Kindle Review – Kindle Fire Review, Kindle 4 Review

There are some interesting deals in the Kindle Store this Saturday -

1. A compilation of 4 Sue Grafton novels for just $7.19. The books include Q is for Quarry, R is for Ricochet, S is for Silence, and T is for Trespass. Guessing this is to promote her latest release U is for Undertow (though it’s already done very well). 
2. Puzux has a book of easy crosswords for $1 – It needs the browser. 
3. A free excerpt from the first quarterfinalist for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. 3 authors from last year’s contest got Amazon Encore deals and I think 2 other books got publisher deals. You can vote and decide who wins and also help decide who gets published.  
4. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane (the author of Mystic River) for $7.19.
5. Apex Publications publish dark SciFi, horror, and dark fantasy and they have all their books for $2 in the Kindle Store (via MobileRead).
6. Samhain have some free short romance novels – 3 added since the last time.

This link will take you to the free books in the Kindle Store including the quarter-finalists for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. There are also a bunch of 1 cent books (after the free books).

Does being labeled ‘Quarterfinalist 1′ give a book an unfair advantage?

You bet it does.

1. People mention it first when they write about the Breakthrough Novel Award. 
2. People link to it first.
3. Some people (such as me) link only to it.
4. People who like to read things (or get things) in order download it first and read it first.

There are just a bunch of different benefits. That’s why QuarterFinalist #1 is at the top of the Movers and Shakers List and the other books aren’t even in the Top 50.  

It’s the same with the first and last items in a list

Take any list of options or choices -

1. The first choice and the last choice get picked more often than if they had not been at those positions. 
2. The choices that are stuck in the middle get picked far less – especially if the list is a long one.

That’s why the correct way to do things is to randomize lists.

Take a Bestsellers list in the Kindle Store and not only do the first few items have an advantage because they are listed first – they also have social proof i.e. other readers liked them a lot – enough to buy them.

Being on the Kindle bestsellers list is so important that we will soon have people building marketing strategies around getting on the list (in addition to free book offers).

Filed under: free books Tagged: | kindle book deals