Kindle Book Gifts - Buyer Beware

Tell Me A Story

I recently gifted a book to a reviewer.

You can't expect reviewers to purchase your books if you want them to offer a critique. It's a time honoured custom that authors and publishers allocate a certain amount of books for this purpose.

Now that I have elected to forsake the traditional publishing route, I expect to do the same with my ebooks. Amazon allow you to gift Kindle books to whoever you please, so it would seem to be a reasonable way to send books to reviewers - WRONG.

If you live outside the USA, it not only costs more money if you want to read a Kindle book, it also costs more for you to gift a Kindle book to a resident who lives INSIDE the USA. My book which a USA resident can purchase for $2.99, costs $5.74 for me to send to that same USA resident.

A strange affair indeed. I understand the wireless net might incur extra costs for reading outside the USA, but why on earth should it cost more to gift a Kindle book to a USA resident, just because I reside outside the USA.

Payment is by VIsa, so the transaction costs ought to be the same - so where do the extra charges come from.

Are you listening, mister Amazon - get your house in order.

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