Thursday, May 10, 2012

Harry Potter Books Coming to Kindle Owner's Lending Library

Amazon has just announced that all 7 Harry Potter books by JK Rowling will be coming to their Kindle Owner's Lending Library.  Currently, readers can purchase the electronic Potter books for their Kindles, but must do so through Pottermore with Amazon providing links.  With Pottermore having sold nearly $5 million worth of e-books in its first month alone, Amazon must be seeking a heavier paycheck.

The Kindle Owner's Lending Library is part of the perks available through Amazon's Prime.  Members are able to check out a book a month for free through this lending library.  Authors who put their books into KDP Select receive a percentage of funds set aside monthly.  The more books an author has checked out, the more they receive.

I'm very curious to see how the Kindle Owner's Lending Library and KDP Select will be affected by the inclusion of the Potter books.  But I'm even more curious as to how a deal such as this will affect Amazon's growing power in the publishing marketplace.

What do you think?  Are you glad to see the Potter books available for a free library through Kindle?  Or are you concerned about Amazon's increasing dominance?