Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I wasn't expecting much for the price, but I've got to say that I really didn't get my money's worth.
Like many Kindle owners, I kept seeing this title pop-up everywhere. My initial reaction was that it was a scam - some guy trying to con as many people into buying a cheap book as possible (hey, if 10,000 people buy a book for a few bucks, it all adds up, right?).
Turns out there's actually quite a bit of content here. I didn't find it particularly useful, but there are lots of words - don't worry that you're only going to get a two-pager with a few web links. That's not the case.
After reading through this, though, I was left with a few thoughts I hope my fellow Kindle readers will appreciate:
1) It's not a scam, but let's be clear that advertising for the author's website/blog, "Kindle Nation" is probably a big reason this book exists. I can understand pitching it a bit up-front (nothing wrong with a bit of self-promotion), but there's an entire chapter in the middle of the book entitled, "How to Contact Kindle Nation"...
2) It's the Kindle-owner feel-good book of the year! Way too much of this "book" focuses on telling you how great your Kindle is. I agree, of course. The Kindle is awesome, but most Kindle owners should know this without having to read a book about it. :) It's kind of like buying a new TV, and then going out to buy a book about how great your new TV is...Oh, and this new edition talks about getting this free content WITHOUT NEEDING A KINDLE!!! If you pay any attention to the Amazon website, you'll already know that there are Kindle apps for all kinds of devices... No need to buy a book to tell you that.
3) I didn't actually learn anything. The vast majority of information in this book is available on Amazon's Kindle website or in the Kindle manual for free - and it doesn't even provide full end-to-end, step-by-step instructions for most things...you'll still need the manual. The few truly 'new' topics (e.g. Calibre) are pretty easy to find by Googling "Kindle".
4) Not well-written. I'm not an author (and anyone reading my review will probably agree), but the author is just so damn verbose it's not funny. And it's not like the extras words make the steps you need to go through to get the free content easier to understand (that's what bullets are for - and there aren't a lot of those in this book). This is written in a style that makes you feel you're in a 3-hour, one-sided conversation...
Don't get me wrong - some people may well find it useful to buy this.
If your friends all have iPads and you want some talking points around what's great about your Kindle so you can still show your face at parties - this book is for you.
If you're technologically challenged and need someone to hold your hand through Kindle Basics, don't like reading things 'on the web' and you're finding the manual a bit hard to understand - this book is for you.
If you love Kindle Nation and are looking for ways to subsidize it - this book is for you.
If you enjoyed the rambling prose of this review and didn't feel that I could have got my point across simply by saying, "This book sucked" - this book is for you. :)
I gave it two stars instead of one because it does deliver what it claims to and I didn't find any spelling mistakes.
But seriously folks...like...wow.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Kindle Free for All: How to Get Millions of Free Kindle Books and Other Free Content With or Without an Amazon Kindle
KINDLE FREE FOR ALL: How to Get Millions of Free Kindle Books and Other Free Content With or Without an Amazon Kindle, by Stephen Windwalker, editor of the #1 blog and newsletter for Kindle owners, Kindle Nation DailyPublished for the first time in paperback in February 2011This is the most complete and up-to-date resource yet for getting free content for your Kindle. Use the paperback to work alongside and get the most out of your Kindle!Prices apply to U.S. Kindle Store customers, but this book also contains resources that will help customers around the world find millions of free books and other free content for their Kindles and Kindle apps.* Use Kindle Nation Daily's Free Book Alerts* No Kindle Required! How to Download and Use Free Kindle Apps for the PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Android and Other Devices* Find and Download Thousands of Free Books Directly From the Kindle Store* Find and Download Millions of Free Books From Kindle-Compatible Collections* Use Calibre and Instapaper to Manage Free Content* Email Personal and Business Documents to Your Kindle* Your Kindle's Free Wireless Web Browser, Email, and More* Unlock the World Of Free Audio on the Kindle* Ten Reasons the New Kindle 3 or Kindle Wi-Fi Is a Must if You Love to Read ... And a Few Minor DrawbacksStephen Windwalker publishes the popular Kindle Nation Daily blog and is the author of several books of fiction and nonfiction. He has been writing about Amazon's book-business innovations since 2002 and about the Kindle since the week it was launched. His Kindle guide was the #1 bestselling book in the Kindle Store for 2008 and has sold well over 100,000 copies in various editions around the world. He studied with Kurt Vonnegut and Robert Lowell and was the fiction editor of the Harvard Advocate literary magazine in the 1970s, founded a popular Boston bookstore in the 1980s, and ran marketing for Inc. Magazine's ancillary book, video, and software business in the 1990s.
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