Fictionwise (a Barnes and Noble Company) has sold Kindle-compatible .mobi books for quite some time, but today they announced they are taking it one step farther. They’ve broken out their “Kindle” books on their website, and have an FAQ set up on how to wirelessly transfer Fictionwise books to your Kindle.

If you choose the wireless method, the major downside is that Amazon will hit you with a $0.15/mb charge, which you can dodge by going through the slightly more cumbersome method of downloading your chosen books to your computer. You can then connect your Kindle via USB and drag and drop your Fictionwise book onto the Kindle.

Here’s where it can be really beneficial to the consumer. Let’s say you own a Blackberry and a Kindle. You can read eReader and Fictionwise books on the Blackberry, but you can’t read your Kindle books on your Blackberry (yet). eReader’s membership system and byzantine micropay plan works best if you are purchasing multiple times; a one-off purchase won’t get you the best possible savings. Now, you can buy a book for your Blackberry and one for your Kindle and maximize the savings by using Fictionwise for both. It requires some planning, but with the right timing you can leverage the system to your advantage.

I’ve ranted enough about Barnes and Noble’s confusing eBook strategy, so I won’t revisit that here. Fictionwise is being very savvy, even if it does seem at odds with Barnes and Noble’s nook strategy; even if they are competing with themselves, it makes sense to tie in with the industry leader, plus with the right shopping strategy it can really benefit the consumer!

Via Teleread