Amazon is said to be looking to create a digital library for books, offering a number of titles for a monthly subscription. Subscribers would be able to take out any book from the library to read it, though there will likely be a limit on how many they could get each month.
The online retailer, which started out as an online book seller, is said to be talking to publishing houses to get them behind the project, but it's unclear how far along the talks are.
Some publishers are worried that a rental service would have a detrimental effect on the perceived value of books, even in their digital form.
They believe, perhaps rightfully so, that users will buy fewer books as a result and are reluctant to joining the service.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Amazon is
thinking about expanding its digital rental services. Currently, subscribers have access to movie and TV show streaming, under the Amazon Prime umbrella.
Interestingly enough, Amazon Prime started out as a premium service for those that wanted two-day shipping on any item purchased from Amazon. The program costs $79 a year.
Amazon then bolted on its video streaming service, which offers movies as well as TV shows, for free to all Prime users. The service is cheaper than Netflix, with which it competes, but the title selection is smaller.
Now, Amazon may be thinking about adding the book-rental service to the Prime subscription as well. Amazon will be including older titles in the library, which may not be selling so well.
Newer titles will still only be available for sale in the
Kindle Store, so publishers may be enticed to agree to the rental service in return for a new revenue stream. Amazon is said to be offering a substantial amount to publishers that would join the program.
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