- Using Amazon's Kindle Store
- Accessing the Kindle Store
- Finding Books from Other Sources
- Creating Your Own Kindle Content
- Using Search on the Kindle
Accessing the Kindle Store
You can access the Kindle Store a couple of ways. From the Home screen menu, selecting Shop in Kindle Store takes you to the Kindle Storefront. However, my favorite way to access the Kindle Store easily from any screen on the Kindle is to press Alt+Home.
The Kindle Storefront features links for browsing Kindle content, Kindle Top Sellers, New and Noteworthy Books, National Best Seller List, Kindle Daily Post, and other recommendations for you.
When you select a book, several links are available to you.
- Book Description: A description of the book displays next to the cover. If the entire description doesn't fit on the screen, a More link appears next to the description.
- Buy: Purchases the current book using Amazon's 1-click ordering.
- Try a Sample: Downloads a free sample of the selected book to your Kindle. The amount of content included in the free sample is determined by the book's publisher and can vary from a portion of a chapter to several chapters.
- Add to Wish List: Saves the selected book to your Save for Later list, which you can access by selecting Your Wish List Items from the menu while in the Kindle Store.
- Customer Reviews: You can read reviews written for a book by selecting the Customer Reviews link. While reading reviews, a Write a Review link appears at the top of the screen so that you can review the book. However, it is more convenient to write a review from your computer than from the Kindle.
You also get a list of other books that were purchased by Amazon customers who purchased the selected book.
When you select a newspaper or magazine, instead of the option to try a sample, you have the option to subscribe with a 14-day free trial. However, you can have a free trial to a particular subscription item only once. If you cancel your subscription, you are not eligible for a free trial of that particular item at a later date.
In addition, you can subscribe to Internet blogs on the Kindle. You also have the option of a 14-day free trial for blogs available in the Kindle Store, and considering that you can access blogs free on the Kindle, it's a good idea to carefully sample a blog before paying for it.
For more information on reading blogs free on the Kindle, see "Reading Blogs on the Kindle," in Chapter 5. |
You can obtain a refund for content you purchase in the Kindle Store as long as you ask for the refund within 7 days of the original purchase. Simply click the Contact Us link on the right side of any Amazon page, or browse to https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us/kindle-help.html. (Note this is an HTTPS address.) After Amazon issues a refund for Kindle content, the item is removed from Your Media Library and from your Kindle.
The Kindle and Digital Rights Management (DRM)
Quite a bit of misinformation has spread through the Internet regarding the Kindle's use of Digital Rights Management (DRM) for Kindle Store content. According to many people, the Kindle requires wireless to be turned on periodically so that it can check the license on content purchased from the Kindle Store.
I spoke to Amazon about DRM and the Kindle, and it confirmed that after you purchase an item from the Kindle Store, you can read that item on your Kindle as often as you want without ever turning on Kindle's wireless service.