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How to Send eBooks to Your Kindle: A Step-by-Step Guide

The Amazon Kindle is an effective ebook reader, linked closely to Amazon’s ecosystem. Users can send various ebook formats to their Kindle via methods like the Send to Kindle tool, Kindle app, or email. Free ebooks are readily available through various platforms, enhancing Kindle’s reading options.

RAYMOND OGLESBY @RaymondOglesby2
January 28, 2025 – 7 minutes read time

Overview

The Amazon Kindle is a great ebook reader, but it’s tightly tied to Amazon’s ecosystem. If you have a Fire tablet or a smartphone, you can download other e-reading apps to beef up your library, but with the Kindle hardware, you are pretty much tied to getting your content directly from Amazon. Well, sort of. Using some free software, you can take ebooks in various formats and zap them over to your Kindle.

Let’s explore how to send other ebook formats to your e-reader, and where to get free ebooks.

Why You Will Like This Tip

Of course, we all like free stuff.
A large variety of free ebooks to choose from.
Download in a variety of formats for reading on your Kindle.

System Requirements

This is for the Amazon Kindle. It uses the iPhone, Android, PC, and Mac. The screenshots are from Windows 10 and iPhone 14 Pro.

Use “Send to Kindle”

Amazon offers a Send to Kindle page where you can upload ebook files saved on your device. First, on amazon.com/sendtokindle, click Select files from device. Refer to the below image:

Next, select the book you want on your Kindle. This tool supports PDF, DOC, DOCX, TXT, RTF, HTM, HTML, PNG, GIF, JPG, JPEG, BMP, and EPUB formats on ebooks up to 200MB in size. (Amazon no longer supports sending new Mobi files.) Ensure the Add to your library toggle is ON, then click Send. See the below image:

Now, a status bar will appear, letting you keep tabs on the upload. You will see a checkmark and an In Library notice when it’s ready. See the following image:

Amazon also has an app for Windows and macOS that lets you do the same thing. Chrome has an extension you can enable though results are mixed.

Use Your iPhone

If you have the Kindle app installed on your iPhone or Android device, you can add ebooks to your library with a few taps. In the example below we downloaded an ebook from Project Gutenberg on the iPhone.

First, open your Kindle app on your iPhone and search for an ebook. Next, tap the ebook. From here, you can Download sample to see a preview or tap the Share icon. Now, locate the Kindle app and tap it. Refer to the below image:

Kindle 5 — Selecting a file to send to Kindle

Next, ensure the Add to your library toggle is ON, then tap Send. Now, the ebook will be saved in your library in the Kindle app and on our Kindle device. The process is similar for Android. See the below image:

Use Your Kindle Email

Amazon also lets you email ebooks to your Kindle account via a specially crafted email address. First, to get your Kindle’s email address, go to:

amazon.com/myk

or go to:

Account & Lists > Content Library > Devices

Next, in the list below, find your Kindle device and click it. In the drop-down window, click [your name’s] Kindle. See the following image:

On the next page, you will see a Device Summary that lists your @kindle.com email address. (It’s set to a default address, but you can change it by clicking Edit.) Refer to the below page:

Back up top, click the Preferences tab, and scroll down to Personal Document Settings. Click the down arrow on the right and scroll to Approved Personal Document E-mail List. The email attached to your Amazon account should be listed here. If that’s the email address you will be using to send ebooks to your Kindle, you are all set. To use a different email, click:

Add a new approved e-mail address and enter the address you want to use.

Remember, your Kindle needs to be attached to a Wi-Fi network for this to work.

Use a PDF

Amazon can automatically convert PDFs into the Kindle format, but you get two formatting choices. If you want your Kindle to display every page in the PDF as if it were a graphic, just email the .pdf file to your Kindle’s address without a subject line, upload it via the Send to Kindle website, or drag and drop the file onto a Kindle that’s attached to your PC with a USB cable.

That will maintain the formatting and graphics; it will appear on your Kindle like on your laptop. However, the font size may be too small to read.

Your other option is to attach the PDF file to an email and make the subject line “convert”—just that word. Send it to your Kindle email address and your PDF will be converted into a Kindle version that will let you mark it up and change the formatting. The graphics will still be in there as well, but you will lose the layout of the original PDF.

Third-party software, such as MiniTool PDF Editor – Kindle format converter, can also convert PDF files to Kindle formats like Word, image, TXT, and HTML.

Where to Find Your eBooks

Once you have emailed your ebook, on your Kindle head to:

Home > From Your Library

It might take a few minutes, but if your Kindle is connected to Wi-Fi, it should update automatically and the ebook will appear.

Want to delete the ebook? Tap the Menu icon (the three-dots) on the bottom right of your ebook in Your Library and select Remove download to remove it from your Kindle or Permanently Delete to remove it from your Amazon account.

Where to Find Free eBooks

Amazon hosts periodic Stuff Your Kindle Days, where select ebooks are free for a 24-hour period. They are usually grouped by theme.
To hook into public library catalogs and send ebooks to your Kindle, check out the Libby app from OverDrive. (Hoopla offers a similar service.)
If you want classics, Project Gutenberg has 70,000+ copyright-free ebooks.
For historical and academic texts, check out archive.org.
ManyBooks.net has a mix of free and paid classics and self-published titles.
Free-Ebooks.net has a large collection of self-published ebooks and classics; provide your email address to get five free ebooks per month.
If you like science fiction, the publisher Baen also has a set of free ebooks.
BookBub has a free ebook section filled with romance novels and other casual reads.

Source: Amazon, PC Mag

Disclaimer

Technology is always changing. Rarely is there static tech for smartphones and desktops. Thus, the contents of this post are only valid at the time of writing. Blog posts older than six months may have directions incompatible with your device or OS. Hopefully, older post content will continue to work as advertised. Thank you for reading TechSavvy.Life for Technology at Work For You.

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Author’s EBook

Author’s eBook

The author’s Vietnam eBook on the “Battle for Tra Bong Vietnam: Events and Aftermath” can be accessed from a Kindle device or the Kindle App for a desktop or smartphone. The apps are free.

The author’s Vietnam eBook on the Battle for Tra Bong Vietnam: Events and Aftermath

How to Listen to Music on Amazon Echo: Complete Guide

The content discusses how to play music on Amazon Echo using various services and how to set default music and podcast services. It also covers connecting and streaming music via Bluetooth.

RAYMOND OGLESBY @RaymondOglesby2
August 27, 2024– 7 minutes read time

This is for devices using Amazon Echo device. Screenshots are from iPhone 14 Pro running iOS 17.6.1

Alexa is a jack of all trades, but Amazon’s digital assistant can also help you listen to music via Pandora, Spotify, and other streaming services on your Echo device. Let’s explore listening to music on your Echo.

Your Amazon Echo possesses various skills, but its ability to play music is most useful and enjoyable. You can listen to music in various ways, though the process differs depending on whether you want to hear your own media library or stream songs from a specific service.

Amazon does not make it easy if you are looking to listen to music that you own, though it’s still doable. Your best bet is to stream music from your phone to your Echo over Bluetooth.

The simplest way to play music on your Echo device is to listen through a music streaming service. By default, your Echo will link to Amazon Music, or Amazon Music Prime if you are a Prime member. You can also connect to other popular music services and wirelessly stream songs directly from your mobile device.

Link to Streaming Services

After you set up your Amazon Echo, you can link your favorite music services, including Amazon Music, Apple Music, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Pandora, SiriusXM, Spotify, Tidal, TuneIn, Vevo, and Global Player. They all need an account with each one before accessing it through your Echo.

While most of these services have premium subscription options, you do not need to pay to play music through your Echo device. If the service offers a free tier, you can still listen (in a limited capacity). Refer to the below image:

First, open the Alexa app on your mobile device to start playing music through your service of choice.

Next, tap More > Music & More, then swipe down the screen to the Link New Service section

Now, tap the service name (we are selecting (Pandora), you want to add and choose Enable to Use. See the below image:

Alternatively, tap the settings gear at the top right of the Music & More screen and tap Link New Service to see all the available services you can add. See the following image:

Echo 3 — Selecting to link a new service (Pandora)

Next, sign in to that service and agree to let Alexa access your data. Refer to the below image:

Echo 4 — Successful linking a new service (Pandora)

Now, after you finish adding your services, scroll to the bottom of the Music page in the Alexa app. You should see all the new services you previously added. To start playing music, you can open a streaming app and select your Echo as the destination to begin listening.

You can also ask your Echo to play music by specifying the name of the service. For example, you could say something like “Alexa, play the Rolling Stones from Apple Music,” or “Alexa, play country music from Pandora“.

Selecting Default Services

You must set one as the default to avoid specifying a service in your command. You can do this for both music and podcasts. First, head back to the Music & More screen in the Alexa app, tap the Settings icon at the top, and then select Default Services.

Next, tap Change next to Music and select the service you wish to set as the default for playing music. Tap Change next to Artist and Genre Stations to set default stations for a specific artist and genre. You can then tell Alexa to play music from an artist or genre, and it will play it from your default. service. See the below image:

Echo 5 — Selecting to change your default services

Now, tap Change next to Music to set your music default service. Then tap Change next to Podcasts to set your default podcast service. See the following image:

When you ask Alexa to play a song, album, artist, genre, or station, you can simply tell it what you want to play, and it will pull the music from the appropriate place without you needing to specify the name of the service. Refer to the below image:

You may need to change the default speaker if you do not hear sound from your Echo device.

First, head to Music & More and tap the Groups icon in the bottom middle of the screen.

Next, tap your Echo device, then tap its Settings gear icon. See the below image:

Echo 8 — Accessing Settings for your Echo device

Now, tap the Change link and select your preferred speaker.

Next, tap the Next button. You will receive a message that your preferred speaker has been set. Simply tap Done to close the message. See the following image:

Stream Music Over Bluetooth

Instead of listening to music directly from your Amazon Echo device, you can stream songs from your mobile device or computer to the speaker through Bluetooth.

Stream From a Mobile Device

With your phone or tablet nearby, say “Alexa, pair,” and your Echo will enter pairing mode. Open the Bluetooth settings screen on your device and tap your Echo (it should appear as Echo-XXX) when it shows up. Alexa then announces the connection. Refer to the below image:

Echo 10 — Choosing to connect your Echo device

Alternatively, you can pair the Echo to your mobile device through the Alexa app. Head to Devices and select the Echo you want to pair with your phone or tablet.

Connect to Echo

First, under Bluetooth Connections for that device, tap Connect a device. Choose your device, and your Echo is connected. See the below image:

Now, the audio will go through your Echo device when you play music from your phone or tablet. You can then control playback from your mobile device or Alexa.

Disconnect/reConnect From/To Echo

To disconnect your Echo from your mobile device, say, “Alexa, disconnect from [name of device].”

You can always reconnect the device by saying “Alexa, connect to [name of device]”.