As a follow-up to my talk about, I thought I'd provide some instructions on how to get books - for free - from the excellent and onto your Kindle. Unlike Amazon, Gutenberg doesn't provide a 'straight to Kindle' service, so you'll need to download the file manually. It's easy once you get used to it, but maybe not obvious the first time round. Note: this is for the non-technical reader! I'm going to assume you're using some version of Windows, though; I'll also assume that you know how to use Windows Explorer to find files: either by clicking on folders on your desktop, or clicking on the folder icon on the start bar,. The problem is, it's slightly different on every version of Windows, and I don't have any of them to hand! So please search for how to do that separately if you're not sure. OK, there are three main parts to this process: A. Getting the book from Gutenberg to your PC • Let's imagine you've found a book and you're on 'the book's webpage' on Project Gutenberg. For example,: if you click on that link, you can see the sort of page I mean. • You want to download any.MOBI version: if it gives you the option, you can go for a version with images, although on some e-readers they'll appear in slightly grainy black and white. So • The file should begin downloading. Where your browser puts it depends on your version of Windows (and your browser), so you might have to find it without my help! Try opening a Windows Explorer window and looking for a folder called 'Downloads'. • Here's a tip, though: on more recent browsers, as it's downloading the file's name will appear in a box at the bottom left of your browser, and beside this box is an arrow. Click on this and choose 'Show in folder'. A Windows Explorer window will appear. With the book highlighted. • Right click on the book filename - it'll be called something like pg3289.mobi - and click rename. '3289' in this instance is Gutenberg's reference number for this work; but you should change it to something more memorable like 'Conan Doyle - Valley of Fear' and press enter. At this point, you might want to repeat this procedure for a few more books, so you can do the next couple of steps for all the books at once! Connecting your Kindle • Connect the Kindle with a USB cable. You can use the cable that came with your Kindle, or any standard 'Micro USB-B' cable, such as you might get with a more recent mobile phone. So long as the socket and plug match - don't force them! - it'll be fine. • You might get a popup offering you options for what to do: if so, ask to open it in a folder. This will open a Windows Explorer window, with the Kindle highlighted and a few folders on it visible, including one called 'documents'. • If you don't get a popup, open the folder yourself anyway: open Windows Explorer by some other means. Then find 'My Computer', underneath which is 'Kindle'. Click on 'Kindle' and you'll see the same as described above. • Double-click on the documents folder, which opens it You'll now see some of your Amazon books. Don't mess with these files. • If you haven't done already, right-click in any blank space in the Windows Explorer window, and create a new folder called 'Gutenberg', to distinguish your downloads from ones you bought on Amazon. Double-click on this sub-folder once you've created it. Getting the book(s) from your PC to the Kindle You should now have at least two Windows Explorer windows open: • Your browser's downloads folder, with many files including the.MOBI files of the books you just downloaded • The Gutenberg folder, inside the documents folder, on your Kindle. There are now lots of different ways of copying these files from one folder to another. You can click and drag them from the downloads folder to the Gutenberg folder; or you can right-click on them, select 'copy', and then right-click inside the Gutenberg folder and click 'paste'. ![]() ![]() You can even use CTRL-C and CTRL-V to copy and paste, if you know how to do that. One last thing! Don't disconnect the USB cable straight away. Instead, find 'My Computer' again, and right-click on the 'Kindle' icon. Select 'eject'. This makes sure that all the books have finished transferring to your Kindle and safely shuts down any data transfer between your computer and the Kindle. It's probably not the end of the world if you don't do this, but you could cause some data corruption on your Kindle, which might even (gulp!) damage some of the files you got from Amazon - this is pretty unlikely but better safe than sorry. And that's it! Once you 'eject' your Kindle, the new books should appear at the top of your Kindle's list of books (but maybe below any 'collections' you've created.) You've now got some classic works of literature, for free: happy reading! ![]() Jan 12, 2011 If you've not already jumped on the eBook bandwagon, there's never been a better time to climb aboard. With apps like iBooks and Amazon's Kindle app. Project Gutenberg is a website that offers over 39,000 free ebooks and digital publications that are compatible with Kindle, Nook, iPad, iPhone, Android, and most. Oct 01, 2011 A video walkthrough of a website with over 36,000 ebooks that are free to download. I show you the site, as well as how to upload.
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Click on the link below to start downloading this free ebook:- The Great Gatsby – 128 pages, 385 KB (EPUB, MOBI). Items posted here are free at the time of posting. If you find they are no longer free, kindly notify us immediately through our. Get your own beautiful, free copy of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald here at Planet eBook. Download, read and share it right now! The Great Gatsby is a vintage novel classic that was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and was published in 1925. ![]() The novel till present date is known as the biggest English classics of all times. The novel was published in 1925 April by the Charles Scribner’s sons publications. The Great Gatsby Epub Details And Reviews: The story of the novel revolves around a mysterious millionaire who lives in the great Gatsby mansion in New York back in the time. The millionaire is known for hosting lavish parties that entertains hundreds of guests but the millionaire is never seen at any of those parties. This raises curiosity amongst his neighbors and is particularly of interest to the new boy next door Nick Carraway. He has just moved into a very small townhouse that is located just beside the mansion. The book is narrated by Nick as well. ![]() ![]() The Inner Observer NEW VIDEO WORKSHOP WITH HELEN PALMER Patterns of Being Where the Narrative Enneagram Meets Integral We are honored and excited to announce the launch of a new video workshop, Patterns of Being: Where the Narrative Enneagram Meets Integral. Recorded during one of Helen Palmer's workshops in Boulder, CO in the Spring of 2013, this nine-hour program helps to awaken the ancient wisdom of the Enneagram in the Narrative Tradition in your own life, while enriching it with the unique insights and perspectives revealed by the Integral approach – one that combines the best elements of what all of the world's cultures tell us about human potential, including spiritual, psychological and social development. The Inner Observer Series Seeing Through Your Blind Spots The Inner Observer Series by Helen Palmer 'The immediate goal is to recognize the inner patterns that drive your outer behavior. These patterns vary according to the type of person you are, and can be internally witnessed by a faculty of spiritual awareness commonly called the Inner Observer'. Seeing Through Your Blind Spots in the Harvard Business Review Blog Enjoy this article about the Enneagram in the Harvard Business Review by Tony Schwartz, the president and CEO of The Energy Project and the author of Be Excellent at Anything. Helen's book, The Enneagram, is referenced. ![]() A choice of two online enneagram tests (free), to learn your personality type. A longer, and a quicker enneagram test (with wing and instinctual variant). No single Enneagram test can insure the accurate typing of every person that takes it. We suggest that people take more than one test, compare the results, and consider them a guide as to their Enneagram type. We heartily recommend inquiring about it's statistical validity before taking it. We suspect that many of the new. Personality Types by Don Richard Riso The Wisdom of the Enneagram by Don Richard Riso The Enneagram by Helen Palmer The Essential Enneagram by David. Then again, I see so much of most of the proposed personality types in myself that my test results for these types of classifications are not very reproducible. Quoting from the article: 'To facilitate this discussion, we used a tool called the Enneagram — a personality typing system akin to Myers-Briggs, but for my money, much richer, more penetrating and more practically useful.' Who is Helen Palmer? Is: • a teacher of intuition, psychology and a point of contact between them, the Enneagram, a matrix of personality structures that recognizes nine observable points of view. Helen presents the • a published author, currently translated into twenty-eight different languages; • a co-founder of the Palmer/Daniels Enneagram Professional Teacher Program which trains and certifies presenters of the Enneagram worldwide; • a founding director of the International Enneagram Association; and • a co-chair of the first International Enneagram Conference held at Stanford University in 1994. This website is devoted to Helen Palmer's unique understanding of the Enneagram which integrates psychology and spirituality, a perspective which is the result of working with the system over the last thirty plus years. Critical to that perspective is what's known as 'witnessing consciousness' or the 'Inner Observer'. Read on to learn more. ![]() What is the Enneagram. Inner Observer Series The Enneagram is a highly sophisticated system of nine personality profiles that are meant to help us know ourselves and others “as we/they are to themselves”. Each type profile serves as a customized road map for on-going personal growth consistent with categories of modern psychological typology. The nine types are as follows: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 This tour of the types confirms that the Enneagram is real, valid, and observable in our everyday lives as a tool for personal growth and development. To learn how you can apply its wisdom and guidance for creating a better and more fulfilling life read on. Is Helen Palmer's guided introduction to the Inner Observer. Helen skillfully introduces the listener to the mechanics of attention while providing a direct experience of that aspect of awareness known as the Inner Observer. This 30 minute (approx) audio is a must for the daily practice of the Enneagram in service to ongoing personal transformation and spiritual development. $14.95 Running time approximately 30 minutes. The second half of Helen's Inner Observer teaching, completes her introduction to this largely overlooked faculty of spiritual consciousness. In combination, Parts I and II are a crucial addition to your understanding of the Enneagram's spiritual purpose. $14.95 Running time approximately 30 minutes. Includes The Inner Observer Part I: The Categories of Type and Part II: Faculties of the Inner Observer. Part I is a guided introduction to the Inner Observer in which Helen skillfully introduces the listener to the mechanics of attention while providing a direct experience of that aspect of awareness known as the Inner Observer. Part II of Helen's Inner Observer teaching completes Helen's introduction to this largely overlooked faculty of spiritual consciousness. $26.95 Total Running time approximately 60 minutes. Or FREE Downloads Helen's APA-approved Enneagram-based E-Course Recommended for both new and experienced students of the Enneagram Listen as Helen Palmer introduces you to the reality of your own “Inner Observer”. This free audio download is quick, persuasive, and personal in its presentation of that aspect of our awareness so fundamental to the practice of the Enneagram. In this three minute audio download, Helen offers an orientation to what stands between your type and access to higher realms of knowing, a subject so fundamental to effective self-observational practice. Each of the nine Enneagram types is marked by a distinctive habitual focus of attention. This particular pattern of thinking and feeling, called the “cognitive-emotional habit” is most apparent when a person is under stress. Using the Enneagram for Psychological Assessment and Practice 'Brillant' is the one word used to describe ' Using the Enneagram for Psychological Assessment and Practice' by those who have taken the course. This is because the material is relevant, the insights unique, and the benefits multiple. Team-taught by Helen Palmer and Marlene Cresci-Cohen, Phd., this first-ever American Psychological Association approved Enneagram-based online course is available for continuing education credit through one of our educational partners, Union Institute & University in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is also suitable for any serious student of the Enneagram who is interested in deepening their self-understanding and those with whom they are in relationship. And if that isn't enough, you can learn at your own pace according to your own schedule.. How can I learn more? • Accurately identify your type. Take a or arrange for a typing interview with a Helen Palmer/EPTP certified Enneagram practitioner. • Tour this website and enjoy highlighted bullet-point of self-observations reported by long-term students of the Enneagram; Does any of this sound familiar? • Register for one of, seminars. An the system. • Visit our shopping cart and choose from a It's another excellent way to cultivate your knowledge and develop fluency with the system. It would be impossible for most of us to spend a day without coming into direct or indirect contact with dozens of people family, friends, people in the street, at the office, on television, in our fantasies and fears. Our relationships with others are the most changeable, infuriating, pleasurable and mystifying elements in our lives. Personality types, based on the ancient system of the Enneagram, will help you to enjoy more satisfying and fulfilling relationships in all areas of your life by introducing you to the nine basic personality types inherent in human nature. This knowledge will help you better understand how others think and why they behave as they do, as well as increasing your awareness of your own individual personality. Written by the leading world authority on the Enneagram, it offers a framework for understanding ourselves and those around us, as well as a wealth of practical insights for anyone interested in psychology, counselling, teaching, social work, journalism and personal management. Critical Praise Provides help in understanding the good qualities of a more evolved life. —San Francisco Chronicle Palmer’s historical and clinical accounting is solid and her reasoning insightful. The Enneagram system can help us understand people as they see themselves. —Training and Development Journal Explores the mysteries of personality and points the way to the cultivation of extraordinary abilities. —Yoga Journal A book for both the psychologically sophisticated and for ordinary people as well. —New Realities Magazine [Palmer’s] focus on the practical import of this unique personality system gives her book special power, the power to transform. —American Humanistic Psychology Review. With over 70 million books in print worldwide, Harlan Coben is the internationally bestselling author of more than twenty-five novels, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers Fool Me Once, The Stranger, Missing You, Six Years, Stay Close, Live Wire, Caught, Long Lost, and Hold Tight, as well as the Myron Bolitar series and a series aimed at young adults featuring Myron’s nephew, Mickey Bolitar. His books are published in 43 languages around the globe and have been number one bestsellers in over a dozen countries. A new Myron Bolitar novel, Home, will be published September 2016. ![]() ![]() UK Edition; US Edition; Sign in; Register. Caught, By Harlan Coben. Wrapped up in a revenge tragedy. Harlan Coben, though. A bibliography of Harlan Coben's books, with the latest releases, covers, descriptions and availability. Online shopping for Kindle Store from a great selection of Literature & Fiction, Foreign Languages, Romance, Religion & Spirituality, Children's eBooks, Business. Six Years by Harlan Coben at AbeBooks.co.uk - ISBN 10: - ISBN 13: 943 - Orion - 2014 - Softcover. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Sometimes, you can find whole books that you can add to your own library and read on your phone or tablet. Only books with specific permissions can be downloaded for free, which usually means the books are old enough that they belong in the. Some modern books are offered as an introduction to a series, too. Books with intact copyrights are available only for preview or, in some cases, for purchase in the Google Play Store. The amount of a book you can preview varies from just a citation to the entire book, depending on the agreement Google has with the publisher. ![]() ![]() ![]() You can go directly to Google Books and find books to download for free. You'll need an author, genre, title, or some other descriptive term to enter into the search engine. The process is intuitive: • Go to (not Google Play). • Search for a descriptive term, such as 'Chaucer' or 'Wuthering Heights.' • After Google returns the search results, click on Tools in the menu above the search results. Some of the aren't going to be classic or even public domain books; some are just books someone wrote and wants to distribute for, whether forever or for only a few hours. Read the description that appears with each of the books in the search results list for more details. You can adjust the Any time option in the Tools menu to find only older works to exclude modern commentaries. If you're not interested in reading a full book and just want to find out some information, you can use the Tools menu to restrict your search to books with an available preview by selecting Preview available in the Any time drop-down menu. That filter also shows free ebooks because they always include full previews. EBooks are an amazing thing, especially with Amazon's Kindle. What's irrtating about eBooks as that you have an infinite selection of books at your fingertips, but. Hack by Peter Wrenshall. In his gripping new Young Adult novel, Hack, Peter Wrenshall gets at the heart and soul of the teenage computer criminal. How to Actually Make Money Selling eBooks. While mostly eBook sellers like Amazon or Barnes only accept submissions from major book publishers. I use to make money with Amazon by tracking IDs. 20 Tips I Used To Make $90,336.65 With Amazon. Like an ebook. Not only does the post itself. Recently, I heard a great quote: “Amazon.com is teaching people to buy a lot of little things.” This is a great statement because it emphasizes how we’re witnessing the death throes of the traditional eBook. With Kindle books, Amazon.com provides people with instant access to downloadable information. So it’s getting harder and harder to charge premium prices for eBooks. ![]() At first, I was disturbed by this emerging trend. But now I realize there is a completely untapped market for anyone to make money with Amazon Kindle books. Two weeks ago, I jumped into the Kindle market with my book: What I discovered is it’s really easy to make a Kindle book. The trick is to do it in a way that leads to long-term income. In this post, I’ll go over my experiences with publishing on Amazon. Plus I’ll detail a few strategies I’m personally implementing that will (hopefully) maximize the income potential from this business model The Mathematics of Creating a Kindle Book Let’s start by talking about my total investment for publishing on Amazon. Here’s how it breaks down: • $75 to a writer to collect, format, and edit the content. (More on this later.) • $22 to a designer to create a flat eCover image. ![]() • 8 hours of my personal time to change a few links; do a final edit, and format the Kindle book. So overall I spent a day’s work and almost a hundred dollars to make a Kindle book. That’s a small investment considering this book has the potential to generate income for many years. Pretty awesome, right? Get Started by Doing Keyword Research Personally, I think the success of your Kindle book depends on keyword research. We all understand the importance of optimizing a website for certain keyword phrases. ![]() How to Make Money ($2,700/Month) Publishing Amazon Kindle eBooks with No Writing — Passive Income Case Study. Here's how I make money online with ebooks and how you can too. But nearly all of my promotion work is done by leveraging Amazon’s algorithms to do the work for me. Can you really, honestly earn money from self. Most of my e-books have sold a few thousand. Ten Steps to Formatting Your E-book for Sale on Amazon. You can take this strategy and apply it to publishing an Amazon Kindle book. There are two important rules to remember: • Google LOVES Amazon pages and gives them preferential ranking • Amazon is a search engine that is used by BUYERS Seriously, these two statements are the most important things you should know about Kindle publishing. Keep them in mind and you’ll be one step closer to making money with a book on Amazon. Case in point My product content came from a series of old posts on generating online income. So I started by doing basic research using the. After five minutes, I found that these phrases had a lot of searches: Let’s recap the demand for these keywords: • How to Make Extra Money: 9,900 exact searches • How to Make Money Fast: 49,900 exact searches • Make Money Using Your Computer: 320 exact searches • How to Make Extra Money Fast: 480 exact searches Those are just the exact searches. Include the broad searches and we’re talking about more than 500,000 requests for information related to making money online. Now, here’s where things get interesting Like I said Google loves Amazon products. With a little bit of backlinking, you can get a Kindle book to show up in their organic results. As an example, I’m already ranking #10 for the phrase how to make extra money fast: I’ll admit 480 exact searches won’t make me ‘Oprah rich.’ But this result is after one week. Give me a few months and I’ll rank high for this phrase and the larger demand keywords like how to make extra money and how to make money fast. In addition, Amazon has a vast search engine used by book buyers. Their results are largely determined by reviews and overall sales. Get enough people to buy your Kindle book and you’ll rank high for top-quality keywords. For instance, I’m already ranked #9 in their books section for the phrase how to make money fast: Unfortunately, there is no way to track keyword research in Amazon.com. So it’s hard to get an exact number of keyword searches people do on this site. But I’d estimate there is at least a couple thousand searches every month for make money keywords. Imagine having 1000’s of people searching for YOUR book topic and easily finding it on Amazon.com. Now you can see why it’s important to do keyword research. How to Write a Kindle Book Running an Internet business is all about leveraging your time and assets. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel with every new project. In fact, one thing I recommend is to package some of your best content and put it into Amazon Kindle format. Awhile back, I wrote a series of posts about different ways to generate income. I feel these posts made a great topic for a Kindle book because they’re designed for people who want to make money but don’t know how to get started. So instead of writing a Kindle book, I paid $75 to a writer to collect my old blog posts and reformat them into a small report. Then I spent a whole day doing additional research, updating the content, and creating special links for readers. The end result is I “wrote” a Kindle book in under a week. My advice is don’t get bogged down in the writing aspect for your first Kindle book. Instead, use great content you’ve already created. Find a major keyword in your niche. Then add articles or posts that tightly relate to this topic. You’d be surprised at how quickly you put together a product for Amazon. Later on, you can write an in-depth book with 100% unique content. But I think it’s more important to learn about the process of publishing on Amazon instead of worrying about writing creating a whole new product. How to Create an Amazon Book – Formatting & Submitting I’m pretty much a techno-dunce when it comes to a lot of things online. So I found the whole process of Kindle publishing to be very simple to follow. Amazon makes it easy by offering a detailed series of articles about. Read over these articles and you’ll discover that anyone can create a Kindle book. You can easily do this in less than 24 hours. But there are a few things I’d like to mention #1. You should write the book in DOC (or.doc) format. Not RTF (.rtf) or DOCX (.docx) formats. These do not work properly when published to a Kindle. Once the book has been formatted, it should be saved as a Web Page, Filtered (*HTM & *HTML) format. You should use page breaks at the start of each chapter or section. This prevents the text from running together and makes your book easier to read. You should avoid bullet points, headers, footers, and special fonts. You can use italics, bolding, and indentations. Frankly, I hate the fact that they don’t allow bullet points because the text doesn’t look right without them. Hopefully this will change in the future. You should spell and grammar check the book. Double, triple, even quadruple check your Kindle book. I made a huge mistake by not doing this with my first published version. So I had to go back and change a few grammatical errors/word omissions I initially missed. I recommend you complete the Kindle book and then wait a day before doing a final review. This will give you a chance to look at it with a fresh perspective. You should use an attractive eCover. This is the same thing you’d do with an information product. Spend a few dollars and have a professional designer create an image that stands out. And I’ve made it easy for you. Like I said, it’s not hard to make a Kindle Book. Just use the links I’ve provided in this section and you’ll be good to go! How to Make Money with Amazon Kindle Books The payout for a Kindle download is pretty low. Basically you get two options – A 35% or 70% royalty on the price of the book. There are a lot of factors when it comes to the payment you receive from Amazon.com. That’s why I recommend you. Really you’ll only make a dollar or two per sale of your book. Perhaps this adds up over time. ButI think there are three ways you can really monetize an Amazon book: #1. Turn Readers into Email Subscribers: People that buy Kindle books are customers. And without a doubt, customers are the best type of list subscribers. That’s why you should offer a “bonus gift” at the start and end of every Kindle book. This bonus gift should lead to a free report that’s related to the topic in your Kindle book. As an example, I offer a free copy of my “Income Trilogy” report and a spot on my early-bird list for the 111 Affiliate Marketing Tips report I’m launching in two weeks: The key here is to offer additional value to what’s published in the book. This will give readers an incentive to check out your personal brand and join your email list. Link to Money Pages: A “Money Page” is any spot on your blog that gives additional content, while also recommending an income-generating offer. So another way you can make money with a Kindle book is to provide a link to a page filled with relevant content. For instance, anyone who wants to make money online might be interested in starting a website. So in the beginning of the book I reference a page where people can learn about setting up a website: On this page is a very light recommendation of a web hosting package. In theory, I can generate additional income simply by sending readers to a spot where they learn how to set-up a website. Use Affiliate Links: The final way to make money with an Amazon book is to include affiliate links to related products. Now I recommend you be very careful with this technique. Include too many self-serving links and people will crucify you with bad reviews. Just look at what happened to one author: Be straight-forward with readers. Tell them when something is an affiliate link. This *should* prevent a lot of bad reviews that many authors get with their Kindle book. Create Backlinks to Your Amazon Page Like I said, I think the key to making money with Kindle books is to rank in Google for high demand keywords. Amazon already gets a lot of link love from this search engine. But you also need to add extra link juice to improve your rankings. That’s why it’s important to create backlinks to your Amazon page. Unfortunately, my favorite backlinking tool does not accept Amazon sites. So I’ve had to get creative with how I link to my Amazon page. What I do know is Amazon gets thousands of backlinks on a daily basis. So it’s pretty safe to be aggressive with your linking strategy. As an example, I’m currently using these two vendors to do a few ninja backlinking campaigns to my Amazon page: • • Both of these people provide reputable backlinking services. Only time will tell if they will help my Amazon page increase its Google ranking. Probably, I’ll do a follow-up post to this article and talk about the results I get from these services. Bottom line is you should do some sort of backlinking to an Amazon page. Google loves Amazon pages. So even a little push will send your Kindle listing to the top of the search engine listings. Final Thoughts on How to Make Money with Amazon So far, I’ve enjoyed my experience with self-publishing on Amazon. I’m amazed at the simplicity of the entire process. Now I’m kicking myself for not getting started sooner. Right now, I’m creating a strategy where I’ll release a new Kindle book every month or so. Hopefully in a year’s time I’ll have a catalog of Kindle books that each make a little bit of money, while pushing people to check out my personal brand. Don’t have a Kindle book already? I recommend you get started right away. Just take some of your best content and turn it into a simple-to-follow report. Before you know it, you’ll have a book that reaches an audience that can’t be found through traditional means like blogging. Steve, I’m glad your covering this topic because Kindle is HUGE right now. I have one book published (actually more of a tiny pamphlet) that is not doing well. That’s ok though because my blog is still small and with only one book up I doubt I’m getting that much exposure. Once I get my second book (one that is more substantial than a little pamphlet) I hope to see some better results. I’ll remember to do keyword research for the second book. One thing I will say is that I hope you didn’t enroll your book in KDP Select. I hear that Amazon won’t allow you to even post excerpts for Select books, and of course if your book is a collection of some of your older posts it’s going to have excerpts all over the place. Daniel, I totally agree. I am slowly coming to the realization that Kindle ebooks really could be the next big thing. Like any advance, people that do not get on board early will either fail in the long run, or have to rush to catch up. I am sure it will take us all a while to perfect the system, but it is important that we all take the time to try. Thanks for the heads up on KDP Select. I think you are right and that should be something to avoid. There is a fair bit of rewritingbut still, as you sais there will be large chunks that could be found online. From what I have seen, they run the gamut. Now I know you deliver qualitybut I think the key is actually delivering what you offer. I know I got one kindle “ebook” once that wasn’t even what I would call an article, being only about 800 words. But I have also seen and gotten a few that were quite robust. I am by no means an expert, but I think a good range probably above 4000 words. But what really matters is that you deliver what you promise. (at least the way I see it) Amazon is a pretty fair system, you burn a few people and they WILL take the time to leave you some nasty reviews. If it can be done in 2000 words fine it if takes 50,000, then that is what it takes. But to answer you questionmy ebook is 13,000 words. Rob thanks for the questions, here goes: My ebook is 13,000 words It sells for $2.99 (of which I get 70% Amazon 30%) Elance is my default for things like this, mainly because I have always used elance (not saying oDesk couldn’t be better) I am surprised that it wouldn’t show you a price, though. Even without having a kindle there are thousand of ways to read kindle books. (cell phone and Ipad apps, desktop/laptop apps etc.) Maybe when you “sign up” with amazon for ANY of those it will give you the option. Actually I was logged in to Amazon.com at the time but I’m in the UK so there is a button where the price should be that says: “Kindle titles are available for UK customers on Amazon.co.uk. Continue shopping on the Kindle Store at Amazon.co.uk.” And then when you click that you are taken through to the main page of the Amazon.co.uk Kindle store! Really surprising that Amazon can’t link you through to the same product from country to country! Anyway, if you search for it at Amazon.co.uk then you can see the price £1.95 GBP. Sorry, can I ask another question? Which gig do you use with salmanaslam on Fiverr? Thanks again, Steve, this has really got me interested. Andy, Yeah this one is a learning experience for me too. I have a feeling that the more you do the better it might become. (giving more people chances to buy and find you) I really think the key is to get your keywords to rank on Google. Once you do that everything else will follow. JUST having Amazon searches means that people have to find it and buybut if they never find it in the first place that can be difficult. I guess time will tell. Thanks for dropping by and sharing your experience. I totally agree as well. Ebooks and especially Kindle and all the outlets that Amazon offer are truly the next big thing. I still love holding a paper copy of a book. But one has to realize that ebooks and Amazon distribution equal a combination that will reach untold hundreds and hundreds of prospective readers. Publishing ebooks is as easy as 1-2-3 and there are a plethora of available means to produce them. Now all I have to do is WRITE an ebook. Get started on one yourself and see where the adventure takes you. Ed, I agree completely. I am old enough I still sometimes have a certain nostalgia for a “real” book myself. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see print books disappear as my generation gets to the point where we are not a marketing factor (say 30-40 years). But ebooks will continue to grow in value until then. (since that is the major distribution hub of the younger generation. I also agree that the hard part is to actually write the darn things. It takes time and effort. My best advice is to break it into manageable chunks. Make yourself do just 30-40 minutes each day. But put that time in each and every day, come hell or high water. Soon enough it will be done. Hey Steve, It’s kind of entertaining to see that a few of us bloggers like you, Tristan and I have worked on Kindle books behind-the-scenes, hivemind! In my approach, I was writing an uber long post for one of my websites and by the end it was already pushing nearly 7,000 words so I decided to convert it, upload it and push it onto the Kindle marketplace instead. Got a few sales but haven’t been doing too much with it but it’s still a really interesting experience. I think there’s a lot of potential here especially since you can do smaller books that could just be the “best of” posts from the blog, imo. Now that’s a great post Steve. I always appreciate how much detail and information you share with us in your posts. I’ve been reading a lot lately about Kindle books and how easy it really is to publish. I guess I just have not gotten around to it and really didn’t know what I’d write about. Grabbing some of your older blog posts and creating them in a report is an awesome idea. I keep having people tell me that I need all my posts on a certain topic put into a report anyway. Why not just sell it on Amazon. So you’ve got my head to thinking now and I guess I just need to break down and do it. One thing about it, I’ll be reverting back to this post for help. Thanks Steve, as always, you come through for us in a big way! Morris, I agree, SEO is essential. Without having keywords that rank on Google, I don’t see how you could ever get your ebook found on Amazon. Sure sales drives books upbut you need those sales or no one will find you on Amazon in the first place. So certainly you need a huge base to launch from, or some killer SEO. As for linkswell that is something I am working on. So far I have tried a couple of links from blog blueprint, links from this blog, some social networking/bookmarking and a couple of “fiverr” gigs for link wheels. Hopefully I will create a good amazon link building campaign and may have a more specific article on that in the future. Hey Steve, Loved your deep analysis over Kindle and Amazon man. I wanted to know what I needed to publish directly to Amazon and I honestly was expecting a lot more technical stuff to do so it is surprisingly easy I guess. However, I’m not sure I like that restriction with bullet points, how do you format a list for presentation then? I’m also wondering how many affiliate links could that poor guy used to get some nasty reviews in return (so we could avoid doing it like that!). Great post Steve, you never fail to surprise me with your articles, so keep them coming man and take care! I think that in the first keyword graphic, the right result for Make Money Using Your Computer: 320 exact searches Should be (58 searches) as that’s what’s in square brackets and getting the ‘exact search’. Steve, aloha. Thanks for the detail in this post. Seeing the steps and the analysis is extremely motivating. Thanks too for the links to your vendors. As it happens, I am starting a new project which I believe will lend itself perfectly to this. The wheels inside my head are a turning and a churning. When I release my first book, Steve, I will send you a complimentary copy. Again, thanks for so generously sharing your knowledge and experience with us. Best wishes for the success of what I know will be the first of many ebooks. Interesting resources you mention for backlinking and Kindle covers, Steve. I have made a note of them. I have published my Detox eBook on Kindle but I have only sold about 10 so far. I have neglected the backlinking aspect and also notice that flat covers are being used on Kindle and mine is the usual 3D ecover. Great idea about creating a book from old blog posts. I have plently of those that I could put to good use. I have listened to several webinars about making money with Kindle books and it seems you have to have hundreds of books on Kindle to make any real money. They talk about outsourcing books for about $20. I don’t know if it is possible to get a good book written for this amount but I am seriously thinking about expanding into Kindle book publishing. Sandy, I could be wrong, but I don’t think it is necessary to have hundreds of e-books to make money on Amazon. I have heard those theories too, and as for ranking internally to Amazon and basically trying to sell low-quality stuff by volume. ( something I’m not interested in) I think the secret is in making sure that your link also ranks on Google those specific keywords, then the Google traffic drives the Amazon sales which in turn increases your position for your main keywords on Amazon, having more sales and creating backups which in turn drives up your Google position. Like many things there is numerous ways to skin a cat, but hopefully this is the best way for fairly decent products. Hi Steve, You’ve written another first class post detailing everything we need to do when we start Kindle publishing. I love the way you’ve broken it all down and detailed every step you took and the results you’re getting. I reviewed a Kindle Publishing product last year and in the process I re-worked a PLR and loaded it onto Kindle. Needless to say in their PLR clear out the product of mine was removed. However I have 2 products that I have written so I do aim to get back over there with those once I have worked through them and formatted them for Kindle. That shouldn’t be to far away now as I’m slowly getting through some of my other projects and when I do I will be sure to come back and go through your advice here with a fine tooth comb I’m holding a video challenge over at my blog, starting next week for 4 weeks. I am hoping to encourage people to start creating videos and adding them to their blogs as well as giving experienced people the opportunity to show off their skills. I’ve also been challenged to get 100 people on board so am on a bit of a mission. Would you be interested Steve? Thanks for the post, I know it’s going to help me a lot in the near future Barry. Steve – one word – excellent (idea)! I particularly like your concept about being able to rank your Amazon offering by gaining top rankings in Google for very competitive keyword phrases. I tried this with eBay stores recently, although with somewhat mixed results, has to be said. I too used a number of fiverr.com gigs for backlinking. Fact is though – not everyone will want to opt for an investment in an eBay store, whereas – everyone can in fact create an eBook about some topic they are interested in. And to then gain rankings in Google providing you use Amazon as your “vehicle” so to speak, is a whole lot easier than it is if you are trying to rank a fresh website. Great idea Steve, it really is! Joseph, First of all I want to thank you for the shout out in your last autoresponder email. I am glad to see that you are taking the minimalism idea and running with it. Hopefully it keeps working for ya! As you well know (probably better than I), it still will take a lot of effort to rank for your ebook keywords on Google. But the big G really does seem to love Amazon and those links just seem to rise in the ranking “easier” than I suspect ebay would. Thanks for another great comment! I hope your weekend is going splendidly. 880 is a tad on the low side. (I aim for 1000 min.) but could be worthwhile to “see how it goes”. Of course if you can target a “couple” at 880then it is great:). I would certainly go for the lower ones at first. Then in time you can always make an effort for more competitive ones. Specifically starting out it is better (IMO) to get some easy success than to bite off more than you can chew and not get to the point of seeing results. Good luck man! When you release the ebook, let me know and I will swing by and give it a review (since I have read most of your articles). Sorry I have been gone for so long man. But I picked a crazy time to visit your blog again. It’s funny because I literally just opened up an “add new post” on my blog to write about making money as an Amazon eBook author before I decided to go and visit some old friends first. Then I come here, and here you are with the same kind of thing on your blog. Here’s my take man. I have 9 books on Amazon. 4 of them are in my own name, and 5 are published using a pen name. It’s important to use pen names because #1 it protects your reputation in case something goes bad, like what happened on the example you shown above with the reviews. Of course, you are going to get bad reviews no matter what you do because someone will always bitch about something. That’s just how it is. But if you write a good product, the others will recognize it and defend any bad reviews you may get. In the case of writing on different subjects, it’s wise to use pen names for the different subjects. That way you will not look like a know-it-all. In addition, you will get referrals from the “customers who bought this also bought” feature. It’s good to keep niches separated with pen names. I have found that the higher your price, the lower amount of sales you will get. If your ultimate goal is to make a $2,000 or more income from residual book sales (and borrows if you are signed up with KDP), then it’s wise to just put out 20-30 page eBooks at 99 cents a piece. One of my books actually racked in $1,000 per month on it’s own with sales and borrows at the 99 cent price. Brandon, First of all nice to see you again! It has been a while. (I will certainly swing by your site to see whats going on there!) Second, thanks for all the insight on your experiences writing in different niches. I can certainly see where some less than honorable guys might go and write trashy reviews to sink a competitor. It is sad to think that people would stoop that lowbut I have no doubt at all it happens. Also good tips on writing for multiple niches. Specifically if you are prolific. For this niche I am using it partially as a branding tool, so going with all the same name. But If I were to ever write something about traveling (or another of my interests), I would think long and hard about going a pseudonym route for those reasons. Again, thanks for dropping by and leaving an awesome comment! Thanks for the very informative and helpful article. I’m thinking of grouping together about six to eight of my blog posts together to make an e-book to upload on Amazon for the Kindle (I usually write 1,500 word posts). I was thinking about removing the blog posts once I do that. I don’t think I’ll be adding too much extra content to the e-book. Do you still leave up your old blog posts or do you remove them? I’ve decided to not have ads on my site, but I would like to earn some money from my writing. I was thinking of telling my e-mail list that any post that is six months old, I might remove from the site to repurpose for a later e-book. What do you think of this idea? Will the classroom of the future be devoid of paper? A discussion of digital textbooks, their advantages and possible effects. Until recently, classrooms had remained virtually unchanged for nearly a hundred years – desks were arranged in neat rows facing a chalkboard at the front of the room, students took notes on paper, and read from printed textbooks. Things started to change with the advent of whiteboards and projection equipment and, even more recently, individual computers. The trend is continuing, and the next casualty of the technological revolution appears to be the printed textbook. DigitalOwl, a Winter Park, Florida-based software company, is one of the first to venture into the fledgling digital textbook market. The company is sponsoring a Florida Digital Textbook Initiative, replacing traditional textbooks at several Florida schools with e-textbooks on laptops and ebook reading devices. ![]() Matt Gomez, marketing manager at DigitalOwl, believes that schools are ready and eager to introduce electronic textbooks to the classroom. Since announcing the initiative, DigitalOwl has received inquiries from around the U.S., and around the world, from schools who want to learn more about the opportunity. Still, there are many people who remain skeptical about moving from print to screen. Studies comparing reading on screen and paper for comprehension and accuracy tend to lean in favor of print. Ebook apologists point out that most of those studies were conducted in the late 1980s, and screen resolution and scroll-speed have increased dramatically since then. Print still may have the advantage, though. A 1998 study published in the journal reported a decline in speed and accuracy, and an increase in fatigue, when reading from a screen rather than paper. Anecdotal evidence also gives an advantage to paper. Editors prefer to proofread from paper, where the errors seem to jump out more than on screen. Chris McAskill of MightyWords.com has stated that the vast majority of ebook purchasers print before reading. In fact, all the electronic sources cited in this article were first printed out on paper before they were read. Frommer, a professor of psychology at Indiana University offers his Introductory Psychology students a Web-based textbook. In a, Frommer also describes some student reactions: A paper version appears to be almost necessary. It is certainly convenient. A few students cannot get to computers easily because the commute and do not have computers at home. Also, many students do not like to work on the computer, especially for the long periods which become necessary if people wait until the last minute to do the assigned exercises. Many also point out that a paper version is much easier to use when preparing for a test. As a result, I now prepare a paper version. The supremacy of paper over monitor may be diminishing. There are many who believe that the new generation of learners, what calls the Net Generation, or N-Gen, are much more accustomed to reading and learning from a screen. In his book, Tapscott writes, “Kids look at computers the same way boomers look at TV. This shift from broadcast medium (television) to interactive medium (the Net) signals a ‘generation lap’ in which the N-Gen is lapping its parents on the ‘info-track.' ![]() ” Matt Gomez agrees that children are more likely to take to electronic learning than their elders. “Students are the early adopters,” he said. “They’re still not going to want to do their homework, but when textbooks are interactive, when they can play with them like Nintendo, perhaps it will make learning a more enjoyable experience.”. “We’re spending too much money with too little thought” In his 1993 book, Neil Postman warns that technology is never neutral, and the benefits and deficits of new technology are not distributed equally – there are winners, and there are losers, and it’s not always clear who the winners are until the losers are vanquished. If we accept this as true, we ought to be very careful about introducing new technologies to the classroom without first studying their potential effects. Surely we should consider that the American Academy of Pediatrics has expressed concern about the amount of time children spend in front of computers, and that various eye experts, according to, believe computer use is with visual development in young children. ![]() Healy, author of, fears we’ve already gone too far, and questions the impact computer technology is having on children’s brain development and social interaction. “While some very exciting and potentially valuable things are happening between children and computers,” she writes, “we are currently spending far too much money with too little thought.” But Postman also asserts that technologies are never entirely harmful, and often the benefits outweigh the deficits to a culture. The adoption of electronic textbooks has some clear advantages to students and educators. David Gray, founder of New York City-based can count off a handful in a matter of seconds: e-textbooks allow for electronic bookmarking and highlighting, keyword searches, electronic mail, links to Web resources related to the topic, and ways for teachers to customize the information for their class. WizeUp.com sells electronic textbooks to the college market. Partnering with publishers like Addison Wesley Longman, Harcourt Brace, Thompson, and Wiley, WizeUp has released introductory level textbooks in economics, finance, computer science, sociology and engineering. The electronic textbooks are still pricey, between $20 and $80 (USD) each, but less expensive than their print counterparts – another advantage students can appreciate. Enjoying books together: a guide for teachers on the use of books. They can be used in the classroom to. For your books and reading can help make classroom. E-books in the Classroom – Pass or Fail? By Bruce Sowers In the world of elementary education, the opportunity to bring something new to the classroom to support. Lesson plans can be detailed and fleshed out digitally, with assignments. Seen - SouthEast Education Network. Home; Issues. The future of eBooks in the classroom. Looking at the elementary and secondary school markets, DigitalOwl sees even more advantages. Matt Gomez, DigitalOwl’s marketing manager said, “Some of the history textbooks in the Florida school system don’t even mention the Clinton administration, that’s how old they are. Digital textbooks can be updated on the fly with information on what happened in legislature two weeks ago.” There’s no longer an excuse for a textbook to be out of date. Digital textbooks can also save school systems money, Gomez says. “Textbooks are easily damaged, lost and quickly outdated.” Digital textbooks, on the other hand can always stay up-to-date, and are inexpensive to replace. But is this ‘buy once, update forever’ model of textbook publishing going to be perceived as a threat to the textbook publishing industry? “Textbook Publishers are Holding Us Back” Although companies like DigitalOwl and WizeUp.com are eager to place digital textbooks in every classroom, textbook publishing companies have been cautious about converting their titles into electronic format. Concerns about digital rights management and piracy, as well as fears that electronic books will cannibalize their print sales are some of the reasons publishers are testing the waters cautiously. DigitalOwl’s staff has been speaking with most of the large educational publishers – Harcourt, Houghton Mifflin, Pearson, Prentice Hall and others – but have found their project held back by the laggard pace of the publishers. Matt Gomez stressed that although some publishers may feel threatened, DigitalOwl isn’t trying to cannibalize traditional textbook sales. ![]() “It will be a long, long time before print textbooks are replaced by technology.” In the meantime, he says, publishers should look at the digital textbook market as a way to increase revenues. “Publishers can make even more money by selling the electronic texts at an extra price point.” A further advantage for publishers is that the encryption and copy protection that prevents piracy also effectively eliminates the used textbook market which has put a dent in new textbook sales. The effect of the used book market on the industry has been seen as so severe that the Association of American Publishers has even launched a six-figure nationwide campaign to help college textbook publishers “combat the issues of perceived value, sell-through and competition from the used textbook market.” Purchasing used textbooks, however, is one of the most cost effective ways for students to buy required books, and even the lower priced electronic versions are not as inexpensive as used copies. This benefit for publishers will not be welcome by students. Perhaps the slow response of publishers to digitize textbooks is a blessing. The delay will give educators an opportunity to more closely examine the costs and benefits of using electronic books in a classroom setting. Let’s hope that the time will be used wisely. — by Wendy J Woudstra. Ravi (all names are pseudonyms), a fourth grader attending a university reading clinic, finished reading Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and the Really Big Adventure, looked up at his tutor and said, 'I have no clue what I just read.' His tutor isn't surprised. Instead of focusing on the text as he read, Ravi had spent considerable time making the 'wiggly woos' howl and the 'good grey mare' 'clippety clop.' Ravi was certainly engaged with Sir Charlie, but his tutor realizes that if they are going to continue to use e-books in tutoring sessions, she will need some good strategies to help Ravi with his comprehension. Simply stated, e-books have the potential to change the way our students read and consume text because of their interactivity and convenience. Although traditional picture books might include words, pictures, and graphics, e-books may also include multimodal features such as sounds, animations, videos, and narrations. Certainly, these added features could distract from reading (which we discuss later); however, the benefits for engaging readers and differentiating instruction are immense, even though research has yet to fully explain why these phenomena may or may not exist. Although we certainly espouse the benefits of having traditional home libraries, mobile devices enable readers to easily maintain personal libraries while also allowing students and teachers to keep a vast array of texts (including dictionaries and encyclopedias) on their devices that are diverse and readily accessible. E-books and comprehension A simplistic relationship between e-books and comprehension has not been identified. Research that specifically examines that relationship is scarce (Pearman, 2008; Zucker, Moody, & McKenna, 2009), and it fails to clearly identify e-books’ features as either supports or impediments to comprehension. For example, Roskos, Brueck, and Widman (2009) reported that studies clearly identify benefits of design features such as animated illustrations and embedded vocabulary aids. However, Brueck cautioned that close analysis of e-book design is critical because the availability of e-books that truly support literacy development is limited (Guernsey, 2011) and because children often read e-books with minimal adult involvement (Roskos & Brueck, 2009). Similarly, other researchers have recognized that e-books’ features can be alternatively beneficial or problematic. Verhallen, Bus, and de Jong (2006) noted the potential of multimedia features (e.g., video, sounds, and music) to support children's inference making about characters’ actions, feelings, and states of mind. However, those authors also warned that the multimedia richness that results from such features can actually tax children's working memory. Consequently, they argue that children may benefit more from on-screen texts that include only print and oral renderings “without sound, music, visual, or other special effects” (Bus, Verhallen, & deJong, 2009, p. A similar lack of clarity emerges from the research concerning children's comprehension of story content. Pearman (2008) reported stronger retellings among readers of e-books. In contrast, deJong and Bus (2003) found that electronic texts did not efficiently support internalization of story content and that children spent 43% of their e-book engagement time playing games rather than reading the text. The authors concluded that the attractive digital options diminished children's attention to the text rather than providing meaningful interactions. Pause and ponder • What additional reading skills or strategies will your students need to learn to be successful readers of e-books? How much scaffolding and modeling should you provide? • Because e-books are interactive and engaging, how can you use these unique digital features in a way that increases students' motivation to read? • Before giving students an e-reader to read with, what sort of guidelines or policies, such as time limits, volume control, and 'playing' with the e-book (or device), will you need to consider? • Should you use e-books in conjunction with traditional texts? Or separately? How might these two formats support each other in teaching students vocabulary, critical reading, and literacy skills? • What ways can you use e-books in your classrooms that might be similar to or different from your current approaches? This suggestion is consistent with research focused on how distractors in text have an impact on readers' comprehension. Researchers who have focused on a phenomenon known as the 'seductive details effect' (Garner, Gillingham, & White, 1989) have claimed that distracting information both embedded in text and adjacent to text diverts readers’ attention away from the main ideas, causing students to attempt to construct meaning around the seductive details instead (Harp & Mayer, 1998). Bringing much-needed clarity to the discussion of multimedia text and its many features, van den Broek, Kendeou, and White (2009) maintained that it is not those features per se that enhance comprehension. Rather, 'it is the strategic use of the various media in such a way that the comprehending child engages in relevant processes in which he or she otherwise would not engage' (p. They explained that multimedia text features must support children's attempts to make connections that build comprehension and must facilitate children's acquisition and application of reading skills and strategies. Consistent with this perspective, Korat and Shamir (2007) advocated for the strategic design of e-books in ways that support children's attention to text. After finding the available software unsatisfactory, they created e-books that included attractive multimedia features while also supporting story understanding. Comparing children's comprehension after independent reading of the strategically designed e-book, and after reading the print version with an adult, the researchers found similar levels of comprehension (Korat & Shamir, 2007). This need for careful attention to e-book design, and its effect on children's comprehension, is the perspective that drives our practice with preservice teachers and guides our observations of young readers engaging with e-books. Teaching with e-books Another theme that emerges from the research literature is the fact that teachers need stronger support for effective integration of technology into classroom teaching and learning. In a very early survey (Karchmer, 2001) and in a more recent study (Hutchison & Reinking, 2011), teachers consistently reported feeling unprepared in that realm. The more recent survey (Hutchison & Reinking, 2011) also reveals a gap between teachers' beliefs and practices. Teachers believe it is important to integrate Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) into classroom practice; however, their actual implementation lags behind their beliefs. Furthermore, survey responses suggest that teachers tend not to perceive ICT-based reading and writing — other than Internet-based research — as integral to literacy development. To support teachers’ efforts to integrate technology effectively, to close the gap between belief and practice, and to help teachers expand their perceptions about what constitutes literate activity, we share our observations from clinical and practical experiences, as well as some recommendations for classroom application. IPad use in classroom and tutoring settings We are fortunate at our institution to have a one-to-one iPad-to-student ratio in several of our literacy practicum classes, so our preservice and in-service teachers have extensive opportunities to work with students as they learn to use these mobile devices for educational purposes. In this article, we share suggestions for comprehension instruction based on our experiences using iPad devices for comprehension instruction. In the following sections, we briefly describe the interactions that informed this article, share four considerations for teachers who are interested in incorporating e-books into their classrooms, and provide examples and evaluation criteria for various e-books. At the University Reading Clinic Our middle grades reading clinic aims to provide targeted, quality literacy instruction for at-risk young adolescents in third through eighth grade. Under the supervision of the course instructor, each attendee is assessed by a pair of graduate students who then design and deliver individualized instruction weekly over the course of a 15-week semester. In individualizing instruction for tutees, we incorporate a variety of materials and techniques. As tablet devices became more popular in educational settings, our university purchased a set of iPad devices that are available for our graduate students to use in tutoring sessions. Although we encourage their use, we have also been interested in better understanding how students' reading compared when reading a book electronically as opposed to when reading a book in traditional print. In the summer reading clinic, middle-grades students read four different books (two as interactive picture e-books and two in traditional print form), which we deemed to be high-quality examples of the e-books available on the market. We found that students generally exhibited better comprehension (as measured through retelling and comprehension questions) when reading books in print form, even though higher levels of engagement were both self-reported and observed when they were reading from e-books. In the Elementary Classrooms Students enrolled in the undergraduate early- and middle-grades certification program at the university are required to complete a six-credit, upper-level reading practicum during which they observe, participate in, and deliver language arts instruction in supervised classroom settings. Preservice teachers in some sections of the course have been tasked with incorporating the iPad into their literacy instruction. With access to only one iPad in each classroom, the preservice teachers are creative in their use of their devices for whole-class instruction (with a projector), small-group instruction, and individual instruction. In our interactions with preservice teachers using iPad devices in real classroom settings, we observed them using these devices and collected written reflections regarding their classroom experiences. In general, the preservice teachers often viewed the use of the iPad as 'play' or as a reward, as opposed to seeing the iPad as a technology that could enhance their current literacy instruction. Although they did see potential for the iPad to facilitate individualized learning, engage students, and reinforce literacy skills, they also reported that their use of the iPad in the literacy classroom sometimes focused on the usability of the device instead of the content they were trying to teach (e.g., the visualization strategy). This point is consistent with other research in the field that has noted that talk during parent–child interactions with e-books often focuses on the technology skills needed to use the book (e.g., swiping to turn a page) instead of on the content of the book (Parish-Morris, Mahajan, Hirsh-Pasek, & Golinkoff, 2012), as well as our observations of these preservice teachers in the field. Thus, in conjunction with our experiences at the university reading clinic, we developed four recommendations that encourage teachers to look past the attractive, engaging aspects of apps and examine their content and functionality carefully before using interactive picture e-books in the classroom. Considerations for teachers using e-books in their classrooms Familiarize Students with the Basics of the Device Whenever we introduce e-reading devices to students for the first time, we facilitate a 45-minute session that introduces students to the basic technological skills they would need to navigate an e-book on the iPad. In the best-case scenario, students would then have the opportunity to take the device home or use it frequently throughout the school day to gain confidence using the device for varied purposes. However, we acknowledge that most schools do not have access to class sets of iPad devices, so teachers must prepare students to work with iPad devices individually. In our reading clinic, students were given the opportunity to read and explore several e-books before tutors assessed their reading skills. One criticism of e-reader research has been that users have not had enough time yet to become 'experts' at using these devices, which in turn can influence their abilities to perform certain tasks (like reading) when using these technologies (McAnulty, Gertner, & Cotton, 2012). We agree with this argument and suggest that before using an e-reader for academic purposes, teachers should consider taking time to familiarize students with the basic functions of these multitouch devices and the gestures to operate them. For new users, even simple tasks such as opening a book, turning pages, and orienting the screen could be major deterrents. Subsequently, we recommend familiarizing students with reading books on the iPad (or other e-reader) with the following routine: • Show students how to turn on the device and access the apps they will need. • Show students how to orient the screen (or have the teacher lock the screen orientation before distributing the devices). • Demonstrate how to open an e-book, turn the page (this may differ depending on the app or the publisher), and access interactive features. • Set expectations for students' use of interactions (should they explore them as they read, after they read, or when the reread the text at a later time?) Although it is tempting to think of today's students as digital natives (Prensky, 2001) who are comfortable using tablet devices (or other mobile devices, like an iPhone), teachers cannot assume that students' prior experiences with these devices have prepared them for the unique demands required of the reader to access and read an e-book effectively. Teach Students to Transfer What They Know About Print Reading to e-Reading We observed some students in our reading clinic forgo many of the reading strategies they were observed using in print tasks when it came to reading on the e-reader. For example, Ravi, the fourth-grade boy mentioned earlier in this article, did not use his comprehension monitoring strategies when reading from e-books. This example and other anecdotal evidence from our experiences in the university clinic concur with measurable differences uncovered in our studies regarding older readers’ transference of reading strategies when reading e-texts (Schugar, Schugar, & Penny, 2012; Schugar & Schugar, 2011). Specifically, we found that when reading e-books, students reported not exhibiting behaviors (e.g., bookmarking, annotating, highlighting) that facilitate the use of specific reading strategies (e.g., summarization, determining main ideas), even though they reported engaging in these behaviors when reading traditional paper texts. Teachers interested in reading e-books with their students can support comprehension through scaffolding the experience with targeted strategy instruction. First and foremost, it is important that teachers model how they apply strategies to e-books and explicitly state how the implementation of the strategy is similar or different across the two formats. For example, in the following vignette, we describe how one preservice teacher, Josey, aided a student, Matt, in applying a vocabulary strategy they had been working with in their third-grade class to the e-book, Wild About Books. Using a vocabulary strategy with Wild About Books While the other students in her class engage in independent reading, Josey invites Matt over to the reading group table to read the e-book, Wild About Books. Josey reminds Matt that when reading, there are many ways that he can infer the meaning of unknown vocabulary words, including examining the context of the word in the text and using the pictures to gain clues about the meaning of the word. Josey explains that many interactive e-books give another option for determining the meaning of a word — students can use the interactive features such as sound and animations to help them determine the meaning of the word. She models for him how she would use this strategy with the word stampeding. She reads aloud the line from the text, ' every beast in the zoo was stampeding' and shows how she uses the text ('I see from the text clues that stampeding is something zoo animals might do.' ), the pictures ('The animals are all grouped together, so maybe stampeding involves a herd of animals.' ), and the interactions ('When I press the animals, they run in a herd across the page and make loud clomping noises.' Josey demonstrates how she uses the clues from each of these aspects of the text in conjunction with each other to infer the meaning of the word stampede. This example illustrates how teachers can help their students transfer their existing strategies to the arguably novel experience of reading an interactive e-book. Josey builds on Matt's understanding of using context and illustrations to infer the meanings of vocabulary words and extends his use of this strategy to incorporate the interactive features found in some e-books. General strategies such as inferring, predicting, retelling/summarizing, and comprehension monitoring, as well as most strategies for informational text comprehension, lend themselves to transference from print to electronic texts. However, not all strategies are transferable between different types of texts. For example, strategies such as coding and previewing texts are difficult or impossible to do in many interactive picture e-books. In addition to helping students transfer specific print-based reading skills to interactive e-books, it is important to review with students the appropriate use of interactive supports such as the dictionary and 'read-to-me' features. Just as most students would not look up every unknown word in a dictionary, students should not over-rely on this feature when e-reading, as the time it requires to use dictionary functions may unnecessarily disrupt the reading process. Similarly, in a traditional book, students often access their decoding strategies to attempt unfamiliar words, whereas many e-books allow them to click on the word to have it read to them. We found in our work with middle-grades students that some of them used these features as a crutch instead of attempting unknown words on their own. If students are using interactive e-books for literacy instruction, it is important to consider how students' reliance on these features might positively or negatively influence the students' overall reading experiences. Teachers can aid students in negotiating a balance between using these interactions to support comprehension and using them in a way that limits their opportunities to apply strategies while reading. In the next section we describe in more detail how the gimmicks and distractions often found in interactive e-books can lead to students' poor comprehension of these texts. We posit that one of the most important roles of the teacher when students are e-reading on tablet devices is to aid students in applying their existing strategies for determining main ideas and relevant information as well as for overcoming distractors in the text in a way similar to what we have described previously. Beware of Gimmicks and Distractions In contrast to the productive ways in which a reader might interact with a text (discussed in previous section), many e-books have additional features that allow readers to interact with the text in a way that is different from how they could interact with traditional books. For instance, interactive e-books may provide opportunities for readers to touch the pages to make sound, make objects move, or even access multimedia content such as videos, games, and puzzles. Although the interactive features of these books certainly may be motivating to children, as they often 'bring the book to life,' our experiences lead us to pause and consider how the motivating aspects of such features can be leveraged in a way that supports students’ comprehension. In the 1980s, Garner, Gillingham, and White (1989) coined the term seductive details to describe aspects of texts that were likely to interfere with students' abilities to attend to the most important parts of the texts they read. We believe that the seductive detail effect may be making a resurgence with the rise in interactive picture e-books, as readers are given options that are likely to result in them straying from the main idea. We see what we call the seductive interaction effect as having three potential outcomes: distracting, supporting, or extending readers' comprehension of the text. Table 1 summarizes each of the three outcomes and provides examples of each. Seductive Interaction Effect Outcomes Interaction type Examples Distracts from the text ('just for fun') In Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and the Really Big Adventure, readers can touch 'wiggly woos' to make noise and move them around the screen. Throughout Rocket Learns to Read, the bird flutters and sounds play in the background. Supports the text In Miss Spider's Tea Party, Miss Spider 'sips' her tea (with sound effects) while the text reads 'Miss Spider sipped her tea.' At one point in Will & Kate: A Love Story, the text is 'William knew that one day he would grow up to be king.' When readers click the little boy, he grows into a teenager then a king. Extends beyond the text On page where 'Hyenas shared jokes with the red-bellied snakes' in Wild About Books, laughter sounds and speech bubbles allow readers to see that 'howled and they hissed till their funny bones ached' means that the characters found the jokes funny. We are particularly concerned with the interactivity in picture e-books, as these features can noticeably slow students' reading rate. In reading more slowly, students' comprehension can become fragmented, as there may be long pauses in reading the text if the reader spends time 'playing' with the interactive features. Interactive features might also channel students' attention away from the actual reading of the text, and students might be tempted to 'read' through the pictures and interactions rather than looking at the text itself. In choosing quality interactive picture e-books, teachers should consider the following: • Do the interactions provide support that would help a reader make a text-based inference or understand difficult vocabulary? • Are there more supporting and extending interactions than −distracting interactions? • Are the interactions time-consuming, or are they relatively brief in nature? • How often are interactions used in the book? Are the interactions strategically placed to enhance motivation without distracting the reader from the text? Do the interactions occur within the text, or are readers directed to another screen while reading? In addition to these questions, it is of utmost importance that teachers look for well-organized texts with high-quality writing. Because the app market allows for the distribution of materials without the rigorous review process that is typical of traditional children's book publishing, more caution is necessary for choosing high-quality texts. With exceptions, it is our experience that many interactive picture e-books are still lacking the polished quality of traditional texts. In Table 2, we provide examples of how we examined six exemplary interactive e-books in terms of the aforementioned four criteria. For the first criterion, illustrations and animations that provide vocabulary and inference support, we see interactive e-books as having the potential to mitigate some students’ comprehension difficulties if the interactive book features support comprehension in a way that does not occur in the traditional print version. Six Exemplary Interactive e-Books Book title #1 Vocabulary and inference support #2 Ratio of supporting and extending interactions to distracting interactions #3 Time required to engage in interactions #4 Frequency and placement of interactions How Rocket Learned to Read Average vocabulary support. For instance, lilac bushes is unsupported. However, growl is explained both in text and by clicking a beagle-like dog. Words such as wind and cold are also supported through inference. High number of distracting features early in the book. Several quality supporting/extending features related to learning letters. Words such as dig, when Rocket digs a hole in the snow, and mud, when readers can cover Rocket in mud, are good supporting interactions. Some fairly complex interactions such as shaking iPad or blowing into mic to simulate wind. Readers can practice writing letters in snow, which could be time-consuming, but functions to extend the text's features. Other interactions are very brief. Each page contains several in-text interactions (including “Tap Words”). A key to each page's interactions is available to guide readers (Marked with a “?” in the top right corner of each page). Readers can manipulate characters, wind, and environmental setting (leaves and mud). Wild About Books Superb vocabulary support. Most animals are identified with both a word and an image. For instance, for “geckos could only read stick-to-the-wall books,” the reader can move reading geckos up and down a brick wall. Fairly equal ratio of distracting features to supporting and extending features. The distracting features usually are simple manipulations (e.g., moving a giraffe). However, the quality of the supporting/extending features far outweighs the distracting ones, particularly when it comes to understanding different animals and their characteristics and behaviors (howling' and 'hissing'). Due to the abundance of interactions on each page, to manipulate all the interactions could take considerable time, but each interaction itself is brief (i.e., making an owl “hoot”). Many in-text interactions on each page. Interactions usually prompt animals to move and make noise. Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and the Really Big Adventure Strong support for vocabulary inference comes from the quality of the static illustrations and their relationship to the words themselves. The level of interactivity has little to do with text support. Considerably more distracting features than supporting/extending features. The words and illustrations are well matched, but the actual ability to manipulate certain parts of the book (i.e., make Sir Charlie's cat meow) is distracting and game-like. Because the book lacks an overall sophistication (i.e., static backgrounds), the in-text interactions are brief. Readers can color illustrations in a separate feature of the e-book. Both in-text and out-of-text interactions. In the auto-play mode, the book reads and runs like a movie, limiting student-directed interactivity. In the “read to me” mode, there are only a few in-text interactions per page. Words can be pressed to highlight and move them on the page. Out of text interactions include coloring and a slideshow feature set to music. Will & Kate: A Love Story Very good support for vocabulary development. For instance, the use of glimpse and honeymoon are supported well through interactions. Many distracting features (sheep “Baa” and dogs “bark”). Some features (e.g., choosing a dress) support the text. Minimal extending features. Touch for sounds or movement. All in-text interactions feature manipulating birds, sheep, and people (like Will and Kate). Three to four interactions on each page placed around the text. The Artifacts Excellent vocabulary support throughout the e-book. Examples include “bagatelles, baubles, geegaws” that describe all of the items that Asaf collects. The majority of interactive features support or extend comprehension. For instance, page 15 says ”He developed an excellent memory for words, dates, and numbers,” and when you click Asaf's head, all sorts of historical facts (“1842: Battle of Nanjing”) and vocabulary words (“plagiarize”) pop out of his brain in different colors and then float off the screen. Readers may spend considerable time with the abundance of available interactions. Many in-text interactions on each page. Some pages could have more than 20 different interactions (i.e., examples of all the things Asaf collects). Storia e-book: Who Would Win? Killer Whale vs. Great White Shark Vocabulary is supported through static page text and illustrations. Some words can be selected and defined with a 'look up' feature. Some interactions support vocabulary development and inference. Interactions aid students in monitoring their comprehension through questions such as 'Which of the following belongs to a killer whale?' Accompanied by three picture clues. Some interactions also build decoding and vocabulary skills. Features can be turned on or off by the teacher or parent. In-text interactions are placed sporadically throughout the text to support vocabulary, comprehension, and word recognition. All interactions have an educational purpose. The second criterion, interactions supporting and extending students' understanding of the text, is significant because more often than not, these features distract the reader from the text. Because e-books with “just for fun” interactions can result in readers having long pauses in their reading as they engage with the features, we suggest that the majority of interactions should support and extend students’ understanding of the text so that the time spent away from the text is spent on activities that have the potential to bolster comprehension. Our third criterion, the length of time that the interactions pull students away from the text, should be considered because, in theory, interactions that are brief would be less disruptive to students’ reading than interactions that cause students to focus their attention on the nontextual features of the e-book for significant portions of time. The fourth and final criterion we used to evaluate e-books relates to the frequency and placement of the interactive features in e-books because interactions that are placed sporadically throughout the text without overwhelming the reader are likely to be less disruptive to readers. Subsequently, e-books that have multiple interactions on each page may be overwhelming to readers, particularly students who are still learning to read. In-text interactions are also more favorable than out-of-text interactions, because students who are redirected to another app/screen to engage in the interaction are more likely to spend time away from the text itself. Our evaluation of these books illustrates inconsistencies in the current e-book market in regard to whether the interactions support or extend students’ comprehension of the text, the ways readers access the interactions, and the level of interactivity in these books. Although the books listed in Table 2 are high-quality examples of the potential of e-books, they do not completely escape our concern for how the interactions might influence students’ comprehension. Each book listed in Table 2 has many features that will support and motivate readers, yet they all have limitations in terms of distractibility. Thus, if these problems exist with some of the best and most supportive apps available, it is disconcerting to consider the hundreds of other apps that may have interactions that provide less scaffolding for comprehension and vocabulary and more opportunities for student distractions. Furthermore, there are many interactive picture e-book apps available, and the aforementioned criteria can be used to determine the quality of their interactive features. We have incorporated our favorite, high-quality interactive e-books into the list below, organized by their difficulty and interest levels. However, because the app marketplace is always changing and growing, we suggest also visiting reliable app review sites such as Digital Storytime (digital-storytime.com) and for information about the latest releases in interactive e-books. Suggested high-quality interactive picture e-books For Beginning Readers • Boynton, S. Blue hat, green hat. Vancouver, BC, Canada: Loud Crow Interactive (with Moo Media) • Bridwell, N. Go Clifford, go! New York: Scholastic • Capucilli, A.S. Meet Biscuit. New York: HarperCollins Children • Hecht, B. Nickelby Swift, kitten catastrophe. San Diego, CA: VivaBook • Hills, T. How Rocket learned to read. New York: Random House • Kirk, D. Miss spider's tea party. New York: Callaway Digital Arts • Thomson, L. A fine musician. Sydney, NSW, Australia: Tokeru For Fluent Readers • Larkum, A. Will and Kate: A love story. Toronto, ON, Canada: Ink Robin • Melenhorst, G. Slice of bread goes to the beach. Melbourne, NSW, Australia: Jelly Biscuits • Pallotta, J. Who would win? Killer Whale vs. Great White Shark. New York: Scholastic • Sierra, J. Wild about books. New York: Random House • Stace, L. The artifacts. Canberra, Australia: Slap Happy Larry • Stephenson, K. Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and the really big adventure. London: Egmont UK Remember That an Interactive E-Book Does Not Replace a Good Teacher Although we have some significant concerns about using interactive picture books with students who are still developing effective reading strategies, we believe these technologies hold promise, given that teachers scaffold the experience for students. We encourage teachers to provide guided instruction with interactive picture e-books through activating students’ background knowledge before reading, prompting students to answer comprehension questions during reading, and helping students to extend their thinking about the text after reading. With a teacher's guidance, it is possible that students would be able to overcome the obstacles students may face when confronted with the interactive features found in interactive e-books. Final thoughts Although we believe that tablet devices have great potential for classroom instruction, we argue that educators should exercise caution when deciding whether to introduce them into the classroom. Several factors should be weighed: (a) Will the e-reader allow access to content that is different or better suited to the task? (b) What type of support will your students need to read e-books? (c) What will be the ratio of devices to students (e.g., one to one or many to one)? (d) What financial constraints exist for incorporating these devices into your classroom? Despite our hesitancy to fully endorse e-reading for instructional purposes until we know more about how students read interactive e-books, we argue that e-reading does have a place in the 21st-century classroom. We aim to raise awareness of the complicated nature of e-reading, particularly for students who are still learning how to read. Specifically, we urge educators to consider how some interactive features of these texts may motivate children, while distracting them from the meaningful content of the text. To prepare students for the digital reading demands they will face both in and out of school, teachers need to model strategies for e-reading, assist students in transferring traditional reading behaviors to electronic texts, and select high-quality interactive e-books that will scaffold students' reading. References Click the 'References' link above to hide these references. Bus, A.G., Verhallen, M.J.A.J., & deJong, M.T. How onscreen storybooks contribute to early literacy. Neuman (Eds.), Multimedia and Literacy Development: Improving Achievement for Young Learners (pp. New York: Routledge. DeJong, M.T., & Bus, A.G. How well suited are electronic books to supporting literacy? Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 3(2), 147–164. Garner, R., Gillingham, M.G., & White, C.S. Effects of 'seductive details' on macroprocessing and microprocessing in adults and children. Cognition and Instruction, 6(1), 41–57. (2011, June 1). Are e-books any good? Retrieved March 3, 2013, from Harp, S.F., & Mayer, R.E. How seductive details do their damage: A theory of cognitive interest in science learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(3), 414–434. Hutchison, A., & Reinking, D. Teachers’ perceptions of integrating information and communication technologies into literacy instruction: A national survey in the United States. Reading Research Quarterly, 46(4), 312–333. The journey ahead: Thirteen teachers report how the Internet influences literacy and literacy instruction in their K-12 classrooms. Reading Research Quarterly, 36(4), 442–466. Korat, O., & Shamir, A. Electronic books versus adult readers: Effects on children's emergent literacy as a function of social class. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 23(3), 248–259. McAnulty, D., Gertner, R., & Cotton, L. Use of iPad in training of graduate psychology students in assessment and therapy skills. Retrieved March 3, 2013, from Parish-Morris, J., Mahajan, N., Hirsh-Pasek, K., & Golinkoff, R. Reading contexts and emergent literacy: The case of electronic console books. Manuscript submitted for publication. Pearman, C.J. Independent reading of CD-ROM storybooks: Measuring comprehension with oral retellings. The Reading Teacher, 61(8), 594–602. Digital natives, digital immigrants. Horizon, 9(5), 1–6. Roskos, K., & Brueck, J. The e-book as a learning object. Neuman (Eds.), Multimedia and literacy development: Improving achievement for young learners (pp. New York: Routledge. Roskos, K., Brueck, J., & Widman, S. Investigating analytic tools for e-book design in early literacy learning. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 8(3), 218–240. Retrieved March 3, 2013, from Schugar, J.T., & Schugar, H.R. (2011, October). ETexts, eReaders, eLiteracy. Presentation at the Keystone State Reading Association Conference, Lancaster, PA. References Bus, A.G., Verhallen, M.J.A.J., & deJong, M.T. How onscreen storybooks contribute to early literacy. Neuman (Eds.), Multimedia and Literacy Development: Improving Achievement for Young Learners (pp. New York: Routledge. DeJong, M.T., & Bus, A.G. How well suited are electronic books to supporting literacy? Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 3(2), 147–164. Garner, R., Gillingham, M.G., & White, C.S. Effects of 'seductive details' on macroprocessing and microprocessing in adults and children. Cognition and Instruction, 6(1), 41–57. (2011, June 1). Are e-books any good? Retrieved March 3, 2013, from Harp, S.F., & Mayer, R.E. How seductive details do their damage: A theory of cognitive interest in science learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(3), 414–434. Hutchison, A., & Reinking, D. Teachers’ perceptions of integrating information and communication technologies into literacy instruction: A national survey in the United States. Reading Research Quarterly, 46(4), 312–333. The journey ahead: Thirteen teachers report how the Internet influences literacy and literacy instruction in their K-12 classrooms. Reading Research Quarterly, 36(4), 442–466. Korat, O., & Shamir, A. Electronic books versus adult readers: Effects on children's emergent literacy as a function of social class. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 23(3), 248–259. McAnulty, D., Gertner, R., & Cotton, L. Use of iPad in training of graduate psychology students in assessment and therapy skills. Retrieved March 3, 2013, from Parish-Morris, J., Mahajan, N., Hirsh-Pasek, K., & Golinkoff, R. Reading contexts and emergent literacy: The case of electronic console books. Manuscript submitted for publication. Pearman, C.J. Independent reading of CD-ROM storybooks: Measuring comprehension with oral retellings. The Reading Teacher, 61(8), 594–602. Digital natives, digital immigrants. Horizon, 9(5), 1–6. Roskos, K., & Brueck, J. The e-book as a learning object. Neuman (Eds.), Multimedia and literacy development: Improving achievement for young learners (pp. New York: Routledge. Roskos, K., Brueck, J., & Widman, S. Investigating analytic tools for e-book design in early literacy learning. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 8(3), 218–240. Retrieved March 3, 2013, from Schugar, J.T., & Schugar, H.R. (2011, October). ETexts, eReaders, eLiteracy. Presentation at the Keystone State Reading Association Conference, Lancaster, PA. I am an innovation director and reading tutor for English-as-a-second-language students grades 1-3. As you point, many of the E-books focus on interactivity and actually distract rather than support good reading skills. But E-books also have huge potential to engage readers, enhance reading skills and accelerate reading levels. Take Jose (name changed), a first grade student I tutored. He was pre-K level when I first read with him. I began with basic books where he focused on decoding words. However, he quickly grew bored of these books due to poor subject matter. I then decided to write my own E-book that (1) made the reader the main character, (2) integrated puzzles and questions along the way that enhanced reading comprehension, (3) integrated math, english and science, and finally (4) was interesting. In a matter of a month or so, Jose grew from pre-K level to grade 2-3 reading level, he began reading at every spare moment, he moved from decoding words to fluent reading, he discussed the book with fellow classmates causing them to want to read and his confidence increased significantly. He is now reading both books and E-books but the E-book is certainly what accelerated his interest and then carried over to books. So, used in the right way, E-books have huge potential to engage young readers and make them readers for life. Submitted by larry schessel (not verified) on •. ![]() People can read Amazon Kindle books on Kindle eReaders, Kindle Fire tablets as well as other smart devices with Kindle apps installed. Generally, once a device is registered to an Amazon account, all Kindle books under that account will be synced automatically with Internet connected. However, if we want to read non-Amazon books on Kindle or purchased Kindle books do not show on the device due to a connection problem, we will have to transfer books from computer to Kindle manually. This guide will tell you how to transfer books to Kindle, Kindle Fire (HD), Kindle Paparwhite, Kindle for Android/iPad app from PC or Mac. Note: If you were a Kindle e-ink device owner (such as Kindle Paperwhite), here I strongly recommend you directly read. Step 1: Make sure your personal books are MOBI format. Amazon Kindle does not support EPUB books, but supports MOBI (DRM-free) and PDF formats. I personally prefer MOBI to PDF because the former is more flexible and better for reading. Books downloaded from torrent sites are often EPUB or PDF. If you want to transfer these books to Kindle for reading, you will have to convert them to Kindle supported MOBI or PDF.. Remember to set the output format to MOBI. ![]() If you want to transfer eBooks purchased from Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Sony or other stores to Kindle, things will be a little tough. These books are typically DRM protected so we can't directly convert the formats. Instead, we have to strip the DRM restrictions first. DRM-protected PDF books also have to be decrypted because Kindle only supports DRM-free PDF. Download Epubor DRM Removal tool: Step 2: Transfer books to Kindle, Kindle Fire(HD) and Kindle apps from computer Once the books are open MOBI or PDF, we can easily transfer them from PC/Mac to Kindle, Paperwhite, Kindle Fire (HD), Kindle for Android / iPad app with USB or wirelessly. To transfer books to Kindle • Connect your device to computer via USB. • Double click the drive to open it and view the folders. • Select the item you want to transfer (mobi or pdf). • Copy books to the folder (documents) under Kindle drive. • Or you can also use the Send-to-Kindle email address. For each case below, I mainly explain how to transfer MOBI eBooks to Kindle with USB, which also works on PDF docs. To transfer books to Kindle without a USB cable, you should first find out the device email address (mentioned in each case), then send your books to the given device/app address. Transfer MOBI/PDF books to Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite and other Kindle E-ink readers Here I take the Kindle Paperwhite for example. 1 Connect the Kindle device to computer with the USB cable. Adam explains exactly how Kindle Fire owners can access ebooks — in. Connect the Kindle Fire to your computer with the. And Mobipocket to the Kindle Fire. If you wish to load an ebook file you have on your PC to your Kindle, use these steps to send it over to your Kindle Fire. You will then be able to read the book from the “Docs” app. That just about covers everything you need to know about how to download books to Kindle Fire. If you need additional help, feel free to leave a. ![]() It will be recognised as a 'Kindle' drive. 2Drag and drop the MOBI books to the 'documents' folder under Kindle drive. 3 Eject Kindle from computer. The loaded books will display under 'Device' Shelf. Send-to-Kindle E-mail Address of Kindle Paperwhite: Tap the menu icon (top right corner) from the home screen, then 'Settings' -> 'Device Options' -> 'Personalize your Kindle' -> 'Send-to-Kindle E-mail'. For conventional Kindle, select 'Settings' from the home screen menu and use the Next page and Previous Page buttons to get the Send-to-Kindle E-mail. This tool helps us directly transfer books from Kindle / Kobo to Kindle e-ink, no matter your books are DRMed or not. Highly recommend this tool to those people who collected hundreds of eBooks files and had a Kindle or Kobo device. Transfer MOBI/PDF books to Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD Note that Kindle Fire (HD) does not come with a USB cable. If you don't have a USB cable, and transfer MOBI or PDF books to it wirelessly. Here I take the Kindle Fire for example. How to transfer MOBI or PDF books to Kindle Fire or Kindle Fire HD with USB: 1 Connect your Kindle Fire (HD) to computer with the USB cable and it will be recognized as a Kindle drive. 2 Copy and paste your MOBI books to the 'Books' folder under the Kindle Fire (HD) Drive. 3 Check the transferred books by tapping 'Books' (on the top menu bar) then 'Device'. Send-to-Kindle E-mail Address of Kindle Fire: Tap the top right corner, select 'More.' -> 'My Account' to get the device email address. Transfer MOBI/PDF books to Kindle for Android app Here I take the Nexus 7 for example. 1 Connect your Android tablet or smart phone to PC. 2 Go to the 'Kindle' folder of your Android device storage. Copy and paste the MOBI books to that folder. 3 Tap the menu icon in the top right corner of Kindle app, then select 'On Device' to check the transferred books. Send-to-Kindle E-mail Address of Kindle for Android app: Tap the menu icon (top left corner), then 'Setting' to get the 'Send-to-Kindle E-mail Address'. Transfer MOBI/PDF books to iPad / iPod / iPhone Kindle app There is no way to directly transfer MOBI books to Kindle iPad / iPod / iPhone app with iTunes. In this case, we can use Kindle email system to send personal MOBI books to the email address of Kindle for iPad app. PDF files can be transferred to iPad with iTunes (opened with iBooks by default) or with Kindle for iPad email address (opened with Kindle for iPad app by default). Send-to-Kindle E-mail Address of Kindle for iPad app: Tap the gear icon in the bottom right corner and select 'Send-to-Kindle Email Address'. Transfer MOBI/PDF books to Kindle wirelessly (without a USB cable) As long as we know the email addresses of the Kindle devices or apps, we will be able to send DRM-free MOBI and PDF books to Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Fire (HD), Kindle for Android / iPad app wirelessly. 1 Add your own (sender) email address to Kindle Approved Personal Document E-mail List. Visit sign in, go to 'Your Kindle Account' from the left side menu and select 'Personal Document Settings'. Pay attention to the 'Approved Personal Document E-mail List' and select 'Add a new approved e-mail address.' Enter your e-mail address then click 'Add Address.' 2 Compose an empty email (empty subject and empty body), attach your MOBI or PDF docs and input the Send-to-Kindle E-mail address to send. Tap sync icon on the Kindle device or Kindle app. In minutes, you will find the sent MOBI and PDF docs under 'All Items' and 'Docs' category (Cloud). (This screenshot was taken on Nexus 7.) Note: When you transfer PDF books to Kindle from computer, you will find the books not shown under 'Books' (on device) shelf or category. That's right. PDF books typically display under 'Docs' (on device) shelf. If your purchased Kindle books are not auto synced due to an Internet issue, you can download the books to your computer (Amazon site -> 'Manage Your Kindle' under 'Your Account' -> 'Actions.' -> 'Deliver to my.' -> 'Download and transfer via USB') to download the books to your computer. The downloaded books are typically AZW3. Transfer them to your Kindle device or app according to steps above. Conclusion This guide is based on Windows OS, but it also works if you want to transfer books to Kindle from Mac. As long as the books are not protected and converted to Kindle supported formats (MOBI or PDF), we will be able to read eBooks from other sources without confining to Amazon. This guide is writen for Kindle Fire users or lovers. We also gathered, see the full list below. Trick 1 Trick 2 Trick 3 Trick 4 Trick 5 Trick 6 Trick 7 Trick 8 Trick 9 Trick 10. >There is no way to directly transfer MOBI books to Kindle iPad / iPod / iPhone app with iTunes. Yes, there is a way. Connect the mobile device to a computer and launch iTunes. Click on the name of the mobile device in the left hand column and from the main iTunes window select the Apps Tab. Scroll down to the bottom of the window to the section called File Sharing. Scroll down the left hand column until you see Kindle in the list. Click once on the name Kindle and look at the column on the right hand side. You can add books and pdf documents into this column either by dragging them into the list or by using the 'Add' button. The books/pdfs will appear instantly in Kindle on the mobile device. As far as I am aware, there is no way to re-add Kindle books that were purchased on the Amazon web site. If anyone knows a way, I'd love to know! I have added over one thousand.mobi books to Kindle on my iPad over the past few years in the manner I have mentioned. Mobile Kindle is not limited only to books that have been purchased from Amazon. Many of the books I have on my iPad are free.mobi books that are offered on many web sites. It might not be in Amazon's financial interest to let people know about the Kindle file-sharing facility in iTunes, but it's there, and we can use it to upload ANY.mobi book to our mobile device. Sweet, eh.:-). Worked like a dream. I can't believe how easy this was to transfer from Kobo to my Kindle Paperwhite. I was leery of this and thought that like other help from internet sources, I'd get through a gazillion steps only to find that there were a gazillion more complicated ones and either have to give up in frustration or hit a road block and have to give up. Not with Epubor! Follow the steps and it will work. Epubor to my PC; Kobo to my PC; Kobo to Epubor; boom; convert to MOBI; bam; plug Kindle to PC; drag and drop Kobo MOBI formatted books to Kindle; bam what! Eject Kindle from PC; go to Library on PC and books (with cover art) are automatically popping up! Open books; No Prob! Read & enjoy! Thanks SO much! Novice completed on first try! BML/July 2017. |
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