French Kindle on the cards?

[Loiseau]

A French friend has just sent me a piece from Le Monde of 28 Sept.  Not sure if I am allowed to post the full text here that he sent me.

The gist is that Flammarion has become the first French publisher to sign an agreement with Amazon.  It's very likely that other French publishers will follow.  So Kindles should be on everyone's wishlist for Christmas in France this year.  An announcement is expected next week from Amazon.fr.   Prices will probably be 15 to 30% lower than real book prices.

Angela

[idun]

That sounds like it will be quite an achievement in France a possible 30% reduction on books. Good news.

[pachapapa]

The new Kindle Fire looks promising, pity no Bluetooth.

[CBC65]

Announcement now on front page of amazon.fr :

http://www.amazon.fr/ref=gno_logo

And I've just ordered one.

[Judith]

Well isn't that just typical - ordered one from the UK and delivered courtesy of my sister two weeks ago ... managed to "fiddle" the system so I could buy on my UK account instead of the US (using my sister's add as the main one - she's happy!), and now they bring this out, and it sees  that my Kindle is registered to the UK, so my test purchase from the site wouldn't work!

Ah well, perhaps I'll give it a few weeks, and re-register again, especially if there is feedback here that you are no longer redirected to the US with a a French registered Kindle!!  (Which was aggravating me beyond belief!).

[sid]

Re-Kindled my interest! I had given up on the idea because of the conditions associated with living in France.

The new smaller model (Kindle Fire) looks better for me; I don't need a keyboard or 3G and the shorter battery life and smaller storage wouldn't be a issue for me. BUT the main problem seems to remain; purchasing books from the UK Amazon site is still a no-no for most of us.

Would you buy the reader itself from UK or France? Not many (comparitively) e-books on the French site, I'm looking for English titles, and on the US site a different selection but not as good as on the UK site.

I feel there must be others like me who would buy today if it was easier to get what we want.

My re-kindled fire has gone out again.

[CBC65]

Hello Sid

The new smaller model is not the Kindle Fire. The Fire is launching soon in the US (and only there for the timebeing) and is pitched to compete with the iPad (see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2042790/Kindle-Fire-tablet-Amazons-iPad-rival-set-undercut-slice-Apple.html). What is on offer at amazon.fr is the new, but most basic model of the b&w reader (just launched on amazon.co.uk too).

Re. number of English titles available on amazon.fr, have another look - if you click on "ebooks en anglais" there are 769,989 results!!!!! A test search for a colleague yesterday produced recent 2011 novel by a Scottish author she is interested in - and was definitely not expecting to find on amazon.fr kindle.

Go on, have another look, I'm sure you'll find titles that are of interest to you! And make your life easy by buying the reader on the French site.

Hoping to have re-re-kindle-d your interest.....

CBC65

[pachapapa]

There is a more up to date activated link at:

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/2624136/ShowPost.aspx#2624136

[sid]

[quote user="CBC65"]Hello Sid The new smaller model is not the Kindle Fire.[/quote]

Oh! I Googled "Kindle Fire" and the image was exactly the same as the one shown on the Amazon.fr website.

So this new one is just "Kindle" and the previous version is now "Kindle Keyboard"?

Thanks for the info regarding titles. I have looked already and whilst there are some titles that I could definitely buy, the choice, and price, is not as good as in UK.

I am still interested and I don't know what it'll take for me to take the plunge! A completely free market for one I suppose. Some hope. [:)]

[CBC65]

It's early days for those of us in France, isn't it? I'm still hopeful that at some point in the future we'll be able to buy Kindle e-books from amazon.co.uk in the same way as we can buy the printed versions. Can't get my head around that contradiction.

By the way, for info (sorry no hyperlink, but I'm on Safari): http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Fire-Color/dp/B0051VVOB2

[sid]

Aha! Cheers CBC65! Kindle Fire is altogether different.

[Salty Sam]

[quote user="CBC65"]It's early days for those of us in France, isn't it? I'm still hopeful that at some point in the future we'll be able to buy Kindle e-books from amazon.co.uk in the same way as we can buy the printed versions. Can't get my head around that contradiction. By the way, for info (sorry no hyperlink, but I'm on Safari): http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Fire-Color/dp/B0051VVOB2 [/quote]

No need to worry about being limited to purchasing e-books from Amazon. There are plenty of other resources out there.

[quote user="sid"]Aha! Cheers CBC65! Kindle Fire is altogether different. [/quote]

It certainly looks a handy bit of kit, although unlikely to appear this side of the pond for some time[:(]. It took Amazon a couple of years after launching the Kindle, before it appeared in the UK!

We shall wait with eager anticipation and fingers crossed[:)].

[Jay]

From what I have read on here nobody would want the Kindle Fire - after all wasn't it the E Ink display that you have no trouble reading while sitting out in the sun which impressed the most? All those apps, movies etc. etc. makes you think it is trying to become a colour Nook, iPhone or iPod touch ! Who would want one of those? Well I suppose you could put me on your Xmas list!

[sid]

[:D][:D] No, you're right! It was the readability of the Kindle and its battery life that attracted me. [geek]

[Jay]

[quote user="Salty Sam"]

No need to worry about being limited to purchasing e-books from Amazon. There are plenty of other resources out there.

[/quote]

Well said SS. Why everyone thinks they are restricted to buying from Amazon if they have a Kindle is beyond me. Would you buy every bit of software from Microsoft for your computer? There are thousands of ebooks out there, lots of them not even available on Amazon. I recently tried to purchase a monthly subscription to Analog Science Fiction and Fact from Amazon but was not allowed as I do not have a Kindle so I bought it from https://store.fictionwise.com/home.html in America instead.

[allanb]

[quote user="sid"]Would you buy the reader itself from UK or France? Not many (comparatively) e-books on the French site, I'm looking for English titles, and on the US site a different selection but not as good as on the UK site.[/quote]

Are you sure about that?  According to the current sales blurb on three Amazon sites, the number of e-books available is -

UK: "over 750,000"

France: 825,000

USA: "over 1 million"

Did you find any information about how many of these are English?  I didn't, although the French total of 825,000 is said to include only 35,000 French books.

[sid]

Allanb, I have to admit to still being confused by the marketing strategy, so I am unsure of what I can buy where.

I had a look this morning on the French site for e-books in English. There are apparently 42,998 in the Mystery and Thrillers section, which sounds promising.

What I still don't know is, when buying from Amazon, (ignoring for the moment the fact that e-books are available elsewhere and I'm only trying to understand how the Amazon system works), whether I can buy from the other Amazon sites. I have been presuming all along that I could buy from US but not UK. I have no idea, but if I buy the new Kindle from the French site will I be restricted to buying e-books only in France? They're cheaper in UK.

So, back to the French site, I have found several titles that would interest me immediately:     for fiction, being an average Englander (q.v.) from Deux-Sevres [:-))], I don't want to work too hard at reading nowadays, and I like Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane etc. Their titles are available from the French site at around £1 more than the UK site.

The total number of English ebooks in all categories is 771,000: I am currently working my way through some modern history and have David Kynaston "Family Britain 1951-1957" on the go at the moment; that's available too on the French site, again about £1 dearer.

I've also had a look at the "bargain" books, under £1 for some, and now find that they're also on the French site! I'm sure this marks a change! When I first got interested in the Kindle a few months ago I found the French store very sparsely stocked, now it looks good enough!

So, decision made, I'll order my Kindle at last! [:D]

 

 

[CBC65]

[quote user="allanb"][quote user="sid"]Would you buy the reader itself from UK or France? Not many (comparatively) e-books on the French site, I'm looking for English titles, and on the US site a different selection but not as good as on the UK site.[/quote]

Are you sure about that?  According to the current sales blurb on three Amazon sites, the number of e-books available is -

UK: "over 750,000"

France: 825,000

USA: "over 1 million"

Did you find any information about how many of these are English?  I didn't, although the French total of 825,000 is said to include only 35,000 French books.

[/quote]

As per my earlier post, click on "ebooks en anglais" in Amazon.fr's 'Boutique Kindle' and you get 770,899 results. Not bad.

[sid]

Yes, I'm convinced CBC65!! See my post just before yours.

What's happening to your posts? Which browser are you using? If you're on IE switch to "compatibility view" and try again. (It's the little icon which looks like a torn page, just to the right of the url box at the top.

[CBC65]

Sid, how are you managing to see a price on the .co.uk site? I've just had another look at Kindle ebooks on .co.uk and it states "This title is available to UK customers only." and then if I click on the book anyway, it states "

Pricing information not available." Information suggests that if you're in France you can order from .fr or .com sites only - as I've already said in previous why, why, why? Still, with PLENTY of titles available on .fr I think I'll be quite happy for a while, I'll just need to find the time to read.

With regard to pricing, I suppose it all comes down to whether your money is sitting in UK in £ or in France in €.

[allanb]

Some time ago, before Kindle became available on the French site, I questioned Amazon because I didn't fully understand their policy about where a Kindle owner would be able to buy Amazon's e-books.  This is the essential part of their reply:

If you purchase the Kindle from Amazon.com, you will be able to purchase book  [I think they meant "books"]  only from Amazon.com.

If you purchase and register your Kindle device on Amazon.co.uk, you will have access to Kindle content on Amazon.co.uk only.

However, they added the following:

You have the option to migrate to Amazon.com if you were going to travel outside of the UK. You can do this by changing your country setting on your "Manage Your Kindle" page to an address outside of the UK, this will prompt you to then migrate to Amazon.com.

This will allow you to have access to Amazon.com Kindle content and you will be able to keep your Amazon.co.uk content.

You can in turn, migrate back to Amazon.co.uk when back in the UK again.

If you purchase the Kindle device from Amazon.com, you will only have access to Kindle content on Amazon.com but you have the option again here to migrate to Amazon.co.uk when in the UK.

This suggests that in fact you will be able to buy e-books from any of their sites if you are willing to go through a "migration" procedure.  

It would be interesting to know how much real difference there is between the lists of available books on the various sites.

[sid]

[quote user="CBC65"]Sid, how are you managing to see a price on the .co.uk site? I've just had another look at Kindle ebooks on .co.uk and it states "This title is available to UK customers only." and then if I click on the book anyway, it states " Pricing information not available."[/quote]

I'm not sure that I understand your question. That sounds really weird! I buy from the UK site very frequently, usually for books and toys for our grandchildren and I've never had any problems with the prices.

Do you mean just the ebooks? What do you see on this link? http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Drop-ebook/dp/B005I4WBT6/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1318166496&sr=1-3  which should be the Kindle e-book version of Michael Connelly "The Drop" priced at £9.99 It's a pre-order so I can't try downloading it to my pc (I have the pc version of Kindle).

Or this...  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Austerity-Britain-Tales-Jerusalem-ebook/dp/B0035G8GPW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1318166691&sr=1-1  a link to one of David Kynaston's books which I've recently finished. priced at £7.55

[Judith]

I think it might just be the e-books, as I too can buy on either site usually, except for e-books.

Your can see the details and price on any site - but when you try to buy it refers you to the site which it allows you to buy from ...

[CBC65]

Hi Sid

Firstly, yes, I was just referring to ebooks (I did say that in my post: "I have just had another look at Kindle ebooks" !!!), I've bought lots of paper books (and other items) on .co.uk from here in France.

Re. your links, clicking on your link while I was logged in on amazon resulted in the "Pricing information not available" message, but logging out then going back to your link allowed me to see the pricing (because amazon.co.uk didn't know I was looking at it from France). However, On trying to "buy" the book from amazon.co.uk using a .fr email address to log in, I was advised that "the Kindle Store on Amazon.co.uk is for UK customers only. To shop for titles available for your country, please visit Amazon.com." I assume this message might change after 14th October, the official Kindle launch date here in France. Mind you, it might only invite us to buy on amazon.fr - doh!

As you have Kindle for PC, is it possible that you'll be able to buy Kindle for PC books on .co.uk and then transfer them to a French-registered Kindle?

[sid]

CBC65 and Judith

Thanks for the additional confirmation.

I'll look into the possibility of buying stuff for the PC application and then transferring once my Kindle arrives, but I think there's enough for me to be going on with.

Yes, it's ordered [:D] and should be chez Sid on 17th October!! Yippee!