Amazon recently introduced the Kindle Fire, an Android-based tablet computer that they are selling for $199 each. The pricing is a great deal for consumers – it’s $300 less than the least expensive iPad 2 and $50 cheaper than Barnes & Noble’s Nook Color — but a loss-leader for Amazon which loses approximately $20 on each unit sold.

While there are no figures from Amazon on the number of units pre-ordered so far, the retailer reportedly took 95,000 pre-orders on the first day, and other reports say they’ve been selling approximately 50,000 a day since then.

Putting the Kindle Fire in so many hands is a great move if all the folks who buy them are tied to Amazon’s books, music and apps, but is that really going to be the case?

The Kindle Fire is an Android tablet, and while it may be an Amazon-modified version of the operating system, users are going to want to put their own apps on the device. If this isn’t possible out of the box, within a few days of shipping, some enterprising hacker will make it possible.

The problem isn’t new. Even Amazon’s e-ink ebook readers can display content not purchased at Amazon, but at least with the dedicated readers all you can really do with the device is read books.

Not so with a tablet. Amazon isn’t going to make money off users who only bought the tablet to have a portable YouTube and Facebook screen. Even if someone buys a few cheap apps, it’s going to take a while for Amazon to get back its investment, if it ever does.

Likewise, they’re not going to sell ebooks to someone who bought the tablet to load up free videos from the Web and keep their kids amused on long trips. And if it’s possible to add random apps, what if they load a competing ebook reader and use the tablet for reading books bought at B&N or Sony?

Michael Norris, senior analyst of Simba Information’s Trade Books Group, has noted that their data suggests that, “the more multimedia capabilities some devices have, the less likely the consumer will be to purchase e-books on that particular device.”

Simba has also reported that 40 percent of iPad owners have never used their tablets to read or purchase an ebook. I didn’t find that statistic terribly surprising either. After all, you’d have to be a pretty dedicated reader to choose a book over YouTube, Facebook and Angry Birds, and even die-hard readers can get distracted by the bright and shiny bling that you can get on your tablet.

Maybe Amazon is crazy by selling so many tablets at a loss. But maybe not. After all, one third of all US e-commerce sales happen on Amazon. If that statistic holds, maybe it doesn’t even matter that the Kindle Fire can read non-Amazon books and play non-Amazon apps… Amazon is pretty much guaranteed a certain percentage of those digital sales anyway. And getting their online store front-and-center on that many portable devices can only help boost their percentage of sales overall.

Whether the move is good for the book industry, and for Amazon, is soon to be seen, as the Fire is slated to begin shipping on the 15th.

Amazon has announced that it is dropping .mobi formats for it’s Kindle ebook readers and the upcoming Kindle Fire, and moving to a new format — Kindle Format 8 — KF8.  The new file format is HTML5-based will include more formatting tags like embedded fonts, drop caps, fixed layouts, sidebars, SVG graphics, and more.

A new set of publishing guidelines will be available to authors and publishers soon, but in the meanwhile, a list of the HTML and CSS available in KF8 can be viewed here.

More information from Amazon here.

In an effort to promote the work of California novelists, LuckyCinda Publishing is proudly sponsoring a book contest for self-published and independently published fiction. All entrants of the First Annual California Fiction Writers Book Challenge will receive an autographed award-winning novel, free book marketing tips, and substantial discounts for consultations with big-name authors and expert book promoters.

In addition, every author will be entered into a separate drawing. The prize: Their book will be featured in a story as well as a Free 1/4 page advertisement in the High Desert publication, The Inland Adventurer. This feature article will also be posted online at CNN and LuckyCinda blog sites, as well as on other Social Media.

LuckyCinda Publishing will consider self-published and independently published fiction released on or after Jan. 1, 2010.

Price; $50

Deadline: October 31, 2011

Register Now

Entries must be in English and must be self-published or issued by an independent publishing company. The authors must be California residents. Be sure to use a California address. Proof of residency may be required.

Note: Authors using Print on Demand (POD) firms like Lightning Source or CreateSpace are also eligible for the competition.

Grand Prize for the 2012 Book Of The Year: A one-hour Free consultation with one of the nation’s most respected book marketing experts, Brian Jud, who has self-published five best-selling books on career transition that are distributed internationally.

The grand prize winner will also receive a Free Kindle or Nook Reader.

In addition to the grand prize winner, the judges will choose first, second and third place selections and may also choose honorable mentions.

All winners will receive a combination of books, free writing workshops and/or book marketing consultations offered by some of the industry’s most respected authors, publishers and book marketers including John Kremer, Patricia Fry, Joan Stewart and Dan Poynter.

Free certificates will be made available to all winners.

With the exception of an initial announcement, most of the publicity for winners will start January 2012. Once a winners’ list is officially released, updates will be posted throughout December 2011, so check the site often for the latest announcements.

• RT @MichaelHyatt: Who reads more,e-reader owners or physical book readers? [Infographic] | http://t.co/7vA2ASQR ->the answer is obvious
• RT @tonyeldridge: How Much Should You Price Your E-Book? http://t.co/eVWINIkc -> Thanks. Some good ideas here.
• RT @e_reading: Amazon’s Android Kindle tablet: coming on Wednesday to New York? http://t.co/EaIxRz0i <–Can’t wait to see it

• The Most Powerful People in Books Don’t Write Many Books – Entertainment – The Atlantic Wire http://t.co/onupzWQe

• Amazon founder heads digital advance on Guardian books power list http://t.co/BJNGfH19 via @guardian

A recent report by media and publishing forecast firm Simba Information found that even though bookstores have lost some of their customer base over the years, the channel feeds into the e-book universe by serving as a ‘book showroom’ for the roughly 10% of U.S. adults who buy e-books.

“Believing that adults will begin taking to e-books in large numbers because of Borders’ liquidation is a dangerous assumption,” said Michael Norris, senior analyst of Simba Information’s Trade Books Group, commenting on the report. “Since most adults buy books from multiple channels and enjoy using bookstores for browsing, the loss of a ‘book showroom’ can impact print books and e-books in unexpected ways.”

Data from Simba indicates that the more channels a consumer uses, the more likely he or she is to buy — even though bookstores are sometimes cut out of the action. In a Simba survey of over 110 bookstores across the country, 38% indicated that their (former) regular customers who own a Barnes & Noble Nook or an Amazon Kindle ‘often or very often’ return to browse without buying anything. 43% of the same booksellers also said non-regular customers often or very often come to browse before leaving to buy from another retailer.

“Publishers should be working around the clock to find ways to make chain and independent bookstores stronger, and not for reasons having to do with sentimentality,” Norris said. “If the only retailers left selling books are those that don’t need to, publishers will lose their power and relevance overnight. I genuinely worry that books may follow the same dreadful path of music, where gadgets like the iPod spring up to make consumption easy, the showrooms for media discovery close, piracy becomes a cultural expectation and the market shrinks by billions as more people buy less.”

The report, “Trends in Trade Book Retailing 2011,” also shows the interconnected world of retailing with thorough profiles of the bookstore, online and other major retailing channels, outlining key demographic details and trends unique to each, including the gender, age, household income, education level and purchasing habits of the buyers. The significant influence of non-bookstore physical store retailers like Walmart and Target and the influence of e-book sellers like Amazon.com are also covered.

SOURCE: Simba Information