If you're looking for new reading material this summer, Amazon Local might have what you need. The discount site is offering a free voucher to purchase specific Kindle books for just $1.00 each. The voucher is only good for 37 titles, which are all part of a series. Some of the books include The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Potzsch and subsequent tales; The Dead Man volumes by Lee Goldberg; and The Mangel Series by Charlie Williams. Some of these books already seem popular with readers. Potzsch’s books have thousands of reviews; whereas books in the Simply Sarah Series range from one review to...

When I stopped by Amazon this morning to check the Daily Deal, I saw something cool for you Kindle Fire owners. You've got free Amazon Coins! In case you missed the announcement of Coins earlier this year, they were supposed to start in May, and it looks like this announcement is the launch. What can you do with Coins? Buy Kindle Fire apps, games and in-app items at a discount. I dropped by the Coins page, and it looks like the discount ranges from four percent (if you buy 500 coins) to 10 percent (if you buy 5,000). 100 coins equals $1. Since I...

You're familiar with the saying “Go big or go home?” Well, it doesn’t exactly apply to the tablet market nowadays, but the tide could turn soon enough. One of the biggest ongoing battles is for the small tab crown, with Google, Asus, Amazon, Apple, but also Acer fighting each other guns blazing. Meanwhile, the bigger throne remains in Cupertino, Calif., with only Samsung (timidly) trying to steal the 9.7-inch iPad’s thunder. However, if we are to trust newly emerged online reports, Amazon is planning to spread its Fire instead of cooling it down. The next generation of the company’s Kindle Fires will...

By Jeff Kleist Amazon has been making its own devices for quite a while now. From e-readers to tablets to a rumored smartphone, the company has been pretty successful in establishing its own Apple-style ecosystem. So it makes perfect sense that Amazon wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity to take charge of the one device in the home that even Apple hasn’t been able to dominate—the television—with a “Kindle TV” set-top box. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, such a set-top box is actually in the works. Given that Amazon Instant Video still isn’t exactly ubiquitously supported on TVs, it makes sense that the company...

By Moe Zilla The New York Times ran a fascinating profile of David Blum, the editor of Amazon’s “Kindle Singles” store. But along the way, they also took a look at the whole phenomenon of Singles—and what it means for the future of books. Amazon has sold nearly 5 million Kindle singles over the last 27 months, according to the article about Blum, who tells the newspaper that “Every day I become more obsessed with how brilliant the concept is…” But it’s got me wondering just how popular the Kindle Singles really are… Blum tells the newspaper he’s now receiving more than 1,000 unsolicited manuscripts each month,...

Attention library advocates in Alexandria, Va.: Talking points for the local budget debate are here. Leaving us in the dark about the source of this tidbit, a Washington Post headline in the Style section blog says: “Alexandria, Virginia: the most well-read city in America.” Similar words show up elsewhere in the media about my hometown, the oft-paradoxical Washington suburb of some 146,000 where a bronze Confederate soldier stands in the middle of Washington Street despite an African-American mayor and a generally progressive city council. Alas, however, our number one ranking isn’t based on actual books and other items read per capita. Rather our spot at the top reflects what the Post accurately mentions in the...

This story has been making the rounds of tech blogs today, and it's interesting to watch the reactions. First, the story: Amazon announced today that developers can now submit their apps for distribution in nearly 200 countries. As I've said before, I think competition is a good thing, and the more competition Google has with its apps, the better it is for consumers. Android phones are doing well in other countries, and it's a logical move for Amazon to tap into that market. So much for the story. Now for the interesting reactions: One of the Android blogs was quite lukewarm about it, and obviously...

L.J. Sellers has picked up on a trend on Amazon. The novelist who writes for the Crime Fiction Collective blog noticed old books popping up on lists for new releases. If the book has been out for several years, how can it become a “hot, new release?” Sellers writes: “The newest trend I've noticed is the republishing of the same book. What I see happening is that familiar books that were competitive on Amazon's crime fiction list, dropped off the list, then came roaring back with a new pub date and a high profile.” Essentially, publishers or authors are re-releasing e-books with a new publishing date, and...

Surprise! Jeff Bezos explains to Amazon investors why no profits are a good thing (The Verge) "Jeff Bezos' annual letter to investors is always worth reading." What I'm really thinking: The literary agent (The Guardian) "I often drive 200 miles a week to visit that novelist who has a towering ego and has to be cajoled out of his tantrums." Booksellers urge court not to toss Amazon e-book lawsuit (Publishers Weekly) "Plaintiff booksellers this week filed an opposition motion urging the court not to dismiss their lawsuit against Amazon and the big six publishers... " Kindle Daily Deals: Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut (and 3...

Record your records! Amazon's AutoRip functionality, which gives you a free digital copy of any CD you might buy, has now been extended to vinyl. If you opt for an AutoRip-compatible vinyl record on Amazon, a digital file will instantly be added to your Amazon Cloud Player library. More impressive is that those who have purchased AutoRip compatible records since Amazon opened the gates to its music store in 1998 will find they now have a digital file waiting in their Cloud Player. All you need to do is look out for the AutoRip logo next to the record on Amazon's website. “It’s a...

Bookriot has a great series up detailing the differences between Goodreads and Library Thing. In Part 1, Amanda Nelson covers how to add books, the user interface and how each site handles recommendations, stats, user groups and discussions. In Part 2, Nelson covers reviews, author interactions and miscellaneous details. Her conclusion? Library Thing is, on the whole, more the 'nerd' site (more comprehensive stats, better handling of pre-ISBN books, a more refined recommendation engine) and Goodreads is more a 'Facebook for books' (more popular groups, more social interaction with authors and other users). In the end, the feature set you prefer will...

Galleycat has a great article questioning Amazon's Kindle book return policy. The author, Jason Boog, explains that nearly 1,200 people have signed a petition calling on Amazon to change its policy, which currently allows readers seven days (long enough to read the book!) to ask for a refund. It isn't clear to me from the petition itself exactly what these 1,200 people would like the policy changed to. I bristled a little at the inflammatory tone of the petition—it had that tint of, 'readers are all potential criminals in waiting, on the verge of screwing us over,' which, as a reader who...