Kindle and ebooks

[Capt Steve Stories]

The best library for any boat is a Kindle or Ipad or other device for storing books. Amazon offers a number of such books you can read for free. One you might try is "The Navigator: A Perilous Passage, Evasion at Sea" found at The Navigator: A Perilous Passage Evasion at Sea: Steve Coleman: Amazon.com: Kindle Store

[hellosailor]

Only free to Amazon Prime members, about $75 a year for that. Amazon does a lot of 24 hour sales where things go free, but it can be hard to find them.

Still, a nice way to pack 40# of books in an 8-oz. package.

[storyinframes]

Just look for TOP 100 FREE everyday at Aamzon and there are often some wonderful books under promotional offers listed there. This is valid for all sections - fiction, non fiction, travels, memoirs, cooking, crime, true accounts, etc.

[storyinframes]

Originally Posted by Steve Coleman

The best library for any boat is a Kindle or Ipad or other device for storing books. Amazon offers a number of such books you can read for free. One you might try is "The Navigator: A Perilous Passage, Evasion at Sea" found at The Navigator: A Perilous Passage Evasion at Sea: Steve Coleman: Amazon.com: Kindle Store

Hi Steve,
Your book is on my wish list. Let me exhaust my current stock, and then I will be reading - the navigator!
The premise sounds good!

Cheers

[hellosailor]

Nope, TOP 100 FREE will generate a list that has some free books but at least half of the first two pages (2 doz. books?) are not free books. The Amazon search engine and filters are pathetic.

On the other hand that turned on a light bulb. If you search for "$0.00" that's the price of the free books and the dumb search engine...

Nope, that didn't work either, after the first half dozen books (of all ages) I'm still getting books with prices like $2.51 or $0.99 and there's apparently no correlation between wheat I'm searching for, and what the search engine is providing. Its a real dog's dinner.

[bobconnie]

Just so ya know !ya can get ALL the books you wish for FREE on-line to the Local Library of your choice ! what the heck, ya just need a Library Card and an Inter-net connection and ya can ck any book out you wish !! No Money !! No late returns, just Free pleasure!! Connie uses the Library only ! she almost never uses Amazon for any books !! Just a thought from a Reader !!

[Lake-Effect]

I won a Kobo Touch ebook this spring. So far I've grabbed a bunch of free classics from Project Gutenberg and elsewhere. Alot of the great seafaring classics are free.

I've also started purchasing the occasional ebook, but for the most part I think they are currently overpriced. Assuming the average fiction paperback may be shared by up to 3 people, I believe that ebooks, which cannot be shared, should cost around 1/3 the price of a paperback.

But yes, an ebook reader is a great library option for a cruising sailor.

[Cyndimarcus]

Which one to buy? I've considered purchasing one, but still not sure the best way to go. I've also considered a used e reader.

[storyinframes]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Nope, TOP 100 FREE will generate a list that has some free books but at least half of the first two pages (2 doz. books?) are not free books. The Amazon search engine and filters are pathetic.

On the other hand that turned on a light bulb. If you search for "$0.00" that's the price of the free books and the dumb search engine...

Nope, that didn't work either, after the first half dozen books (of all ages) I'm still getting books with prices like $2.51 or $0.99 and there's apparently no correlation between wheat I'm searching for, and what the search engine is providing. Its a real dog's dinner.

What I do is I don't use the amazon search filters and neither do I try to navigate through the Amazon website because it's a tad complicated.
Instead, I just google - TOP 100 FREE.
Immediately, the link takes me to a page where it shows -- 2 columns : TOP 100 PAID + TOP 100 FREE
And both columns have plenty of books in most of the categories.
This is how I used to track the ranking of my book When it was under free promotional period.

There are often good surprises under the TOP 100 FREE because these books may be under KDP SELECT and are offered for Free download for 5 days in every 3 months.

Regards

[storyinframes]

This is how the page should look. PAID and FREE books side by side.

[Eleven]

You can load Kindle software to you PC/Laptop for FREE. They want to sell you books.
There are many sites now, Books-on-Board is one that my publisher uses.
I like the Kindle library better than the Amazon one. Easier to use and buy.
Set up an Amazon account so you can buy anywhere, any time, you have internet.

[tamicatana]

Originally Posted by Eleven

You can load Kindle software to you PC/Laptop for FREE. They want to sell you books

Second that. Instead of buying another device, just download the software to your computer. I also have it on my iPhone, and they sync together. Ergo, I can be reading a book on my Mac, and stop, and then I might pick the book back up via my phone and it goes to the last page read and I can continue from there

Less stuff to deal with, you've prolly already got a phone and laptop...

[moggie]

With a Kindle 3G/ you don't need anything else, anywhere in the world, in your menu , go to shop in Kindle store, type "free books" there where 40 000+ yesterday. they download in one second, I don't even bother reading the reviews, I just delete it later if I don't like it. Yesterday I loaded 20 books in 20 mins. all free. Don't forget to turn off the wireless, as it does use your batt.
PS, no sim card, no Wifi! All free!

[moggie]

Sorry forgot to add, with an Ipad or a laptop, you need to be on a paid up wifi or phone network. Kindle is free. and you can send/rec e-mail, read the news etc. and read it in bright daylight. anywhere ( I don't work for Kindle, just love it)

[hellosailor]

story-
That's a nice display but perhaps that is on a tablet or a Kindle itself? The display and listing is different on a smartphone, it gives a linear list of books, ten per page, and commingles the free and not free ones. A cynic might say that is done intentionally so folks who "one click" too quickly wind up buying things instead of getting them for free. (There's no way to disable 1-click buying on the Kindle or Kindle software on other devices.)
A more gentle soul might say that's just because the cheap *stards at Amazon have made Kindle a DIY system, and the programming needs some upgrades. The entire Kindle system is quite sophmoric, authors OCR scan books and upload them, and there's no process to check for errors (which are rampant) or correct them, at any point down the line. Although some authors are actually glad to get email about them, and do their own correcting to the material.
Apparently it is all about the lowest cost and "acceptable" quality, and there's something to be said in favor of that. Free is good, right? <G>

Bob/Connie-
Libraries are good BUT as noted, Kindle has some glitches there too. Many libraries are using systems like Overdrive Media Console and you CANNOT simply take out books on your Kindle. Yes, i watched a librarian waste nearly an hour trying to show someone how to take out books on their Kindle. Except, it turns out, you CAN'T take them out on the Kindle, with some of the DRM systems (like Overdrive) you have to check them out on a real computer, and then transfer them from that computer to your Kindle by WiFi. Try explaining that to any retiree who though they just bought an ebook.

Libraries these days are also feeling the budget pinch. If you want a library card "I'm here for the summer" won't do anymore, except in the friendlist towns. Most require some local proof of residence, government ID, utility bill, before they'll issue a library card, and no card? No loans.

I'm still happy to see a "take one leave one" bookshelf in odd ports and places. I know how to use that.<G>