Tw Ice Read Tales

Archive for the ‘kindle books’ Category

While the Kindle wireless reading device lets you carry literally hundreds of e-books, newspapers, and magazines anywhere you go, your Kindle is actually pretty picky about the types of documents it will let you read. Free e-books, articles, white papers, and other documents you might wish to read on your Kindle are everywhere on the Internet. The problem is that they are not in a format that is “Kindle-friendly.”

The Kindle “naively” supports the following document formats -

Kindle documents (.azw)

Text documents (.txt)

Mobi Reader documents (.mobi or .prc)

But, if you have a document you wish to read on your Kindle that is in another format – for example = a free e-book that is an Adobe Reader (.pdf) file or a Microsoft Word (.doc) file then you have to convert it to the proper format for use on your Kindle. Fortunately this is not something that is hard to do.

Amazon has a service for which they charge a nominal amount allowing you to convert documents such as .pdf (Adobe Acrobat Reader) files to Kindle files. To do this you must first have an active Kindle e-mail address. You can make sure you are set-up with a Kindle e-mail address by visiting the “Manage Your Kindle” section of the Amazon web site. Typically, your Kindle e-mail address will be “yourusername@kindle.com”.

1. Make sure the document you want to convert is in one of the following formats

Microsoft Word (.doc)

HTML (.html)

Adobe Acrobat Reader (.pdf)

2. Check to be sure the file is not “protected.” This can occur with e-books you have purchased with DRM (digital rights management) restrictions. You also might have documents that include passwords or other means to restrict access. You will not be able to convert these files.

3. Create an e-mail to your Kindle e-mail address and attach the file you wish to read on your Kindle.

4. Send the e-mail – Amazon will convert the document and send it to your Kindle via the wireless connection.

5. The cost for this service is $.10 (ten cents) per document.

If you want to convert your document at no charge, or are in an area where you cannot access the Kindle’s wireless service you can do so with a slight change in the steps above.

Rather than send the e-mail with the attached document to your Kindle e-mail address send it to “yourusername@free.kindle.com”. Amazon will convert the document and send it back to the originating e-mail address. When you get the e-mail back from Amazon you can transfer the document to your Kindle using the USB cable connected to your computer.

It’s as simple as that!

A few important things to remember. First, as stated above, if the files you wish to convert have any sort of DRM (digital rights management) restrictions then the file won’t be converted. Also – this is an “experimental” service for Amazon. Documents with complex formatting, or certain .pdf files, may not convert as expected. While this may not prevent you from reading the document, it will make it a bit more difficult to navigate through and around your e-book.

Congratulations! Now you know how you can quickly convert e-books in Microsoft Word, HTML, and Adobe Acrobat Reader format to “Kindle-friendly” e-books. This process can help you add a lot of great content to your Kindle wireless reading device.

The Kindle brought popularity back into ebooks. While there were other ebook readers before the Kindle, this device is the one that made these much more popular. There are common questions that people have about their Kindle devices.

Can you download your Kindle ebooks again?

If you have an account, you are allowed to download these books multiple times. This helps you have them on your phone, computer, or other versions of the Kindle that you choose to purchase. There isn’t a mechanism that locks the ebook to just one device. This makes it nice because you can share with others without too much trouble.

Do Kindle ebooks work with the Sony Reader?

While it would be nice to have these devices work together, they do not. Each have formats that only work on their own devices. Once you start heavily investing into one type of format, you are probably going to have to stick with that company since your library is being built with that company. This gives the company control over their product and makes them more money in the long run.

Can you print out Kindle books?

It’s not possible to print out these books. These are supposed to be electronic. The Kindle reader looks like paper so it is easy on the eyes. While it would be nice to have a printed copy, this is not what the point of these types of products are. I believe most books are already in print which would defeat the purpose of the Kindle reader.

Are there any extra costs associated with the Kindle?

Once you have the device, the only real costs are the costs of the books that you purchased. You are not charged for bandwidth while downloading books or installing files to the device. This is a nice feature since there aren’t any other monthly fees.

What other devices can you read a Kindle book on?

Besides the actual devices, there are phones and computers that you can read books on. There is a free application that can be downloaded to have these books on your PC. If you want to read on your screen, this is an option to consider since there is no cost for the reader. Being able to use your PC is a plus if you have bad vision. This way you can enlarge the print to help with the reading.

The Kindle device has made ebooks popular. Learn some answers to many common questions about these books and devices. This has helped children get back into reading again. Help those young minds to learn more and have fun doing it.