Amazon’s Subscription Book Library a Great Idea

What Netflix has done for movies and TV shows, Amazon might be considering for books.

It wasn’t long ago that people wondered why you would read a book on an electronic device rather than having the traditional feel of a harvested tree in your hands. But along came Amazon’s Kindle, the iPad and other tablets, and the rest is history. Amazon announced earlier this year that e-books are now outselling hardbacks and paperbacks.

So now comes news that Amazon wants to offer a service where customers can access a certain number of e-books in a digital library each month by paying an annual fee, similar to how Netflix gives its customers access to movies and TV shows for a monthly fee. Sources told the Wall Street Journal this week that the idea is being bandied about; they’re just unsure if publishers will go for it, thinking that book values would be lowered and their relationships with other retailers could get hairy.

Like Netflix’s streaming video service, the Amazon e-book library would consist mostly of older titles, the sources said. Yet while Netflix customers have been very vocal about their disappointment in new-release availability, books seem like a different animal. Think about walking into your local library and the massive amount of titles available, with thousands – and perhaps more – available in whichever genre floats your boat. It might be just me, but I can usually find more redeeming qualities in a book that’s only so-so compared to a mediocre-to-lousy movie that leaves me wondering where the last two hours of my life went.

The WSJ says content for the digital book subscription would be wrapped into Amazon Prime, the Seattle-based retailer’s premium offering that charges customers $79-per-year access to movies and TV shows in its library, as well as guaranteed, two-day shipping. Although only in early talks, Amazon would reportedly give publishers a significant fee to participate.

Amazon is widely expected to release its first tablet computer before the year is out, yet another potential device for a new subscription book service.