If you’re an author hoping to bribe a few friends and family members to read your ebook (and they are Kindle owners or have the Kindle app on their iPhone, computer, etc.), that task may have gotten a little easier. Amazon is now allowing folks to send ebooks as gifts:
…just in time for the holiday season, customers can give Kindle Books as gifts to anyone with an e-mail address–no Kindle required. Kindle Books can be read on Kindle devices and free Kindle reading apps for iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, Mac, PC, BlackBerry and Android-based devices….To give a Kindle Book as a gift, customers simply choose a book in the Kindle Store, select “Give as a Gift” and send their gift to anyone with an email address. Notifications of Kindle Books gifts are delivered instantly via e-mail and the recipient redeems the gift in the Kindle Store to read on any Kindle or free Kindle app. (via Amazon Press Release)
Since indie authors get a 70% cut on book sales, this should mean you’re effectively sending people your ebooks for 30% of the cover cost (of course, if you have your own copy of the ebook, you could just email it directly to folks too). You’ll want to make sure the person actually wants a copy of your ebook before sending it, though, because apparently, as an author, you only get credit for the sale if they click the link and redeem the book.
