"Kindle Culture" Now Available

I'm happy to announce that my new book "Kindle Culture" is now available for the Kindle at Amazon.com! Thanks to everyone in the Kindle community who helped out these past few months. Your support has been greatly appreciated. Here's the product description, which has yet to appear on the Amazon page but should soon.

"How influential and/or pervasive can the Kindle become? Does it have what it takes to join that exclusive group populated by the likes of the Hula-Hoop, the VW Bug and the iPhone and become the next bona fide cultural icon? Will the term 'Kindle' become as ubiquitous in describing e-readers in the future as Band-Aid has for adhesive bandages and Kleenex for facial tissue? And just how strong will the Kindle’s built-in marketing segment of evangelists be in counteracting the latest wave of 'Kindle killers' lurking on the horizon? I searched far and wide, from coast to coast of what currently constitutes Kindle Country to the far edges of the globe, to find out in his new book 'Kindle Culture.'

"'Kindle Culture' examines the social and cultural aspects of the Kindle through a series of stories about people whose lives have been changed by the popular e-reader, from a woman whose Kindle let her read again after almost ten years to a full-time business professional whose hobby of making Kindle covers has turned into a cottage industry he can't keep up with. Along the way you'll meet newlyweds, artists, librarians, hackers, bloggers, members of the clergy, anti-ereader groups and Kindle-defending celebrities, all with one thing in common--the Amazon Kindle."

Celebrity Kindlers: Stephen Fry and Demi Moore

Celebrity Kindlers Stephen Fry and Demi Moore both gave the Kindle some love yesterday on Twitter in a string of tweets that went on throughout the day.

Fry announced the occasion of his first tweet from a Kindle, then gave tips to another user on how to use the "bare bones browser" and m.twitter.com to get the job done. He reassured die-hard print fans that he would "no more throw out 'real' books cos I have a Kindle than I'll jettison pens cos I have a Mac," then commented on the advantage of not having to carry heavy books around before encouraging a Kindle newbie to "Plunge in and enjoy. You'll soon be swimming in the deep end."

Moore, known among Twitterers as mrskutcher, shared that she had just finished Sara Gruen's "Water for Elephants" and was starting in on Nancy Horan's "Loving Frank." She also acknowledged that she had "read more in two and a half weeks on my kindle than I have in the past 3 years" but that she hadn't really used the text-to-speech feature. "I prefer reading it myself," she said, "The access and ease of moving through the material is amazing."

The actress went on to give the Amazon website for those looking for a Kindle and even touted the device's positive impact on the publishing industry. "Book sales are on the rise because of Kindle!" she wrote, "and the actual book cost is less so it offsets the cost of the kindle overtime!"

My favorite part of this story is that it reflects what is going on among Kindle owners everywhere: a need to share the wonders of this device with those around them, even going a step further to assauge the fears of Kindlephobes who often haven't even seen one. This is the kind of brand enthusiasm that I think will keep the Kindle on top when more serious competition starts showing up later this year and throughout 2010.