The Kindle Gets 5,000 More Titles, Thanks to Simon & Schuster

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

On Friday, Amazon.com’s popular (it’s hard to say just how popular since Amazon hasn’t released specific sales info on it, but popular enough to sell out) Kindle wireless reading device received a boost in something every such media “player” needs: content.

Amazon.com and Simon & Schuster announced that the Kindle would be getting an additional 5,000 titles from Simon & Schuster’s catalog. According to the press release, these additional titles, when added to those Simon & Shuster titles already available on the Kindle, “represent the vast majority of sales from the publisher’s catalog.” The influx of new titles will also more than double the number of Simon & Schuster titles available on the Kindle.

Carolyn Reidy, President and CEO, Simon & Schuster, Inc. said:

“At Simon & Schuster, we are excited by how many Kindle books we’re selling and the feedback from readers who want to read our titles on their Kindles. We have also learned that readers aren’t just looking for new or bestselling books, but also books that are older or hard to find. These are the books that have proven themselves to be of enduring interest, and we want readers to be able to find them anytime, anywhere. We are pleased to take another big step toward that goal by making this great percentage of our active backlist available on Kindle by the end of 2008.”

Meanwhile Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO said (and I’m sure there was a pun intended):

Kindle is re-igniting a love of reading — after purchasing a Kindle, customers purchase, on average, just as many physical books, and their total book purchases on Amazon increase by 2.6x. Kindle books are also becoming a meaningful portion of Amazon’s overall book sales much sooner than we anticipated — of the 125,000 books available both as a physical book and on Kindle, Kindle books already account for over 6 percent of units sold. This commitment from Simon & Schuster moves us closer to our vision for Kindle, which is to make any book, ever printed, in any language available in less than 60 seconds.”

Coupled with Amazon.com recent 10% Kindle price reduction (it’s now “only” $359), does this make the device more attractive? Sure, but like I said earlier, for me to buy one of these, it’s going to have to come down in price to a point where I wouldn’t cry over leaving it on BART.