2010
Device: Kindle 3
|
Quote:
I did some reading last night about this Canadian issue. I still think that if you upload to both Amazon.com and B&N you'll cover >90% of the market (including Canada). I've talked to several iPad owners that buy their books from Amazon, not Apple. I suspect Droid tablet owners are in the same boat. Amazon's title numbers are just too good to pass up. On my second book, it'll be uploaded as a Kindle first, then as a POD with CreateSpace. Finally as a B&N (when I get bored). Since your book has ties to Canada, surely you've got Canadian contacts you could canvass? –if you do, please post your feedback. |
|
03-23-2012, 02:38 PM | #8 |
Lunatic
Posts: 1,691
Karma: 4386372
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Land of the Loonie
Device: Kindle Paperwhite and Keyboard, Kobo Aura, iPad mini, iPod Touch
|
B&N don't sell ebooks to Canadian residents, so uploading to B&N gets you absolutely no exposure here. You need your ebooks on Kobo and/or Sony in addition to Amazon to cover both mobi and epub formats for the Canadian market.
|
03-23-2012, 10:42 PM | #9 | |
Groupie
Posts: 174
Karma: 1498858
Join Date: Aug 2010
Device: Kindle 3
|
Quote:
Thanks, L |
|
03-23-2012, 10:55 PM | #10 | |
Wizzard
Posts: 11,517
Karma: 33048258
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Roundworld
Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia
|
Quote:
But that does not in any way prevent B&N from selling e-books to us, which is a business decision on their part. (Not to mention they have an entirely different DRM scheme than ADE-DRM ePubs, which are the standard for Sony and Kobo.) For what it's worth, I buy extremely few e-books at Amazon and I mainly purchase ePubs (or download them from the MultiFormat bundle option if available) from other sources and convert for reading on my Kindle. |
|
03-23-2012, 10:56 PM | #11 |
Montreal wins Grey Cup!
Posts: 7,583
Karma: 31484197
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Raleigh, NC
Device: Paperwhite, Kindles 10 & 4 and jetBook Lite
|
That didn't occur to me. Your Kindle automatically takes you to where you can buy Kindlebooks, so it doesn't matter what the site is, right?
Last edited by GA Russell; 03-23-2012 at 10:58 PM. |
03-23-2012, 11:00 PM | #12 |
Wizard
Posts: 4,812
Karma: 26912940
Join Date: Apr 2010
Device: sony PRS-T1 and T3, Kobo Mini and Aura HD, Tablet
|
I have two friends with kindles and they buy from Amazon.com only. I suspect that is often the case for kindle owners in the general Canadian population but have no way of knowing for sure.
Helen |
03-23-2012, 11:23 PM | #13 | |
Lunatic
Posts: 1,691
Karma: 4386372
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Land of the Loonie
Device: Kindle Paperwhite and Keyboard, Kobo Aura, iPad mini, iPod Touch
|
Quote:
I can convert epubs, since I have the know-how to strip DRM, but I still buy 90% of my books from Amazon. Amazon's prices are usually the lowest and I like their ecosystem (cloud, emailing personal documents, reviews, author profiles, etc.), which is why I chose a Kindle in the first place. I've also bought mobi files from other sites, Amazon isn't the only one selling the format. Yes, if I actually bought from my Kindle, it connects to Amazon.com for anyone with Canada as their country code. Last edited by Synamon; 03-23-2012 at 11:47 PM. |
|
03-24-2012, 01:11 PM | #14 |
Groupie
Posts: 174
Karma: 1498858
Join Date: Aug 2010
Device: Kindle 3
|
GA:
"Amazon's enticements to award them exclusivity" ––I think your referring to the KDP Select Program. From what I've garnered from this discussion, I think I might go through Smashwords to get my first book on Sony, Kobo, and Apple just to complete the market–even though I think it's minuscule outside of Amazon. That's assuming it's Meatgrinder doesn't cause me a headache with it's 55 images... |
03-24-2012, 03:02 PM | #15 |
Montreal wins Grey Cup!
Posts: 7,583
Karma: 31484197
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Raleigh, NC
Device: Paperwhite, Kindles 10 & 4 and jetBook Lite
|
Lazer, I've read here about problems with Smashwords, such as their arbitrarily/accidentally pricing your book at zero, and thereby triggering everyone else to do so as well.
My thinking at this time is to use Scrivener to format for mobi and ePub, and then deal directly with Amazon, Kobo and others, leaving Smashwords out of it. |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Kindle available in canadian stores? | Norel | Amazon Kindle | 6 | 09-27-2011 05:40 AM |
Canadian vs US version of Kindle 3? | Baldrake | Amazon Kindle | 64 | 07-16-2011 03:55 PM |
Canadian visiting the US. Buy US kindle or international kindle? | lance_ | Amazon Kindle | 7 | 06-16-2011 01:22 PM |
E-books for the French (Canadian) market | Wetdogeared | News | 23 | 09-24-2009 04:09 PM |
History Canadian Dept. of National Defence: Canadian Military Heritage.v1, 20 Sep 2008 | mrmikel | BBeB/LRF Books | 0 | 09-20-2008 10:53 AM |