Amazon reports rush on Kindle

Amazon's recent price cut for its Kindle reader tablet appear to be paying off for the company.

As of Wednesday afternoon US Pacific time, the US$189 Kindle 6 inch reader was listed as 'sold out' on the Amazon web site. The company did not give a possible date for future availability.

The company had previously indicated that the lower price point was helping to drive Kindle sales, noting that the reader was amongst its most popular items and that sales of digital titles had surpassed those of hardcover books.

Amazon has also announced the first author to reach its "Kindle Million Club " milestone by selling one million books through the service. The late Stieg Larsson became the first to reach the sales milestone with his popular " Millenium" novel series.

"Larsson's books have captivated millions of readers around the world and ignited a voracious interest in the lives of its main characters Lisbeth Salander and Michael Blomqvist," said Amazon Kindle content vice president Russ Grandinetti.

"It has been exciting to have been a part of introducing so many people to these great books."

Amazon has also made a high-profile deal which look to grant the company exclusive rights to publish the works of a group of authors including John Updike, Ralph Ellison and Salman Rushdie.

The two year deal with literary agent Andrew Wylie will allow Amazon's Kindle platform to be the exclusive distributer of all authors and estates who are currently clients of Wylie.