By the time this posts hits the wire and you are reading it my wife and I will be on a short mini-vacation, and I have setup most of the posts between now and Sunday afternoon to go out automatically at different times. Don’t worry – there are still lots of free Kindle book offers out there different independent authors have told me about and the days they will be free, and those notifications will still go out at the appropriate time. I thought I would use this time (and space) to relay a few thoughts and to answer a few questions a few of you have had this week.
Is Free Really Free, or You Said the Book Was Free But it Really Wasn’t!
There were a few times this week where a book was free for just an hour or two at posting, or there were some hiccups with the Amazon servers that actually had a book free in certain parts of the world and most of the USA but, for example, whatever servers in California are hosting the Amazon content didn’t replicate the pricing like it had everywhere else. That’s why I preface each of the free Kindle book posts with a comment to please check the pricing on the various free book offers I tell you about to make sure the book is still free before you press the “buy” button on the Amazon website. If the book has a price on it, and you push the buy button, your account will be charged!
If you made a mistake and didn’t realize the book cost money, and don’t want to keep it, you can contact Amazon’s Kindle customer support department in order to issue you a refund and the book will be deleted from your Kindle.
I frequently receive notes from folks a day or two after I post about a free book offer, with the comment I am intentionally telling them about books that are only free for Prime Members and not free to everyone. That’s not true: I do verify the books are free prior to posting, unless I have been informed by an author I have conversed with over time and trust who tells me their book will be going free on a certain date. As I said above, these type of messages usually come in a day or two after I have posted about a book going free: they missed the post on its original date and are a few days behind. The important thing is to (a) verify the book is still free, and (b) make sure you log in each day and are reading about the current book offers vs. something that is a few days old as the books don’t stay free forever.
I think the record I have personally seen for shortest duration of free was a book by Lee Child that was free for a total of 16 minutes. It was obviously a mistake, and Amazon or the publisher corrected the error as soon as they realized it.
Other Kindle Book Offers
I try to tell you about as many free book offers as I can, with a variety of genres but I certainly can’t tell you about all of the ones I hear about as I would literally have about two dozen or more posts per day with multiple free offerings per post. Some of you would thank me for not doing that, while others would thank me if I did post that many times.
There are many independent authors and their publishers who stop by the blog’s Facebook page and post about their free book promotions. Maybe you haven’t stopped by the Facebook page in a while, or maybe you have never stopped by the Facebook page at all (I’ve heard from some of you that you don’t “do” Facebook and I completely understand – and sometimes agree).
To see these additional free book offerings, here is how you can see them in a few short steps:
- Point your web browser to www.facebook.com/fkbooksandtips
- Scroll down just a little past the main Free Kindle Books and Tips logo / graphic, and look on the right-hand side of the page.
- You will see a section titled something along the lines of (I am doing this from memory as I don’t have an Internet connection right now) “Recent Posts by Others.” Under this section you will see the posts of the independent authors and publishers I mentioned. There will be a link to where you can pick up the book for free in the Amazon Kindle store.
While you’re on the blog’s Facebook page, why not give it a “Like” if you are a Facebook member?
Kindle Books for a Buck (or Less) Blog
Don’t forget to stop by and visit my complimentary blog, Kindle Books for a Buck (or Less). There have been a few bundled promotions several best-selling authors have made available exclusively for that blog’s readers and, for you parents, tomorrow there is a special Disney travel guide you might be interested in perusing. To give it a look, just click here or type in http://ebooksforabuck.wordpress.com into your web browser.
That’s about all I have for now – take care!
Michael
Posted in: Misc. and Random Stuff
June 21st, 2012 at 8:26 pm
Regarding complaints about free books not being free, sometimes a book will not be free, so I go back later in the day and the book price has been changed to $0.00.
So, take the tip and check back later in the day.
June 22nd, 2012 at 11:00 pm
Why doesn’t the text turn when I turn my kindle fire?
June 26th, 2012 at 4:13 pm
Mary-
Without being physically in front of your Kindle Fire, it is hard for me to tell you exactly what to do. When mine misbehaves, I hold it upright and shake it one time, which shoudl reset the gyro that tells it which way you are holding it.
Michael