“Harry Potter” e-Books Coming to Amazon Kindle
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Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Back in March, J.K. Rowling’s wildly popular Harry Potter books were released as e-books. But digital book readers were only able to download them as e-pub books through the Pottermore website and then transfer them to their e-readers.
Now things are getting a bit easier for Kindle owners. Starting June 19, all seven Harry Potter books will be available in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.
There are some restrictions: The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library is only available to Amazon Prime members. Amazon Prime is a service that provides free shipping and discounts for $79 a year. The Lending Library allows Kindle owners to borrow books for free, rather than pay for each particular title. There are more than 145,000 e-books available now through the Lending Library, according to Amazon.
“Over a year, borrowing the Harry Potter books, plus a handful of additional titles, can alone be worth more than the $79 cost of Prime or a Kindle,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement. “The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library also has an innovative feature that’s of great benefit for popular titles like Harry Potter – unlimited supply of each title – you never get put on a waiting list.”
Bezos also stated that Amazon purchased an exclusive license to make the books available directly through Amazon’s digital store.
The books will be available in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish on June 19.
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