I read an article today on Yahoo saying Amazon has announced November 2009 had the highest sales ever for the Kindle – playing it close to the vest as always, they don’t differentiate it between the Kindle DX, Kindle 2-International, or Kindle 2-US only versions, nor do they tell you the number of units sold. 

Still sitting on the fence on buying a Kindle?  The eBook readers are hotter than ever, with the Barnes & Noble nook and Sony’s ereader sold out with no guarantees of pre-orders being delivered prior to Christmas or sometime in January 2010.  I guess rampant consumer demand is a good thing – but there is also the future profit loss as those who wanted to buy, say a nook having to “settle” for a Kindle (I know, blasphemy for a Kindle-related blog mentioning something other than a Kindle but everyone doesn’t have your good taste now, do they?).  The future profit loss is these new Kindle owners are going to continue to shop in the Amazon store vs. a Barnes & Noble store, and Barnes & Noble won’t have those future book sales – let alone the hardware eBook reader sale.

Why am I mentioning this when Amazon still has Kindles ready to sell?  If you will recall about this time last year – Amazon ran out.  No more for Christmas delivery.  Of course, Amazon is not going to issue a press release or post to their website something like “Hurry up and buy a Kindle as we only have 1,322 Kindles in stock!”  Bottom line here is if you’re thinking of buying a Kindle for Christmas, better act now!

The following is an excerpt from my book Free Kindle Books and How to Find Them, which I just revised, updated, and added to it in November and is available from the Kindle store by clicking here.  Shameless plug, I know – but this part below is free! 

Transferring Books to Your Kindle

If the only way you have added content to your Kindle is via the Amazon website, and assuming you may have missed the section in the Kindle User Guide of other methods to add content to your Kindle (and the user guide is not very helpful), you may not know how to put content (think books) on your Kindle.  It is a fairly simple process, and we will briefly review four ways to put material on your Kindle; this is certainly not meant to be an all-encompassing “how-to” guide.  The four methods are:

1.   Purchase / download it from the Kindle store section of the Amazon website.  I am going to assume you know how to download books from the Kindle store;

2.   Transfer the material from a computer to your Kindle using the USB cord;

3.   Email it to your Kindle with your unique Kindle.com email address; and,

4.   Place the material on an SD memory card and insert the SD memory card into your Kindle (please note the Kindle 1 is the only version of the Kindle to utilize an SD memory card, and both the Kindle 2 and Kindle DX are equipped with enough memory to hold 1,000+ books).  If you have purchased and are using an SD card, I am also going to assume you know how to transfer and manage content to the SD card.

Transfer Using a USB Cord 

To me, this method is the most straight-forward method – plus, it doesn’t cost you a cent to manage your content with the USB cord provided with your Kindle.  If you are familiar with moving things around with a digital camera, an iPod / MP3 player, or a thumb memory drive you will find you are already familiar with transferring content with the USB cord.  If you are reading this and don’t know what the USB cord is, it is the cord you use to recharge the Kindle’s internal battery for the Kindle 2 and the Kindle DX; it is a separate cord for the Kindle 1.

To transfer content with the USB cord, here are the simple steps in order:

1.   Turn on and boot up your computer if it is not already on.

2.   Turn on your Kindle.

3.   Plug the large end of the USB cord that came with your Kindle into an open USB slot on your computer; if you’re looking at the USB cord and just see something that plugs into an electrical socket (Kindle 2 and Kindle DX users), that portion that looks like the end to be plugged into an electrical socket can be pulled apart to reveal the USB portion.   If you are not certain where the USB slot on your computer is, please consult the instructions manual for your computer.

4.  Plug the small end of the USB cord that came with your Kindle into the open USB slot on your Kindle.

If you followed the steps above in order, take a look at your Kindle’s screen – it should be indicating the Kindle is in USB mode, and on my Kindle 2 tells me I am unable to read or connect to the Internet; the specific message is “if you want to use your Kindle and continue charging, please eject your Kindle from your computer.”  That’s exactly what we want it to say – you’re going to be making additions, etc. to your Kindle from your computer screen and not from the Kindle.

Now, let’s go to your computer.  If you are using a Mac, you will use a program called OS Finder; if you are using a Windows-based computer, you will click on “My Computer” or “Windows Explorer.”  The following instructions assume you are using a Windows-based computer, but for those of you with a Mac the process is very similar.Clicking on My Computer, you will see your hard drives and other locations as well as your Kindle; if your computer automatically opened up the Kindle folder after recognizing it subsequent to plugging in the Kindle to your computer via the USB cord, that’s ok and you can work from there, too.

Books and other written manuscripts are contained in the “Documents” folder of your Kindle.  This is the location you will drag and drop, copy / cut and paste (or whatever process you are most comfortable with) the documents you have downloaded from the specific areas we will review in this book.   After you have transferred or moved the content to your Kindle, you can disconnect your Kindle from your computer and start reading away at your leisure.  The books you just transferred to your Kindle will show up as “new” in your Kindle home page.

One important safety note to protect your Kindle – I would not recommend just pulling the USB cord out of your computer or the Kindle without having your computer to “safely eject hardware” before disconnecting.

If you followed those steps – congratulations!  You are well on your way to reading the books and other content you have downloaded: go check out the home page of your Kindle and you should see “New” listed next to each item you just transferred.

Email to Your Unique Kindle.com Email Address

You may already know, or maybe you don’t, each registered Kindle owner has their own unique youname@kindle.com email address, where you and others that you grant permission to beforehand can email material directly to your Kindle.  This could come in handy for sending Word documents, etc. from work for the “gotta read it” on the plane, but you can also use it as a method to transfer books to your Kindle. 

One word of caution, however – as of this writing Amazon will charge the Kindle account holder fifteen cents per document emailed, up from ten cents not too long ago (can you say 50% rate increase in the middle of a recession?).  While fifteen cents may not seem like much, those fifteens can add up over time similar to a friend of mine’s daughter going over at fifteen cents per text message on her cell phone.

If you do not know your unique kindle.com email address, it’s easy to find out: log into you Amazon.com account, and click on the “Manage your Kindle” link located at the top of the page.  Underneath the “Your Kindle(s)” section will list each of the Kindles registered to your account as well as the unique kindle.com email address to send material to each particular Kindle.

I mentioned earlier you can have others you grant permission in advance to send material to your Kindle; if you scroll down on the same page that lists out your Kindle email addresses, you will also see the pre-authorized email addresses allowed.  I would exercise caution with who you put on there, or the next thing you know your spouse or significant other will use that as a tool to send you reminders of chores to do, errands to run, or other emails all at fifteen cents a pop!

Types of File Extensions

There are many different file formats for eBooks.  Many are supported by the Kindle software, while others are not.  While I am certain you can write an entire book on the advantages and disadvantages of each file format (and there probably is such a book available for sale out there), for purposes of this guide I am going to focus on what I believe are the four most compatible file formats for your Kindle:

• Text files
• Amazon extension files
• Mobipocket files
• PDF files

Text Files

Amazon is making changes to its Kindle operating software periodically, and the types of files available to be read by your Kindle could be enhanced beyond what I am listing here: that means you possibly could have an even greater free library ahead of you than what I will show you in this Guide.  Let’s talk about the types and file extensions you will see in selecting the best format for your Kindle.

Text files are probably the most abundant free eBook files out there, although many web sites are converting their text documents into Kindle-ready and other formats.  Text files are easily identifiable as having a *.txt extension, where the “*” represents the file name and the “txt” portion says it is in text format.  You can not only read these on your Kindle, but you can read them on your computer with, for example, Notepad, Microsoft Word, or any other word processing program out there.  My experience has also shown that most *.txt files, while great at containing the underlying data, are not so good as being 100% compatible for your Kindle.  For example, I have found the formatting is a little off, as line and even page breaks will show up in the strangest places.

Amazon Extension Files

Amazon’s proprietary format uses the *.kzw format.  I haven’t found too many free books with the *.kzw format, although they are out there, unless I have downloaded it directly from the Amazon website – then it is usually copy-protected and I couldn’t, for example, email a file I had downloaded to my sister for her to also enjoy on a Kindle.

Mobipocket Files

The Mobipocket format (*.mobi) (“Mobi”) is becoming more and more prevalent as sites that have previously offered, for example, their content only in *.txt format have converted to the Mobi format.  Mobi is a subsidiary of Amazon, and they offer a conversion tool for authors and others to convert documents to an eBook reader format.  Tthey also have some of the most unhelpful instructions for the layperson to convert files, but that is a subject for another day.  Books and other documents in the Mobi format are typically ready to go without formatting issues, can either be copy-protected or not, and read like any other eBook you purchase from the Amazon website.

PDF Files

You can also read PDF files on your Kindle, but unless you have a Kindle DX I wouldn’t recommend it.  My experience with both the Kindle 2 and the original Kindle, PDF’s usually come out looking very strange or the page is significantly compressed and is unable to be enlarged.  The Kindle DX, however, has a built-in PDF reader plus a much larger screen so PDF files should be good to go.  My standard caveat is actual results may vary, but the price is right (e.g., free) so what do you have to lose?   

How to Download Books to Your Computer

As I mentioned earlier, I thought it important I explain just a few of the ways to transfer materials to your Kindle as well as provide a brief discussion of the various formats of this free material.  We need to cover one more thing – how to download the free books – and then you will be ready to hunt away for free content.The listing of known sites for free books are numerous, but if you don’t know how to download the material it’s pretty much useless information to you.  For the majority of the sites, for each book listed they will typically have a bold underline or the entire text is in a different font, color, or both for the title.  Like anything else with computers, there are probably 1,001 ways to do things, but here is the way that works best for me (your results may vary): 

• Using your mouse, right click on the file you want to save / download.
• In Windows, several options come up, but select the one called “Save As” or “Save,” depending upon which version of Windows you have installed on your computer.
• Save this book into the “My eBooks” file folder in My Documents or, if you don’t have a file folder called “My eBooks” create one.  You can create one with the “Make New Folder” option.
• Your book should download to the My eBooks folder.
• Transfer the book to your Kindle using one of the methods previously described in this guide.

Looking for Free Books?If you are looking for free books, and I will be the first to admit this is a shameless plug for another title I am selling, why not check out my book “Free Kindle Books and How to Find Them” which is available on the Amazon website?

Here’s a quick tip – if I or anyone else tells you about a book being offered for free on the Amazon Kindle website and you are interested, please jump on it immediately.  Don’t wait a few days, or you may see a book being offered for sale at a cost to you.

For example, last week I posted a blurb on the book House of Danger (Choose Your Own Adventure #6) by R.A. Montgomery as it was being offered for free.  It’s now $5.59!

Maybe they hit their quota for freebies of this title, or maybe the promotion expired on a date certain – I don’t know off the top of my head.  Bottom line here is don’t wait – once the book is yours, no matter if you paid nothing or $9.99 for a book, it is yours!

 

 

One of the bigger complaints I have heard from people with Kindles, or those who are trying to shop for someone with a Kindle, is the inability to purchase books for someone as a gift – for example, if I wanted to give someone an eBook copy of Dan Brown’s latest novel The Lost Symbol, I couldn’t just go to the Amazon website and have it sent to them like you can with a regular paper book.  You also can’t “loan” the book to someone like you can with a paper book – in other words, the book I may have on my Kindle can’t be transferred or “loaned” to someone else’s Kindle unless the other Kindle is linked to my account.

While I am certain there are many ways to technically do it, I can quickly think of two ways you can technically give Kindle books to someone – books from the Amazon website, for example, vs. the numerous other places that sell or give away Kindle-compatible eBooks.

The first way is pretty straight-forward: buy a person who has a Kindle an Amazon gift card say for $25.  For that $25, they can go get two bestsellers (at $9.99 each) and still have about five bucks left over for other eBooks, mp3’s, or one of the other 1,000,001 items Amazon sells on its website.  Your $25 will go a lot further than you picking the book out – a paper bestseller at $18 or so will chew the balance on the gift card pretty fast.  You can get an Amazon gift card emailed directly to the participant or print it out on your printer to give to the recipient in their stocking; maybe you could slip it into the box containing the new Kindle you’re giving a loved one?  You can pick up an Amazon gift card by clicking here.

Another way to give someone an eBook you’ve read or already have involves purchasing a Kindle and giving the Kindle as a gift to someone.  How do you do it?  Well, that’s pretty easy, too – just follow these steps:

• Purchase a Kindle and link it to your account – in other words, don’t select the gift options but have it listed in your name.
• Have the Kindle delivered to you.
• Go to the “Manage Your Kindle” option from the Amazon website.
• Have a copy of the books you have purchased sent to the new Kindle.

Once the new Kindle arrives, charge it up and turn it on with the wireless connected.  The books you have selected to be sent to your new Kindle will download and be ready to go.  After the books have been transferred, turn off the Kindle (you just charged it up for the recipient), wrap it up, and deliver it to the lucky gift recipient – now they have a new library to jump start their new Kindle.  Make sure you deregister it from your account unless you want the recipient to be able to buy books under your account

Is the above method allowable under the terms of service?  To quote a former politician – you betcha, and it has been addressed in the various Kindle discussion forums on the Amazon website and was technically encouraged in some of the threads I read.  The recipient will have the books on their Kindle for however long they want but there is one catch – if they delete it, they won’t be able to re-download it to their new Kindle as they would if they had been the original purchaser.

Why is that?  Well, Amazon keeps a record of everything you have bought and you’re able to re-download eBooks to your Kindle at any time.  In this case, they weren’t the purchaser, so Amazon doesn’t have a record of them having it – as a result, there is not a bona fide purchase for them to re-download (they will have to buy their own copy if they want it again).

Amazon is pushing a new software release (version 2.3) for its US-Kindle (think Sprint) and its international Kindle (think AT&T) as well as the Kindle DX – so the next time you turn on your wireless connectivity this software release will be installed on your computer.  I am sure there are other things they have done with this release, but here are the four main points directly from the Amazon press release (their words, not mine):

Kindle2 – both Global and US versions:

• Longer battery life for Kindle (Global Wireless): You can now read for up to 1 week on a single charge with wireless on. Turn wireless off and read for up to 2 weeks.
• Built-in PDF reader: Your Kindle can now display PDF documents without losing the formatting of the original file. Send PDF documents directly to your Kindle (via your @Kindle address) or drag and drop PDF files from your computer to your Kindle (when connected via USB). Click Here to Learn more.
• Manual screen rotation: The Kindle screen can now manually rotate between portrait and landscape views so you can see the entire width of a web page or magnify the page of a PDF file. The page-turn buttons work the same in either orientation, and the 5-way controller movements are switched to match the orientation. Click Here to Learn more.
• Option to convert PDF files to Kindle format. If you prefer to have your personal PDF documents converted to the Kindle format (so that they can reflow), type “Convert” in the subject of the e-mail when you submit your personal document to your @kindle.com address.

Kindle (U.S. Wireless) and Kindle (Global Wireless) users can go to Archived Items on their Kindle and download the Kindle User’s Guide, 4th Ed., which now documents all the features of Kindle Software 2.3.

Kindle DX:

• Better cropping of PDF files: In landscape orientation, white margins of PDF documents are automatically cropped to maximize the amount of content shown on the screen.
• Option to convert PDF files to Kindle format. If you prefer to have your personal PDF documents converted to the Kindle format (so that they can reflow), type “Convert” in the subject of the e-mail when you submit your personal document to your @kindle.com address.
• View pages longer: We’ve extended the time before Kindle DX switches into screensaver mode — from 5 minutes to 20 minutes — giving you more time for reviewing your content.

To ensure you have the most current version of the Amazon software:

1. Select “Settings” from the Home menu.
2. View the version listed at the bottom left of the Settings screen. If your software version matches one of the versions listed below, you have the most recent version:
   • Kindle (U.S. Wireless): Kindle 2.3
   • Kindle (Global Wireless): Kindle 2.3
   • Kindle DX:Kindle 2.3

If you have a software version prior to 2.3, you can download the latest Kindle software update to your computer and transfer it to your Kindle via USB. Here’s how:

1. Visit Amazon.com and make sure you’re logged into the Amazon.com account to which your Kindle is registered.
2. Visit the appropriate link below to download the Kindle software update file directly to your computer:
   • Kindle (U.S. Wireless)
   • Kindle (Global Wireless)
   • Kindle DX
     
3. Turn your Kindle on and connect it to your computer using the USB cable.
4. Use your computer’s file browser to copy the update file from your computer to the Kindle root directory. (The root directory contains a number of folders — such as “audibles,” “documents,” and “music” — and is typically denoted by a “device” icon).
5. Check your file browser’s file transfer progress bar to ensure that file transfer to your Kindle is complete. When you’re confident the file has transferred successfully, you can use your computer’s unmount or eject function to safely disconnect Kindle from your computer.
6. Disconnect the USB cable from Kindle and your computer.
7. Go to the Home screen, press the Menu key, and select “Settings.”
8. Press the Menu key again, and then select “Update Your Kindle.” (This option will be grayed out if the most recent update has already been installed.)
9. Select “Ok” when prompted if you want to perform an update.

Troubleshooting Update Issues

If you cannot successfully update your Kindle software using the instructions above or encounter any difficulty with your software update, please contact Kindle Support.

To reach Kindle Support via phone or e-mail, please click the “Contact Us” button in the right-hand column of this page. Contacting us through the website allows you to verify security before a call is placed and ensures we have your account information ready when we call you.

You can also reach us by calling one of these numbers:

• Inside the United States: 1-866-321-8851
• Outside the United States: 1-206-266-0927

Information for Kindle (1st Generation) Users

The most recent software update version of Kindle (1st Generation) is version 1.2. If you don’t have it, you can download it here.

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OK, here is me talking again vs. the Amazon release – I’m going to check out these new features, but to me the cool thing I want to try out as a Kindle2 owner is the manual screen rotation.  I may also email myself a large and complex PDF file as a test.  More to come, of course, but I’d be interested in hearing about your experiences – feel free to shoot me an email to kindle@gagler.com