How to buy books on Kindle
As a writer, it’s not surprising that I love to read. But like many others, it wasn’t always like this. As a child, I passionately hated the assigned reading; I refused to read any books that I did not choose myself. The thought of reading was boring and time consuming. Why read stories when you can watch them on TV?
But as my passion for writing grew, so did my love for books. Reading a book felt like a private connection with the author, like being privy to a secret that led to imaginary journeys. Stephen King once said that reading “brings an ease and intimacy to the process of writing,” and that’s how it felt to me.
A Kindle e-reader has proven to be life changing for me. Books are already portable, but e-books are portable: all your books are portable in a single, compact device. But how do you get the most out of your Kindle? Let’s start with how to buy books on the device.
Likewise: The best e-readers: Kindle, Kobo and more
How to buy eBooks on Kindle
Step 1: Link your Kindle to your Amazon account
When you buy a new Kindle, you have the option to have it linked to your Amazon account upon delivery. If you didn’t select this option at checkout, sign in to your Amazon account on your Kindle or create an account.
Step 2: Go to the Kindle Store
The Kindle Home screen shows your Library, which contains the books you’ve bought or borrowed, and the Store, which contains books for purchase.
Step 3: Choose a book you want to buy
In the Kindle Store, you can search by genre, popularity, or find recommendations for you.
Whenever you see an interesting book in the Kindle Digital Library, you can see a synopsis, page number, and other information about the book. You can also scroll down to read reviews and learn more about what others are saying about the book.
Step 4: Buy the book
When you have selected a book, press the Buy for [$ price] on your Kindle to purchase it. This process will charge your Amazon account so the payment method you used on Amazon will be applied to the purchase.
The button changed from Buy for $8.99 to read now after the purchase. Image: Maria Diaz/ZDNET
After payment is processed, the book will be downloaded to your Kindle and will be available in your Kindle Library (Kindle’s home page) in seconds.
FAQ
If you’re not sure if you’re ready to buy a Kindle book, you can try a sample. Think of it like reading a few pages in a bookstore before committing to a book—except you can do it from anywhere with your Kindle or any other device running the Kindle app.
A Kindle book sample typically makes up either about 10% of the book or the first chapter or two. After reading the example, you can purchase the book on your Kindle to download the rest.
If you want to buy Kindle books from your iPhone, you need to do it through a web browser. Unfortunately, although you can have the Kindle and Amazon apps on your iPhone, purchasing books using these apps is not supported on an iPhone.
Follow these steps to buy Kindle books on your iPhone:
- Go to a web browser (e.g. Safari, Google Chrome or Firefox).
- Go to Amazon.com and log in.
- Find the Kindle book you want to buy.
- Select the Kindle format under the book title.
- Buy and watch.
- The Kindle book will be downloaded to the Kindle devices registered to this Amazon account.
One of the advantages of buying a book in Kindle format is that it’s already cheaper than the hardcover version. But there are ways to find even better deals when looking for Kindle books. Amazon always offers deals on its website and you can find Daily Kindle Deals, monthly offersand Exclusive Kindle deals.
If it’s in the Kindle Virtual Library, it’s available for purchase. There are many translated books in the Kindle Store, and some books are available in multiple languages.
Just search for the book that interests you and see if it’s available for purchase.