How to Send #Ebooks to Your Kindle or Kindle App Without Going through Amazon #MyWANA #amwriting

Welcome back to Through Stephanie's Eyes. I've been hard at work finishing DANGEROUS MEDICINE and turn it over to my editor. With luck and more hard work, it should be ready for release in the beginning of the New Year. I know. I know. I had hoped it would be done in time for a Christmas release, but the latest from the vendors is that unless we have a finished product to them within the next two weeks, there is no way they could guarantee a release date before the end of the year. In fact, many of them are CLOSED from Christmas Eve through January 1st. 

If we hadn't had to spend the last three months getting ready for and then moving to the Seattle area, I would have had everything ready in time. No worries! Now I can be sure I'll have the best story I can give these characters. My editor, Amber Lea Easton will see to it. She ROCKS!

Now for the other reason for today's post. This week I decided to revisit a subject that many Kindle users need a lesson on...

How to send ebook files to their Kindle or Kindle app without the "one click" purchase from the Amazon site.

I know some of you are staring at the screen and shaking your head. "How the hell can you do that? I thought I could only get books from Amazon because my Kindle can't open files from any other source."

You all have been misinformed. Amazon is NOT the only place to find books for your Kindles. Same goes for NOOK, KOBO and any other device. Once you know the process, you can get your books from any other REPUTABLE and LEGAL retail site and publisher's site. (I'm in no way talking about the pirate sites and file sharing sites. Those are illegally sharing files. Don't use those. Support your favorite authors and publishers through legitimate venues.)

It's a really easy process and it will enable you to purchase your ebooks from sites other than Amazon if you wish. Yes, there are more sites out there that sell mobi format ebooks. Here are a few:

All Romance Ebooks

Omnilit

Bookstrand

Evernight

Ellora's Cave

Smashwords

Secret Cravings

and coming soon...Sassy Vixen Publishing

Not only can you get ebooks at fabulous prices from these sites, you can also win them during blog hops and other giveaways. Authors and other groups routinely giveaway free copies of their work to promote themselves and to introduce new readers to their stories. You can even take one file type and convert it to a Mobi file for your Kindle...that's a topic for another post, but you get my point.

If you know how to send files to your ereader, you won't be tied down to just using Amazon for everything. You do need the Kindle email address assigned to you when you registered with Amazon for an account. You have one even if you only have the Kindle App for your phone or iPad.  It should look something like stephryan@kindle.com

Now that's not my actual kindle addy but you get the picture. This is the email address you have to send all files TO.  Now what email account or accounts are accepted by your Kindle is up to you as well. Go into your Amazon account and choose the tab that says: Manage Your Kindle.  In there you'll find a spot where you can add all the sites that are allowed to send you material. In mine, I have my gmail account and Bookstrand's email. By allowing Bookstrand to send me stuff, I get an INSTANT upload to ereader. That's about as close to a "one click" shopping you can get!

Now if someone were to send me a ebook file, in MOBI or PRC format...or even PDF format, I can download the file to my computer.  I don't open the file yet. Instead, I send it as an attachment from my gmail account to my kindle address.

That's it. Within five minutes I have the file on my ereader. 

If you'd like more detailed instructions, here's a step by step on how to do it straight from Amazon. 

So go on and get used to sending files to your Kindle. You'll be able to receive ARCs from your favorite authors, become beta readers for others, read the ebooks you've won in contests, read PDF files for your job...anything you can think of, you'll eventually be able to do it. Go on. Give it a go!

~Steph