Bea's Book Nook: Kindle

Showing posts with label Kindle. Show all posts

Monday, September 23, 2013

Autumn Kindle Fire Giveaway!

This is a joint AUTHOR & BLOGGER GIVEAWAY EVENT! Bloggers & Authors have joined together and each chipped in a little money towards a Kindle Fire HD 7".

Kindle Fire HD 7" Giveaway

The winner will have the option of receiving a 7" Kindle Fire HD (US Only)

Or $199 Amazon.com Gift Card (International)

Or $199 in Paypal Cash (International)

Fall Sponsoring Authors & Bloggers

Sign up to Sponsor the NOVEMBER Giveaway http://www.iamareader.com/2013/09/november-kindle-fire-giveaway-sign-ups.html

Giveaway Details

1 winner will receive their choice of a Kindle Fire 7" HD (US Only), $199 Amazon Gift Card or $199 in Paypal Cash (International). There is a second separate giveaway for bloggers who post this giveaway on their blog. See details in the rafflecopter on how to enter to win the 2nd Kindle Fire.

Ends 10/31/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the participating authors & bloggers. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, September 9, 2013

September Kindle Fire Giveaway

This is a joint AUTHOR & BLOGGER GIVEAWAY EVENT!

Bloggers & Authors have joined together and each chipped in a little money towards a Kindle Fire HD 7″.

Kindle Fire HD 7″ Giveaway

The winner will have the option of receiving a 7″ Kindle Fire HD (US Only)

Bea Reviews Audible.com

Recently, Audible.com contacted me to ask about doing a review. The last time I listened to an audio book was when they came out in CDs, many years ago. That was for a 10 hour drive and then back again. But I know many people listen to them and thought it might be interesting, both for myself and for you all, my readers. Audible provided 2 credits which I could redeem for 2 books. I asked one of my twitter friends, who regularly listens to audio books, for suggestions and in short order I had two books picked out. Andrea's suggestions included comments on the narrators as well as the books themselves.

Searching the site was easy and there's a wide range of books available. I had no trouble finding books; the problem was in narrowing down my choices. Not all books that are published are available in audio format but Audible seems to have a good selection and the options for listening to a book are many: kindle, iPod, computer, or via a free app on your smartphone or tablet. For the purposes of this review, I used my Kindle Touch. Audible does not rent audio books, you purchase them. They are owned by Amazon so if you have an account with Amazon, you can use it to log into Audible; otherwise you need to set up an account.

Although I didn't try the feature, as I only bought the audio version, apparently, you can switch back and forth between reading the Kindle book, if you own it, and listening to the Audible audiobook, using the Kindle's Whispersync for Voice. After purchasing the Kindle book, you can add the audio book for a reduced price. According to their site, the Kindle will track your location and automatically pick up where you left off; so you can read the book at home and then listen while in the car.

Where I ran into problems was the download process. I followed the link in the email confirming purchase and had the books sent directly to kindle; there are also directions on the site for downloading.
The directions for downloading my purchased books were simple enough to follow but my kindle had trouble coping with the files. While I was while downloading first book, my Kindle gave me a message that the application in use hit a snag and said to close. I clicked close and my Kindle shut down. However, it then couldn't start up and I had to re-boot. It was necessary to rebook 3 times before I was successful. The second download attempt was successful. I did quick audio test of both books to ensure that they were working.

I found the dashboard of the book to be a little confusing but a few minutes of exploration helped. There's a reading progress bar that tracks chapters read and remaining, one that shows how many minutes have passed in the book and one that tracks the remaining time. You can also rewind or fast forward thirty seconds. Just as when reading visually on a kindle, the Kindle screen goes to sleep after a few minutes of inactivity but the audio continues. I did find the volume on the Kindle to be inadequate; I had it at max and still needed it to be a little higher. I don't own ear buds but if I take up listening to audiobooks on my Kindle on a regular basis, I would need to invest in a pair. I do have the option of downloading the books to my laptop and that might be better.

For assistance or questions, you can click on 'Help' at the bottom of every page. It functions as their FAQ page also. I do wish it were located at the top of every page and was as prominently marked as the categories listed there. Overall though, I found the site easy to use and navigate.

Bottom of the Audible screen with 'Help' circled in yellow

Top of the Audible Screen

Overall, if you're an audio book reader or interested in trying, Audible.com is worth your time. One downside to audio books is their expense; holy cow they are freaking expensive. One of the books I acquired using the credits Audible provided was 27.99! But, Audible has a membership program that makes the cost a little more reasonable:

You get your first book free as a trial service. After your free trial, you get one book of your choice every month for $14.95 from Audible's 100,000+ titles.They also run sales from time to time.

Next month, I'll have reviews of the two books I purchased, looking at the stories themselves, the audio portion, and the ease of use. If I have time, I may see about trying to download one or both onto my laptop and see how well that works.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Win A Kindle Fire at the Astraea Press Fan Fest!

Over 40 authors at my publisher, Astraea Press, have gotten together for a huge event, the Astraea Press Fan Fest! The party will be on July 16th and go all day. You can chat with authors and win prizes. But you don't have to wait a month to enter for the grand prize. The authors have pooled their money to offer up a Kindle Fire. Enter below using the Rafflecopter. In the meantime, you can keep up with the news and events about the Fan Fest at the facebook page or on twitter. I hope to see you at the Fan Fest!

And my standard disclaimer: I am employed by Astraea Press. I am not being compensated for sharing this info or putting up this post.

Finding Free Ebooks

As you know if you read my Sunday Book Share posts (ie book haul & blog news, The Sunday Post, Stacking the Shelves, etc). I download A LOT of kindle freebies. Several people have asked how I find them so I thought I'd share. While I download books for kindle, the methods and many of my sources are applicable regardless of your e-reader.

My book budget is abysmally tiny; some months it's non-existent. I currently have a gift card balance at Amazon so I've been able to purchase some print books and digital books but I'm trying to stretch it and make it last so I have been very picky about what I pay for. Freebies are my friend. :) The library is, and has been for years, a fantastic source. The downside of course is that I can't keep the books but I have to give them back. Still, it does let me read authors who are favorites but not on my auto buy list, and it lets me try new authors. They also have ebooks, both kindle and ePub, and I have taken advantage of that as well. Free books are an excellent way to try a new-to-you author or genre; you're investing your time but not your money.

So, the library is one source for free books that I don't keep. For books that I want to keep, well, there are many sources. Have an author that you like? Join their mailing list, whether it's print or digital; follow them on twitter or facebook (or any other social media where you both are users), make a point of regularly visiting their website/blog/discussion board. All of these are ways to find out when your author has a book that is free or being given away. Are you on goodreads? Often authors will make a book free temporarily and invite their goodreads friends or post a book in the goodreads giveaway section. I'm not on shefari or librarything so I don't know if they have similar activities. Anybody know?

What else? Publishers. If you have a publisher that you're a fan of or that publishes a series or several series that you enjoy, sign up for their mailing list and visit their sites and blogs. Don't forget to follow them on twitter, facebook, etc. For instance, the publisher I work for is celebrating it's second birthday this month by giving away 2 books every day on their blog. Each day there are two different titles and coupon codes so you can download them for free. My publisher invited all staff who are on facebook, and everyone that liked their page as well as everyone who's part of their facebook book club. They've also been talking it up on twitter. They've also been encouraging people to share the news and spread the word.

Of course, the people that you interact with and follow are also sources. Talk to your blogging buddies, your tweeps, your facebook friends, etc. Know a deal or freebie? Share the news. Forward the email, write a blog post, share info and links on twitter and fb, etc. I get many of my freebies from reading other book sharing posts, the Sunday Post, Stacking the Shelves, IMMs, etc., particularly the Melissas - Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf and Melissa's Mochas, Mysteries & More. Now, sometimes by the time I read the book share posts, the freebie is no longer free but it might be on sale, reasonably priced, or a book I add to my watch list or see if my library has. The Book Vixen regularly tweets freebies and deals. There are book blogs that post, either regularly or occasionally, freebies and deals. Paranormal & Urban Fantasy Reviews is one, there are others if you just look. I almost forgot! Both Dear Author and Smart Bitches have daily listings of romance titles that are either free or on sale and usually those are available in different formats, not just kindle.

So, the library is a source, ~~stalking~~ following authors and publishers on their sites and social media is another source, your social media buddies are a good resource, but your best bets, the ones that will give you the most options are sites and blogs that specialize in finding the freebies. There are dozens, heck probably hundreds, for kindle alone. I get a daily email, Latest Kindle Free Books, that collects free titles for kindle on Amazon and Smashwords. I found them by browsing Amazon, looking specifically for blogs and sites that collected free Kindle titles. Over on facebook I liked/friended several groups and pages: eReaderlove (which despite its name is primarily kindle titles), Chelsea's Free Ebook Finds and her other page, Chelsea's Cheap Paranormal Reads. There's also Free Today on Kindle and Beyond, which focuses on indie books that are free. Over on goodreads there are groups that specialize in free books; I belong to Booksy Cup Freebies and Bargains. ETA: D'oh! I forgot to mention that I found some of these groups via friends and others by searching facebook, and in goodreads groups, by entering "free kindle books" and variations on that phrase in the search bar on the respective sites. Obviously, you'll enter whatever e-reader you use in place of 'kindle'.

The freebies and deals are out there, if you're willing to put in some time and effort up front to find them.

Do you have a source for free or cheap books? Please put a link in the comments; it doesn't have to be for kindle but can be for any e-reader. Share the love!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Kindlegraph - Doing it right

Recently, I saw authors tweeting about Kindlegaph. I didn't know what it was but assumed it was an Amazon service for authors. Then one author mentioned that she got her first request from a reader for a Kindlegraph and the light bulb in my head went off. It's a signed book cover for your Kindle ebooks. Very cool.

If you have a Kindle, you can go to Kindlegraph's site, look to see if your favorite author or book is listed and if they are, you send a request. You need to give them your Kindle email, they give you an email address to add to your Kindle account's approved email list and when the author sends their autograph, Amazon sends you an email letting you know that your Kindle document has arrived. Then you download the document to your Kindle and voila, you have a signed book cover.

I went to their site and looked around. You have to have a Twitter account to sign in and that's where I ran into a problem. Now obviously, based on the first paragraph, I do have a Twitter account. But when I read the TOS (Terms of Service), I said "Hell no". Why? By signing in with Twitter, you agreed that Kindlegraph could see who you follow, follow new people for you, tweet for you, and update your profile. WTF? Why do you need to do that?

I tweeted that while the idea of Kindlegraph was good, the TOS were unacceptable. I didn't use a hashtag nor did I @reply, but when I got home from work, I had a reply from @kindlegraph, responding to my concerns. We exchanged several more tweets and then I got this tweet:

kindlegraph Kindlegraph

@
@BeasBookNook Hi again! Can you try the "sign-in with Twitter" link again? I wasn't aware of less permissive options and I've selected them.

So I did and sure enough, they'd changed the TOS. They now read thusly:

This application will be able to:

Read Tweets from your timeline.

See who you follow.

This application will not be able to:

Follow new people.

Update your profile.

Post Tweets for you.

Access your direct messages.

See your Twitter password.

MUCH better. I signed up, looked for authors, and sent off several requests for signatures. So far, I've only gotten one, though I sent the requests several days ago. Thanks to PJ Schnyder for being so prompt! ETA 8/7/11: I've since gotten more autographs from one of the authors that I had requested.

I am very impressed with Kindlegraph's customer service, their attention to detail and their prompt response to my concerns. If you have a Kindle, if you like having signed books, GO SIGN UP!!! Yes, you need a Twitter account, but if you only ever use it for this, it's well worth it.

The Kindlegraph site has a video that shows how the process works, but here's a photo of what I got from author PJ Schynder. Note that your actual ebook is not autographed; you get a cover of your chosen book with the author's signature. My apologies for the photo quality, I used my cell phone camera.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Squee! Kindles + Libraries = Awesomesauce

First, I love the expression "awesomesauce". I picked it up from the SmartBitches and I love being able to use it. :D

Second, SQUEEE!!!!! Amazon announced today that sometime later this year (which I really really hope doesn't mean end of the year) libraries that lend out ebooks via Overdrive will be able to do so on Kindles here in the US. At this point, it's just US only. I love my Kindle to bits but one of it's disadvantages has been my inability to check out library books on it. I have ADE on my laptop so I can check out library ebooks that way but reading on my Kindle is so much easier and convenient for me. According to the press release, Kindle lending will

be available for all generations of Kindle devices and free Kindle reading apps....."We're doing a little something extra here," Marine continued. "Normally, making margin notes in library books is a big no-no. But we're extending our Whispersync technology so that you can highlight and add margin notes to Kindle books you check out from your local library. Your notes will not show up when the next patron checks out the book. But if you check out the book again, or subsequently buy it, your notes will be there just as you left them, perfectly Whispersynced."

With Kindle Library Lending, customers can take advantage of all of the unique features of Kindle and Kindle books...

I am so excited I can hardly stop squeeing. I love libraries, I love my Kindle, I am a happy happy book addict. :P

I have to say that I am delighted to see Amazon striving to add to the Kindle's benefits and make it ever more user friendly. First, they made some Kindle titles available for lending (even if they were slow to do it) and now library lending. Since the Nook and Kobo already have these features, it only makes sense that Kindle would jump in. Adding these features adds to the Kindle's appeal and usability. Now, they just need to allow buying books from other sites in a Kindle compatible format and the Kindle would be just about perfect.

Now, I'm sure there will be glitches and not every publisher participates in library ebook lending (McMillan, Simon & Schuster) but it's a start. So Kindle users, take advantage of this and ask your librarians if your library will be participating.

For more information, see this article on LibraryJournal.com.

Friday, September 10, 2010

BlogFest 2010 is HERE! Enter to Win a KINDLE from BBB! Spread the Word!

BBB is participating in a huge blogfest. It's a chance to win a ton of great prizes from over 250 bloggers around the globe! Who knows, you may find a bunch of great new blogs to check out. There are lots of new book blogs (like this one!), but other kinds of blogs too. So spend some time checking them out and bookmark the ones you want to come back to. For more details, and to enter the giveaway, go here, http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=30336

Bea's Book Nook