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Libraries
& Kindles
Self
Publishing - Amazon
e-Book Program
Shop:
at
Amazon
Kindle
Info & Resources
Thanks to everyone who posted these notes on the Kindle
discussion forum. For privacy sake, I am not listing your
Kindle IDs. But you know who you are.
Two important blogs: I
strongly recommend these two blogs for all Kindle readers, but especially
for new Kindle readers. They offer a wealth of information. You can read
them online for free but it is much easier to subscribe on your Kindle and
read them there. No need to keep checking for updates. They will
automatically appear on your Kindle home page.
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Where to get books
Guttenberg:
20,000 or so titles - mostly classics or things that no longer
have copyrite. Multiple languages. There are links to other sites
that boast a total of 100k titles. ***, ****
FreeKindleBooks
This is a site that has mostly Gutenberg books in a kindle ready
format.
Worldlibrary:
400,000 titles - classics, modern, government, multiple languages,
many are free. Requires $8.95 yearly subscription fee, consider it
the cost of a library card.*, ***, ****
FictionWise:
offers both unencrypted and encrypted .mobi files. Full range of
reading and many free books as well. *, **, ****
MobiPocket: lots
of titles, most you can find on amazon.com in the Kindle section
for less.
WebScriptions:
This is Baen books and mostly SiFi. None are encrypted, many are
free, and can be transferred directly to your Kindle. Choose
Kindle compatible for the download. ****
Wowio: uses .pdf format.
**, You will need to register and can download up to three books a
day, free. Only available to people in the US, due to copyright
and licensing restrictions.
FictionPress:
900,000 Mostly original works, as in unknown, normally unpublished
authors. Some good, some not, take your chances, you may discover
the next JK Rowling. Displays in text. Cut, paste and email to
yourself, or save in .txt file and upload.
ManyBooks: 20,000
titles or so. Has a Kindle format. ***, ****
Mnybks: an extension of
Manybooks above, but if you access it through the basic WebBrowser
in Kindle, you can download directly to your Kindle, the way you
would an Amazon book. Choose the Mobipocket format.
FeedBooks: Share
books, self published books and a make it yourself newspaper. With
a little manipulation of the tools below, you can get your own
newspaper, you could probably even directly email it to your
Kindle in the morning if you allow that site to send you stuff.
You will need to register, but there is no cost. There is now a
"Kindle Download Guide" from www.feedbooks.com includes
links to many classics, including many in foreign languages.
Ccel: Christian centered
works. Available in pdf, word, and text, all readily transferable
to your Kindle.
Munseys: About 25,000 books,
classic and contemporary. Download in a variety of formats.
* They save as .pdf files that you can email to your Kindle. It
sees the .pdf as a file of words, not pictures of words, so it can
be resized and adjusted just as any other ebook. Download the book
to your PC, and email that file to your Kendle, or username@free.kendle.com
and load through the USB cable if you want to save the 10 cent
conversion charge. (but they have not started charging yet anyway)
** For the encrypted ones in .mobi, a tool can be used to allow
the kindle to see it. This tool does not make a copy of the book,
merely adds a flag so that the Kendle can display it (it would be
hard to call this a violation of copywrite or use conditions since
both formats are amazon's). The tool and directions on how to use
it are at: http://igorsk.blogspot.com/2007/12/mobipo
cket-books-on-kindle.html
*** Site runs on donations
**** Can be downloaded directly to your Kindle when it is plugged
in as an external storeage device, simply specify the Kindle
folder when selecting where to put your book.
Etextbooks, other than from Amazon. Most are in PDF
format
Getting books to your Kindle
- Buy it from Amazon from your PC. You can either send to your Kindle with
whispernet or send
it to your computer and download it to your PC via USB cable.
- Some of the free websites will send it directly to your kindle the same
way Amazon does with whispernet. Feedbooks, Manybooks, &
some Project Gutenberg.
- Download to your computer from a website, and, if it is in a Kindle recognized
format, put it on your Kindle via USB cable.
- if NOT in a Kindle recognized format
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Send to Amazon
via the (yourkindlename)@kindle.com to have them convert
it and send it wirelessly to your Kindle. There is a
minimal cost for this. (around 25 cents)
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Send it to Amazon via the (yourkindlename)@free.kindle.com
to have them convert it, send it to your home e-mail,
and you put it on your kindle via USB cable.
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Use one of the conversion programs out there yourself and then transfer
it to your kindle via USB cable for free.
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Some
programs to convert eBooks to Kindle format
- Stanza was developed
primarily as an e-book reader for the iPhone. It reads most of
the common e-book formats (about 24 file formats). There's a
"desktop" version for Windows and Mac, which also has
the capability to export a book to just about any format,
including Kindle (azw). Converts MS Word (doc), Rich Text Format
(rtf), HTML, text, and PDF files to Kindle format and move them
to a Kindle over the USB cable. How well Stanza does the
conversion depends on how well the original file is formatted.
Some files get turned into a huge block of text with no line
ends; some have "hard" line ends so when they're
converted there are breaks in the middle of
paragraphs.
- MobpiPocket Creator will
convert text, HTML, MS Word and PDF files to MobiPocket (prc)
format, which can be read on the Kindle. As with Stanza.
conversion success also depends on how well the original file is
formatted, but sometimes Creator does a better job than Stanza.
If you find a non-encrypted file in another format (Microsoft
Reader, etc), you can use Stanza to convert it to a format that
Creator can handle and then use Creator to convert it to prc
format. Get it at
- Calibre is an e-book manager
and conversion program. A lot of people say it's great; Some
have said it is a lot more cumbersome to use than Stanza or
Creator. But it does have the advantage of being open source and
available for Windows, Mac and Linux.
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Book
Reviews - to help you find some
good reading
visits as of 7/2/09
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