Amazon Launches Kindle Unlimited Service

Earlier this week, a new Amazon product called Kindle Unlimited was spotted in the wild without any announcement from the company. Now, that announcement has come. Kindle Unlimited costs $9.99 a month...
Amazon Launches Kindle Unlimited Service
Written by Chris Crum

Earlier this week, a new Amazon product called Kindle Unlimited was spotted in the wild without any announcement from the company. Now, that announcement has come.

Kindle Unlimited costs $9.99 a month, and gives customers unlimited access to over 600,000 eBooks and thousands of audiobooks on any device. It’s basically a Netflix for reading (and listening to books).

“With Kindle Unlimited, you won’t have to think twice before you try a new author or genre—you can just start reading and listening,” said Russ Grandinetti, Senior Vice President, Kindle. “In addition to offering over 600,000 eBooks, Kindle Unlimited is also by far the most cost-effective way to enjoy audiobooks and eBooks together. With thousands of Whispersync for Voice-enabled audiobooks to choose from, you can easily switch between reading and listening to a book, allowing the story to continue even when your eyes are busy. We hope you take advantage of the 30-day free trial and try it for yourself.”

The service may not offer all the books you’re looking for – just as Netflix doesn’t stream all the movies you’re looking for – but it offers enough popular titles to pique the interest of avid readers. It doesn’t have much of a Stephen King selection, for example, but it has the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Harry Potter series, Life of Pi, and the DIary of a Wimpy Kid books, to name a few. It does include hundreds of thousands of Kindle exclusives, and thousands of “short-read” ebooks with less than a hundred pages, including Kindle Singles.

Amazon is offering a free three-month Audible membership to those who sign up for Kindle Unlimited.

For the company, it’s yet another way to suck people into the broader Amazon ecosystem, which is rapidly expanding with new shopping services, exclusive streaming video, streaming audio, and a new advanced smartphone.

You can browse Kindle Unlimited’s offerings here.

Image via Amazon

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