A Wee Rant on the Cult of the Kindle

I don't rant very often but this one has gotten my goat as of late...

Buy your Kindle now! Available online or from all good stores!

What is it with the Kindle which has taken the world by storm? I wanted an e-reader so I went and did my research. Like everything I own, I brought one which wouldn't mind taking the odd tumble. And the Kobo is serving me just fine on that mark. It gets thrown in my work back, gets tossed onto the desk and has seen the occasional drop of water. Verdict? Perfect for accident prone Rae.

Unfortunately, a lot of the books I want to read, the ones by new and indie authors, never appear on the Kobo website. So I go searching for a purchasable PDF. More often than not, I come up against a brick wall.

They're just not there. So why do so many people seem to publish for Kindle only? Why does it have such a stranglehold on the market? Do publishers stipulate they'll only publish for the Kindle? Or is it some clause which Amazon have? One of the reasons I signed with the publisher I did is because they release it on as many platforms as they can. You can purchase a book from their site and the zip file they send will have formats which work on every reader. If you want a print copy, they'll point you in the right direction. If you want it for the Kindle, the iPad or your mobile phone, they'll point you in the right direction.

So why do so many people seem obsessed with the Cult of the Kindle? Surely one is limiting themselves by only releasing it on a single platform?

One friend of mine had only published for the Kindle and I had to twist her arm to publish on other platforms. Once she did, she found her sales increasing. Others have told me to get the Kindle app for the computer. I have it but I seldom use it. Why? 1. I spend enough time at this machine as it is. And 2. I can't really curl up with my laptop or my desktop (well, I can with the laptop but it's not very comfortable. I've tried!).

I want to read! I want to discover new authors and fantastic books. But sometimes I feel like I'm being a little limited. My fault for buying something other than a Kindle? Or another reason?

Agree? Or disagree? Can you answer any of the questions in the post? Feel free to drop it in a comment!