Publishing giant, Amazon, has quietly launched a new eBook format a couple of weeks back, Kindle in Motion - adding to the different eBook types now available for the Kindle.
I only got wind of it because a client wanted to have a background on her Amazon book page, and asked if I could make one for her. So, off to Amazon to see what she was talking about.
First time I saw the covers of KiM books, the hairs on my arms stood up. It has a certain kind of appeal and could be effective for some genres - such as horror, suspense, and fantasy. Just imagine a man turning into a werewolf on the book's cover! That would be pretty awesome, right? It could increase book sales since it's more visually appealing.
I felt a designer's itch spreading through my body...
What's the brouhaha about Kindle in Motion?- Animation, and other visually appealing options - for the regular eBook price. It's not more expensive. This means, authors can add GIFs and VIDEOS in the book.
- It can be read on any device but Amazon specifies the devices it's compatible with.
Free Kindle Apps and most Kindle FIRE.
- A reader can choose to switch off the animation on their eReader. (The Show Media option is not on the Kindle Cloud Reader.)
- The pages can have a FULL BACKGROUND, which can only be achieved on fixed layout books such as prints or PDFs. You can choose which pages.
- The size of the eBook can range from 200 to 600 MB!
That's all I can find right now...
I checked out Amazon and as of this writing, they have 7 books under KiM. Mostly bestsellers. A couple of public domain titles such as The Secret Garden and Edgar Allan Poe's Darkness There.
Preview Darkness There on Amazon and see for yourself. The cover is animated, and the book's page has a wallpaper. You can tell right away that it's not the usual eBook. When you click on Look Inside, it will show you a video of the book's animated content.
Check this one too. The Matchmaker's Replacement
I have to admit.. it's... wow! It reminded me of the moving images on picture frames in Harry Potter! The cover of Matchmaker kinda freaked me out. I could imagine him suddenly showing his fangs... or turning into a zombie. Hahaha what fun!
If you're an author who's willing to spend for the development of your books and do what you can to increase reader interest, this is an exciting new option. The bummer? There's no article anywhere that shares how KiM book should be formatted, and if it can be uploaded through KDP at all.
Maybe it's still in beta. That really sucks. I was itching to learn how to format one and add it to my services.
I'd be happy to just have the option to put a wallpaper on my book's Amazon page.
As a designer, I know how this could appeal to many authors. Many would have their books formatted for KiM.
But as a reader, do I want the book I'm reading to have moving stuff? Wouldn't I find it distracting? I have difficulty reading captions while watching a movie...
Whatever, it can be turned off anyway. Let's wait and see if Amazon will allow self published authors to release Kindle in Motion books via KDP.
What do you think? Is this the future of eBooks?
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