kookiegod
11-21-2009, 07:57 PM
I got this from a helpful member of the Kindle community. Haven't bought one YET, but I think I will be now that I got all this information.
Hopefully its useful to someone else.
~Paul
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ok. trying to consolidate a tiny bit of the information from these threads. Mainly how to get information onto your Kindle, and places to download free books from other than Amazon. This is a file I have on my Kindle, so I thought I would share.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are multiple ways to get information onto your Kindle.
1.) buy it from Amazon via your kindle and have it download right then
2.) Buy it from Amazon from your PC. can either send to your Kindle with whispernet or
2b.) send it to your computer and download it to your PC via USB cable. (great for those not in whispernet range.
3.) some of the free websites will send it directly to your kindle the same way Amazon does with whispernet. Feedbooks, Manybooks, some Project Gutenberg... couple others I cannot remember off the top of my head, at no charge.
4.) Download to your computer from a website, and if in a Kindle recognized format put on your Kindle via USB cable
5.) if NOT in a Kindle recognized format, you have a few choices.
5a) Send to Amazon via the (yourkindlename)@kindle.com to have them convert it and send it wirelessly to your Kindle. For the $0.15 charge per MB
5b) 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
5c) Use one of the conversion programs out there yourself and then transfer it to your kindle via USB cable for free.
---
Kurt G. Schumacher says:
Some programs to convert e-books to Kindle format. These are all free programs!
1) 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).
I've used it to convert MS Word (doc), Rich Text Format (rtf), HTML, text, and PDF files to Kindle format and move them to my 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. But it does a pretty good job on most books.
Get Stanza at http://www.lexcycle.com
2) 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 http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft/
3) Calibre is an e-book manager and conversion program. A lot of people say it's great; I tried it but found it to be a lot more cumbersome to use than Stanza or Creator. It does have the advantage of being open source and available for Windows, Mac and Linux.
Get it at http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following started as a thread T.Beck posted on how to download millions of books for free to your Kindle.
All asterisks are explained at the end of the list-
www.gutenberg.org 20,000 or so titles - mostly classics or things that no longer have copyright. Multiple languages. There are links to other sites that boast a total of 100k titles. ***, ****
www.freekindlebooks.org This is a site that has mostly Gutenberg books in a kindle ready format.
www.worldlibrary.net 400,000 titles - classics, modern, government, multiple languages, all the ones I tried were free. Requires $8.95 yearly subscription fee, consider it the cost of a library card.*, ***, ****
www.fictionwise.com offers both unencrypted and encrypted .mobi files. Full range of reading and many free books as well. *, **, ****
www.mobipocket.com lots of titles, most you can find on amazon.com in the Kindle section for less.
www.webscriptions.net This is Baen books and mostly SciFi. None are encrypted, many are free, and can be transferred directly to your Kindle. Choose Kindle compatible for the download. ****
www.wowio.com 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.
www.fictionpress.com 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.
www.manybooks.net 20,000 titles or so. Has a Kindle format. ***, ****
www.mnybks.net - 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.
www.feedbooks.com 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. Update this monthly as new books are added regularly.
www.ccel.org Christian centered works. Available in pdf, word, and text, all readily transferable to your Kindle.
http://www.munseys.com 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 Kindle, or username@free.kendle.com and load through the USB cable if you want to save the 15 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 Kindle can display it (it would be hard to call this a violation of copyright or use conditions since both formats are Amazons). The tool and directions on how to use it are at: http://igorsk.blogspot.com/2007/12/mobipocket-books-on-kindle.html
*** Site runs on donations
**** Can be downloaded directly to your Kindle when it is plugged in as an external storage device, simply specify the Kindle folder when selecting where to put your book.
The following are additions to the list of free sites to download from:
www.cyberread.com
www.blackmask.com
http://www.freekindlebooks.org
http://education-portal.com/articles/40_Places_for_College_Students_to_Find_Free_Unabri dged_Books_Online.html
http://www.free-online-novels.com/index.html
http://www.munseys.com/joomla for download via the web browser
http://www.boysbooks.org
http://www.librivox.org for free audio books
http://www.Booksie.com
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/vampires/pda/index.shtml [get the prc version]
http://kindle.sinshoppe.com
http://toc.oreilly.com/2008/07/30-oreilly-titles-now-available-as-ebook-bundles.html
http://www.Tor.com
http://www.baen.com/library/
http://www.hagenspan.com/books.html
Mobipocket Download Guide is located here:
http://www.mobileread.com/mobiguide
http://www.netlibrary.net/WorldHome.html
http://www.freekindlebooks.org/Bibles/bibles.html
http://www.panamindorah.com/?page_id=80
http://www.robertburtonrobinson.com/free-ebooks-downloads/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle
(Andrys had this information to add in about the above site:
For those who would like to have a Wiki article on your Kindle but formatted for the Kindle, EduKindle (by Will DeLamater) created "Kindlepedia" at
- http://www.edukindle.com/downloads/kindlepedia/
He explains it at that page:
"Create your own Kindle-formatted articles from Wikipedia by inserting the URL from the page you want to format from Wikipedia and press the button. A link to the formatted article will appear; just click on it to download to your computer. Then drag the file into the documents folder on your Kindle using the USB cord." )
Edited: 6/22/09 to add:
to put information from forum posts, select/copy/paste the information into a document and then you are at choice #5 at the beginning of this thread for how to get the info onto your Kindle.
Your reply to B. Tackitt's post:
To insert a product link use the format: [[ASIN:ASIN product-title]] (What's this?)
You are already tracking this discussion.
Receive e-mail when new posts are made
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Reply to this post
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7 of 8 people think this post adds to the discussion. Do you?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted on May 15, 2009 5:25 PM PDT
Last edited by the author on Jul 8, 2009 10:06 AM PDT
B. Tackitt says:
Edit 7/8/09
If you like to use Wikipedia you can now send Wiki articles to your kindle as a .mobi document
http://www.edukindle.com/downloads/kindlepedia/
Etextbooks other than from Amazon can be found in the following places:
Most are in PDF format.
http://textbooks.vitalsource.com/
http://www.ichapters.com/market/index.html#
http://www.coursesmart.com/students
http://www.freeloadpress.com/students.html
http://www.cafescribe.com/
http://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?BODY=browse&BROWSE=textbooks&m=1
http://www.textbooks.com/custserv-ebooks.php
http://www.ichapters.com
http://www.follettbooks.com/fb3/ebooksMain.jsp
Edit 6/10/09
adding in
http://www.mobilereference.com
A great place to get quickstudy guides. I downloaded the following there and they work great on my K1 (even the graphics are simple enough for it.):
MEDICAL ILLUSTRATED STUDY GUIDES COLLECTION 25 subject-books for only $139.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edit 6/15/2009:
Bufo Calvin wrote some great info to help with reading the Amazon community Kindle forums:
Bufo Calvin says:
* Anyone can read the forum, but you have to have an Amazon account to post
* The forum shows us the last 1023 discussions to which posts have been made. After that, they fall off the list, but they still exist. If you bookmarked them, you can post to them and bring them back
* The discussions are in the order of the most recent ones to get a post showing first. When you post to a thread, it "bumps" to the top...except for "sticky" threads from Amazon, which can't get bumped
* You can choose to "ignore this customer". If you do that, posts from that customer will not be shown to you...unless you click on them. Also, you will not receive an e-mail if a person you are ignoring posts to a thread you are tracking
* You can rate a post as to whether or not you think it adds to the discussion. If enough people say no, the post will hide from everybody (unless someone choose to view it). It will show you how many people voted that way
* You can see the beginning of a thread without opening it. Hover over the down arrow to the left of the thread title (put your mouse over it, but don't click on it). You'll see the first few posts, have an option to see them all, and see a count of participants
* There is a limit of 10,000 posts to a discussion. After that, you can't post to it any more (which means it will eventually fall off the "recently posted to" list)
* Normally, when you post to a thread, you are taken back to the top of the list (which can be annoying if you were working your way back through the pages). If you reply to a post instead, you will stay where you were. You could also use your browser's back arrow a couple of times
* When you reply to a post, there will be a link in your post to the earlier one. People can click on it to have the earlier post displayed, without being taken back to it
* You can jump right to the last page, page 41, after you click Show all discussions. I also call page 41 "Dead Threads Walking". These are about to fall off the list
* You can also jump to whatever page you want, after you've clicked on a page number. For example, after you go to page 2, look at the URL in your address bar. The past part will be Page=2. Just change that number to another number and hit enter. Page=20 would jump you back to page 20...handy when you are looking for something maybe a week ago. This technique also works when you are look at search results for books
* If you want to learn more about a poster, you can hover over the posters name. Click the name, and you'll be taken to that person's profile, which will include any public wish lists, favorite items, and so on
* You can change the "display name" people see. Go to Your Profile (you can click on your own name in a thread where you were the poster). Click Edit Your Profile (you'll probably have to sign in)
* You can choose to receive an e-mail whenever a thread gets a new post (except from someone you are ignoring...see above). There is a checkbox in the entry area at the bottom for a new post
* You can edit your posts later. You can not edit the name of the thread
* There are posting guidelines..there is a link in your bottom right corner when you go to post. If you don't follow these guidelines, Amazon may delete your posts and can ban you for the forums
* The is the Amazon page about the communities:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200280960
* New to the forum? Try this thread:
http://www.amazon.com/tag/kindle/forum/ref=cm_cd_ef_tft_tp?%5Fencoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1D7SY3BVSESG&asin=B00154JDAI&cdThread=Tx1SJGO2R4Y7SXR
Hopefully its useful to someone else.
~Paul
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ok. trying to consolidate a tiny bit of the information from these threads. Mainly how to get information onto your Kindle, and places to download free books from other than Amazon. This is a file I have on my Kindle, so I thought I would share.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are multiple ways to get information onto your Kindle.
1.) buy it from Amazon via your kindle and have it download right then
2.) Buy it from Amazon from your PC. can either send to your Kindle with whispernet or
2b.) send it to your computer and download it to your PC via USB cable. (great for those not in whispernet range.
3.) some of the free websites will send it directly to your kindle the same way Amazon does with whispernet. Feedbooks, Manybooks, some Project Gutenberg... couple others I cannot remember off the top of my head, at no charge.
4.) Download to your computer from a website, and if in a Kindle recognized format put on your Kindle via USB cable
5.) if NOT in a Kindle recognized format, you have a few choices.
5a) Send to Amazon via the (yourkindlename)@kindle.com to have them convert it and send it wirelessly to your Kindle. For the $0.15 charge per MB
5b) 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
5c) Use one of the conversion programs out there yourself and then transfer it to your kindle via USB cable for free.
---
Kurt G. Schumacher says:
Some programs to convert e-books to Kindle format. These are all free programs!
1) 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).
I've used it to convert MS Word (doc), Rich Text Format (rtf), HTML, text, and PDF files to Kindle format and move them to my 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. But it does a pretty good job on most books.
Get Stanza at http://www.lexcycle.com
2) 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 http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft/
3) Calibre is an e-book manager and conversion program. A lot of people say it's great; I tried it but found it to be a lot more cumbersome to use than Stanza or Creator. It does have the advantage of being open source and available for Windows, Mac and Linux.
Get it at http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following started as a thread T.Beck posted on how to download millions of books for free to your Kindle.
All asterisks are explained at the end of the list-
www.gutenberg.org 20,000 or so titles - mostly classics or things that no longer have copyright. Multiple languages. There are links to other sites that boast a total of 100k titles. ***, ****
www.freekindlebooks.org This is a site that has mostly Gutenberg books in a kindle ready format.
www.worldlibrary.net 400,000 titles - classics, modern, government, multiple languages, all the ones I tried were free. Requires $8.95 yearly subscription fee, consider it the cost of a library card.*, ***, ****
www.fictionwise.com offers both unencrypted and encrypted .mobi files. Full range of reading and many free books as well. *, **, ****
www.mobipocket.com lots of titles, most you can find on amazon.com in the Kindle section for less.
www.webscriptions.net This is Baen books and mostly SciFi. None are encrypted, many are free, and can be transferred directly to your Kindle. Choose Kindle compatible for the download. ****
www.wowio.com 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.
www.fictionpress.com 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.
www.manybooks.net 20,000 titles or so. Has a Kindle format. ***, ****
www.mnybks.net - 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.
www.feedbooks.com 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. Update this monthly as new books are added regularly.
www.ccel.org Christian centered works. Available in pdf, word, and text, all readily transferable to your Kindle.
http://www.munseys.com 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 Kindle, or username@free.kendle.com and load through the USB cable if you want to save the 15 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 Kindle can display it (it would be hard to call this a violation of copyright or use conditions since both formats are Amazons). The tool and directions on how to use it are at: http://igorsk.blogspot.com/2007/12/mobipocket-books-on-kindle.html
*** Site runs on donations
**** Can be downloaded directly to your Kindle when it is plugged in as an external storage device, simply specify the Kindle folder when selecting where to put your book.
The following are additions to the list of free sites to download from:
www.cyberread.com
www.blackmask.com
http://www.freekindlebooks.org
http://education-portal.com/articles/40_Places_for_College_Students_to_Find_Free_Unabri dged_Books_Online.html
http://www.free-online-novels.com/index.html
http://www.munseys.com/joomla for download via the web browser
http://www.boysbooks.org
http://www.librivox.org for free audio books
http://www.Booksie.com
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/vampires/pda/index.shtml [get the prc version]
http://kindle.sinshoppe.com
http://toc.oreilly.com/2008/07/30-oreilly-titles-now-available-as-ebook-bundles.html
http://www.Tor.com
http://www.baen.com/library/
http://www.hagenspan.com/books.html
Mobipocket Download Guide is located here:
http://www.mobileread.com/mobiguide
http://www.netlibrary.net/WorldHome.html
http://www.freekindlebooks.org/Bibles/bibles.html
http://www.panamindorah.com/?page_id=80
http://www.robertburtonrobinson.com/free-ebooks-downloads/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle
(Andrys had this information to add in about the above site:
For those who would like to have a Wiki article on your Kindle but formatted for the Kindle, EduKindle (by Will DeLamater) created "Kindlepedia" at
- http://www.edukindle.com/downloads/kindlepedia/
He explains it at that page:
"Create your own Kindle-formatted articles from Wikipedia by inserting the URL from the page you want to format from Wikipedia and press the button. A link to the formatted article will appear; just click on it to download to your computer. Then drag the file into the documents folder on your Kindle using the USB cord." )
Edited: 6/22/09 to add:
to put information from forum posts, select/copy/paste the information into a document and then you are at choice #5 at the beginning of this thread for how to get the info onto your Kindle.
Your reply to B. Tackitt's post:
To insert a product link use the format: [[ASIN:ASIN product-title]] (What's this?)
You are already tracking this discussion.
Receive e-mail when new posts are made
Guidelines
Reply to this post
Permalink | Report abuse | Ignore this customerStop ignoring customer
7 of 8 people think this post adds to the discussion. Do you?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted on May 15, 2009 5:25 PM PDT
Last edited by the author on Jul 8, 2009 10:06 AM PDT
B. Tackitt says:
Edit 7/8/09
If you like to use Wikipedia you can now send Wiki articles to your kindle as a .mobi document
http://www.edukindle.com/downloads/kindlepedia/
Etextbooks other than from Amazon can be found in the following places:
Most are in PDF format.
http://textbooks.vitalsource.com/
http://www.ichapters.com/market/index.html#
http://www.coursesmart.com/students
http://www.freeloadpress.com/students.html
http://www.cafescribe.com/
http://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?BODY=browse&BROWSE=textbooks&m=1
http://www.textbooks.com/custserv-ebooks.php
http://www.ichapters.com
http://www.follettbooks.com/fb3/ebooksMain.jsp
Edit 6/10/09
adding in
http://www.mobilereference.com
A great place to get quickstudy guides. I downloaded the following there and they work great on my K1 (even the graphics are simple enough for it.):
MEDICAL ILLUSTRATED STUDY GUIDES COLLECTION 25 subject-books for only $139.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edit 6/15/2009:
Bufo Calvin wrote some great info to help with reading the Amazon community Kindle forums:
Bufo Calvin says:
* Anyone can read the forum, but you have to have an Amazon account to post
* The forum shows us the last 1023 discussions to which posts have been made. After that, they fall off the list, but they still exist. If you bookmarked them, you can post to them and bring them back
* The discussions are in the order of the most recent ones to get a post showing first. When you post to a thread, it "bumps" to the top...except for "sticky" threads from Amazon, which can't get bumped
* You can choose to "ignore this customer". If you do that, posts from that customer will not be shown to you...unless you click on them. Also, you will not receive an e-mail if a person you are ignoring posts to a thread you are tracking
* You can rate a post as to whether or not you think it adds to the discussion. If enough people say no, the post will hide from everybody (unless someone choose to view it). It will show you how many people voted that way
* You can see the beginning of a thread without opening it. Hover over the down arrow to the left of the thread title (put your mouse over it, but don't click on it). You'll see the first few posts, have an option to see them all, and see a count of participants
* There is a limit of 10,000 posts to a discussion. After that, you can't post to it any more (which means it will eventually fall off the "recently posted to" list)
* Normally, when you post to a thread, you are taken back to the top of the list (which can be annoying if you were working your way back through the pages). If you reply to a post instead, you will stay where you were. You could also use your browser's back arrow a couple of times
* When you reply to a post, there will be a link in your post to the earlier one. People can click on it to have the earlier post displayed, without being taken back to it
* You can jump right to the last page, page 41, after you click Show all discussions. I also call page 41 "Dead Threads Walking". These are about to fall off the list
* You can also jump to whatever page you want, after you've clicked on a page number. For example, after you go to page 2, look at the URL in your address bar. The past part will be Page=2. Just change that number to another number and hit enter. Page=20 would jump you back to page 20...handy when you are looking for something maybe a week ago. This technique also works when you are look at search results for books
* If you want to learn more about a poster, you can hover over the posters name. Click the name, and you'll be taken to that person's profile, which will include any public wish lists, favorite items, and so on
* You can change the "display name" people see. Go to Your Profile (you can click on your own name in a thread where you were the poster). Click Edit Your Profile (you'll probably have to sign in)
* You can choose to receive an e-mail whenever a thread gets a new post (except from someone you are ignoring...see above). There is a checkbox in the entry area at the bottom for a new post
* You can edit your posts later. You can not edit the name of the thread
* There are posting guidelines..there is a link in your bottom right corner when you go to post. If you don't follow these guidelines, Amazon may delete your posts and can ban you for the forums
* The is the Amazon page about the communities:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200280960
* New to the forum? Try this thread:
http://www.amazon.com/tag/kindle/forum/ref=cm_cd_ef_tft_tp?%5Fencoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1D7SY3BVSESG&asin=B00154JDAI&cdThread=Tx1SJGO2R4Y7SXR