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The Verge

Amazon Adds Perk to Its Prime Membership — Will It Bring In New Subscribers?

Oct 5, 2016  •  Post A Comment

Amazon has added a perk to membership in Amazon Prime, which costs subscribers $99 a year. The company announced today that  it is adding the Amazon Prime Reading feature, which offers free comics, magazines, short stories and ebooks.

Amazon says the service provides access to more than 1,000 popular books. Among the titles: “The Hobbit,” “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” and “The Man in the High Castle.”

The Verge notes: “Unlike the earlier Kindle Owner’s Lending Library, these books can be read without Amazon hardware using the Kindle app on iOS and Android. It also covers magazines including National Geographic Traveler, Popular Mechanics, and Sports Illustrated, and comics such as Peanuts and Transformers. There are some good names here, but overall the selection looks limited.”

The Verge adds: “This is, of course, just the latest bit of added value for Amazon Prime. Although the service is primarily beneficial for its free shipping, Amazon has added its music streaming library, on-demand TV and films, photo storage, and even ad-free access to its game streaming service, Twitch.”

The new reading perk could encourage some subscribers to upgrade to Amazon’s $10-a-month Kindle Unlimited service, the report notes.

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