Kindle News: Amazon selling more Kindle Books than Print books since April 1. Unusual free book for today. AdMash. UPDATE

AMAZON ALREADY SELLING MORE KINDLE BOOKS THAN PRINT BOOKS

First, today's very-interesting new temporarily-free book: Know the Past, Find the Future: The New York Public Library at 100, by various authors.

Penguin Classics released the Kindle edition of the 100th birthday celebration yesterday.  This is another large e-book in file size - 13 MB, so it takes storage space on the Kindle equivalent to approximately 13 average-sized novels and will take a bit longer to download.  It's also "Optimized for larger screens" which means the photos will be in high resolution to look good on a 10" screen also.

UPDATE
As usual, you can zoom a photo to full-screen (most are large but they're actually clearer if you zoom the vertical or Portrait-mode one) by putting your cursor into the center of a photo and clicking there.
HOWEVER, with *SOME* horizontal or Landscape-mode pictures that are about half-page, the Kindle STOPS at "zooming..." and appears to be hung.  It isn't.  It just doesn't know what to do. Press Back button and it returns to normal.

TO GET any small but stubborn half-page Landscape-mode photos zoomed to fill the screen in Landscape mode, you press the Aa text/font key and choose a Landscape orientation first (for some reason).  THEN the photo fills the screen in Landscape mode and is clearer.  To get the text back into Portrait-orientation or vertical mode, press Aa key again and choose the normal vertical mode.  You won't want to do this for most half-page photos, as they're not scenic shots :-)  Those with DX's have automated screen rotation. [End of Update]

  Here's the text from the Product Description:

' From Laurie Anderson to Vampire Weekend, Roy Blount, Jr., to Renée Fleming, Stephen Colbert to Bill T. Jones - more than 100 luminaries reflect on the treasures of America's favorite public library.

  Marking the centennial of The New York Public Library's Beaux-Arts landmark at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, now called the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Know the Past, Find the Future harnesses the thoughts of an eclectic assortment of notable people as they ponder an even more eclectic assortment of objects.

  From among the Library's vast collections, these writers, artists, philosophers, scientists, musicians, athletes, architects, choreographers, and journalists - as well as some of the curators who have preserved these riches - each select an item and describe its unique significance.

  The result, in words and photographs, is a glimpse of what a great library can be.   Published by Penguin Classics for The New York Public Library '

I hopped on that one.

Kindle books outsold print books at Amazon earlier than anticipated by anyone.
Amazon issued a press release today, saying that sooner than even they had anticipated, Amazon is now selling more Kindle books than print books.

' Since April 1, for every 100 print books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 105 Kindle books.

  This includes sales of hardcover and paperback books by Amazon where there is no Kindle edition.  Free Kindle books are excluded...

  Amazon sold more than 3x as many Kindle books so far in 2011 as it did during the same period in 2010.

  Less than one year after introducing the UK Kindle Store, Amazon.co.uk is now selling more Kindle books than hardcover books, even as hardcover sales continue to grow. Since April 1, Amazon.co.uk customers are purchasing Kindle books over hardcover books at a rate of more than 2 to 1. '

Also, they point out that the new $114 Kindle with Special Offers and ads is currently the bestselling member of the Kindle family in the U.S.  Sold at 3200+ Walmarts where the only other Kindle choice is the $189 3G Kindle, that's not surprising.  And the Special Offers have been attractive enough to some Kindlers who are requesting they be an optional software update for older Kindles (ads would be part of that too).  I'm not one requesting this.

AdMash - a Kindle app (Kindle apps are currently U.S. only)
  Some Kindle owners, including some prominent Kindle bloggers, are writing that they enjoy the new AdMash game-style app which any Kindle 3 owner in the U.S. can 'play' when accessing a WiFi network -- it doesn't work over 3G cellular access, as it would be too costly for Amazon.  I'm not one of those playing, as I prefer my reading space ad-free and Amazon offers non-ad versions of Kindles for those not keen on ads (even those placed so as not to interfere with book reading).  However, most have seemed keen on the Special Offers portion and Amazon's Jay Marine has said they may consider offering the combo as an optional update at a later date as many have requested on Kindle forums).

' Here's how it works.  AdMash will show you two different screensavers and then ask you to vote for the one you like best.  Scrutinize them or go with your gut, it's up to you.  Once you've made your choice, it's on to the next round.  The ones that get the most votes can become Kindle Sponsored Screensavers.  It's up to you and the rest of the community to pick your favorites.

Download AdMash and start voting now.  Play as often as you like and we'll keep adding new screensavers for you to vote on. '

It's an advertiser' dream.  The audience not only winds up viewing more than one ad for an ad campaign but participates in a relatively intense way vs being annoyed by one ad and ignoring it.

  In the examples I saw yesterday, showing what these are like, there were definitely ads I preferred over others and since they will be showing up as screensleepers on the Kindle-SO, owners of that new lower-cost ad-supported Kindle will be the most interested in either choosing one that they'll need to see when the Kindle goes to sleep or making a thumbs-down on the other.
  But those with a Kindle 3 (in the U.S.), whether the Kindle-SO or the WiFi only model, or the one with 3G Cellular network access, will have the option to use the app.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   K3 Special, $114   DX Graphite

---

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.