Free Kindle books to go off Bestsellers list and onto own bestseller list

Amazon's been busy this weekend getting more changes in place, and a lot has happened in the one day I was not able to be here.  I'll keep them separate.

First, the Kindle books change that affects all of us, Free Kindle Books to go on own list, which I think was inevitable considering complaints that something offered for 'free' cannot be normally be said to be 'sold' and certainly not convincingly 'best'-selling.

Add that the Big5-Agency-model books priced higher than $9.99 almost surely are not selling as well as the Big5 had hoped and there will be pressure to highlight them, and then there's the need for Amazon to make book profits despite their battles with the Big5 to avoid the higher pricing.

So, this is a compromise that probably can work fairly well, because Amazon customers in the habit of looking for free non-classics (using my shortcut currently to get at the meat of these) would still be able to find those when they're on a list of their own.

  Publishers Weekly, quoted by L.A. Times, writes:

'...Amazon’s practice of including free downloads in its list of most popular Kindle titles. It will soon no longer be an issue.  A representative at the e-tailer has confirmed that the company will be splitting its Kindle bestseller list, creating one list for paid books and another for free titles.  The date for the switch is vague—the rep would only say it will happen in “a few weeks” '

I found it interesting that HarperCollins was quoted as thinking this MIGHT make free promos less effective while they have been the one of the Big5 most using the free-promo feature.

  I think that both lists will be used by customers and that the bestseller listing of free books will make it that much easier to find them for those who are especially interested in those.

  In fact, it could also mean that some people will now never even see the buyable Bestsellers because of this. Sometimes it's good to be careful what you (Big5) wish for.

Image credit: switched.com

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