Tag Archives: Subscription

Amazon raises price on Kindle Unlimited subscription

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Amazon has notified customers via email that the company will be raising the price on its Kindle Unlimited (KU) subscription effective May 11th, 2023. The price will increase from $9.99 to $11.99, effective on the subscriber’s next month’s renewal date, effectively giving subscribers one month’s notice before the change takes effect.

Subscribers have the option to keep their current prices for a limited time. Until July 31, 2023, subscribers can lock in the current $9.99/month price by purchasing upfront 6 months or 12 months of Kindle Unlimited. According to Amazon, “The lock-in price will take effect on the next billing date after the offer is purchased.” To learn more about this offer, click here.

This is Amazon’s first price increase since the program’s inception in July 2014. The program began with over 600,000 titles and audiobooks, with a limit of accessing ten items at a time. Nine years later, the program includes over 4 million titles, and has expanded to include digital magazine subscriptions and comics. Subscribers can now access 20 items per month at one time.

It is interesting that Amazon is choosing to raise the price for this program now, given the fact that Kobo has recently introduced their Kobo Plus Read and Listen service for $9.99 per month. Kobo’s service features over 1.3 million books and over 100,000 audiobooks. Competitor Scribd’s subscription service is already priced at $11.99/month.

Since most users of the service are avid readers, it will be interesting to see if the price increase will affect the number of KU subscribes. How about you? Is $2 a deal breaker for you?

Amazon again allowing gifting of Kindle Unlimited

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In early December this year, I wrote about the fact that Amazon had removed the ability to give gift subscriptions to its all-you-can-eat style subscription service, Kindle Unlimited.Those of us who liked to give (or get) subscriptions to the service were more than a little upset by the move.

I don’t know if it is because Amazon listened to those who complained, but there is now a special gift page for Kindle Unlimited. You can only buy the gift for a period of one year (formerly, you had your choice of 3, 6, 12 and 24 month subscriptions) The price, normally $119.88 is $80.31, a savings of 33% off the regular 12 month price.

There is no indication yet whether this is a permanent promotion or simply one geared towards Christmas and Holiday gift giving. I, for one, am taking advantage of it while I can. Unfortunately, my former 12 month subscription expired in mid-December and had already renewed for one month.

Kindle Unlimited features unlimited access to over a million titles, and includes audiobooks. Kindle Unlimited books can be read on any Kindle device, including apps, ereaders and tablets.

Update. The links are somewhat wonky. If you are having a hard time finding the correct link for gift subscriptions, try the KU help page here.

Freetime Unlimited adds kid-friendly audiobooks

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Amazon is releasing a new update for its Freetime Unlimited service that adds over a thousand kid-friendly audiobooks to its collection of apps, games and videos for children.. Available books will include classics like Peter Pan, Rip Van Winkle, Beauty and the Beast and more. The books will be delivered via a software update. Freetime Unlimited works on  Amazon tablets and iOS and Android devices.

According to Amazon:

Families can also use their FreeTime Unlimited subscription to access FreeTime Unlimited on Alexa, an all-new Alexa experience for kids and parents with over 1,000 Audible kids’ books; kid-friendly, ad-free radio stations and playlists; character alarms; and premium Alexa skills from Disney, Nickelodeon, National Geographic, and more. FreeTime Unlimited on Alexa is available on compatible Echo devices, including Echo Dot Kids Edition, Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Plus.

Freetime Unlimited is a service for children from ages 3 to 12. Parents can customize their child’s experience, set time limits and even set bedtime for the device.

Pricing begins at $2.99 per month for Prime members for a single child($4.99 for non-members). Family plans for up to four children are available and a 1-year pre-paid Family plan for Prime members is only $83 (non-members, $119). You can start a one month free trial here.

Amazon recently added Spanish language content to the service and Spanish audiobooks are planned.

Scribd brings back unlimited reading (sort of)

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Once again, subscription service Scribd has changed its rules on how much content users are allowed to access. This makes at least the fourth time in the last two years that the service has changed the rules on its paying subscribers.

Originally, Scribd started off as an unlimited subscription service.  Upon finding that some users were actually voracious readers, in February 2016, the service removed a large number of romance books (a hugely popular category) and instituted content limits of 3 ebooks and 1 audiobook for the rest of its users. A few months later in March 2016, Scribd modified the limits again by introducing Selects, which made some books unlimited and others subject to the 3 ebook/1 audiobook limit. And finally, comics were removed the service’s catalog in January 2017.

Needless to say, if social media comments are anything to go by, a lot of subscribers have bailed on the service since 2016.

Scribd’s latest app update was released yesterday and as of today, the service will again be offering access to unlimited* access to books and audiobooks. (Please note the asterisk behind the word unlimited.)

The facts behind the asterisk can be found on the page with the EULA:

Your subscription entitles you to access an unlimited number of books and audiobooks in the Scribd library during the subscription period. For a small percentage of Scribd users who consume an unusual volume of materials, not every book or audiobook in the library will be immediately available. Scribd reserves and shall have the right in its sole discretion to add, modify, withdraw or delay at any time any particular Scribd Commercial Content from access by you for any reason including, without limitation, based on the costs generated to Scribd by such content or the nature of your use of the Scribd.com website. Scribd makes no guarantee as to the availability of specific titles or the timing of their availability. [Emphasis added]

In plain English, that means that if you consume too much content, Scribd can, and will, throttle you.

According to Publisher’s Weekly, the company’s CEO Trip Adler, the service has mechanisms in place “to limit particularly heavy consumption by a small percentage of its subscribers.” When overuse is detected, “controls will kick in to limit power readers’ access to the most expensive and popular titles.”  The service claims that even heavy users will still have access to a wide variety of content. There is no way of knowing how many books or audiobooks will be enough to kick in the controls.

It is that lack of transparency about how many is too many that is a real issue when evaluating their service. How does a consumer decide between subscribing to Audible or Scribd for audiobooks if one has a concrete limit and the other is unknown? And if Scribd want’s to woo back some of those former subscribers who felt betrayed over previous changes. This is particularly true for romance reader and audiobook listeners who tend to be heavy users of content and were really upset when they found out unlimited didn’t really mean unlimited. Even though Scribd is saying that upfront now, the lack of a solid number of allowable reads will make it a hard sell for many. Can subscribers trust that the service will be able to maintain this level of use (whatever that may be) at this price point?

Given Scribd’s own history and the fact that Playster (the other “unlimited” reading service) has recently deleted customers’ accounts for using too much content and raised prices and placed content limits on their subscribers, trusting a subscription service may be hard sell right now.

So what do you think? Are you a former Scribd subscriber? Will this make you go back?

Kobo begins monthly audiobook subscription program

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Kobo is launching their own monthly audiobook subscription service. The service is $9.99 per month in the US and the monthly cost varies by country.

Key elements of the program are:

The program offers a 30 day free trial. Your first audiobook is free.and yours to keep, even if you cancel.

Each month you get a credit for $9.99 monthly credit. One credit equals one audiobook. Credits are added to your account once a month on your recurring billing date.

For Super Points rewards program members, you can earn Kobo Super Points with each purchase.

Books can be listened to on or off line. There are, however, a couple of limitations. You can listen to audiobooks on the Android app (system 4.4 and above) and the iOS app (9.0 or higher). You cannot listen on the following devices:

  • on kobo.com
  • in Kobo Desktop
  • in the Kobo App for Windows or BlackBerry
  • on Kobo eReaders
  • on Kobo Arc 7, 7HD or 10HD tablets

If you use the Kobo app for iOS, there is an additional complication: You can’t purchase anything through the Kobo app for IOS; you can only play items you have purchased. According to the FAQ:

Due to an agreement between Kobo and Apple, the Kobo App for iOS doesn’t include our store. If you use an iOS smartphone or tablet, you’ll need to purchase (or exchange a credit for) your audiobook on kobo.com. Once your transaction is complete, your audiobook will then appear in your Kobo App for iOS.

Once purchased, the books are yours to keep, even if you cancel your subscription. Audiobook credits are non-refundable and a credit card is required for signup.

Kobo is starting its program with only one subscription plan, one credit for $9.99. According to the company, future plans include plans with two credits a month, and annual subscriptions with 12 or 24 instant credits all at once.

The service will be available to Kobo customers living in Canada ($12.99 CA), the United States ($9.99 USD), the United Kingdom (£6.99), Australia ($13.99 AU), and New Zealand ($13.99 NZD).

Kobo is obviously trying to compete with Audible. Audible charges $14.95 per month, plus 30% off additional purchases.

The service will be live on September 12, 2017. Make sure you have updated to the latest version of the Kobo app for your device.

Are you trying the service? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Update: Playster cancels accounts for excessive usage

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Yesterday, I posted about user claims that Playster is apparently cancelling users’ memberships because they are consuming too much content. The service is marketed as offering unlimited access to media content. There are a series of complaints, most dated over the last ten days, on sites like Trustpilot and Pissed Consumer, all claiming that their accounts were unjust flagged by the system’s fair use algorithm. These users then found their accounts cancelled or suspended. All of the members seemed to be heavy users of audiobooks.

I reached out to Playster for their side of the story. Here is their response:

Playster’s fair use algorithm has two major goals: to deter fraud and help us keep the service unlimited for all audiobook lovers.

After discovering cases of average consumption exceeding 24 hours per day, concurrent streaming on multiple IP addresses and other activity that appeared to be in violation of our terms and conditions, we felt we had no option but to take an extra cautious approach with accounts resembling any of the following:

  • Commercial use;
  • Automated consumption;
  • Recording or duplicating content;
  • Unauthorized sharing, leasing or distribution of content;
  • Public broadcasting;
  • Multiple accounts created with the same device, IP address or credit card
  • Accounts using a blacklisted device, IP address or credit card;
  • Use of a VPN or Proxy IP.

We realize some accounts may have been flagged unjustly, which is why all members were refunded their last membership charge and everyone affected was invited to submit an appeal form, so that we may address all concerns in detail with the attention they deserve. If anyone hasn’t received the appeal form or has any questions, they can email support@playster.com.

Several items on the above list are troubling to me. First, flagging an account solely because of an IP address can be a recipe for disaster (please google records companies charging 80 year old great-grandmothers with infringement for details). For a variety of reasons, IP addresses are not always unique. People create accounts from workplaces or apartment buildings that share internet access. IP address alone is not sufficient reason for denying access to an account.

Perhaps most troubling is the assumption that the use of a VPN or proxy IP suggests illegal actions. There are host of valid reasons to use a VPN for both privacy and security concerns. The use of a VPN should not imply illegal consumption of content.

Playster’s response said that members were invited to submit an appeal form. None of the complaints I read on either Trustpilot or Pissed Consumer mentioned being offered an appeal form. In fact, several of them have commented on the lack of response and long delays in hearing from customer service. At this point, no one has said that they were able to get their account reinstated.

If you have had an experience with this issue, please let me know in the comments. Are you a VPN user? Were you offered an appeal form? Was customer service’s response?  Did you get your account reinstated?

I will follow up on this story as more information becomes available.

(You can read my review of the Playster service here.)

Scribd says goodbye to comics

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comics-999504_1920Yesterday,  Nate from The Digital Reader reported that subscription service Scribd has removed comic books from its services. According to the article, Scribd confirmed the deletion in a statement, noting that few users had taken advantage of the comics content. They also said that they had notified comics readers via email in early December.

Now, while I am not a comics reader, I am a Scribd subscriber and can testify to the fact that I certainly did not receive any notice of changes to the service. And while I hadn’t read any comics through the service, as a customer, I would have at least expected to be notified of that significant of a change to its catalog.

Over the past several years, Scribd has made several adjustments to their all-you-can-read subscription service. The service removed the lion’s share of romance novels, decreased the number of audiobooks and finally went to a limited credit system with a rotating selection of free content. The sum total of these changes left many customers extremely dissatisfied.

There are several aspects to this change that are particularly disturbing. First and foremost is the lack of communication on Scribd’s part. One cannot help but wonder if Scribd was hoping to slide the change in under the radar of its main bulk of subscribers. Scribd faced a huge amount of public blowback over the previous paring down of its service. Scribd itself acknowledged that the the comics selection was underutilized. I also suspect  that comics readers may be a lot like romance readers in the amount of content that they consume. They may have decided it was more beneficial to the bottom line to alienate a smaller section of their customer base to save money.

I always get concerned when companies stop communicating. In the past, Scribd was fairly actively engaged in keeping contents updated on its blog. Currently, Scribd has two blogs. The main blog, geared towards customer announcements, is seldom updated. The other blog, called Literally, is penned by Scribd’s editors and features reviews, recommendations, quizzes, essays, and other reading related contents (and is also more frequently updated). There was no mention of the comics issue that I could find on either blog.

Scribd’s actions certainly leave its comics readers in the lurch. It also raises questions about the long-term solvency of Scribd itself as a subscription service. What seems clear is that Scribd has once again decreased its offerings and is  offering less content for the same price. That’s certainly a decrease in perceptive value to its customers and potential subscribers.

Personally, I use Scribd predominantly for ebooks (and the occasional audiobook). Most of the books I use the service for are books that either cost more than I am willing to pay and/or are unavailable at the library. Since I also buy books, use the library and to subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, even reading one or two books on the service a month is worth the cost for me. However, the company lost a lot of trust with their customers with their previous heavy-handed changes to the catalog. Not openly communicating with their customers certainly doesn’t help that trust issue. While I am not unsubscribing (yet), I sure don’t  see myself purchasing a long-term subscription at this rate.

How about you? What do you think?

NOTE: See my article Free Digital Comics and Graphic Novels for sources of free comics.

New e-reader resource page added

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new_pageI just added a new page called New e-reader? Start here that has a collection of some of my most popular posts which are helpful if you have just gotten a new e-reader or tablet. The page contains links to articles with tips for new e-readers and tablets, covers and accessories, how to find free content, reviews of subscription services and special benefits and perks for Prime members and Kindle device owners. You can get to the page from the menu bar at the top of the page or by clicking here.

The page is a work in progress and I will be continuing to add to it.

Have a topic you want to learn more about or something you need to learn how to do? Leave me a comment and I will see if I can help.

Daily Links and Deals: Pew: younger people actually prefer reading the news to watching it

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daily_links_1Daily Links for Friday, October 7,  2016:

Google’s open source Noto: Free font covers 800 languages, including dead ones (ZD Net) As both a font fan and a fan of archaeology and old languages, this seems like a great idea!

Yep, there’s now a subscription handbag service: Ivory Clasp (Techcrunch) This is what technology is for, right? Now, if they can just do shoes….

Remove ransomware infections from your PC using these free tools (ZD Net) Good resource to have as ransomware becomes more and more prevalent.

Pew: younger people actually prefer reading the news to watching it (Techcrunch) It is so much easier to skim to get to what you really want to know about.

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s selection of Kindle Daily Deals includes The Art of Money: A Life-Changing Guide to Financial Happiness by Bari Tessler.

In Today’s Deals, a AVANTEK Wireless FM Transmitter Radio Adapter Car Kit MP3 Player, Remote Control.

Through October 9th, the Alexa-enabled Amazon Tap is available for $100.

This week, Prime members can save on Kindles. The basic Kindle is $50, The Paperwhite is $90 and the Voyage is $150.

The Echo is now available in white. There is also an  All-New Echo Dot (2nd Generation) which will be available in both black and white and retails for $49.99. The Dot is also being offering in a “Buy 5, get 1 free” six-pack and a ““Buy 10, get 2 free” twelve-pack”. The new Echo Dot will be released on October 20, 2016.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows. The Romance Daily Find is The Turning Point by Freya North.

Barnes and Noble also has a selection of NOOK Books Under $2.99.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is The Night Watch by Sarah Waters. The Extra Daily Deal is Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand.

Also, a selection of titles called Romance On The Ice for $4.99 or Less until October Until October 31st.

There is also a selection of Great Reads Under $5 and Bargain Reads in Fiction, in Mystery and other genres. The Kobo Aura One (and the Aura Edition 2 e-readers are now available for order at the Kobo store. (The Aura One is out of stock until October 14, 2016.)

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton.

Google Books has a selection of Topsellers Under $10.

(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.

Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter, Facebook, and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Daily Links and Deals: It’s People vs. Advertising, not Publishers vs. Adblockers

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daily_links_1Today, an article that expresses the view that using an ad blocker is like using sunblock–it’s an act of self protection. Also, an app that will cancel subscriptions for you, a look a online streaming(again), upcoming changes to the Apple ecosystem and more. In deals, a 55 inch OLED TV by LG.

Daily Links for day, August 29, 2016:

It’s People vs. Advertising, not Publishers vs. Adblockers (Project VRM) Publishers are missing the point, People do not want to be targeted and stalked across websites. This is a privacy issue.

These Apps Can Help You Finally Cancel That Subscription You Keep Forgetting (Motherboard) Let’s be honest: we’ve probably all done this at one time or another.

On-demand music streaming has won (Recode) Labels may complain in public about streaming, but others says that they are making more than enough money to make up for the losses.

Don’t buy anything Apple-related right now (everything is changing) (The Next Web) Apples upcoming change to USB-C may change everything. September and the actual announcements are just around the corner.

Library of Congress might become a piracy hub, RIAA says (Torrent Freak) If the proposed change proceeds, “the RIAA urges it to consult the record labels to make sure that state of the art technological protection measures are deployed to secure their work.” So the RIAA want the government to consult them first? Can you say entitlement?

9 Stages Of Being Obsessed With A Romance Novel Series (Bustle) LOL! This is so true (and also happens with mysteries, sci-fi series, etc.).

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s selection of Kindle Daily Deals includes GI Brides: The Wartime Girls Who Crossed the Atlantic for Love by Duncan Barrett, Nuala Calvi.

In Today’s Deals, a LG Electronics 55-Inch 1080p Curved Smart OLED TV.   Also, you can get a the Certified Refurbished Amazon Echo for $150.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is The Thin Black Line: A Mike Walton Thriller by Simon Gervais. The Romance Daily Find is Her Lucky Cowboy (Montana Men Series #3) by Jennifer Ryan.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is The Sam Prichard Series – Books 1-4 by David Archer.  The Extra Daily Deal is Sight Unseen (Kendra Michaels Book 2) by Iris Johansen, Roy Johansen.

Also, until August 29, 2016, there’s a Back to School Sale: books $4.99 or less. There is also a  selection of Great Reads Under $5 and Bargain Reads in Fiction, in Mystery and other genres.

iTunes’ Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 includes The Kill Order by James Dashner.

Google Books has a selection of Best Beach Read Bets.

(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.

Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter, Facebook, and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.