Version 1.0 – 11 April 2010

When Amazon launched the Kindle in 2007, you had to shell out almost $400 to get in on the fun. Not anymore! Now that Amazon has expanded to make Kindle software work on so many devices, you can probably start reading Kindle books with whatever you’re using to read this paragraph, with no added startup cost.

“But I don’t even know how this stupid Kindle thing works!” you say. That’s where this guide comes in. It’s meant to serve as a quick introduction to the average newcomer, and it should quickly bring you up to speed so you can decide whether to buy Kindle ebooks or even a Kindle device.

And if you’re already a Kindle customer, it might show you some aspects of the system that you haven’t been taking advantage of.

Like to jump around? Here are the four sections of the guide:

I. The pros and cons of buying Kindle ebooks

Here are three things you might want to consider before trying out any ebook system, not just the Amazon Kindle.

CON – “They’re not real books!”
PRO – The convenience outweighs the lack of a printed copy for a lot of titles.

A lot of readers love the look, feel, and smell of an old book, and it’s true that you lose all of that with an ebook. You can’t put an ebook on your shelf at home, or be interrupted by a stranger in a coffee shop who wants to ask you about what you’re reading. You can’t write in the margins.

If you read a lot, though, you might quickly discover two benefits of ebooks:

1. They tend to cost less than new printed books.
2. When you get absorbed into a book, the thing you’re reading it from tends to disappear.

At the very least, you can save money by going “e” for those books you want to read but don’t want to keep forever–you know, those massmarket paperbacks you take on the train, or to the pool or beach.

 
CON – “I don’t own the ebook outright!”
PRO – Uhh… it’s complicated?

This is a weird issue because everyone is still trying to figure it all out. Here’s the short answer, and if you want to know more you can open the long answer below.

The Short Answer: It’s true, you don’t. What you own is a perpetual license to read the book, which is what every major ebook retailer (Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo, Apple) offers. The license is enforced with something called DRM, which locks that particular copy to your account.

As far as backups, Amazon lets you download copies of the ebook whenever and as often as you want. It also keeps a copy for you on its servers, which is how it syncs your bookmarks across devices (more on that below). And as far as worrying about Amazon honoring the agreement, it all depends on how much you trust a large company.

 
CON – “It’s cheaper to go to used book stores and the library.”
PRO – For public domain books, going digital can be both cheaper and more convenient.

First the bad news. Prices have jumped up for new releases and lots of older titles thanks to new pricing agreements that publishers forced through earlier this year. The “(almost) everything is $9.99!” era of the Kindle store is over.

Now the good news. You can find lots of classics and indie-published work for free or for just a few dollars. In addition, lots of publishers like to make certain titles temporarily free for short periods for marketing purposes. Some recent examples of completely free ebooks on the Amazon Kindle store: a Sookie Stackhouse novel, a Twilight novel, the first in Charlie Huston’s vampire detective series, and 10 of the 13 Lemony Snicket books.

Whether the Kindle system will save you money depends a lot on your current reading and purchasing habits. If you use the library or used book store for newer releases, and use the Kindle for older works or promotional offers, you might find it actually extends your book budget.

Part II – What you need to get sarted

So you’ve decided you want to get started, but have no idea what to do? There are two basic things you need:

Let’s look at these two requirements.

1. An Amazon account.

If you don’t already have one, you can open an Amazon account without having to provide any personal banking information.

However, to buy Kindle books, you’ll need one of the following attached to it:

Why? Because when you buy a Kindle ebook, there’s no normal Amazon check-out process. Instead, the retailer uses its “1-Click” payment option to streamline the purchase. (Don’t worry, if you buy an ebook by mistake you can get a refund for the purchase.)

In order to use 1-Click, you have to provide a default billing address on your Amazon account and manually activate the 1-Click setting.

The gift card option is your solution if you don’t want to add a credit card or debit card to your account. You’ll still have to provide a default billing address, but instead of a credit or debit card number you can enter the code on a gift card and the available balance will be used each time you make a 1-Click purchase.

Here are more details directly from Amazon on how to set up the 1-Click payment method or redeem a gift card:

Here’s where to buy Amazon gift cards from physical stores, if you don’t want to buy them online:

 
2. One of the following devices:

If you buy a Kindle device, you don’t need any other software. The device automatically connects over a built-in (free) cellular network without needing any configuration from you.

For all the other devices, you’ll have to install some free software that Amazon provides. This software serves as your ebook library–it’s where you’ll store your purchases as well as read them.

So that’s it. Get your account set up, install the right software, and you’re ready to start buying and reading Kindle ebooks.

Part III. How it all works

I made flowcharts!

You can register up to 6 devices to one account and manually select the destination. If you have just one device, Amazon sends it there by default.

Not every book you buy has to be stored on every device — it’s up to you. You can download just what you want to read and leave the other titles stored on Amazon’s servers if you like.

If more than one person is reading the same book on your account, she can elect to turn off syncing so you don’t interfere with each other’s bookmarks.

Part IV – Extra tips and info

* If you own a Kindle device, add Feedbooks to your device for easy, DRM-free access to thousands of classics and modern works.

* If you own a Kindle 1 device (it was the original wedge-shaped one), here are some keyboard shortcuts for you.

* If you own a Kindle 2 or Kindle DX, here are some shortcuts for you as well.

* For all Kindle owners, did you know you can replace the screensaver images with custom images?

* There are lots of places to help you find free ebooks.

FAQ

Q: Do I have to make backups?
A: Nope. You can let Amazon take care of all of that. However, if you want access to your full library even when you’re not able to connect to Amazon’s servers, you’ll need to either keep everything on your device all the time, or you’ll need to keep your own backup library on your computer.

 
Q: Do I have to re-purchase Kindle books for other devices?
A: No. Buy it once, and you can read it on any Kindle-ready device. However, there’s a limit to how many devices you can have connected to your account. Usually that limit is six, but sometimes a publisher sets it lower.

If you’ve exhausted your limit because you’ve changed devices, you can contact Amazon and ask them to reset the limit for you.

 
Q: If I delete a book, do I have to buy it again?
A: No. You deleted it from your device, but it’s still stored on Amazon’s servers, and you can re-download it again at any point in the future.

 
Q: If I sell my Kindle to someone else, will they have access to my purchases?
A: Only if you want them to. Before selling the Kindle, go into your account management page at kindle.amazon.com (click “account management” at the top of the page after you log in) and deregister the device from your account. Then make sure you deregister device is able to connect to Amazon’s servers so that it can receive the news that it’s no longer connected, and it will remove all of your information and return to its blank initial state.

If you don’t deregister the Kindle before selling it, the person who buys it could access your Kindle library and buy more books under your account, costing you money.

Fortunately, you can deregister a Kindle even after you no longer have it in your possession — all the magic happens on the Amazon website.

 
Q: Does the Kindle device display PDF files?
A: Sort of. Not very well. Well, sometimes. It depends? On the smaller model, the screen is okay if the text in the PDF file isn’t too tiny. You can change the screen orientation so the file is displayed sideways, which gives you a little more screen width. In general I haven’t had much success reading PDFs on the Kindle.

If you have the large-format Kindle DX, this isn’t a problem, and most PDF files will display just fine.

You can also email PDF files to Amazon and they’ll convert the file to a different format and either send it back to you via email, which is free, or send it directly to your Kindle, which costs 15-99 cents depending on whether you’re a U.S. customer in the United States at the time. In my tests, conversion results vary in quality.

More information:

If you’re reading Kindle books on any other device, the question is moot because the Kindle software won’t display PDFs. Just use whatever you’ve always used to read PDFs on that platform.

 
Q: What file formats can I read on the Kindle?
A: The answer depends on what device you’re using. If you bought a Kindle, here are the accepted formats. If you have something in a different format than what’s on that list, you can try sending the document to Amazon to see if they can convert it for you, or you can try one of the solutions mentioned on our Converting Stuff page.

 
Q: Can I share Kindle purchases with other Kindle owners?
A: You can’t lend, sell, or give away Kindle ebooks, but you can register up to six devices on a single account, and every one of those devices will be able to access your full library.

 
Useful Amazon links

• Transferring, Downloading, and Sending Files to Kindle
• User Guides
• Your Kindle Account Page