Free Kindle Books Guide: Low-Cost also. Updated. VERSION 5 - Updated Nov. 12, 2013

Update 10/7/13 - Adding additional Kindle book searches and including the monthly Amazon deals. Updated the free non-classics (or contemporary) book searches section and will do that monthly.

  I've added a separate page for Free Non-Classics today so that the search links there can be accessed and used without having to see the the long page of blog posts that are on the main A Kindle World (Kindleworld) page.

  The searches include (1) the current and previous months' releases that are still available and which can be sorted by publication date, popularity, or customer ratings average as of that day and (2) several less-known Amazon lists for temporarily-free or very low-cost Kindle books.  That now separate page can be separately bookmarked and browsed without having to see the daily postings on the main page.

  Occasionally, I'll post an alert on Twitter about a Kindle book (or productivity app) that's temporarily free or on discount for a day or so, if I think readers might not want to miss it.  For books, this will generally be a non-fiction one having to do with the Kindle or just a book that's highly regarded.  You can 'follow' twitter.com/kindleworld to catch them, although the tweets are usually about info in the latest blog posts.

  Those already on Facebook might like to add Facebook (facebook.com/kindleworld.andrys) via the 'Like' feature (to get Facebook notifications of a new posting or alert) if interested in that.  Questions can be posted there, with responses in a day or two, which for some is more convenient than posting questions in a comment-area of a blog post.

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Update 12/23/12 - Amazon expanded the Kindle Daily Deal to include books in several genres as of December 2012 and children's books earlier in 2012.  They also added prior to that the MONTHLY as opposed to Daily deals.
  This blog article was updated throughout, as of Dec. 23, 2012, for latest information, links and approximate numbers of Kindle books in current Amazon sets, as of that day.

Earlier Update - 12/15/11 - Amazon changed the coding of the display of Kindle books -- types and sorting methods -- so I changed the various links.

UPDATES for Dec. 20-21, 2011 include adding links for Classics + Public Domain ONLY, as they include latest governmental and organizational information books and documents, and some of the latter are intriguing.  Also updated Feedbooks info.

UPDATE Dec. 19, 2011 to change all links and add some
First notification Dec. 15 was not complete and it's ready now (US books).  Please Let me know of any errors in the links. 

The Interim post said: Here are the latest correct links for current free non-classics, for the last two months, and then by various sorts for all free non-classics.

Updated Nov. 12, 2013
Oct. 2013,  Nov 2013
   Also, all currently free non-classics sorted by:
   Publication Date   Bestselling    High ratings

   Adding, for interim alert, Highly rated, under $1

And, of course, here's the Kindle Daily Deal, which changes shortly after midnight each day.
  They added the Monthly Kindle deals, but these are 99c up to $3.99, often at very good discounts, but never free.  However, they're very popular, so are included here for interest.

 In addition, added during 2012: "Mostly 99c Kindle Books" page, which is a different Amazon listing from the one for highly rated Kindle books under $1.

Amazon Top 100   (Also, UK-only)  along with Amazon's own Limited Time Free Promos.


ALL REVISED LINKS FOR FREE KINDLE BOOKS PAGE ARE BELOW
  The various links below are now revised to work with the new coding, Monday the 19th  In the meantime, the information on free book sources remains accurate. The UK links at the end still need revising though.

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This long-standing blog entry, Free Kindle Books (begun in 2009), was revised April 10, 2011 to remove most of the chronological changes made over the last two years as it became too confusing to read.

  It was also updated again soon after that for the many changes to the free and low-cost Kindle books area at Amazon.  Besides the 33,000+  free, complete books (only the ones in English),  there are links to find Kindle books that are $0.99, $1.99, and $2.99, as a lot of authors are publishing in that price-range and they're not easy to find.  Some are books by indie authors and others  are popular books for which the price has been dropped by Big6 publishers after a couple of years or when they want to introduce new readers to authors who have

  UPDATE-2a:  NOTE that as of Dec. 2012, Amazon Prime customers can borrow one book per calendar month from the the Prime Kindle Owners Lending Library (KOLL) selection of approximately 180,000 Kindle books   (Link: amzn.to/kprimebooks), a set which includes over 100+ New York Times Bestsellers, with no due-dates and no waiting lists.

  And as of September 21, 2011, Amazon Kindle customers have been able to borrow Kindle books from 11,000+ public libraries in the U.S.
 [ End of Update-2a, first added Nov. 10, 2011, and updated Dec. 23, 2012 ]


Find Free Kindle books plus Lower-Cost Kindle Books
Click here first for most recently published NON-classics under $1 or try that list sorted by bestselling.  There are more new temporarily-free books or discount-promos on most days, but also prices do change back, so check them regularly.

  UPDATE-1:  NOTE that the Amazon book promos tend to be temporary and when the price goes back up, Amazon updates the product page $-amounts faster than they update the pricing amounts for the database used for the Amazon searches.  You'll note that they're in flux often, so ignore the few that are higher than $0.99 the search-value.

To limit your search to Only the FREE non-classics, check directly below:

This resource contains prepared links that you can click on, at any time, to find, for example, the most recently published free non-classics,  or  you can choose to see these according to bestselling or highest rated ones as they appear, on a daily basis or more.

  These are usually temporarily free, on a short promotional basis, and a click will show you the latest ones, although Amazon displays free books on various listings and they don't all show up any one list

  On your computer's web-browser, you can of course bookmark this page to get here more easily.  The short URL is http://bit.ly/kfreelow3.

Chapter, Excerpts and Previews
   Since most Kindle owners seem interested in complete books, I've tried to avoid search results for books which offer only certain chapters, excerpts and which are, essentially, previews.   At least, they're labelled clealy, in any event when you go to the Amazon Kindle book pages. <--   I'll test these more before giving links to Kindle book lists that show no Chapters or Previews or Excerpts, with the downside that titles of full books which include one of these words won't be on these lists.   But later on this particular set -->

Free Kindle-Compatible books at Non-Amazon  websites
  This guide to Free and Low-cost Books page also includes links to most of the other (non-Amazon) Web site that have a strong offering of free Kindle-compatible books, many of which are directly downloadable to your Kindle at no added cost.  Let me know about good (legal) ones I haven't included.

Important advantages to downloading Kindle versions of free books
Bear in mind that when you download free Kindle books from Amazon, they can be
  1.  Sync'd with your other Kindle-compatible devices and
  2.  Included in your private-password protected Annotations webpage on Amazon servers,
         which can be accessed at kindle.amazon.com

Kindle Edition blog-subscribers
Subscribers to the Kindle blog-edition have found that when following blog-links to a book or other Amazon product, the Kindle Edition is not always enabled to make clickable orders through the Kindle-version of the Kindle Store.

.  So I recommend a drop-in to the webpage when you feel like checking the latest published free nonclassics and best-selling free nonclassics -- as these can change in a couple of hours and there are about 6 pages of them at any given time.

Another Amazon Change - "Relevance," which I've called "LateListed."
It shows up now only in certain circumstances and sometimes is called 'default' so I'm ignoring it at this point.
"By Relevance" ('default') or Late-listed ebooks tended to include books that were published some years ago but which were recently added to the temporarily-free non-classic Kindle book listings.   "By Publication Date"-lists would show these books, published some years ago, lower down in the listings when sorting by more-recently published, at the top.  I'll watch what they're doing it with it these days and see if I can make sense of it.

  With the links below you can  quickly see only the small selection of currently-free contemporary Kindle books sorted also by Publication Date, Bestsellers (linked just above) or by the Average Customer-Rating, as that's made easier with the prepared links on this page.

  Each Kindle Edition blog has the last 25 blog articles, searchable on the Kindle so that you can find items of interest more easily within the 25 articles while offline.  I think many will find it useful despite my penchant for giving source-links for data.  I try to include enough info from the news sources so that Kindle Edition blog-subscribers for A Kindle World don't have to click links to get the main points.

  Again, a few newer books are promotional and free for only a while.  Sometimes for only a couple of days.

  So it's a good idea to bookmark this page, in addition to other resources you use, to check out, when you're able, what might be new to you, with the ready-links to categories of available free or very low cost books.

SUMMING UP:
MAIN FREE KINDLE BOOK SEARCH LINKS
1.  INCLUDING CLASSICS & PUBLIC DOMAIN (updated 12/23/12)
    Amazon's now almost 41,000+ free books (complete and in English), sorted by:
      Bestselling or by Highest Rated   or by Publication Date
    These include both the classics and non-classic books.


   UPDATE 12/20-21 to include mostly Public Domain (Classics included) titles -- somehow some contemporary ones and books with the work 'classic' in the description are also included.
2.  MOSTLY CLASSICS & PUBLIC DOMAIN
    The Public Domain ones include later books or documents that are offered to the public by government or informational organizations.
    As of today, 12/23/2012, there are over 33,000 Classics and Public Domain offerings and some impurities that sneak in.  These are sorted by:
      Bestselling or by Highest Rated   or by Publication Date
    The last, publication-date, sort is best for latest free government or organizational information releases on quite esoteric subjects. [End of Update]


3.  NON-CLASSICS ONLY (mainly)
 Amazon's CURRENTLY FREE Non-Classics sorted by Bestselling, or by Highest Rated, or by Publication Date.

    UK links added:
    Recently published free books and bestsellers


  The free Non-classic Kindle books list changes almost daily, sometimes hourly.

This should help with finding Amazon's Kindle Digital-Text Platform (DTP)-published authors' new self-published books and other-publisher Kindle books that are discounted):

        (NOTE:  SOME higher prices will appear in each set because their prices changed but they are
           still tagged somewhere as the lower price.)

    These are links for non-classics UNDER $1 (From $0.01 to $1)
    a. For Under $1.00     Non-Classics sorted by NEWEST publication date
    b. For Under $1.00     Non-Classics sorted by BESTSELLING books
    c. For Under $1.00     Non-Classics sorted by CUSTOMER RATINGS.

    and links for non-classics FROM $1 to $1.99 (mostly)
    a. From $1 to $1.99     Non-Classics sorted by NEWEST publication date
    b. From $1 to $1.99     Non-Classics sorted by BESTSELLING books
    c. From $1 to $1.99     Non-Classics sorted by CUSTOMER RATINGS

    and links for non-classics FROM $2 to $2.99 (mostly)
    a. From $2 to $2.99     Non-Classics sorted by NEWEST publication date
    b. From $2 to $2.99     Non-Classics sorted by BESTSELLING books
    c. From $2 to $2.99     Non-Classics sorted by CUSTOMER RATINGS

  You can change the Sort on the Amazon page, at the top-right.

4.  The Project Gutenberg e-books catalog (MOBI editions) for Kindles.  You can browse or search the catalog on your Kindle and click on one to have it downloaded to your Kindle from the site.
 There are no Amazon charges on a download from the Project Gutenberg site.

5.  A humongous Amazon Forum thread on a million or so books readable on the Kindle - How to get them (mostly free).

6.  How to convert, in 2-3 minutes, any of Google's half million free books.  They are available in ePub format.  But you can now download instead the PDF versions although the re-flowed text of ePub and Kindle-Mobi books may be easier to read than original layout PDFs.


OTHER SEARCHES
I need to add these days that some international Kindle users in Europe and some other countries are in high wireless-cost areas, so Amazon charges about $2 more in some countries for the otherwise free book.  They've removed the additional charge in a few countries though.

  FREE CLASSICS AND PUBLIC DOMAIN BOOKS AVAILABLE ELSEWHERE
(Let me know what you use, from the list below, that needs updating.  Thanks.)
  For these Amazon customers and any Kindle owners interested in finding mostly free, direct-to-Kindle e-books at other sites -- these sites can download direct to a Kindle, at no cost:

You can also download to your Kindle or computer, for later transfer to your Kindle, free "mobi" or "prc" format books from feedbooks.com, manybooks.net, fictionwise.com, and as I've often mentioned, any of 30,000 well-formatted books from the Project Gutenberg set.

  Recommended also are the millions of free Internet Archive books and documents plus other offerings from the January 24, 2010 blog article.
  The Internet Archive folks are responsible for Open Library -- "Open Library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published."

  Mobileread Forum books makes very well-proofed e-books.  This links to their listing of e-books, sorted by Amazon-readable 'PRC' format and by most recent first.  These tend to be very well formatted, with linked table-of-contents page when applicable, and mostly free.  Some of their ebooks are sold at Amazon and I think more of them will use the self-publishing feature of Amazon in the future.

  Baen.com.   Baen's Free Library offers science-fiction in ".prc" (MOBI) format, which is essentially the Kindle format without rights-protection.  While Baen's e-books might not be directly downloaded to the Kindle  (they offer you the choice to email their e-books to your Kindle instead) -- and if you get a book that way, it incurs costs of about 15c per megabyte of a file.  Books that are mainly text seldom are more than a megabyte so the cost would be 15c).

But you can choose to, instead, download Baen's e-books to the computer and transfer them via USB cable to the Kindle's "documents" folder (or use the USB cable to attach the Kindle to your computer and download direct to the Kindle's "documents" folder.  Here's their Guide to doing that.
  Baen.com also sells non-rights-protected commercial offerings (in addition to offering free classics) in that format.

NOTE: Again, Kindles with 3G Cellular wireless or using WiFi networks CAN download books direct-to-Kindle from several book stores (see above) using the Kindle web-browser. 

If wondering what the differences are between the '3G' and 'WiFi' capabilities, a short blog article here may help.

FURTHER UPDATE 12/20-21, 2011
Feedbooks Dedicated Kindle Guide
Commenter Tom Semple pointed out that Feedbooks.com discontinued the Kindle Guide but has instructions for downloading the Kindle-compatible editions as well as a link for downloading them direct to the Kindle. [End of Update]

Mobile Device-Optimized Pages
  For those who can and do use the wireless feature to look up information on the Net, there are links to the mobile-device-optimized versions of the webpages for feedbooks.com and manybooks.net.
  The Kindle can access these two sites more easily using these links::
    (1) feedbooks.com-mobile: http://www.feedbooks.com/?format=mobile and
    (2) manybooks.net: http://mnybks.net.

  Some (especially e-Ink reader users) who need smaller mobile-oriented webpages might want to use the free, downloadable 'book' file I put together which is made up of mobile-device-friendly links to various popular websites and which explains some workarounds for problems that might be encountered using webpages such as the one for gmail.

AMAZON'S Free Book Collections webpage
As of March 2, 2010, Amazon added a new page with pointers to Free Book Collections on the Net, all of which are included here. This ongoing blog article includes other large, Kindle-compatible book sources as well and has pointers to and links for such things as how to get the Project Gutenberg books on your Kindle directly, without needing to use a computer vs the method described at Amazon's page.

  That new Amazon page also includes a link to its own Amazon Free Classics listing. There are over 15,500 free classics at Amazon.  Again, annotations made on these Classics can be kept on your private, password-protected webpage on the Amazon servers, and you can sync Amazon books between your Kindle-compatible devices, including smart phones, tablets, and with free apps for them and for your PC or Mac.

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NOT FREE
 For those interested in an easier-to-remember shortcut to Amazon's current 100 Bestsellers (the majority seem to be free but there are regular-priced ones in the list as well), try http://bit.ly/kbsellers.

Here's a search some have requested on the forums -- non-classics under $10, for a time when the Big6 publishers (with Apple iBookstore as driving force) have successfully pushed Amazon to the "Agency" model and to prices too often from $13 to $15 for newer books.

  That lists contemporary Kindle books priced from $3.00 through $9.99, and sorts by bestselling books, with most popular books first, as Kindle owners on forums have wanted to be able to easily find e-books that are priced below $10.
  These start at $3 because $0 to $2.99 range is already covered above.
  When at the page results, you can sort by low-to-high or high-to low also, using the options in the top, right-hand corner.

  Also, a popular item for browsing has been the Bestsellers in Kindle books for 2009.   This was first noted in the blog entry for Amazon's Best of 2009.
  Later added Bestsellers in Kindle books for 2010.
  And here's Bestsellers in Kindle books for 2011 so far (Dec. 19 Update).


*NON*-KINDLE - These are paper books, but the 40% discounts should be noted.
  As of March 3, 2010, Amazon has created a new page that highlights what they consider "the best new books" to read every month.  These feature "editors' picks" and "reviews of the best new reads in fiction, nonfiction, and books for young readers, available at 40% off all month long."  The new page is titled Amazon's Best Books of the Month Store.
  Again, these are *NOT* Kindle books, but some books are not in Kindle format and some readers don't have Kindles, yet :-)

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Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links.

US: New Kindle Fire HD 7" 2nd Gen - $139/169 Kindle Fire HDX 7" 16-64GB - $229/269/309 Kindle Fire HDX 8.9" 16-64GB - $379/429/479 - with 4G added: $479/529/579 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16GB - 1st Gen $229 - 32GB w/ no special-offers: $314 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $69/$89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $99 Kindle Paperwhite 2, WiFi - $119/$139 Kindle Paperwhite 2, WiFi+3G - $189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free web Kindle DX - $379 $199 (NEW price)

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £69 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - ~£89 Refurb'd Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Kindle Paperwhite 2, WiFi - £109 Kindle Paperwhite 3G, UK - £169 Kindle Fire 2, UK -  £129 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB, UK - £159/199 Canada - Kindlestore, CDN-$ Kindle Basic, NoTouch - $79 Kindle Paperwhite 2 - $169 Kindle Paperwhite 2, 3G - $209 KFire HD 7" $214,  8.9" $284

*OTHER Int'l pages* Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Paperwhite WiFi $139, 3G/Wifi $209 KFire HD 7" $214,  8.9" $284 France Boutique Kindle Deutschland - Kindle Store Italia - Kindle Store Spain - Tienda Kindle Brazil - Amazon Brazil China - Amazon China [?] Japan - Amazon Japan

Read More

Free Kindle books - a few unusual ones today - most free for just a day or so. Updated to re-include March free-book listing links.

Just some free books that caught my eye today

As ever, these are usually very brief promos, with pricing good for just 1 to 5 days, sometimes a few hours.  Check the pricing before clicking on the purchase button.

Free Software and Online Utilities for Writers

Published Dec. 2012, the description reads:
"There is a surprising amount of free software, and online utilities, available for authors and publishers. Here we have collected a handy guide so the busy author or publisher does not have to chase all over the internet tracking it all down. The resources listed here can easily save the reader many hundreds of dollars."

Very short book - 78KB file size
10 customer reviews, with 4.5 stars avg rating


The Self Publishing Toolkit: How to Publish & Sell Kindle ebooks on Amazon

"...personal publishing guide; taking you from publication through promotion...specifically designed with fiction writers in mind—so if you’d rather write than promote, this is the book for you.

You get step by step instructions for:
Creating a Personal Promo Kit (This is a major time saver.)
Formatting Your Book for Publication
The Entire Publication Process (with tips to make it easier)
Building your website (Even if you are non-technical to the extreme.)
Setting up your Blog
Running a successful KDP Select Promotion (Checklists included!)"

"There is also a bonus Resource Guide containing every single link, recommended resource and tool from the entire book. No more hunting through pages of text to find the tool that you need. Everything is right at your fingertips, organized by topic so it's easy to find..."

23 customer reviews, 4.6 stars avg rating



How To Make A Website Or Blog Using WordPress : A Beginner's Guide On How To Create A Website

Published March 20, there are no customer reviews yet.

Description: "This is an e-book for beginners.  It basically outlines what is[sic] takes and the instructions on how to make a blog or website by using the WORDPRESS platform.  Pictures and links to videos also included."



The 25 Weirdest Animals in the World! Amazing facts, photos and video links to the strangest creatures on the planet. (Amazing Animals Series)

A short book, only 64 pages but with images, so it's the file size of a normal sized novel.
"Not just for kids" - per one customer review.

54 customer reviews, 4.6 stars avg rating


CORRECTION
For the entire month of March, I had inadvertently not updated the March free Kindle book lists in the Reference right-column of the website blog, although the March listings link was included in the March 1 blog entry

For convenience, here is the listing of free Kindle books for March at the moment.



  For daily free ebooks, check the following links:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics USA: by:    Publication Date      Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular The Kindle Daily Deal What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care Highly-rated under $1,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. USEFUL for your Kindle Keyboard (U.S. only, currently):   99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,   99c Calendar,   99c Converter

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Read More

Kindle news: Amazon now -heavily- discouraging focused website promotion of free Kindle books. Possible reasons? Update2

Primarily Free Kindle Books promotions on websites are now heavily discouraged by Amazon

There's been indication for awhile that Amazon has been shifting emphasis from their various free-Kindle book promos to get more attention for Kindle books that bring them revenue (considering news that their margins are thin, partially due to reinvestment in expansion and jobs), although the free-Kindle book carrot will continue to be offered.

They just no longer want them promoted... at least not as a focus on websites belonging to Amazon affiliates.

  This week brings news of a stronger effort on Amazon's part to strongly discourage affiliate website promotion of those free Kindle books, an action which will have an effect on authors who have relied on the free-book promotions but will now see little activity on those books if people have a difficult time ever finding the promotions.

  Since the free-book promotions had been a bonus for authors, from what I understand (someone correct me if I'm mistaken there), for authors who did not place their e-books elsewhere, that will probably cause larger distribution of those e-books (which for e-book audiences is a good thing) and a possible decrease in growth of the Kindle Owners Lending Library unless Amazon develops more ways to entice authors toward Amazon exclusivity.

  This affects authors and the Kindle audience (and I personally believe that 600+ free books briefly available daily HAS caused some people to feel they have little to reason to buy books anymore and was a mistake on Amazon's part).  But their new action seems harsh on bloggers whose sites were emphasizing the availability of free books.

The Associates program fee FAQ that Nate Hoffelder points to is a public page in the informational area in which they let website owners know about the Associates program.  And the new clause is now definitely news.

  Friday, many passed along the new Amazon affiliate clause as explained by the Amazon fee FAQ discussed by Nate, though I read it a bit differently, because Amazon wrote it as a set of 3 conditions, rather than 2 conditions that then lead to the initial point.
  Here's the FAQ explanation of the clause, linked by Nate, and by the Goodereader site.

 I'm bold-facing the 3rd condition, which is presented by Amazon first and is connected to the other conditions with the word "and" (rather than saying 'determined by the 2 add'l conditions:

'1. What is changing for Associates who refer free Kindle eBook sales?
Starting March 1, 2013, Associates who we determine are promoting primarily free Kindle eBooks and meet both conditions below for a given month will not be eligible for any advertising fees for that month within the Amazon Associates Program. This change will not affect advertising fees earned prior to March 1, 2013.

1. At least 80% of all Kindle eBooks ordered and downloaded during Sessions attributed to your Special Links are free Kindle eBooks
2. 20,000 or more free Kindle eBooks are ordered and downloaded during Sessions attributed to your Special Links '

AS written, the first condition is that a site or Amazon associate is "promoting primarily free Kindle eBooks.
  THEN, it adds "AND" meets both conditions below that first statement.

  Clearly, attorneys know that the word ‘AND’ above should be changed to “WHEN they” if the first statement is not to be taken as part of the set of circumstances defining what could cause income to be eliminated for a month.

  That could be carelessness from the legal dept but I doubt it.  The page states, furthermore, that "This change will affect far less than 0.1% of Associates.

Update2 - And here's the Operating Agreement Clause eff. March 1, 2013: [Emphases mine]

' Associates Program Advertising Fee Schedule – Limitations on Advertising Fee Rates for Certain Products

March 1, 2013 version
The following is added at the end of the sub-section:

“In addition, notwithstanding the advertising fee rates described on this page or anything to the contrary contained in this Operating Agreement, if we determine you are primarily promoting free Kindle eBooks (i.e., eBooks for which the customer purchase price is $0.00), YOU WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE TO EARN ANY ADVERTISING FEES DURING ANY MONTH IN WHICH YOU MEET THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS:
(a) 20,000 or more free Kindle eBooks are ordered and downloaded during Sessions attributed to your Special Links; and
(b) At least 80% of all Kindle eBooks ordered and downloaded during Sessions attributed to your Special Links are free Kindle eBooks.” '

 So my read is that they are targeting sites that were built primarily to feature the many free Kindle books Amazon releases each day.  And they now explain their new policy by pointing out that "the program is designed to compensate advertising partners for referring paid business to Amazon."
  One could assume that sites that were built to, and continue to, provide other information in a solid way to their audiences are not targeted here for total elimination of fees but they will make it very difficult for those site owners to support their sites now.

  "Partners" is a strong word for this situation.  When a radio or TV announcer tells you about a special product and pricing and gives you a website and phone number to get more info or to take advantage of that offer, they receive payment for the advertisement but aren't called partners, though contracts are always signed in those cases.

  Few people are aware that Amazon has "over two million affiliates" (Associates).

  Amazon means business here, as they will still show affiliates what an Associate/Affiliate WOULD have earned for a given month if they had not been even indirectly responsible for so many downloads of free books.


RECENT Indications of Amazon's shift in focus
I always save many articles I've read but decided not to post (yet) for various reasons, but there is one that's germane to this recent turn of events and was of interest to me, so this is a good blog entry for it.

  The article, by Edward W. Robertson, is titled, "Did Amazon Change Algorithms to Protect Their Readers?: The Ten Thousand Gatekeepers of KDP Select" and was posted February 12, 2013.

' ... last May, Amazon drastically changed their popularity lists (available on the left sidebar of the main Kindle store) to change the way free downloads were factored into the ranks ... I was asked whether this change was done in order to present readers with better books.
The short answer: yes.
The longer answer: not necessarily better books, but certainly more profitable ones... '

  The article has details on how free-books came to outrank paid books, pushing them off the top.

  "The result is that a lot of books with lower commercial appeal wound up displacing books with higher commercial appeal.  On Amazon's popularity lists, 1000 free downloads beat 100 paid sales, and new Select books were picking up thousands of free downloads every single day.
  The gatekeepers weren't strong enough to keep out the low-appeal books, meaning readers were less likely to buy the books in front of them or to be satisfied with the titles they did purchase."

  He noted a new algorithm in May.  List placements no longer were based on giving free downloads equal weight with paid sales but was "something near a 10:1 scale" and "instead of weighting the last 1-7 days of sales + downloads, it looked at the last 30."

  Read his article for all the details on how the number of downloads needed were affected and the impact on authors, though with a somewhat better experience for the Kindle owner looking for an appealing book.

  From what I've gathered, this is a harsh turn of events for some websites that have put a lot of effort into promoting the very books that Amazon itself has been promoting as 'loss leaders' with the idea that other sales would result that would more than compensate for whatever losses, but now the other sales won't be credited to website owners whose sites are seen as "primarily promoting free e-books" (which I think is the key phrase).

  Nate Hoffelder talks about website owners not being able to control what consumers will do when arriving at Amazon for more info.  They may look at a paid book but see many Amazon ads about free books and then get some and these, by Affiliate program rules, will be attributed to the website owner and count against the site.  Again, though, very important (as written) is the clause about determining Associates who are "promoting primarily" free Kindle eBooks AND who meet the two other conditions as well.

  It SEEMS that some sites that do focus heavily on free e-books but also are focusing quite heavily on on paid books are not going to be penalized in this way, so the issue seems to be to change drastically the initial pages of those websites to point to paid books but the problem remains that the ratio of free books 'ordered' to any that are paid are acknowledged to be on the order of 15:1 at the least and I really think it's more like 25:1 from what I've seen on the free-book discussion groups.

  The avid readers active on Amazon Kindle book-forums are gobbling up 50 a day, often, and some on the Amazon Kindle forums have complained that Amazon servers are "too slow" on the Kindle Management page to find one of their 16,000 to 20,000+ Kindle books that they've picked up, most of them for free.  While these are extremes, they indicate a bit of a problem in connection with the attraction of free vs paid, but I'm just stating the obvious here, and that's why this is such a problem for Amazon and its authors and now probably quite a few websites that were just supporting Amazon's own focus on free Kindle books.

  But, once more, if authors decide, as a result of this change, to make their e-books available on other sites as well as Amazon's I think that's a good thing.  Amazon (and any other bookstores) shouldn't need exclusives, when it comes to books, to sell well.


One further thought (Updated at 2:23pm - original post 6:08am)
Besides what was discussed above as reasons for Amazon's decision, I had to wonder what could be a problem for Amazon besides the 'cost' of losing sales on non-free books (which I think is actually fairly substantial not because heavy free-book downloaders would start buying more books -- I don't think they would) but because there is now a general idea with many of Amazon's "avid readers" that there is little reason to pay for a book when so many are free for a brief period if you spend time each day hunting them all down (who has time to read after that?).

  Len Edgerly's 18-minute interview with Jeff Bezos July included Bezos' observation, when discussing 3G models of various Kindles, that "people who buy that Kindle are the people who read the most."
  The only models with 3G currently are e-Ink models -- and the Kindle 1 and 2, still used by many who just want to read and not web, do not have WiFi capability so these will always entail 3G costs for book downloads for Amazon.

  It used to be felt that even the slow web access possible with the first 3 models would deter heavy usage, and that's very likely true, but with the advent of free Kindle books to be downloaded, that would be ALL on 3G, payable by Amazon with the still very-much used older Kindles (I have family and friends who still use Kindle 1 and 2 because these still meet their needs).

  On Kindle forum posts, people mention downloading tons of books daily.  WiFi was not necessary for Kindle homes until the tablets came, and as a result, e-Ink Kindle owners are often using 3G even when the newer models have WiFi capabilities.  This is almost certainly one real cost and not just a theoretical one.

  In a period of lower net profits and very low margins, with a focus on long term goals via expansion of warehouses (not to even mention Amazon Web Svcs) and job opportunities opened up in the U.S. plus global expansion of Kindle devices to other countries (for which there is a lot of demand), any unnecessary costs would have to be cut.  They have stockholder pressures.

  Publisher pressure after the DOJ and State lawsuit fallout which was not kind to the large publishers, as well as market pressures in connection with the slowing rate of growth of e-book sales generally, and the competition for market share of paid books are very likely heavy factors as well.

Will the changes affect most Kindle owners?  Readers of this blog?  Or will the reduced website promotions available not make that big a difference for most Kindle owners?  For authors, there IS a fairly large effect.  Will a change to very low-cost promos make a difference?  Let me know in the Comments section here or, if preferred, in the easier talk areas of the Facebook page.

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Free Kindle Books in Non Fiction today, 2/10/13 - promos can change quickly to paid books

A few non-fiction titles that are free today, Feb 10, 2013.  These stay free for as little as a few hours and often only one day.


  For example, the ones listed February 8 are no longer free.  So if you're interested in one, hop on it.  Always check the price in case it's already no longer free.


When I Married My Mother: A Daughter's Search for What Really Matters...
By Jo Maeder, Publication Date: April 30, 2012
42 customer reviews, with an average rating of 4.9 stars.  Many newspaper reviews.

"Maeder is an engaging storyteller who conjures Alix Kates Shulman's A Good Enough Daughter. For caregivers and those in the sandwich generation coming to terms with their parents mortality." - Library Journal, 5/7/09


Dump Cable TV: Cut the Cord and Get the Most for Your Entertainment Dollar
By Tom Galland, Published December 25, 2012
7 customer reviews, average 4.9 stars

From Book Description: "Dump Cable TV" provides up to date information on the best devices and services to help you cut the expense of monthly bills that for many top $100 - just for their television entertainment. "


I'll Have The Soup And Salad (Know About Cooking)

By Katherine Baldwin, Published April 16, 2012
37 customer reviews with an average 4.8 rating

"The soup section is also really good...but with a busy lifestyle the thoughts of standing at a cooker for hours making home made soup isn't that appealing.  Katherine has thought of this and gives lots of tips to make the process quicker.  Her freezing tips and hints on how to make things quicker and easier are well worth the price of this book." - avidreader"


Instagram: Why Does My Business Need It?
By Casey Dewayne, Published October 30, 2012

From Book Description: "...provides thorough information on how businesses can easily set up an account. Furthermore, the ebook also provides a complete review of the rules and regulations that govern Instagram..."


From Beachhead to Brittany: The 29th Infantry Division at Brest, August-September 1944
By Joseph Balkoski, Published March 10, 2008
9 customer reviews, average rating of 4.6 stars

From Book Description: "In this highly anticipated sequel to his acclaimed Beyond the Beachhead, World War II historian Joseph Balkoski follows the U.S. 29th Infantry Division out of Normandy and into Brittany...where the division was tasked with seizing the port of Brest...."


Green Smoothie Recipes: Drinks that Heal, Cleanse, and Trim Your Body...
By Kelly Curtis, Published December 19, 2012

From Book Description: "...They're easy to make, full of nutrients and fiber, and use easy-to-find ingredients...."


Lunch with a Sociopath
By Lucie Lilly Pawlak, Published February 12, 2012
9 customer reviews, average rating of 4.2 stars

From Book Description: "Lunch with a Sociopath is a non-fiction novel which chronicles my struggle to recover after a cultic one-on-one relationship with an Episcopal priest who used thought reform techniques extensively..."

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Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links.

  NOTES on newer Kindles.

US: Updated Kindle Fire 2 Basic  7" tablet - $159 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB - $199/$249 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16/32GB - $299/$369 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G 32/64GB - $499/$599 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $69/$89 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $119/$139 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi+3G - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free slow web Kindle DX - $379 $299 Discontinued

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £69 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - ~£89 Refurb'd Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - £109 Kindle Paperwhite 3G, UK - £169 Kindle Fire 2, UK -  £129 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB, UK - £159/199 Canada - Kindlestore, CDN-$ Kindle Basic, NoTouch - $89 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $139 Kindle Paperwhite, 3G - $199

*OTHER International* Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Paperwhite WiFi $139, 3G/Wifi $199 France Boutique Kindle Deutschland - Kindle Store Italia - Kindle Store Spain - Tienda Kindle Brazil - Amazon Brazil China - Amazon China [?] Japan - Amazon Japan

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Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Read More

Free Kindle Books in Non Fiction today, 2/8/13 - promos can change quickly to paid books

Here are a few non-fiction titles that are free today, Feb 8, 2013.  These stay free for as little as a few hours and often only one day.
  So if you're interested in one, hop on it. Always check the price in case it's already no longer free.


Explanations and Advice for the Tech Illiterate
By Randall Morris
Publication Date: December 15, 2012

"This series of explanations and articles breaks down some commonly misunderstood elements of computers and home theater. Explanations are given in a basic, understandable way (without sounding too "techy.") Topics include: basic computer types, basic home theater (video), basic home theater (audio), audio / video cables, computer viruses, e-mail security, understanding encryption & passwords, backing up your hard drive, and computer speed / startup items."



Understanding Your Taxes: Tax Credits, Itemized Deductions, and the Standard Deduction
By Milton Boothe
Published January 15

"Understanding Your Taxes is a new series of tax publications designed to help taxpayers across the USA. The objective of these publications is to help taxpayers to understand United States income tax code as far as Form 1040; US Individual Tax Returns is concerned. With a good basic knowledge of the tax code, taxpayers will potentially be in the position to literally increase their income tax refunds (or decrease their tax liabilities) by thousands of dollars, simply by claiming all the tax deductions and tax credits that they are eligible for."



Blogging Made Simple: Powerful Strategies For Blogging Success
By Michael Fleischer and Justin Freid

30 customer reviews with an average 4.6 star rating

"Learn from two of today's best known bloggers who have built high-traffic blogs that support multiple streams of income and a growing list of avid followers."



I Wish I Knew That: U.S. Presidents: Cool Stuff You Need To Know
By Editors of Reader's Digest (Author), Patricia Halbert (Editor)

Said to be good for ages 7-12, probably - profiles of each of the 43 presidents.
Examples given:
" . Thomas Jefferson, our third president, spoke six languages, invented many things (the swivel chair and the pedometer, to name two), and designed and built not only Monticello (his rural home) but also the University of Virginia.
 . Theodore Roosevelt, was one of the nation's great hunters, and the Smithsonian is filled with hundreds of specimens from his safari in Africa. He was also our first environmentalist president, setting aside nearly 200 million acres for national parks and wildlife refuges."


I'll do these non-fiction free Kindle book alerts from time to time if there is interest in that...

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Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links.

  NOTES on newer Kindles.

US: Updated Kindle Fire 2 Basic  7" tablet - $159 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB - $199/$249 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16/32GB - $299/$369 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G 32/64GB - $499/$599 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $69/$89 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $119/$139 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi+3G - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free slow web Kindle DX - $379 $299 Discontinued

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £69 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - ~£89 Refurb'd Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - £109 Kindle Paperwhite 3G, UK - £169 Kindle Fire 2, UK -  £129 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB, UK - £159/199 Canada - Kindlestore, CDN-$ Kindle Basic, NoTouch - $89 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $139 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi+3G - $199

*OTHER International* Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Paperwhite WiFi - $139 & 3G/Wifi - $199 France Boutique Kindle Deutschland - Kindle Store Italia - Kindle Store Spain - Tienda Kindle Brazil - Amazon Brazil China - Amazon China Japan - Amazon Japan

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Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Read More

Kindle tips: Amazon's bargain books page and its less-known limited-time promos area for Kindle books

As a customer, I got a marketing email today from Amazon reminding us they're "always adding newly discounted titles" to their "Bargain Books Store." (Link: amzn.to/bargainbookspage )

  I'm writing this because it's not a product page I remember much as most blogs have focused on the top free books and also Amazon's more unusual monthly discounts

  The email focused at first on the Newly Discounted Titles ( also called "New Bargain Books" linked to from that main bargain books page), and then it mentioned in the same emailed paragraph "Browse bargain titles in all genres at 60% off, as well as other new events in books."

  NOT ALL of the new bargain books have Kindle versions though, and there's another section on the main page titled "Up to 60% Off Former Best Sellers."

With about 600+ books released each day as promo 'freebies' for a day or 5, I don't know what their audience is for the discounted books, but I've read some articles lately about some some deciding that the free promos are chancy, as far as use of time goes, to find the good ones.

The bargain book prices they alerted us to today are not as enticing as the $0.99 - $3.99 discounted books we see for other regular sales events, but if you're looking for certain authors or books that went off the Best Sellers list, these pages may be worth a look.

Amazon's less well-known limited time promo Kindle books area
Don't forget that Amazon has an ongoing area for its own Limited Time Free (or heavily discounted) Promo Kindle books also.
  My link automatically lists these by low to high cost books, so it starts with $0.00 books.

  Caution - For households that don't want to come across certain genres, it has some books with the word 'naughty' in the title and the covers indicate they probably are :-)

  I also ran the list from high to low price and, except for two books for $2.51, the current 216 results there were each $0.00

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August's 100 KindleBooks for $3.99 or less - Editors' Choices + August's free non-classics by publication date.

"AUGUST 2012's 100 Kindle Books deal, for $3.99 or less"

I highlight the monthly deal at or near the beginning of the month for those who don't know about it or might not remember.

Note: If you bookmark the page when you get there, that bookmark will work for subsequent months also.


  These Kindle books are $1.99 to $3.99 and are "hand-selected" by Amazon's Editors each month.  What you'll see on that special monthly-deals page are the new ones for August 2012.
(Link: amzn.to/100kbooks-2to4)


FREE KINDLE BOOKS (Non-classics) for August (and July)
In the meantime, I've updated the "Temporarily-free books -- Non-classics" search results for free contemporary Kindle books for AUGUST, sorted by publication-date, as of today.   These include pre-orders for August, of course, since the month has just started.

  Here are the current Search results for free Kindle non-classics, by publication date for July.


Today's Kindle Daily Deal, for August 2, Thursday is The Zurich Conspiracy, by Bernadette Calonego.  Amazon's description:
  "Thirty-something events manager Josefa Rehmer finds herself caught in a dangerous web of blackmail and murder at her Zurich, Switzerland, firm. An intricately plotted thriller about corporate intrigue and the wicked side of office politics, this gripping novel takes a chilling look at people who will do anything to succeed."
  It has 20 customer reviews and the average rating is 4.3 stars.
  $4.99 Wednesday, it's $1.99 for today only. 60% off

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Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links

US: Kindle Fire  7" tablet - $199 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $79/$109 Kindle Touch, WiFi - $99/$139 Kindle Touch, 3G/WiFi - $149/$189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189, Free, slow web Kindle DX - $379, Free, slow web

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £89 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi, UK - £169 Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $109 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi - $189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Read More

July's 100 KindleBooks for $3.99 or less - Editors' Choices. July's free non-classics by publication date.

"JULY 2012's 100 Kindle Books deal, for $3.99 or less"

I highlight the monthly deal at or near the beginning of the month for newcomers, and even oldcomers who don't know it exists. 

Note: If you bookmark the page when  you get there, that bookmark will work for subsequent months also.

Also note that Amazon is not using the $1.99 price for many of the books this month.  These are mostly $2.99 to $3.99.  The header used to say "for $1.99 to $3.99"  and it's been changed to "$3.99 or less." 

These are Kindle books "hand-selected" by Amazon's Editors each month, and what you'll see on that special monthly-deals page are the new ones for July 2012.
(Link: amzn.to/100kbooks-2to4)


FREE KINDLE BOOKS (Non-classics) for July
In the meantime, I've updated the "Temporarily-free books -- Non-classics" search results for free contemporary Kindle books for JULY, sorted by publication-date, as of today.   These include pre-orders for July.

Here are the current Search results for free Kindle non-classics, by publication date for June.

---

Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links

US: Kindle Fire  7" tablet - $199 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $79/$109 Kindle Touch, WiFi - $99/$139 Kindle Touch, 3G/WiFi - $149/$189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189, Free, slow web Kindle DX - $379, Free, slow web

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £89 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi, UK - £169 Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $109 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi - $189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Read More

May's 100 Kindle Deals $1.99-$3.99 - Editors' Choices. May's free non-classics by publication date.

MAY 2012's 100 Kindle Deals, $1.99-$3.99

I highlight this feature at or near the beginning of the month for newcomers, and even oldcomers who don't know it exists.

These are Kindle books "hand-selected" by Amazon's Editors each month, and what you'll see on that special monthly-deals page are the new ones for May 2012.
(Link: amzn.to/100kbooks-2to4)


FREE KINDLE BOOKS (Non-classics) for May
In the meantime, I've updated the "Temporarily-free books -- Non-classics" search results for free contemporary Kindle books for MAY, sorted by publication-date, as of today.   These include pre-orders for May.

Here are the current Search results for free Kindle non-classics, by publication date for April.

---

Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links

US: Kindle Fire  7" tablet - $199 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $79/$109 Kindle Touch, WiFi - $99/$139 Kindle Touch, 3G/WiFi - $149/$189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189, Free, slow web Kindle DX - $379, Free, slow web

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £89 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi, UK - £169 Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $109 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi - $189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Read More

April's 100 Kindle Deals $1.99-$3.99 - Editors' Choices. Monday's free Kindle books. Why a CNet columnist returned his iPad for a Kindle Fire. G. Henle sale

APRIL 2012's 100 Kindle Deals, $1.99-$3.99

I highlight this feature at or near the beginning of the month for newcomers, and even oldcomers who don't know it exists.

These are Kindle books "hand-selected" by Amazon's Editors each month, and what you'll see on that special monthly-deals page are the new ones for April 2012.
(Link: amzn.to/100kbooks-2to4)

As most are probably aware, Kindle books are easily readable, in color, on the Kindle Fire also, a hybrid tablet/e-reader with some Amazon bonus material.
  On March 30, Rick Broida of CNET caused a brouhaha by writing, under 'Reviews,' a column about a personal decision: "Why I'm returning my new iPad and buying a Kindle Fire" - subtitled "Now that I've lived with both, I can safely say that I prefer a smaller, more affordable tablet."

  You can imagine the reaction he got :-)  But I also have a really fine 10" tablet made by Samsung (from Woot! for $320) and, re that one, a commenter posted today, "Buy a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. We did a side by side comparison with the new iPad and could not see a difference."  One person asked if he had his eyes open.
  But, I was using the Samsung last night, thinking how great it looked and wondering how much better the Retina display could be.  But as much as I love the 10" tablet, it's the Kindle Fire I use about 80-90% of the time.  And it IS the size. It's like choosing to pick up a paperback or a hardcover, I think.  And of course it's the KFire I take out with me and not the Samsung, though I used the latter for vacation with a bluetooth keyboard.

Others have pointed out that iPad 3 users should get the 32 GB model rather than the 16 GB one as the new pixel density produces far larger files, requires the bigger battery (which is why it runs pretty warm) and will use much more 3G/4G data meaning limits will be reached faster.

  Another effect is that iPad and iPad 2 users will be using the same apps that will be upgraded to Retina with some downsides I don't remember, without the advantage of Retina display.  But definitely iPad 3 buyers should realize they'll need 32 GB now.  One story I was going to blog -- and I can look up the source later -- did a breakdown of the amounts of data the iPad 3 will use, relative to the iPad 2, and how quickly people's data plan limits will be used.  Since many Kindle owners also own iPads, it should be of interest for anyone planning to upgrade to the new iPad.


Today's sets of temporarily-free Kindle books selected and listed by Kindle forum members. April 2 books
  As of 9am PDT, it's at about 248 newly free books but more people post their recommended selections later in the day.


Today's Kindle Daily Deal
  As usual, a reminder that there's the ongoing Kindle Daily Deal ('Swarm'), Science Fiction, first book of B.V. Larson's 'Star Force Series' - 99c today.


Sheet music special - classical urtext editions
G. Henle urtext editions, sheet music - This will interest a few who tend to look for G. Henle editions, which are seldom found on sale.  They're imported and are considered the most accurate editions.  The sale has been going on since March 21 and ends April 10, and I've mentioned it only to piano groups, but it occurred to me that some Kindle-interested might want to know about it.



Kindle Touch 3G, US-only   Kindle Touch WiFi (US)   Kindle Touch WiFi-Only, outside US    Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

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Check often: Temporarily-free recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Read More