Any further questions? Ask the shrimp! ([info]txvoodoo) wrote,
2011-01-01 13:12:00
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The (promised) Mega Kindle Info Post!

I promised a Kindle post, and a Kindle post you shall get!

Special Feature!
I've converted this post into a Kindle-readable document, which you can download HERE and put on your Kindle :) (right-click and Save As)

Where to find free books for the Kindle:

  • InkMesh - they link to all Kindle books that are priced $0 for promotional or other reasons
  • ManyBooks - public domain books formatted for the Kindle, and accessible via the Kindle's internet connection
  • Project Gutenberg. There's a mobile format you can access via your Kindle's web browser here
  • Google E-bookstore - Kindle 2, 3 & DX can read PDFs, which are available at this link
  • Internet Archive - old, rare, out-of-print books
  • Open Library
  • Products tagged "Kindle Freebie" on Amazon - note, some of these will show up as NOT free, becaue the free offering was a limited promotional thingie. Most are free.
  • Amazon's Free eBook Collections - Free classics and out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books, as well as limited-time free promotional ebooks available for Kindle
  • Books on the Knob - a blog for free Kindle book news, and other Kindle news
  • Baen Free Library - as mentioned by [info]rackham in the comments: "Another good source of free Science Fiction books that will work on the Kindle is Baen. They have many books from various authors available in the Baen Free Library. The books are generally the first one or two in a series."


Important Kindle Links:


Useful Kindle Links:

  • KindleBoards - an active Kindle user forum
  • IReaderReview - a frequently updated Kindle blog - great info
  • EduKindle - a Kindle (and other ereader) blog targeted towards educators (This is a really interesting post about an organization called CK12, which is offering free e-textbooks for various devices)
  • The Kindle Chronicles - a weekly podcast on all things Kindle by Len Edgerly, who's very knowledgable. (Follow him on twitter!)
  • Instapaper - Instapaper is a great service - you install a bookmarklet on your web browser,and if you find a long article you want to read, you click the bookmarklet. It saves the article to your Instapaper account, and, once you've configured it, will send that to your Kindle's email address. (see this link for more info after you set up an Instapaper account)
  • Give Kindle Books as Gifts - this is relatively new!
  • KindleFeeder - lets you aggregate your favorite feeds and have them delivered to your Kindle in a convenient, easy-to-navigate format. Kindlefeeder also lets you save individual webpages and have them delivered to your Kindle along with your feeds. There's a free version, and a paid version with more features.
  • NEW! Kindlebility - From its FAQ:
    • Kindlebility sends articles on the web to your Kindle.
    • It needs your Kindle email address (@free.kindle.com addresses are fine).
    • I don’t store your Kindle address or use it for anything else.

    It works via a bookmarklet. The FAQ page has more info on the nitty-gritty.


Conversion Tools:

  • Calibre: highly recommended. It can look intimidating at first, but it's mostly drag-and-drop. You can use its most basic function of converting from almost any format to almost any format, but it also has tons of other functions, including RSS capabilities, managing your ebook library, de-drming Kindle books (see here, comment #10, to download tools & some Calibre plugins to do this. Note: I can only offer VERY LIMITED help on this myself. I do remove DRM from most of my own books, in order to have a backup in case of Amazon disappearing catastrophe.)
  • Mobipocket Creator - Not as comprehensive as Calibre, but pretty good. NOTE: if you download and install this, you'll get a choice between installing the "Home Edition" and the "Publisher Edition" during the installation process. Choose "Publisher Edition" - it gives you far more options. I used to use this exclusively, until I switched to Calibre. 95% of the time, Calibre works for me. Sometimes it doesn't, though, and this is a good backup. Here's a page with instructions on using Creator.
  • RetroRead - a web-based service that will convert Google Books epubs to Kindle format.
  • If you find yourself having trouble converting ePubs to Mobi format, take a look at this software.
  • If you have questions about Calibre, the software's author answers questions on this thread on the MobileRead forums very promptly and helpfully.
  • FanfictionDownloader is a Windows and a web-based tool for grabbing fanfic from fanfiction.com, fanficauthors.net and www.squidge.org/~peja and converting to various ebook formats, including .Mobi (Kindle). (Note: the Windows version requires that Calibre is installed on your system).


Create & Sell Your Own Kindle Books and Blog:


Links to Use/Bookmark ON Your Kindle:


Kindle and Dropbox - A Marriage Made in Heaven:
I mentioned up above I'd further elaborate on Dropbox with the Kindle. Say you've read all this, you're converting books to Kindle format, etc etc, you don't want to STORE them all on your Kindle. Enter Dropbox. Set yourself up an account, and you can put your books there.

Now, there are other tricks you can do with Kindle & Dropbox:


Misc. Q & A
Q: Can you Tweet with the Kindle?
A: Yes! Either by using the mobile site linked above, or, after you've set it up in your Kindle's setup menu, while reading a book - you can highlight some text, and share it via twitter.

Q: Can I lend my Amazon Kindle books to a friend?
A: Before last week (Dec 2010), the answer was no. The answer is now yes! Here's Amazon's page on how to do it, and the rules of it. Note that you can only loan a book once, while it's loaned out, you can't read it yourself, and that not all books have been approved for lending by their publishers. Here's a place where people are gathering to find/loan books to each other.
NOTE: You can add up to 5 other trusted people to share your Amazon Kindle library with

Q: Can I read comics on the Kindle?
A: Well, remember it IS grey-scale. That said, see this Lifehacker article

Q: I am in the US - can I buy books from Amazon UK? (Or vice versa?)
A: Read this thread and this thread on the MobileRead forums.

Miscellaneous:


If you're gonna buy a Kindle and want to throw some affiliate money my way:

And if you want to buy any books for your new Kindle, or a cover:




If you have any questions, or links of your own to share, please let me know! I'll try and answer as many questions as I can.

Also, feel free to link people to this post.
Tags: kindle

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[info]pluckygirl

January 1 2011, 19:15:50 UTC 1 year ago

OMG SO GOING TO USE THIS IN THE UPCOMING DAYS!!! LOVE YOU!!! Hope you have a wonderful New Year hun!!!

[info]bibliotech

January 1 2011, 19:16:06 UTC 1 year ago

+1000 for this! I love it, love it, love it! This will replace 99% of all the scattered Kindle links in my bookmarks--I can just come here for everything now!

[info]outoftime

January 1 2011, 19:19:56 UTC 1 year ago

Eeee! Thank you! I am already in deep love with my Kindle and never want to read a physical book again. :P

[info]denrito

January 1 2011, 19:29:22 UTC 1 year ago

I don't have a kindle yet, but thanks for putting this together :)

[info]outoftime

January 1 2011, 19:43:23 UTC 1 year ago

Oh, and can I recommend:

ereaderiq.com where you can sign up for notifications for when specific Kindle books you want go down in price an amount you set?

Also, the Deal of the Day on Kindle

Student Deal of the Day

And a thread on Amazon for discounted books

[info]sockkpuppett

January 1 2011, 19:45:12 UTC 1 year ago

I don't have a Kindle yet, but Liza starts work at Amazon in January, so I foresee a GREAT birthday present.

*bookmarks*

[info]aknockout

January 1 2011, 19:48:43 UTC 1 year ago

I'm considering saving up for a Kindle. This is super helpful and you're awesome.

[info]mirabile_dictu

January 1 2011, 20:02:18 UTC 1 year ago

This is fantastic and I've bookmarked it. I'd also like to share this fabulous site -- unfortunately, it's for older Kindles, but it has so improved my mother's life:

https://sites.google.com/a/etccreations.com/kdesignworks/

This guy created hacks for Kindle fonts so for people with low vision (very low for my mother; she is legally blind) she can still read books. It's great because her arthritis made it difficult to hold a large-print book, and the font is even bigger than in large-print. I love this guy so much for what he's done. Mother can only see about the size of a postage stamp, but with a bright light, her Kindle DX, and the hack, she can still read the latest best sellers.

Very soon I'll get a Kindle for myself and will come back to this wonderful resource. Thank you, Lisa.

[info]wwowie

January 1 2011, 21:12:14 UTC 1 year ago

Very nice comprehensive post!

Would you consider a ReadItLater mention next to Instapaper? In case there's anyone like me that's already using RIL? :)

[info]txvoodoo

January 1 2011, 21:36:56 UTC 1 year ago

Does RiL have the same kind of Kindle integration/portability?

I'll admit I started by using both for, well, reading things later, but when InstaPaper implemented the Kindle thing, and then its awesome iPad app, I just switched over to that entirely.

[info]wwowie

1 year ago

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[info]txvoodoo

1 year ago

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[info]wwowie

1 year ago

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[info]txvoodoo

1 year ago

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[info]wwowie

1 year ago

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[info]txvoodoo

1 year ago

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[info]fenchurche

January 1 2011, 21:27:59 UTC 1 year ago

Thank you so much! I knew about a lot of those links, but not all of them.

[info]rackham

January 1 2011, 21:43:36 UTC 1 year ago

Hi -- this is [info]fenchurche's hubby.

Another good source of free Science Fiction books that will work on the Kindle is Baen. They have many books from various authors available in the Baen Free Library (http://www.baen.com/library/). The books are generally the first one or two in a series.

Also available is the Baen CD collection (http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/). These CDs have been distributed with the first hardcover editions of several books from Baen and include DRM free copies of books from the series containing the novel that the CD was released with. They are licensed for copying and sharing.

If you're looking for DRM-free content Webscriptions (the site that hosts the Free Library) releases all their books DRM free and have book bundles for very attractive prices.

[info]txvoodoo

January 1 2011, 22:18:55 UTC 1 year ago

Thank you! I knew I'd (inevitably) forget to add some links in and that wonderful people would come along and add them :D

[info]at__aphelion

January 1 2011, 23:59:03 UTC 1 year ago

Fantastic post, thanks!

Urban Threads has a tutorial to make a really beautiful Kindle cover. Actually, they use a Nook in the instructions, but it would be very easy to make for the Kindle instead. http://www.urbanthreads.com/pages?id=672

[info]txvoodoo

January 2 2011, 00:01:48 UTC 1 year ago

Dunno why LJ screened that :D But thank you!!

[info]kungfucarrie

January 2 2011, 00:33:12 UTC 1 year ago

This is fantastic! Just got my kindle as a xmas gift and this is so useful!

(Got here via [info]kindledfans FYI)

Cheers!

[info]stoney321

January 2 2011, 01:07:13 UTC 1 year ago

AWESOME. THANK YOU!

[info]txvoodoo

January 2 2011, 01:10:06 UTC 1 year ago

You're very welcome :D

[info]jewelsong

January 2 2011, 01:11:42 UTC 1 year ago

Have treated myself to a Kindle - the spiffy new version with 3G and lighted case. Thanks for this - I am sure it will come in handy!

[info]txvoodoo

January 2 2011, 01:14:11 UTC 1 year ago

Glad to help! Enjoy your new obsession toy ;)

[info]kouredios

January 2 2011, 03:18:00 UTC 1 year ago

Thanks!

[info]gblvr

January 2 2011, 03:46:07 UTC 1 year ago

This post is amazing! I wish I'd known about it when I first got my Kindle! Thank you!

I do have a question -- do you know if there is anyway to change the screen savers on the Kindle 2?

[info]txvoodoo

January 2 2011, 03:51:03 UTC 1 year ago

You're welcome!

Hack for Kindle screensavers: http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Visual_Kindle_Guide#Kindle_Screen_Saver_Hacks

:)

[info]gblvr

1 year ago

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[info]kinstant

January 2 2011, 04:48:07 UTC 1 year ago

additions to Kinstant

Thanks for the suggestions on Dropbox and Livejournal. Can a Livejournal blog actually be displayed as a mobile version, or are we just talking about the ability to post?

[info]txvoodoo

January 2 2011, 15:39:03 UTC 1 year ago

Re: additions to Kinstant

YOu can actually read them! They're rather barebones, but they work :D YOu can also read your f-list.

[info]leslieo54

January 2 2011, 05:28:31 UTC 1 year ago

Wow - this is amazingly comprehensive and so very welcome - thanks so much for all your hard work in putting it together. I have no idea how long it's going to take me to try most of this stuff, but I'm sure I will eventually... :-)

[info]gumiho

January 2 2011, 08:53:48 UTC 1 year ago

<3

[info]partbird

January 2 2011, 09:34:48 UTC 1 year ago

Thank you so much for this post!

[info]proggrrl

January 2 2011, 18:09:31 UTC 1 year ago

Whoa, this is astounding, thanks. Do you mind if I share this link on other book comm's? :)

[info]txvoodoo

January 2 2011, 19:12:00 UTC 1 year ago

Thank you, and yes, that's perfectly fine :)

[info]askmehow

January 3 2011, 00:15:07 UTC 1 year ago

♫ Did you ever know that you're my heeeeeeeeeeeero? ♫

Thank you so much! This is very useful.

[info]beckalex

January 4 2011, 06:43:19 UTC 1 year ago

What's the best way to arrange books series on the kindle? I have various collections set up, but whenever I try to add books to them in a certain order, they always end up out of order.

For example, my preferences are "most recent first" so I put in books 7, 6, 5 of a series (in that order) into a collection. When I checked the collection, they were in the order 5, 7, 6. Then redid my collection and put in books 1, 2, 3 of the series into it and they showed up in the order 3, 2, 1 in my collection.

Is there a way to fix this? This is SO frustrating.

[info]gega_cai

January 5 2011, 21:26:08 UTC 1 year ago

thank you, thank you *tears of gratitude*

[info]txvoodoo

January 5 2011, 21:46:45 UTC 1 year ago

You're very welcome :D
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