Is Amazon getting to the point where it can say, “Publishers, we don’t need your e-books”?

Generally, when Amazon has disputed with a publisher, the publisher has won. That was true on the Agency Model, it was true on text-to-speech.

Now, though, Amazon has told the Independent Publishers Group that if IPG doesn’t agree to Amazon’s terms, Amazon won’t carry their e-books.

In the short term, I don’t like that (as a reader). Amazon used to say that a goal was for the Kindle to bring us “Every book ever published…”

Obviously, they can’t do that if they refuse to carry books.

On the other hand, what if the only way for Amazon to do that profitably is to charge $15 for some e-books? They already do that…what about $25? $50?

Is it better for readers in the long term for Amazon to force prices down by getting better terms?

Maybe…

I do think Amazon certainly has the right to only get books under the conditions they want. As a former store manager, I know that’s part of the process.

As a reader, I want to be able to make the decision about getting any book…even if it does cost more.

As you can tell, I’m kind of torn on this one. My emotional, short term, gut reaction is I want the books to be in the store. My analytical, long term, logical mind wants publishers to have a check and balance on them.

What do you think about this one? Feel free to let me know…

• NYT article
• Boing Boing article by Cory Doctorow
• Chicago Tribune article (IPG is in Chicago)

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Looking at one Jeremy Lin ‘book’

The Book: Linsanity: The Improbable Rise of Jeremy Lin.

1. The Price: $1.99.
2. The Genre: Capitalizing on Lin.
3. Turnaround Time: 6 days.
4. Length: 15,000 words.
5. Pros: Quick Turnaround Time, Releasing it while Lin mania is still going on.
6. Cons: See Rest of the Post.

The most appalling part to me personally:

 72 hours to write a 15,000-plus-word manuscript, 36 hours for the fine folks at Vook to build the e-book, and then another 24 hours for them to arrange the distribution.

Apparently, getting out something/anything fast is the new aim of publishing. The people at Vook don’t seem to realize that boasting about publishing a book written in 72 hours isn’t exactly the best way to convey quality or  ’worth your money and time’.

Let’s think about it for a minute.

1. This ‘book’ was written in 72 hours. It’s very short at 15,000 words – but 72 hours is an insanely short amount of time to write something good. You have to assume that the quality wouldn’t be anywhere near something that took a few months or a few years to write.
2. Could an author even ‘think out’/'plan’/'structure’ a book in 72 hours?
3. No mention of editing or proof-reading. Perhaps they think it isn’t important enough to mention.
4. The book cover is pretty bad. A 5 minute search on Google?
5. 36 hours to build the ebook. Wonder what quality formatting was done.
6. 24 hours to get to people. This is impressive.
7. Six days from concept to store.

The Wildcard: 6 other people managed to publish Jeremy Lin books (and probably in similar periods of time, given that Linsanity is just a few weeks old).

Quality Control and Curation

So … we have 7 Jeremy Lin books floating around the Kindle Store. All written in 72 hours or so. Most probably not edited or proof-read. How wonderful.

The first casualty is quality. If you’ve managed to get your book written in 3 days, and published 1.5 days after that – What sort of quality of writing or thought can readers expect?

The second casualty is the possibility of curation (letting readers know which is the best choice). A few weeks after Jeremy Lin burst on to the scene, there are already 7 books about him available. Which one do readers choose?

Additionally, absolutely anyone, including one of those chess-playing dogs, is free to write a book and publish it. Which means the number of choices will keep increasing.

The good thing about ebooks is that absolutely anyone can publish ebooks. The bad thing about ebooks is that absolutely everyone is publishing ebooks.

Do readers really want books written in 72 hours?

Who knows.

It’s an interesting thought. Do readers want books written in 72 hours? Would they be OK? What if Stephen King wrote something in 72 hours?

The reality is that now anyone can write books and publish them. All the limitations are gone – so, if an author thinks a book written in 72 hours is worth publishing, he publishes it.

We readers have to choose between all these books. A book that an author might have mulled over for years and polished and refined. A book that took 72 hours to write. They all get equal virtual shelf space. Apart from reviews and labels like Publisher Names – there’s not really any way to distinguish.

Reading the Linsanity book right now … well, let’s just say it’s pretty clear it was written in 72 hours.

It’s just sad. You expect people to be artists in their work and put in effort and love and pain into their work. Now we’re in some sort of caricature world where people boast about writing a book in 72 hours.

That’s just a lack of respect for readers. For Reading. For Books.

Amazon has reported the results of the KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) Select  (KDPS) program for January 2012.

That’s a way that publishers who use KDPS can be compensated when eligible Prime members borrow their books from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL).

Let me explain that a little more before I get into the figures.

Eligible Prime members typically pay $79 a year for two-day shipping on many items at no additional cost. Another significant group who are eligible Prime members are Kindle Fire owners in their first month (when they get a free month of Prime).

One of the added benefits of Prime is the ability to borrow up to one book a calendar month from a special set of books called the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL).

Independent publishers (often just the author of the book) can get their books into the Kindle store by using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), which was formerly called the Digital Text Platform (DTP).

Why would an author, though, want their books to be given away when they could be sold?

Obviously, one reason is to promote sales through what I call “word of mouse” (tweets, reviews, blog posts, and so on).

However, that may not be enough of a motivation. Amazon needs the KOLL to be attractive to get people interested in Prime so those customers buy physical goods (what I call “diapers to windshield wipers”), where the profit is.

When the KOLL started it had about 5,000 titles.

It now has 111,598…that’s the jump just since November 3, 2011 (not even four months).

KOLL list*

Clearly, KDP Select was a big part of that. KDP Select started on December 8, 2011…we’ve only seen figures so far for December and January (which was just announced).

Publishers divide a pool of cash, with each “borrow” during the period getting one share.

In December, there were 295,000 borrows, and a $500,000 pool…which came out to about $1.70 per borrow.

Earlier post on December KDPS

It was quite exciting when Amazon announced that they were increasing the pool for January from $500,000 to $700,000. I’m sure publishers figured they would make more money in January.

Well, with the same number of borrows it would have been more money, of course.

Instead, the number of borrows went up so much, that KDP Select participants are getting less per borrow $1.60 approximately, instead of $1.70.

I think it’s also pretty likely that there are a lot more publishers in the pool. Even though some publishers probably added titles (I added my Love Your Kindle Fire: The ILMK Guide to Amazon’s Entertablet to it in February), I would guess that it was spread a lot more thinly. Oh, some publishers probably made more, but others probably made less.

There were 437,000 borrows in January.

Does that mean that the trend will continue and there will be close to 650,000 borrows in February?

If it did, publishers would make a lot less per borrow: the pool for February has gone down to $600,000 from the $700,000 in January…that would drop it down to about ninety-three cents per borrow.

However, as Amazon noted in the announcement to KDP publishers, January was likely an especially good month. January is a good sales month: there are returns, for one thing, and people who held off buying something for themselves until they saw what other people got them. The Kindle Fire owners are part of the KOLL…and that may have bumped up more in December than it did in January.

February is also two days shorter than January this year.

My guess, though, is that KOLL borrows are front-loaded in a month…that a lot more of them happen in the beginning of the month than in the middle or at the end.

That just makes sense to me, since the limitation is up to one book per calendar month. If you borrow a book in January, you can’t borrow another one until February. So, there is pent-up borrowing demand until the next calendar month starts.

Even given that, I think it is possible that there will be fewer borrows in January than in February…but about fifteen percent fewer? That’s what it would have to be for $600,000 to pay as much as $700,000.

Let’s say that publishers make less for KOLL borrows in February than in January (as they did in January compared to December). Does that mean that publishers should stay out of the KOLL?

We still don’t have enough data. If the KOLL borrows increase paid sales, it could be worth it. If the KOLL borrows represent additional income, rather than replacing sales, that could make it worth it.

We do have to balance the ninety-day exclusivity period…if publishers are making sales through Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, or their own websites (not through Amazon), the KOLL is less attractive.

I’m staying in it, but I’m keeping an eye on it, too.

One last fascinating question for me on this…was Amazon deliberately manipulating the pool amount to try to get the per borrow pay to be about $1.50? They are presumably really good at estimating demand (although they’ve underestimated it on Kindles in the past).  The example that Amazon uses to show the math uses 100,000 borrows with a $500,000 pool…or $5 per borrow. That may, perhaps, suggest to people an overly optimistic outcome.

Living on Lending, Banking on Borrows

I noticed something interesting the other day, and it is related to this discussion.

I managed a game store (in addition to having managed a bookstore), and I do like to play around with (but still within) the rules.

When it was time for me to borrow a book from the KOLL, I sorted them by most expensive. I figure I want to get my $79 a year out of our Prime membership. Yes, the Prime streaming videos are a great plus. Yes, we’re having fun with the Prime shipping (but I’m not convinced that actually saves us any money…it didn’t in the previous analyses I did). If I can borrow books that cost more than the annual Prime fee divided by twelve (about $6.58), I’m making a profit.

Of course, I may also be getting books I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.

However, here’s what I noticed…over forty Kindle store books priced at $200!

Who would buy a Kindle store book for $200?

Well, there are some expensive books where it makes sense…textbooks and such. There are even Kindle store books that cost more than $5,000.

That doesn’t seem to be the case here, though. There are a bunch of books by the same person, but there are a number of books. Some of them are smaller than a regular novel (based on file size), and some appear to be fiction. Here, for instance, is a book that costs $200…and is a tiny 41KB.

Who would pay $200 for it?

Well, the thing here is that nobody has to pay that…and the publisher can still make money.

How?

If people borrow it in the KOLL.

Why would people borrow this?

Curiosity, maybe…and maybe they found it by sorting the prices high to low like I did.

Does that strategy work?

Dunno.

It’s like when people are saying that some odd collectible is going for a thousand dollars. I often say, “No, it’s being offered for a thousand dollars.” That doesn’t mean it has ever sold for that…and I don’t know if anybody has borrowed one of these $200 books.

Oh, and why is it $200 and not, say, a gazillion dollars? Kindle Direct Publishing books have to be priced from ninety-nine cents to $200. Some people want to know how to tell if a book is published through the KDP…if it’s priced over $200, it isn’t.

What do you think? If you are a publisher, are you staying with the KOLL? Is Amazon trying to keep the borrow pay down around a buck and a half? Is anybody going to borrow This Book Shows Everyone Just How Rich You Really Are by Mon. E. Bags, priced at $200? Feel free to let me know by commenting on this post.

* Note: while you can see the books you can borrow as an eligible Prime member at the link I have provided, you can only borrow one from you physical Kindle . If you are reading this blog on your computer, you will not see a “borrow” button on the product pages for the books. If you want to borrow a book for free (technically, for no additional cost), you must click a button that says “borrow”, not “buy”.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Free Kindle Books – Full List at Amazon

• The full list of new free kindle books at Amazon.

Free Kindle Books – Romance

1. Marked: A Two Halves Novella by Marta Szemik. Price: Free. Genre: Romantic Fantasy, Paranormal, Good and Evil. Rated 5 stars on 1 review. 175 kb in size, or about 85 pages.
2. The Bracelet by Beth Muscat. Price: Free. Genre: Romantic Fantasy, Angels, Wizards, Magic. Rated 5 stars on 6 reviews. 234 pages.
3. Keeper of the Spirit (Keeper, Book One) by Rudy Storm. Price: Free. Genre: Historical Romance, Suggestive Romance, Series, 1880s, New York. Rated 4.5 stars on 2 reviews. 408 pages.
4. On Ice (Contemporary Romantic Thriller) by J.D. Faver. Price: Free. Genre: Romantic Suspense, Running from Danger, Alaska. Unrated. 577 kb in size, or about 285 pages.
5. *The Gift of Joy by Valerie Maarten. Price: Free. Genre: Contemporary Romance, Loss, Redemption. Rated 4.5 stars on 11 reviews. 170 pages.
6. Midnight (Dark Promises, Book One) by Elisa Adams. Price: $0. Genre: Promises of the Dark Kind, The Middle of the Night, For some strange reason this feels like it might be Erotica. Perhaps the naked couple on the cover are a clue. 180 pages.

Free Kindle Books – Thrillers & Mysteries

1. **[Pick of the Day Candidate] The Shekinah Legacy by Gary Lindberg. Price: $0. Genre: Suspense Thriller. Rated 5 stars on 20 reviews. 350 pages.
2. **Three To Get Deadly by Lee Goldberg, Paul Levine, and Joel Goldman. Price: $0. Genre: Hard-Boiled, 3 Novels in One Volume, Suspense. 3 full novels and over 1 MB in size.
3. *Blabbermouth (A Brit Moran Mystery) by Joel Travis. Price: Free. Genre: Mystery, Hard-Boiled, Gambling. Rated 5 stars on 12 reviews. 292 pages.
4. The Shadow Chaser by John Matthews. Price: Free. Genre: Thriller, Legal, Medical, Suspense. Rated 3.5 stars on 5 reviews. 1730 kb in size, or about 865 pages.
5. Antiques Maul: (Trash ‘n’ Treasures Mysteries) by Barbara Allen. Price: Free. Genre: Mystery, Women Sleuths, Sequel. Rated 4.5 stars on 6 reviews. 238 pages.
6. **[Repeat, Very Good] Sundial (Light Bringer Series) by C. F Fruzzetti and M. I. Pearsall. Price: $0. Genre: Thriller. Rated 5 stars on 36 reviews. 330 pages.
7. *Permanent Interests by James Bruno. Price: $0. Genre: Spy Stories, Tales of Intrigue, Political Fiction, Thriller. Rated 4.5 stars on 13 reviews. 394 pages.

Free Kindle Books – Religious

1. **Reclaiming Lily by Patti Lacy. Price: Free. Genre: Religious, Texas, Adoption. Rated 4.5 stars on 70 reviews. 387 pages.

Free Kindle Books – Fantasy, Science Fiction & Horror

1. *Haven (Twin Series) by Justin Pflug. Price: $0. Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, Novella. Rated 5 stars on 7 reviews. 229 kb so perhaps 100 pages. Sounds very promising.
2. [Repeat, Very Good] *The Venom of Vipers by K.C. May. Price: Free. Genre: Science Fiction, High Tech, Technothriller. Rated 4.5 stars on 45 reviews. 244 pages.
3. Destiny by Aaron Mahnke. Price: Free. Genre: Mythology, Fantasy, Journey, Self-Discovery. Rated 4.5 stars on 7 reviews. 256 pages.
4. [Repeat, Good] Wildflowers Come Back by Sarah Spann. Price: Free. Genre: Horror, Ghosts, New Life. Rated 4 stars on 15 reviews. 235 pages.

Free Kindle Books – Historical Fiction

1. *The Lost Journal by Chris Blewitt. Price: Free. Genre: Historical, Mystery, Action & Adventure. Rated 4 stars on 11 reviews. 433 kb in size, or about 215 pages.
2. *A Heart Renewed (Prescott Pioneers #2) by Karen Baney. Price: Free. Genre: Historical, 1860s, Sequel. Rated 5 stars on 12 reviews. 340 pages.

Free Kindle Books – For Children of All Ages

1. **Pride’s Run (A Wolf’s Pride novel, book 1) by Cat Kalen. Price: Free. Genre: Action & Adventure, Horror, Series, Paranormal. Rated 5 stars on 25 reviews. 312 pages.
2. 5 Level One Beginning Readers From The “I Love Reading” Series by Cindy Bracken. Price: Free. Genre: Ages 4-8, Reading, Learning. Rated 5 stars on 1 review. 2733 kb in size with pictures.

Free Kindle Books – Various Genres (Fiction) including Adventure

1. **Rozalyn by Shan. Price: Free. Genre: Contemporary, Urban, Romance, Bad Boy. Rated 5 stars on 48 reviews. 419 kb in size, or about 210 pages.
2. *Chasm by James Bruno. Price: $0. Genre: Political Fiction. Rated 4.5 stars on 12 reviews. 315 pages.
3. Dark River Road by Virginia Brown. Price: Free. Genre: Family Saga, Southern, Small Town. Rated 5 stars on 3 reviews. 512 pages.
4. Nation At Risk by John Brinling. Price: Free. Genre: Political, Fundamentalists, Action. Rated 5 stars on 1 review. 418 kb in size, or about 210 pages.

Free Kindle Books – Non Fiction

1. **Lead to Succeed and You Won’t Manage to Fail by Corey Grant. Price: Free. Genre: Management, Leadership, Career, Office Skills. Rated 4.5 stars on 12 reviews. 78 kb in size, or about 40 pages.
2. *27 Delicious and Nutritious Vegetarian Breakfast Recipes (The Ultimate Guide to Vegetarian Cooking) by Shelley Lynne. Price: $0. Genre: Cooking, Breakfast. Rated 5 stars on 12 reviews. 214 kb in size with 27 recipes.
3. *The Essential Ken Blanchard Collection by Ken Blanchard. Price: $0. Genre: Not Enough Ken Blanchard in Your Life? Get Him Morning, Noon, and Night. Don’t blanch – He’s the guru of leading. Leading at a higher level, leading like Jesus, leading like a servant, leading with luv, leading the self, growing as a leader, and pretty much everything else that involves leading. Any combination of words you can think of that includes ‘leader’ or ‘leadership’ – Mr. Blanchard has written a book with that title. This volume includes three.
4. Always Know What to Say – Easy Ways to Approach and Talk To Anyone by Peter W. Murphy. Price: $0. Genre: How Boring, Knowing What to Say. Rated 3.5 stars on 3 reviews. Personally, I think life is more interesting when there are times that you don’t know what to say and times when you know not to say anything. Hard to hold a conversation … when words are not enough.

Today’s Deal (Not Free, just Cheap)

1. Kindle Daily Deal. The Shop by J. Carson Black. Price: $0.99. Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Women Sleuths. Rated 3.5 stars on 49 reviews. 375 pages.

In Aspen, Colorado, a pop star and her entourage are brutally murdered in their luxury chalet. The lead assassin, ex-Navy SEAL Cyril Landry, has no qualms about carrying out his mission until the instant before he kills the young star—an intense, shared moment that will ultimately drive him to find out why these people had to die. Landry transforms from mercenary to hunter as he delves into the depths of The Shop, the shadowy organization that has hired him to execute people across the country.

Thousands of miles away, in a seedy motel in Gardenia, Florida, a local police chief is found shot to death. The scene has all the signs of a romantic rendezvous gone wrong, but Detective Jolie Burke isn’t so sure. As she digs for clues, the tangled threads of evidence lead to a disturbing place: Indigo, the lush tropical estate of the powerful Haddox clan and home of US Attorney General Franklin Haddox. As Jolie continues to pursue the truth, she quickly discovers that Haddox will do anything to protect his country’s ugly secrets—even kill.

Landry’s quest to uncover The Shop’s motives throws him into the dark currents of Jolie’s investigation, and they find themselves working together as an unlikely duo: a cop and a killer, joining forces to expose a shocking conspiracy that ascends to the highest offices in the land.

Intricate and fast-paced, The Shop is a breathtaking thriller in the vein of Nelson DeMille and David Baldacci.

The game of Dominoes has been around for thousands of years. Historically carved from ivory or animal bone, the oldest known domino set was found in Tutankhamen’s tomb. Dominoes games have been played by kings and presidents, and now Dominoes the app, from Polyclef Software, brings this ancient game to your Android device.

Straight Dominoes, AKA Muggins

Dominoes keeps things simple with one basic domino game. Known as Straight Dominoes, Fives Up, All Fives, or Muggins, it is the most common variation of the game and is relatively easy to learn. Each player starts with seven dominoes from a 28-tile double six set. Players take turns laying down tiles, making sure that each tile has a value that matches the tile they are laying it next to, and scoring points whenever the total of the open ends adds up to a multiple of five. The game ends when one of the players reaches 250 points.

You Against the Computer

Dominoes features a computer AI opponent that will help you hone your skills for the next time you’re playing against a real person. The interface is intuitive–simply drag dominoes on to the playing area just like you would in real life. Point totals are calculated automatically. In order to make the best use of limited screen real estate, some of the inner dominoes may become hidden as play progresses, but there is an option to show all played dominoes at any time.

A Few Simple Options

Keeping with the simple theme, Dominoes has only a few options to choose from. You can select one of four different board colors, and can play with or without sound. Players can alternate turns, or the first player out can go first each round. Lastly, games can be re-set at any time if things aren’t going well.

Random Posts

As the most popular video streaming service on the internet today, Netflix caters to over 24 million subscribers and accounted for about a third of all internet bandwidth being used as of last fall.  They have had some issues recently after mishandling the publicizing of rate hikes necessitated by expiring streaming rights deals as well as a poorly thought out attempt to split the company into two separate entities specializing in only one aspect of the physical media and digital video combination that customers have come to expect, but subscriptions have since rebounded and there is little sign that they are in immediate danger.

When Netflix CEO Reed Hastings mentioned in a letter to shareholders that he is expecting Amazon to start breaking the Instant Video service away from Amazon Prime in favor of a monthly model more analogous to what Netflix is known for, it was finally enough to elicit comment from Amazon.  Brad Beale, the Head of Video Acquisition for Amazon, made clear in a recent interview that it is not the intent of the company to change the way they’re handling things in the near future.  He seems to have avoided implying that this was something that would never happen, but at least for the moment Netflix is safe.

The logic behind the decision is sound.  Amazon Prime is already less expensive than even the cheapest Netflix subscription.  The video content you get with it is not nearly as extensive at this point as what Netflix offers, but nobody claims that it is.  By subscribing to Amazon’s service though, even if your goal is just to take advantage of the Kindle Fire’s integration with Amazon services, customers also get free 2-day shipping on anything Amazon sells.  The video streaming might not be the biggest money maker in the world, but the associated shipping benefit has a tendency to make impulse purchasing far more appealing.  This translates into more regular profits as well as customer loyalty.

Compared to that, it is hard to imagine a huge desire on Amazon’s part to start attacking Netflix on their own terms.  For the moment, at least, video distribution appears to remain a relatively small part of the company.  The Kindle Fire is obviously meant to change that and it does a good job of showing off the content, but the day when physical goods are less important to the company than digital sales has yet to arrive.

Related Posts

• November 2, 2011 -- Amazon Expands Prime Video Offerings For Kindle Fire Release With PBS Deal (0)
• November 28, 2011 -- Kindle Fire & Nook Tablet Video Focus Brings Android Attention (0)
• November 14, 2011 -- Amazon Confirms Apps For Hulu Plus, ESPN, and More! (0)
• November 12, 2011 -- Kindle Fire to Offer Apps for Pandora, Netflix, and More (0)

Free Kindle Books – Full List at Amazon

• The full list of new free kindle books at Amazon.

Free Kindle Books – Romance

1. *[Looks Delicious] Stuck With You by Trish Jensen. Price: Free. Genre: Contemporary Romance, Humor, Divorce Lawyers. Rated 4 stars on 27 reviews. 230 pages.
2. *Jailbird by Heather Huffman. Price: Free. Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense, Humor, Hope, Double Life. Rated 5 stars on 16 reviews. 264 pages.
3. Taking A Stand by Kenneth Casper. Price: Free. Genre: Romantic Suspense, Thriller, Texas. Rated 4.5 stars on 3 reviews. 228 pages.
4. [Sleeper Pick] JANE MILLIONAIRE by Janice Lynn. Price: Free. Genre: Contemporary Romance, Humor, Reality TV. Rated 4 stars on 10 reviews. 462 kb in size, or about 230 pages.
5. The Hot Girl’s Friend (from Flirts! 5 Romantic Short Stories) by Lisa Scott. Price: Free. Genre: Contemporary Romance, Short Stories, Friendship. Rated 4.5 stars on 41 reviews. 44 pages.
6. Destiny Redeemed by Gabrielle Bisset. Price: Free. Genre: Romantic Fantasy, Erotic, Destiny. Rated 4.5 stars on 8 reviews. 349 pages.

Free Kindle Books – Thrillers & Mysteries

1. *Lethal Circuit (A Michael Chase Spy Thriller #1) by Lars Guignard. Price: Free. Genre: Technothriller, Spy, China. Rated 4.5 stars on 12 reviews. 260 pages.
2. Die By Wire Lewis Perdue. Price: Free. Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Action & Adventure, Political. Rated 4.5 stars on 7 reviews. 402 kb in size, or about 200 pages.
3. *Lancelot’s Lady by Cherish D-Angelo and Cheryl Kaye Tardif. Price: Free. Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Unkind Lovers. Rated 4.5 stars on 12 reviews. 252 pages. Sir Lancelot, accompanied by his trusty fellow Knights, Sir Mixalot and Sir Dancealot, head out to find Sir Lancelot’s Lady - just another Night at the Roxbury. Actually, no, the book isn’t about that. It’s about a reclusive handsome man and a palliative care nurse and horrific people hunting down the nurse for shady and mysterious reasons. And it doesn’t feature a night at the Roxbury or any headshaking to What is Love.

Free Kindle Books – Religious

1. **[Pick of the Day Perhaps] Stealing Jenny by Ellen Gable. Price: Free. Genre: Religious, Drama, Suspense. Rated 5 stars on 28 reviews. 210 pages.
2. **[Repeat, Good] A Higher Court by John L. Betcher. Price: Free. Genre: Spirituality, Literary Fiction, Religion, The Big Questions. Rated 4.5 stars on 22 reviews. 238 pages.
3. Valeria’s Cross by Kathi Macias and Susan Wales. Price: Free. Genre: Religious, Historical, Christians, Romans, Third Century. Rated 3.5 stars on 28 reviews. 352 pages.

Free Kindle Books – Fantasy, Science Fiction & Horror

1. *** [Strongly Recommended] Run by Blake Crouch. Price: Free. Genre: Horror, Suspense, Chaos. Rated 4.5 stars on 211 reviews. 284 pages.
2. *DESTINED, a novel of the Tarot by Gail Cleare. Price: Free. Genre: Magic, Tarot, Community, Spiritual. Rated 4.5 stars on 15 reviews. 353 pages.
3. *The Living Image by Pamela M. Richter. Price: Free. Genre: Science Fiction, Adventure, Thriller, Suspense. Rated 4.5 stars on 8 reviews. 548 kb in size, or about 275 pages.
4. ** [Another Pick of the Day Candidate] A Soul To Steal by Rob Blackwell. Price: Free. Genre: Supernatural Thriller, Horror, Suspense, Halloween. Rated 5 stars on 41 reviews. 619 kb in size, or about 310 pages.
5. Toby Streams the Universe by Maya Lassiter. Price: Free. Genre: Contemporary Fantasy, Psychic, New York. Rated 4.5 stars on 4 reviews. 369 kb in size, or about 185 pages.
6. In Her Name: Empire by Michael R. Hicks. Price: Free. Genre: Science Fiction, Adventure, War, First in Series. Rated 4.5 stars on 127 reviews. 604 kb in size, or about 300 pages.
7. **Daughter of Time: A Time Travel Romance (The After Cilmeri Series) by Sarah Woodbury. Price: Free. Genre: Historical Fantasy, Medieval, Time Travel. Rated 4 stars on 36 reviews. 352 pages.

Free Kindle Books – Historical Fiction

1. **A Dream Unfolding (Prescott Pioneers #1) by Karen Baney. Price: Free. Genre: Historical, Christian, Romance, Texas to Arizona. Rated 4.5 stars on 29 reviews. 354 pages.
2. ***[Get it Now!] Day of War (Lion of War Series) by Cliff Graham. Price: Free. Genre: Historical, Religious, Israel, War. Rated 5 stars on 68 reviews. 369 pages. Harper Collins.

Free Kindle Books – For Children of All Ages

1. Baby Farm Animals by Cindy Bracken. Price: Free. Genre: Ages 4-8, Animals, Pictures. Rated 5 stars on 1 review. 948 kb in size with pictures.
2. **Pookie and Tushka Find a Little Piano by Jorge. Price: Free. Genre: Ages 4-8, Animals, Picture Book. Rated 4.5 stars on 41 reviews. 1665 kb in size with pictures.
3. There’s a Monster in My Bed by Petra Craddock. Price: Free. Genre: Children’s Literature, Picture Book, Monsters, Adventure. Rated5 stars on 6 reviews. 838 kb in size with pictures.
4. *** [Get it Now!] Evernight with Bonus Materials by Claudia Gray. Price: Free. Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance, Series. Rated 4 stars on 194 reviews. 566 kb in size, or about 280 pages.

Free Kindle Books – Various Genres (Fiction) including Adventure

1. *The Last Bookstore In America by Amy Stuart. Price: Free. Genre: Literary Fiction, Humor, Books, Small Town. Rated 4.5 stars on 14 reviews. 221 pages. Not too long before this will be non-fiction.
2. ** [Strongly Recommended] Learn Me Good by John Pearson. Price: Free. Genre: Humor, Teaching, Life Changes. Rated 4.5 stars on 153 reviews. 209 pages.
3. Lost Girls (Black Ops) by Bob Mayer. Price: Free. Genre: War, Women, Action & Adventure. Rated 4 stars on 11 reviews. 265 pages.

Free Kindle Books – Non Fiction

1. Hot Cocoa Cookbook by Gooseberry Patch. Price: Free. Genre: Cooking, Drinks, Lifestyle & Home. Rated 5 stars on 2 reviews. 34 pages.
2. 101 Offline Activities You Can Do With Your Child by Steve Bennett and Ruth Bennett. Price: Free. Genre: Parenting, Activities, Creativity, Lifestyle. Rated 5 stars on 5 reviews. 3080 kb in size.
3. *Know What You Don’t Know: How Great Leaders Prevent Problems Before They Happen by Michael A. Roberto. Price: Free. Genre: Leadership, Communication, Business Life, Organization. Rated 4.5 stars on 9 reviews. 225 pages.
4. *Delicious and Nutritious Filipino Breakfast Recipes: Affordable, Easy and Tasty Meals You Will Love (Bestselling Recipes) by Martha McBride. Price: Free. Genre: Cooking, Breakfast, Fast Recipes, Filipino Food. Rated 5 stars on 6 reviews. 244 kb in size, or about 125 pages.
5. Is It Nice? Manners For Kids by Casey Chapman. Price: Free. Genre: Parenting, Child Care, Life Lessons, Morals & Responsibility. Rated 4 stars on 2 reviews. 1158 kb with pictures.
6. Your Brain and Business: The Neuroscience of Great Leaders by Srinivasan S. Pillay. Price: Free. Genre: Management, Leadership, Planning, Psychology. Rated 4 stars on 16 reviews. 288 pages.
7. Dinners Made Easy by Stoneyfield Farm. Price: Free. Genre: Cooking, Dinner, Easy Recipes. Rated 4 stars on 8 reviews. 29 pages.

Today’s Deal (Not Free, just Cheap)

1. Kindle Daily Deal. House of Thieves by Kaui Hart Hemmings. Price: $0.99. Genre: Short Stories, Fiction, Loneliness, Adolescent Heartbreak. Rated 4.5 stars on 7 reviews. 332 kb in size, or about 165 pages.

When winter time is about the end we wish summer time most of all. Amazon could not sell you summer, but could help you to be there by using power of your imagination. While reading the next book House of Thieves by Kaui Hart Hemmings you will be in Hawaii just for $0.99.

In her debut collection of short stories, House of Thieves, Kaui Hart Hemmings has set the magnificent islands of Hawaii as a backdrop to describe bold frustrated adolescents and adults as they wrestle with themselves and each other over the age-old issues of deprived freedom, misguided love, being cool, and being true; and as they experience together the loneliness of feeling miserable in paradise.

The nine stories in House of Thieves are told from varied points of view–a father, a child, a young woman, an adolescent boy, and more. Rooted in the circumstances and situations of island people, they reveal the mundane cycle of small triumphs and tragedies that make up the lives of ordinary people everywhere. A single mother’s discovery of a pornographic magazine in her thirteen-year-old son’s room sends her down a spiral of jealousy that ultimately guarantees her loss of him. A middle-aged man struggles with this secret hatred for his brother and finds a way to enact a revenge whose absolute destructiveness promises to heal him. A white man who is left by his native Hawaiian wife struggles to understand why he and his daughter, abandoned together, feel such deep resentment for each other. A boy who insists on the illusion of his happy family suddenly recognizes his father’s lack of real love and comes to “the understanding that certain things are severed and they can’t grow back again, the sorrow from loving a place that doesn’t love you back.”

Hemmings’ tart, confident voice plunges headfirst into the unfamiliar world of a Hawaii far from the tourist track, providing glimpses of the islands’ divisive racial and class issues, as well as the proud heritage of kings and warriors and the legacy of colonialists and missionaries. Her unceremonious dealing with issues like drugs, sex, and abandonment and her entirely unself-conscious prose allow her stories to wash effortlessly like an ocean wave, portraying with unsentimental insight and wry humor the complex forces that bind family members together in love and hate.

Get your little one on track to perfect penmanship with the Tracing ABC app for your Android device. Ideal for children four years and older, the Tracing ABC app has a simple and engaging interface designed to help children print letters, numbers, and various shapes with ease and confidence.

Choose among four practice options: capital letters, lower-case letters, numbers, and shapes. For the beginners with clumsy little fingers, the Guided Tracing Mode is a good place to start and Free Style Mode offers more of a challenge.

Just Learning

Guided Tracing Mode makes it impossible to go outside of the lines. It’s best for simply familiarizing your child with the letters, and providing positive feedback and encouragement.

Free Style Tracing Mode offers a more organic writing experience when your child is ready for more of a challenge. While the star path is still there, the chalk line follows the exact path of your child’s finger. If your little one gets sloppy, the line will turn red. Each effort is awarded one, two, or three stars. Children may also be encouraged to simply try again.

After successfully tracing a letter, the overhead screen is pulled down displaying a word and photo of something beginning with that letter. Likewise, children will see a photo which represents the numbers and shapes as well.

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