Amazon Publishing Titles Now Available in German Bookstores
Amazon Publishing Germany, the German publishing branch of Amazon, has been established in 2012. Offering only translated titles by AmazonCrossing at first, there are now 4 imprints that publish original German works as well (about 800 titles available):
- Edition M (Mystery & Thriller)
- Tinte & Feder (contemporary and historical fiction)
- Montlake Romance
- 47North (Science Fiction & Fantasy)
Until recently, Amazon imprint books were only available on Amazon itself, so readers who like to buy books in their local store weren’t able to get them. By cooperating with the German wholesaler KNV, Amazon Publishing has now made its titles available for German bookstores as well (source). Of course, that doesn’t mean stores will automatically stock these books, but it’s now much easier for them to order Amazon imprint books on customer demand. (Read more about the physical book market in Germany here.)
Though this is the first example worldwide of Amazon Publishing making its books more widely available, it does not extend to titles published by indie authors via CreateSpace or KDP Print. But maybe it’s a first step in that direction? Could it mean that even selfpublished books will be available through wholesalers soon, instead of just on Amazon? After all, this is already the case for other German Print on Demand services like BOD (Books on Demand) or Tredition. Since some German booksellers fear Amazon’s domination of the market, there has been some uproar at the announcement that Amazon will now offer the same for its own imprints ‑ but for the authors of the Amazon Publishing houses it’s good news.
