Here’s a quick reminder – if I or anyone else tells you about a book being offered for free or discounted on the Amazon Kindle website and you are interested, please jump on it immediately. Don’t wait a few days or even a couple of hours, or you may see the book being offered for sale vs. what you thought was free! I’ve seen it happen many times over the years.

Why does that happen? Sometimes there is a glitch to the Amazon system, an author may have forgot to set the book’s promotion on the Amazon website, or who knows?

Bottom line here is don’t wait – log on to the website frequently (www.fkbt.com) or check your email shortly after 8:00 a.m. Central time for the daily digest if you are subscribed to the free daily email. Grab them now as once the book is yours, no matter if you paid nothing or $9.99 for a book, it is yours forever!

I should say something similar about books discounted to 99 cents: the author, for example, has told me their book(s) will be discounted for a particular day and I set the posts up in advance. The same issue that can cause titles to not be free can also apply to the discounting for a particular day. Please make sure you verify the pricing on the Amazon website before you click the “buy” button.

Hope that helps!

Michael

 

Here’s a quick reminder – if I or anyone else tells you about a book being offered for free or discounted on the Amazon Kindle website and you are interested, please jump on it immediately. Don’t wait a few days or even a couple of hours, or you may see the book being offered for sale vs. what you thought was free! I’ve seen it happen many times over the years.

Why does that happen? Sometimes there is a glitch to the Amazon system, an author may have forgot to set the book’s promotion on the Amazon website, or who knows?

Bottom line here is don’t wait – log on to the website frequently (www.fkbt.com) or check your email shortly after 8:00 a.m. Central time for the daily digest if you are subscribed to the free daily email. Grab them now as once the book is yours, no matter if you paid nothing or $9.99 for a book, it is yours forever!

I should say something similar about books discounted to 99 cents: the author, for example, has told me their book(s) will be discounted for a particular day and I set the posts up in advance. The same issue that can cause titles to not be free can also apply to the discounting for a particular day. Please make sure you verify the pricing on the Amazon website before you click the “buy” button.

Hope that helps!

Michael

 

Here’s a quick reminder – if I or anyone else tells you about a book being offered for free or discounted on the Amazon Kindle website and you are interested, please jump on it immediately. Don’t wait a few days or even a couple of hours, or you may see the book being offered for sale vs. what you thought was free! I’ve seen it happen many times over the years.

Why does that happen? Sometimes there is a glitch to the Amazon system, an author may have forgot to set the book’s promotion on the Amazon website, or who knows?

Bottom line here is don’t wait – log on to the website frequently (www.fkbt.com) or check your email shortly after 8:00 a.m. Central time for the daily digest if you are subscribed to the free daily email. Grab them now as once the book is yours, no matter if you paid nothing or $9.99 for a book, it is yours forever!

I should say something similar about books discounted to 99 cents: the author, for example, has told me their book(s) will be discounted for a particular day and I set the posts up in advance. The same issue that can cause titles to not be free can also apply to the discounting for a particular day. Please make sure you verify the pricing on the Amazon website before you click the “buy” button.

Hope that helps!

Michael

 

I last posted this tip in 2016, but with the millions of new Kindles purchased over the years I thought it a good time to post it again…

 

How are you protecting your Kindle?

I’m not talking about what I call the obvious – for example, not leaving it out on a table unattended or on your car seat where a person with sticky fingers can grab it and all of a sudden you have a Kindle that has legs. I am assuming you would guard it like you do your purse or wallet, a laptop or camera, or anything else you have several hundred dollars invested in.

What if you left your Kindle in a cab, plane, or just plain can’t remember where you left it? I like to assume there are more good people than bad in the world out there and someone would attempt to return it to you – would that someone know how to return it to you? I read an article a while ago posted online about how a reporter found a Kindle in a cab, and was only able to determine the owner’s name was John – that’s all.

You would hope someone would know how to check the settings and get your personal information, or maybe you have done something like put a label on the back with the way(s) to contact you. However, if a non-Kindle owner were to find it, they may not know how to check the settings, etc.

Is your contact information in the Kindle?

You could put a label with the same information on the back of your Kindle (I did for each one), as well as on the inside flap of the Kindle cover (if you have a cover) and a person could theoretically figure out who the owner was without knowing how to turn the thing on. I guess you could also get one of those engravers and engrave your information on the Kindle – but I wouldn’t recommend that as who knows what all of the vibration, etc., that occurs while etching the information will do to the Kindle’s computer insides: the last thing you want to do is “kill” your Kindle while trying to protect it!

Here’s a way to identify your Kindle to make it easier to be returned to you – for all Kindles including the Kindle Fire – and the only thing the “finder” has to do is power it up or activate the wake screen by opening up the cover: change the name of your Kindle.

For example, if I named mine “Michael’s Kindle” that will show up in the top left-hand corner of my Kindle or Kindle Fire when I turn it on and am at the Home screen. However, I’ve changed that to “Michael xxx-xxx-xxxx” where the X’s are my telephone number; if you do change it and have a cell phone and are worried about personal security, you may want to change it to your cell vs. your home telephone number. Seems like a simple solution to return what is yours!

Here is how you do it with an e-Ink Kindle (I just walked through the steps with my Kindle Oasis):

1. Tap the top portion of your screen to show the menu options.
2. Tap “Settings.”
3. Tap “All Settings.”
4. Tap “Your Account.”
5. Tap “Device Name.”
6. A new popup will appear, and you can edit the name. Tapping here will also display the keyboard.
7. Type in what you want to name your Kindle and, when complete, tap the “Save” icon.

 

Here is how you do it for a Fire Tablet:

1. Swipe down from the middle / top area of the screen to open up the menu items.
2. Tap the “Settings” option.
3. Under the “Device” menu, tap the “Device Options” line-item.
4. Select the “Change Your Device Name” option.

1. A popup for Device Name will appear and you will see what your Kindle is currently named (for example, Michael’s Kindle). Just use the keyboard to type in whatever you want, and click submit.  As I mentioned above, I did “Michael xxx-xxx-xxxx” where the X’s are my telephone number.
2. Once you’re finished, tap select the “Save” option.

 

If you were unable to change the name of your Kindle or Fire Tablet using the above instructions, have multiple Kindles and want to manage the names at one time or place, here is how you can do it using your computer for any version of Kindle you have registered to your account:

1. Using your web browser, go to the “Manage Your Content and Devices” page of the Amazon website at http://amazon.com/myk – you may need to log in with your Amazon email address and password to proceed past this screen.
2. On the top part of the screen, select the “Devices” option.
3. A new screen will appear, listing all of the registered Amazon devices on your account.  Select the “Fire Tablet” icon – or any of the types of Amazon devices – to open up a new screen.
4. Select any of the devices listed
5. Clicking one will open up a new page with the “Device Summary.”
6. Click the “Edit” link to the right of the current name.
7. Type in whatever name you want for your Fire Tablet, then click the “Save” icon.

You’re done! If, for example, you changed your Kindle’s name to “Michael 123-555-1212” that will now show up in the top left-hand corner of your Kindle on the next time it synchronizes with the Amazon server.

Hope that helps!

Michael

 

Last week, I had a post about using your Kindle while in the bathtub – you can click here to read it again or in case you missed it – that generated several emails.

Most of the comments seemed to question my judgment / sanity, as they believe there is not enough electricity / juice in the Kindle to electrocute you in the event the Kindle does fall into the tub while you are in it; some people even said you were safe to lick the power terminals of the Kindle with your tongue and you would be ok (side note – I actually had that specific type of reply.  Nothing has ever made me want to stop what I was doing in my day to say “this seems like a great afternoon to go lick the electrical points on my Kindle.  Anyone want to come over and join me?”)

I will preface my next comment with the disclaimer I am not an electrician.  For all of you who said and emailed me it was perfectly ok to be in the tub while a powered-on Kindle was submerged with you, to each their own – but do you really want to test that theory with your life?

Have a great rest of your week-

Michael

 

Are you receiving our posts for free by email? You can if you click here or type in https://www.fkbt.com/subscribe into your web browser – just fill in your email address, smack the “Subscribe” button, and make sure you click the link in the confirmation email!

 

I posted something similar about six years ago, but the mail bag has had people asking similar questions several times over the last few weeks…

 

From the title of this header, I’m sure some of you are scratching your heads.  I have heard of people reading their Kindles while sitting in the bathtub (maybe you are one of the ones that are allegedly waterproof), using a variety of methods such as enclosing the Kindle in a Ziploc bag (for one of the older model Kindles) as well as having the Kindle enclosed in one of the waterproof cases I have seen on the Amazon website.

While the waterproof cases seem a little inconvenient and many are expensive  and seems like a good solution if you are so inclined, I wouldn’t recommend reading your Kindle in the bathtub, pool , or shower trusting your life to it being enclosed securely in a Ziploc bag.  If you wonder why I say that, just think of how dangerous it is to blow dry your hair while sitting in the bathtub – hopefully, you don’t do that – as it can kill you: if the electronics, and the electricity contained in them, get into the water and you are in the water you could die.  And for you naysayers, it only takes one volt to kill you.

Death is obviously forever, and I can’t think of any book I would absolutely have to read while sitting in the bathtub that could jeopardize my life while reading it in a Ziploc bag.  Besides, I take showers!

I bring this up as I received a note from a blog reader wanting to know if I knew of a cure for a Kindle that had been dropped in the bathtub.  You could try drying it out in a bag filled with dry white rice and see if it resurrects your Kindle – that sometimes works on cell phones, but not when I was pushed one time into the pool and it fried my one-week old new cell phone – but I wouldn’t hold out much hope.

I think your best bet would be to call Amazon’s Kindle customer service and tell them what happened, as I have heard numerous stories of Amazon offering a replacement Kindle for half price.  The only “catch” is after you receive the replacement Kindle you have to return the damaged unit.  That 50% off replacement policy may not be valid today, but it is certainly worth a try.

Good luck!

Michael

Are you receiving our posts for free by email? You can if you click here or type in https://www.fkbt.com/subscribe into your web browser – just fill in your email address, smack the “Subscribe” button, and make sure you click the link in the confirmation email!

 

Here’s a quick reminder – if I or anyone else tells you about a book being offered for free or discounted on the Amazon Kindle website and you are interested, please jump on it immediately. Don’t wait a few days or even a couple of hours, or you may see the book being offered for sale vs. what you thought was free! I’ve seen it happen many times over the years.

Why does that happen? Sometimes there is a glitch to the Amazon system, an author may have forgot to set the book’s promotion on the Amazon website, or who knows?

Bottom line here is don’t wait – log on to the website frequently (www.fkbt.com) or check your email shortly after 8:00 a.m. Central time for the daily digest if you are subscribed to the free daily email. Grab them now as once the book is yours, no matter if you paid nothing or $9.99 for a book, it is yours forever!

I should say something similar about books discounted to 99 cents: the author, for example, has told me their book(s) will be discounted for a particular day and I set the posts up in advance. The same issue that can cause titles to not be free can also apply to the discounting for a particular day. Please make sure you verify the pricing on the Amazon website before you click the “buy” button.

Hope that helps!

Michael

 

I am going to set this message up to go out every couple of months: if you’ve seen it before and know what I’m talking about, or if you’re just plain ‘ole tired of seeing it don’t worry – I’ll be back with a new post soon.

There seems to be a Kindle problem for a lot of folks – that is, what do you need to do if (a) your Kindle or Fire Tablet freezes up, or (b) you’ve ordered a book, app or anything else and it never seems to download.

You may need to write this down, or try to memorize it, because if it happens to you I’m willing to bet you won’t remember unless you’ve reset your Kindle a few times!

If this happens to you, you will need to reboot your Kindle.

Here is how you reboot an e-Ink Kindle:

1. Click the “Home” button to get back to your home screen.
2. Click the “Menu” button, and select “Settings.”
3. You will see several options, but “reboot” is not one of those options. Press the “Menu” button again.
4. You will have several options, but choose and click the “Restart” button.
5. Alternatively, some Kindles are different – say the Paperwhite. Use the same instructions for the Kindle Fire below.

Here is how you reboot a Fire Tablet:

1. Press and hold the power button for 20 seconds, then release the power button.
2. The Fire will turn off.
3. After the Fire has turned off, press the power button once and release it to restart the Fire.

Once you reboot your Kindle or Fire Tablet, it could take about 1-2 minutes to reboot. Make sure your wireless is on, and the Kindle will go look in the Amazon store to see what is pending to be downloaded and viola! You should be back in business. If you ever need to restart your Kindle, I hope this helps!

Michael

 

Are you receiving the blog’s posts by email? You can if you click here or type in http://www.fkbt.com/subscribe into your web browser – just fill in your email address, smack the “Subscribe” button, and make sure you reply to the confirmation email!

Have you ever had your Kindle (or Fire) screen “freeze” or become unresponsive? It can happen for a variety of reasons, but the probable cause is a low battery.

If this happens to you, try the simple step of plugging it into your charger for a few minutes; although it may sound obvious, please make sure the charging indicator light is on. That should do it but, if it doesn’t, there is one more thing you can do before you break down and either smack your Kindle or call Amazon’s Kindle Customer Service: try resetting it. To reset it at this point, slide (or press, as appropriate for your Kindle or Fire) and hold the power switch for 30 seconds or longer then release it.

Your Kindle should then spend a little bit of time resetting, and you should be back in business! If not, unfortunately, it is probably worth a call to Amazon’s Kindle Customer Service department.

A friend of mine’s Paperwhite recently had a screen freeze and it was fairly frustrating as she was in the middle of a book, and a simple reset as described above fixed the issue. Yes, I was the customer service phone call in this case….

Hope that helps!

Michael

 

Are you receiving our posts for free by email? You can if you click here or type in http://www.fkbt.com/subscribe into your web browser – just fill in your email address, smack the “Subscribe” button, and make sure you click the link within the confirmation email!