You might be surprised to learn that you don’t need a Kindle to read books bought from Amazon. In fact, if you’re seeing this, then you already have the means to read e-books bought from Amazon – yes, on the very device you’re looking at now.
If you do have a Kindle, that’s great. You’ll already be aware of how to purchase and read books. Off you go and have fun. However, if you don’t have a Kindle, then read on.
If you’ve got an iPad, iPod, or iPhone, download the free Kindle app from the app store, login with your Amazon details and Bob’s your mum’s brother.
If you’ve got a non-Kindle tablet (for example, a Nexus, Galaxy Tab or other Android device), download the free Kindle app from your app store of choice (Google Play for Nexus, for example), login with your Amazon details, and there’s your books, look.
If you’ve got a non-iPhone smartphone, download the free Kindle app from your app store and login with your Amazon details.
If you’ve not got any of the above, but have got a laptop, PC or Mac, then ooh, there are lots of ways. You can download an offline reader from Amazon here. Or if you use Chrome, you can download a Kindle app for use in your browser from the Chrome Web Apps Store. Or if all else fails, you can view books in your browser by visiting the Kindle Cloud Reader and logging in with your Amazon details.
I think that might have covered most options. If in doubt, use the web browser solution – i.e., go to the Kindle Cloud Reader. That’ll work on anything on which you can use a web browser. So, anything.
Reading Kindle e-books on other e-book readers?
Sadly, this is the only category which doesn’t work. If you’ve got a non-Kindle e-reader, then you won’t be able to read Kindle books bought from Amazon on it. There are ways to do so, but they’re naughty. Personally, I don’t understand why, as you’ll have bought the book and both Amazon and I will have had our cuts, so why you can’t then read it on your Kobo or your Nook I don’t know. If you’d like to see how the naughtiness is done, for purely research purposes, Google is your friend. And so am I.
Of course, the above only applies to e-books purchased from Amazon. I’m aware of the reasons why people might not like buying from Amazon, given their tax avoidance tactics. Trouble is, they’re by far and away the best option for someone like me, trying to publish e-books on their own. I too hate tax avoidance (and yep, I’m declaring the few quid I make on my books), but sometimes there isn’t really an alternative. If I even become a multi-million selling author, I promise to use my influence to try and get Amazon to pay up. Until then, it’s pragmatism all the way…