Amazon to drop free books from Kindle bestseller list

A week ago, Jacket Copy took a look at what books were popular on Amazon's Kindle; we found that the Top 10 Kindle bestsellers were free. Wednesday, Publishers Weekly got word that Amazon will remove free books from its main bestseller list, creating a separate list for free titles.

The plethora of free books on the Kindle bestseller list has been known for some time. In December, Galleycat found 64 of the top 100 Kindle ebooks were free. In January, the New York Times reported on the tendency to climb the bestseller list. All of us were a bit perplexed about the use of "bestseller" to designate book that are not, well, sold. Grammarians, at the very least, will welcome the change.

So, too, will major publishers. Amazon is doing the right thing, an executive at HarperCollins told Publishers Weekly, which reports "consumers 'want to know what books everyone is reading, and buying,' and that a list which combines free downloads and books for sale doesn't deliver this information."

But one constituency that may be hurt by the change are the independent publishers that were scoring so many downloads. Many had used short-term free downloads of one book to help direct readers to a newer title by the same author. Deb Smith, the editor/publisher of BelleBooks wrote in our comments:

The giveaway DOES produce real sales both on the promoted title and the authors' backlist. More important, it highlights small press titles and gives them a chance to find the readership they deserve. My tiny press can't begin to compete with the big pubs in terms of advertising, but via Kindle we accomplish a similar level of publicity and results.

Maybe independent publishers will be just as pleased to find their books topping a bestseller list dedicated to free books. How it might affect sales is hard to predict -- Amazon has not announced a firm date for the switch, saying simply that it will happen "in a few weeks."

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Image: Screenshot of the Kindle bestseller list on Wedmnesday, still topped by free books.

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Comments

[kathryn Magendie]

You know; it's not like readers are not going to know the books are for free --no one's trying to trick anyone here! I think our readers are intelligent enough to see what some of these publishers are doing with their promos.

Beyond that, it's also not like the Big Guys don't have things they do to make sure their books are noticed and read, right? So, I don't really understand what the hoopla is all about over this nice promo my publishers are doing . . . and Bellebooks/Bell Bridge books (Deb Smith is with BB) is my publisher - a small press trying to be noticed in a big huge bloated world of publishing.

They are proud of my books, and that makes me happy. My last year's release is temporarily free on Amazon; yup, and if it wasn't a good read, it wouldn't "sell" whether it's free or not free. I pass by a used bookstore in our little mountain town and there is a table of free books - I glance at the free books and if one catches my attention, I may grab it; however, most times I end up buying a book inside. I take my free book and my bought book and read them - if the free book is good, I'll look for that author (maybe it's an author I've never tried before) - if it isn't, I don't. Same as with the book I paid money for. Bargain books and free books can open the door to new voices.

Anyway, I'm kind of enjoying all the hoopla - and whatever Amazon decides to do won't affect me all that much in the long run - people will look for bargains and freebies and as well people will look for good books to read and will return to an author who has a book/voice/style they enjoy. That's what we're hoping for with this promo.