Chapter 5

Finding Content

In This Chapter

Searching in the Kindle Store

Exploring other online stores

Finding free content resources

You're holding your Kindle Paperwhite in your hand — it's registered, charged, and ready to go. What do you want to do? Read, of course! But to make that happen, you need to have content on your Kindle Paperwhite. Although the way the wireless service downloads content to your Kindle Paperwhite seems almost magical, you need to initiate the process. This chapter discusses finding content — from books to blogs and everything in between — and how to get the treasures you find onto your Kindle Paperwhite in the easiest way possible.

Starting Your Search in the Kindle Store

The fastest, easiest, and most convenient place to find Kindle Paperwhite content is at the Amazon Kindle Store, which makes sense because Amazon invented the device.

One common misconception is that you have to buy all Kindle content from Amazon. This isn't true. Although Amazon makes shopping for Kindle Paperwhite content simple, you can find plenty of other online stores that sell Kindle-compatible e-books, as discussed later in this chapter in the “Checking Out Other Online Stores” section.

Searching and browsing on your computer

Amazon has a specific Kindle Store that makes it easy to search for Kindle Paperwhite content. Using your computer, go to www.amazon.com. From the Search drop-down list, choose Kindle Store to restrict your search to Kindle-specific content, as shown in Figure 5-1.

In the Search field, type the words for your search. Do you have a specific book in mind? Type a few words of the title. Are you looking for books by a particular author? Type the author's name. Are you interested in deep-sea diving — or any other subject that tickles your fancy? Type a few words, click the Go button to the right of the Search field, and voilà! If anything on the topic is in the store, it appears in the search results. With millions of Kindle-compatible e-books in the store and 180,000 exclusive Kindle titles (as of this writing), something will probably appear!

Just for fun, I entered archery and received an interesting assortment of results (416 in all): a variety of non-fiction e-books including a history of bows and arrows; how to make a crossbow; how to fletch (or put feathers on) arrows; the Zen of archery; Kyudo, the Japanese art of archery; a business plan for an archery store; and novels such as The Last Elf of Lanis by K. J. Hargan. Several other books were also available for loan through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. (See Chapter 6 for more about borrowing books through this program.)

If you're more of a browser and less of a searcher, Amazon makes that easy, too. After you choose the Kindle Store and tap Go, a bar appears below the search bar, listing the departments in the Kindle Store:

• Buy a Kindle
• Kindle eBooks
• Advanced Search
• Daily Deals
• Free Reading Apps
• Kindle Singles
• Newsstand
• Accessories
• Discussions
• Manage Your Kindle
• Kindle Support

One frequently asked question at KBoards.com is “How do I contact Kindle support?” Just click the Kindle Support link, as shown in Figure 5-2.

Click the Kindle eBooks link, and you land on a page that should happily satisfy your browsing dreams. In the center of the page are lists such as Kindle Select 25, which features 25 noteworthy books for the week, New & Noteworthy Kindle Books, Picks for You, and other options (note that this page changes frequently) with the book covers prominently featured.

The left side of the page includes multiple categories to start your search, with Kindle Book Deals at the top of the list. Here you'll find Kindle Daily Deals, Monthly Deals ($3.99 or less), and the Big Deal — up to 80 percent off more than 350 books. The next category, Popular Features, includes Kindle Best Sellers, The New York Times Best Sellers, and Editor's Picks. Third on the list are categories for searching specific topic areas, so you can drill down a bit more while browsing. Gay & Lesbian? Travel? Click the link, and you're presented with a plethora of choices to capture your fancy. The last four categories are More to Explore, Newsstand, Kindle Gifts, and a link to obtain help.

The right side of the page shows a number of lists that are updated hourly, including the Top 100 Paid and Top 100 Free. Kindle Daily Deals are featured prominently at the top of the screen, along with a button to allow you to subscribe so you never miss a single deal.

Even though over a million Kindle-compatible e-books are in the Kindle Store, millions upon millions of printed books are in the world. Unfortunately, they aren't all available in a Kindle edition. If a particular book you want is for sale at Amazon (U.S.) in print form but not in a Kindle edition, click the Tell the Publisher! I'd Like to Read This Book on Kindle link on the book's product page. Does clicking the link make a difference? I suspect that it does. For example, popular author J. K. Rowling was originally opposed to e-books, but the Harry Potter series became available as e-books in 2012. The Potter books are available also to borrow for free through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. Consumer demand likely influenced these changes.

Searching and browsing on your Kindle Paperwhite

“Wait a minute!” I hear you saying, “I don't want to use my computer to search for e-books. Can I search from my Kindle Paperwhite?” Of course you can! Simply tap the Store icon on the toolbar. If the wireless is not turned on, you will receive a message to take your Kindle Paperwhite out of Airplane mode, as shown in Figure 5-3.

If you have a Wi-Fi–only Kindle Paperwhite, you need to be somewhere with a Wi-Fi hotspot. If you have a Kindle Paperwhite 3G, you should be good to go anywhere that has 3G service.

When the wireless is on and has a good connection, tap the Shop in Kindle Store icon (see the margin) or tap the Menu icon (also in the margin) and select Shop in Kindle Store from the drop-down menu that appears. Either way, you see a page similar to the one shown in Figure 5-4 when you connect to the Kindle Store.

At the top of the screen, you have the option to browse Books, Newspapers, Kindles Singles, Kindle Serials, Kindle Worlds, and Magazines. As you move down the page, you can browse the Daily Deals, Monthly Deals, Best Sellers, Kindle Select 25, Best of the Month, Things to Try, and New & Noteworthy. At the time this screenshot was taken, the list also featured 2013 Pulitzer Winners.

The bottom panel changes frequently. In Figure 5-4, it displays the Best of 2013. Other times, the bottom panel might feature Recommended for You, which are books that might be of interest to you based on your purchases. The more you buy from Amazon, the more tailored the recommendations are to your interests.

At the top of the screen is a Search field so that you can search the store, just as you do from your computer. Tapping in the Search field displays the onscreen keyboard. Type an author's name, the title of a book, or a search term.

To exit the store and return to the Home screen, tap the Home icon or the Back icon.

Sampling content

When you find a book that intrigues you, you can send a sample to your Kindle Paperwhite to decide whether you really want to purchase it. Samples consist of the first 10 percent of the book, which is usually enough to give you a flavor of the writing. Sampling isn't perfect, however; sometimes the first 10 percent of a book is mostly the front matter (the table of contents, foreword, acknowledgments, and so on), and you never get to the good stuff. However, based on my experience, this problem occurs less frequently than it did in the early days of Kindle e-books. Publishers seem to be aware of the issue and are formatting their e-books so that relevant content is included in the sample, allowing a potential buyer to make an informed purchase decision.

If you enjoy the sample and want to buy the book, you can do so in a number of ways. The easiest method is to tap the top of the screen to display not only the top toolbar but also a special bottom toolbar that appears only in samples (see Figure 5-5), and then tap Buy for price. In the figure, the price of the book is $9.73.

A second method is to purchase the book when you reach the end of the sample, as shown in Figure 5-6. Just tap the Buy Now link to purchase the book.

Note that for these options, you'll see a prompt to turn on wireless if necessary.

When you choose a Buy option (as opposed to visiting the store) you're taken to the book's product page at Amazon. Even though you see this page, you can't browse — the purchase is made immediately and your account is charged, as shown in Figure 5-7.

Note, however, that you can cancel the purchase from the screen shown in Figure 5-7. If you cancel the purchase, a screen similar to the one shown in Figure 5-8 is displayed.

After you purchase the book, your Kindle Paperwhite automatically takes you to the correct location in the book (where you left off in the sample) and deletes the sample from your device.

You can't buy e-books or other content from your Kindle Paperwhite without a wireless connection, either Wi-Fi or 3G. On the other hand, if you buy an e-book while browsing on your PC and send it to your Kindle, that purchase is queued and sent to your Kindle the next time you turn on wireless, whether it be minutes, days, or weeks later.

Locating superior subscription content

Kindle Paperwhite content isn't restricted to just e-books. In fact, one of the earliest selling points of the device was the capability to subscribe to Kindle versions of popular magazines, newspapers, and blogs. This type of content has been steadily increasing over the years. At present, several hundred magazines, newspapers, and blogs are available.

You have two options available for acquiring this type of content — an ongoing subscription or the purchase of a single issue. Per issue prices for a subscription will be less than the price to purchase a single issue, and both will usually be less than a traditional subscription or a print purchase. I say usually because you may find a bargain or deeply discounted subscription price that would be less than a Kindle subscription. If price is the determining factor, do your homework and shop around. On the other hand, if decreasing the clutter in your home is important and you want the convenience of wireless delivery daily, weekly, or monthly, you may find that a Kindle subscription is a viable option.

Some subscription content is available for free online, such as certain newspapers. So why pay for a Kindle Paperwhite subscription? If you commute on a train or a bus, the convenience of having the paper on your Kindle Paperwhite might be the deciding factor. On the other hand, if you like to read the paper on your computer, a subscription might not be a smart purchase. Keep in mind that Kindle subscriptions don't include advertising, whereas online periodicals often do.

Further, some online periodicals restrict content and make it available only to subscribers. For example, The New York Times limits nonsubscribers to ten articles per month online. Subscribers have unlimited access to the online edition, the complete archives of The New York Times, plus the convenience of having the paper delivered directly to the Kindle Paperwhite every morning at 4 a.m. (EST).

All Kindle subscriptions come with a minimum 14-day (newspapers) or 30-day (magazines) free trial. Special promotions may be offered with 90-day free trials for subscription content. You can cancel any time during the trial, whether it is 14, 30, or 90 days. If you don't cancel, your subscription begins automatically at the end of the trial period. Of course, you can cancel a subscription at any time, even after subscribing; you'll receive a pro-rated refund on the unused portion. Please note that the trial (14, 30, or 90 days) is a one-time option — if you cancel and then decide later you want to subscribe, even if many months have passed, your new paid subscription starts immediately.

Kindle subscriptions can be confusing because they have lots of quirks that are generally not an issue with e-books. Recognize that many of these exist because of the way the publisher has decided to format and distribute the content, and thus these issues are not under the control of Amazon. Here are some things to be aware of:

• The Kindle Paperwhite is a grayscale device. Magazines and newspapers that rely heavily on color photographs don't look the same on the Kindle Paperwhite. For this reason, your reading experience may not be pleasurable.
• Content in the print edition may not be included in the Kindle subscription version. For example, the New Yorker doesn't include its full complement of cartoons, and National Geographic doesn't include all the pictures found in the print edition. You should definitely take advantage of the free trial to determine whether you will find the content, as presented, satisfactory.
• Not all periodicals are available for all devices, such as smartphones and the Kindle for PC app. Which devices are supported is clearly identified on the subscription page. For example, if you hope to read your subscription to the New Yorker on your iPhone, you're out of luck.
• Unlike e-books, subscription content can be read only on one Kindle. You can't share subscriptions among devices, although you can change the device to which the subscription is delivered.
• Only recent issues of newspapers and magazines and recent blog entries remain available on your device. Older issues of e-newspapers and e-magazines and older blog entries are deleted automatically from your Kindle Paperwhite to make room for additional content.

Older issues of newspapers and magazines appear inside the Periodicals: Back Issues grouping, which usually appears at the end of the content listing. Select the grouping by tapping it. The screen displays the back issues you have on your Kindle Paperwhite. Older newspaper and magazine issues are automatically deleted to free space for new content. The word Expiring next to a magazine or newspaper issue indicates that it'll be deleted soon.

If you want to keep a copy of an issue on your Kindle Paperwhite, follow these steps:

1. Open the specific issue from the listing of periodicals.
2. Tap the top of the screen to display the toolbar.
3. Tap Menu⇒Keep This Issue.

When you choose to keep an issue, Keep will be displayed to the right of the title. Another way to keep an issue is to tap and hold down (long tap) on its title. When the pop-up menu appears, select Keep This Issue.

You can delete a saved issue by following the preceding steps but selecting Do Not Keep This Issue from the menu in Step 3.

Expanding on the traditional: Looking for games and apps

Games, such as Mahjong, Solitaire, and Blackjack, are also available for your Kindle Paperwhite. Some people are purists and believe that the Kindle Paperwhite should be used only for reading; others like having the option of playing a game every now and then. Given that many games are offered for free or put on sale on a regular basis, go ahead and download one and see what you think. I've become enamored with “Every Word”, an anagram-type word game developed by Amazon. The touchscreen on the Kindle Paperwhite is ideal for playing this game.

In general, games are played individually, so wireless doesn't need to be on to play a game.

Games can't be sampled — if you're interested in playing Blackjack, you need to buy it. Therefore, it's a good idea to read the reviews posted at Amazon to decide whether the format and method of playing will be acceptable to you.

Not all the Kindle games that are for sale at Amazon work on the Kindle Paperwhite. Make sure that you see the name of your Kindle Paperwhite in the Deliver To drop-down list (under the Buy Now button) before making a purchase.

Kindle content, including games, can be returned within seven days for a refund. You can return e-books through Manage Your Kindle at your Amazon account. To return games, however, you must contact customer service directly; you can't process a return for a game from your Kindle Paperwhite or from your Kindle account at Amazon.

Checking Out Other Online Stores

As I mention earlier in this chapter, you don't have to purchase e-books from Amazon. E-bookstores are popping up all over the Internet, and with the popularity of the Kindle family of e-readers, most of these stores sell Kindle-compatible content. Publishers may also sell content directly from their websites. Exploring different options allows you to find some hidden gems. Similarly, if you have specific reading preferences — romance or science fiction, for example — specialized stores may have more in-depth selections and greater availability of titles in your genre of interest.

The following list is not exhaustive but is a sampling of what can be found at various online booksellers:

• General indie (independently published) e-books: Smashwords (www.smashwords.com)
• Romance: All Romance eBooks (www.allromanceebooks.com)
• Science fiction, speculative fiction, and paranormal romance: Baen (www.baen.com)
• Nonfiction: Omnilit (www.omnilit.com/)
• Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender fiction: LGBT e-Bookshop (www.lgbtbookshop.com/)
• Horror and dark fiction: Darkfuse (www.darkfuse.com)

Buying from an e-bookseller

In general, purchasing from an e-bookseller is a straightforward process that involves the following steps:

1. Register for an account with the seller.

   The seller usually requires your name, address, and e-mail address, as well as information about your preferred form of payment (credit card or PayPal are typical).

   Some sites e-mail your Kindle purchases directly to your Kindle Paperwhite. If that's the case with the seller, enter the information it needs when you register.

   You can find your Kindle Paperwhite's e-mail address in the Manage Your Kindle section of your Amazon account. You can also find it directly from your Kindle Paperwhite. Tap Menu⇒Settings⇒Device Options⇒Personalize Your Kindle. The Send-to-Kindle Email is the fourth item in the list that appears. (See Chapter 7 for instructions on how to change your Kindle Paperwhite's e-mail address.)

2. Add the e-bookseller to the approved list of senders who can deliver content to your Kindle Paperwhite.

   To do this, on your computer:

   1. Log in to your account at Amazon, choose the Manage Your Kindle option, and in the column on the left side of the page, click Personal Document Settings.

      Your Kindle Approved e-mail list is in the middle of the page.

   2. Add the partial e-mail address for the e-bookseller by clicking the Add a New Approved E-mail Address link.

      Adding a partial e-mail address, such as @ebookseller.com, authorizes multiple senders from that account to send content to your Kindle Paperwhite.

   Make sure to add your own e-mail address(es) to your Kindle Approved e-mail list so that you can send documents to your Kindle Paperwhite.

   When you e-mail content to your Kindle Paperwhite, Amazon charges 15 cents per megabyte with a 3G wireless connection but has no charge for content delivered via Wi-Fi. Note that this fee applies to users in the United States. 3G wireless transfers are 99 cents per megabyte outside the United States.

   If you set your maximum delivery charge to zero cents under Whispernet Delivery Options in your Personal Document Settings, Amazon will deliver e-mailed content only when you have a Wi-Fi connection.

3. Browse and identify e-books you want to buy and then add them to your shopping cart.
4. At the time of purchase, select the format for your e-book.

   Ideally, you want to buy e-books with a PRC extension, the preferred format for the Kindle Paperwhite. If PRC isn't available, look for MOBI. Other, less desirable choices are TXT or PDF.

   Do not purchase e-books that are listed as secure Mobipocket or secure MOBI because they do not work on the Kindle Paperwhite!

5. Complete your purchase by either having the file e-mailed to your Kindle Paperwhite (if that's an option through the site) or downloading the file to your computer.

Files purchased outside Amazon are not stored in the Cloud. You need to back up the files on your computer. Some e-booksellers offer a digital archive of purchases you've made. Read the terms of service to see whether they offer this feature. You may want to check for restrictions on the number of files that can be stored and the length of time that your digital library will remain active.

An e-bookseller might go out of business, so it's a good idea to back up content you purchase from sources other than Amazon.

Choosing a compatible file format for purchased e-books

The following formats are compatible with the Kindle Paperwhite:

• AZW is the proprietary format developed by Amazon for its Kindle-compatible e-books. Content purchased from Amazon has an AZW extension; note that AZW may be followed by a number, such as 1, 2, or 3.
• MOBI is a file format developed by Mobipocket; it's widely used and compatible with the Kindle Paperwhite. Note, however, that secure Mobipocket or secure MOBI files do not work on a Kindle Paperwhite.
• PRC, which stands for Palm Resource Compiler, is equivalent to MOBI and is the standard file format for books purchased at sites other than Amazon for the Kindle family of e-readers.
• TXT is a simple text file.
• PDF is the Adobe Portable Document Format. The last few generations of Kindle e-readers, including the Kindle Paperwhite, have a built-in PDF reader. You can send or e-mail the file to your Kindle Paperwhite or copy it to the Kindle Paperwhite via USB. Details on sending files are discussed in Chapter 7.

DOC and DOCX are files created by Microsoft Word, a word-processing program. A Word document can be converted to work on the Kindle Paperwhite. The easiest method for conversion is to send the file to your Kindle Paperwhite using the Send to Kindle app from Amazon. You can also e-mail the file to your Kindle e-mail address. I discuss these options in Chapter 7.

ePub is a common file format that you may encounter; note that ePub formatted books are not compatible with the Kindle Paperwhite.

Transferring files from your computer to the Kindle Paperwhite

Although e-mailing or sending a document to your Kindle Paperwhite is fast and easy (see Chapter 7), connecting your Kindle via USB cable and transferring books via drag-and-drop is a simple process too.

Both Macintosh and Windows users can download and transfer Kindle content and personal documents from their computers to their Kindles through the USB connection. When the Kindle is plugged into a computer, it appears as a removable mass-storage device.

To transfer files via USB cable, your computer must meet the following system requirements:

• PC: Windows 2000 or later
• Macintosh: Mac OS X 10.2 or later
• USB port: An available port or an attached USB hub with an available port

To connect your Kindle Paperwhite to your computer:

1. Plug the larger end of the USB cable into an available USB port or a powered USB hub connected to your computer, and connect the other end of the USB cable to the micro-USB port on the bottom of the Kindle Paperwhite.

   When connected to the PC, the Kindle Paperwhite goes into USB drive mode and its battery is recharged by the computer. Wireless service is temporarily shut off. The Kindle isn't usable as a reading device while in USB drive mode but returns to your reading location when you eject the device from your computer.

2. When your Kindle Paperwhite is connected, simply drag and drop (or copy and paste) the file from your computer's hard drive to the Kindle Paperwhite's Documents folder.

   If you put the file in the root drive instead of the Documents folder, it won't appear on the Home screen of your Kindle Paperwhite.

Discovering Sources of Free Content

You can find many sources of free content. The quickest and easiest way to find free e-books, games, and other offers that are available at Amazon is to search the Top 100 Free category in the Kindle Store. Not all the free e-books are restricted to classics; various publishers run special promotions to entice readers to try new authors — often on the eve of a new e-book release. You need to be quick, though — many times the freebie is available only for a few days before it goes back to the regular price.

Another option is to visit KBoards at www.kboards.com/. Members there maintain a monthly thread that lists free e-books from a variety of sites. The list is updated regularly to show when the e-book is no longer free.

When you order an e-book from Amazon, even if it is free, it appears as a purchase with a purchase price of $0.00. You receive a confirmation e-mail, too, so don't be surprised. Yes, you have “bought” the e-book, even if you didn't have to pay anything for it. Free books from Amazon are stored in the Cloud and available to you, even if the free promotion ends.

Read the fine print carefully. Many free offers are restricted to certain countries or territories. Make sure the price is listed as $0.00 before you opt to buy.

In addition to Amazon, a number of sites offer free e-books, all available to you legally:

• Project Gutenberg: One of the original free e-book sites, Project Gutenberg, at www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page, includes 42,000 books that have been digitized with the help of thousands of dedicated volunteers. All e-books were originally published by bona fide publishers; the copyrights have since expired. You can search by author or title, or browse by category, by most recently updated, or by Top 100. Project Gutenberg includes e-books in languages other than English, ranging from Afrikaans to Yiddish.
• Internet Archive: This site features millions of rare, out-of-print works in multiple languages and formats. It's especially useful for academic work. Visit www.archive.org/details/texts.
• Open Library: This site, at http://openlibrary.org, includes 20 million user-contributed items and over 1 million e-books in multiple editions and formats. Their goal is “One web page for every book ever published.”
• FreeTechBooks.com: This site lists free online computer science, engineering, and programming e-books, e-textbooks, and lecture notes, which are all legally and freely available over the Internet. Go to http://freetechbooks.com.
• manybooks.net: You can find classic texts at http://manybooks.net that are copyright-free, ranging from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (CreateSpace) to Zambesi Expedition by David Livingstone (Kessinger Publishing). You can also find new fiction by emerging authors. All the texts offered on the site are free to U.S. users. Most titles are offered in a variety of formats, including AZW, which works on the Kindle Paperwhite.
• Feedbooks: This site is another source of free, public domain e-books. Visit www.feedbooks.com/publicdomain.

  The Feedbooks website includes a section with paid content. These e-books are not compatible with the Kindle Paperwhite, so don't purchase one in error! Only the free public domain e-books at Feedbooks work on your Kindle Paperwhite.