Amazon Announces Kindle Indenture: Print & Digital Editions, Plus Two Hours of Domestic Help from Beloved Authors.

SEATTLE–Sep. 5, 2013– (NASDAQ:AMZN)—Amazon today introduced Kindle Indenture: a new program that gives customers the chance to buy–for $1.99–the Kindle edition of print books they have purchased new from Amazon. Additionally, members of Amazon Prime will be able to bundle up to two hours of household labor from participating authors for just $9.99.

Over 20,000 small-press authors will be automatically enrolled in the program when it launches in October, as will some bestselling authors such as Barbara Ehrenreich, Kathryn Stockett, and Patrick Wensink.

“If you logged into Earthlink back in 2001 and bought a book such as Nickel and Dimed from Amazon, Kindle Indenture now makes it possible for that purchase to be added to your Kindle library and a very low price, plus the author will come over and clean your house,” said Russ Grandinetti, Vice President of Kindle Content. ”In addition to being a great new benefit for customers, this is an easy choice for indie publishers and authors, who will finally be able to enter the labor market and earn some money.”

Bundling print and digital has been one of the most requested features from our customers. Adding two hours of yardwork or light clerical tasks for just $9.99 can help Amazon Prime customers find time to read. Everybody wins.

“I love this idea. It’s simple, brilliant, and good for everybody,” said Sam Teitel, a published poet and aspiring day laborer. I mean, writing an eighty-page poetry book only takes an hour or two, so God knows I have some time on my hands. And Amazon’s 35% royalty rate on $1.99 E-books means a minimum-wage job looks better and better, you know?”

Small-press publishing houses are especially keen to enroll in Kindle Indenture, according to Artie Moffa, editor of Bicycle Comics. “It really represents a complete reinvention of our business model. Everybody understands that E-books are labors of love; we never expected them to pay the bills. But now publishers can use our print and digital books as ‘Halo Products’ to attract new readers and perhaps line up odd jobs and child-care gigs.”

“There’s great synergy here. Amazon’s publishing software has made my job so easy that I can take on some other responsibilities, such as running errands for our customers. I used to spend hours fretting over line breaks and making sure artwork and captions stayed on the same page, but now I just push a button and get flawless files. Kindle and poetry were made for each other; that’s why so many on-line discussion groups are basically paeans to Amazon’s technology.”

For more information about Amazon’s Kindle Indenture, please visit www.amazon.com.