I love my Kindle. It’s a joy to download books while I’m stuck on the tarmac or sitting on the beach. As a road warrior, it’s wonderful anytime I can jettison poundage from my carry-on, and the Kindle helps me do that in spades. I can even email PDFs to my Kindle and review them from there.
Kindle just announced it is going social. In addition to new features, Kindle owners will be able to share book passages with friends on Facebook and Twitter. While this sounds fun and engaging, here’s my beef. I want to be able to share whole books with people. When I read a book, part of the pleasure is thinking about whom among my peeps would also love the book or who would learn something important. Passing along books is part of the community of readers. You never just hand a book to someone without telling them why you think they would like it. And later, you circle back and talk about the book; maybe even debate its various twists and turns. Sometimes people hate the book I thought they would love, or have dramatically different reactions to characters or plot. Talking about it becomes part of the DNA of the relationship.
When I purchase a “real” book, I own it and can share it as I please. There is no copyright infringement if I give the latest Baldacci to my mom. My quid pro quo when I pass a book along is that the recipient does the same when finished reading it. I love to think about the book’s journey, touching, entertaining and enlightening people as it travels from person to person.
Why don’t I own my Kindle books? Why can’t I pass them along to other Kindle owners? I have been a Kindle evangelist and either have influenced the purchase of many Kindles or given them as gifts. What do you think?
Principal
Engaging your customers is at the heart of successful marketing programs. For more than 20 years, Cheryl has been building and executing content and thought leadership strategies designed to do just that. She is excited to be applying that well-honed skill to a help companies like Microsoft, Cisco, 3M, Intel, Capital One and Barclaycard tap into their stakeholder communities and build sophisticated content strategies.
Her experience base spans a range of industries – from technology and financial services to retail, travel, consumer products and healthcare. Cheryl has served as an integral member of her clients’ marketing teams, providing counsel on marketing and brand strategy, thought leadership, media relations, product introductions, and event management.
Prior to joining ComBlu, Cheryl spent 10 years leading corporate marketing for large, complex organizations.