How to Find Free Ebooks for the Kindle
By L.a. Buroker
There are lots of free eBook download sites out there, but many of them only offer epub formatted texts (compatible with the iPad, nook, sony, and other readers but not with the kindle), or they force you to read the stories online (bleh!). Fortunately, there are ways for kindle owners to find freebies too. Just remember that you need to look for mobi files unless you're going to use a conversion program.
Browse the Amazon Store
Okay, this first one's a bit obvious, but many free titles are available for the kindle right in the Amazon store. The bestseller list on the front page allows you to check the "Top 100 Free" as well as the paid hits. In the menu on the left, you can drill down into the sub-menus (such as science fiction, fantasy, and romance) and find more $0.00 offerings by selecting to sort by "Price: Low to High" in the drop-down box at the top. Go deeper still by clicking on a sub-genre or release date and again selecting a low-to-high sorting method.
You'll find there are more free offerings at Amazon than you might have realized! There are also a lot of very inexpensive books, especially by indie authors, if you don't mind shelling out a couple dollars.
Head over to Smashwords
Smashwords is a big eBook marketplace that specializes in publishing indie authors, many of whom offer very affordable prices for their work. Such as free. Unlike many other marketplaces, they provide all the eBook formats, and I do mean all! Epub, mobi, pdf, lrf (old sony reader), palm, txt, rtf, etc. You can also read stories on the screen if you don't have a kindle.
It's not uncommon for someone with a series to let people download the first novel without paying a cent. Subsequent ebooks may cost money, but you get a good chance to see if you're interested in the series and the author before dropping any cash. Also, some authors just want to get their work out there, and they have a large collection of free stories listed.
With Smashwords, it's also easy to sort to find the $0.00 offerings. Just choose the free filter on the front page or on any of the genre pages. You can also browse by new releases, bestsellers, etc.
More Sites with Kindle-compatible texts
If you're looking for classics instead of new releases, there are a number of places where the mobi format is offered. Here are several:
freekindlebooks.org
manybooks.net
mobipocket.com
justfreebooks.info
Project Gutenberg (use the advanced search to find mobi/mobipocket files viewable on the kindle)
thefreelibrary.com
There you have it: lots of resources for finding inexpensive reads for the kindle. Now, don't you have some stories to download and some reading to do?
The author publishes ebook fantasy novels at Amazon and writes about ebook publishing on her site. If you'd like to talk fantasy, books, publishing, or even dogs or tennis, stop by and leave a comment.
Post a Comment