Amazon Kindle discussion

So I'm used to using Amazon for everything online. I feel I can trust the company when I give my personal info.

Lately it's been brought to my attention that there are over 70 sites for e-books online. However, I'm still uncertain as to weather I should trust these new sites.

Where do you get your e-books? Do you stick with the safety net Amazon provides?

it depends...I often try to go directly from the publisher - I often find their books are the same price as amazon, if not a bit cheaper...there are also some smaller publishers who don't send their stuff to amazon until a month or two after publication - i've not had any problems with them - they are use SSL encryption for purchasing or have the option for paypal

Dee wrote: "it depends...I often try to go directly from the publisher - I often find their books are the same price as amazon, if not a bit cheaper...there are also some smaller publishers who don't send thei..."

So you stick to mainly authors and publishers you know?

I tend to buy from either Amazon or Fictionwise. Fictionwise does a lot of 50-60% off sales so I can get my ebooks pretty cheap. I'll also buy direct from publishers if there's a title Fictionwise doesn't have or if the publisher is having a sale.

sometimes - I get most of my recommendations from groups here on goodreads and there is a fairly decent group of publishers that are represented, but i read a lot of niche genre fiction (m/m romances etc)

like Ralph, I also use fictionwise quite a bit

Lynn wrote: "Dee wrote: "it depends...I often try to go directly from the publisher - I often find their books are the same price as amazon, if not a bit cheaper...there are also some smaller publishers who don..."

Ralph wrote: "I tend to buy from either Amazon or Fictionwise. Fictionwise does a lot of 50-60% off sales so I can get my ebooks pretty cheap. I'll also buy direct from publishers if there's a title Fictionwise ..."

Fictionwise... I will add that to my list! How about smashwords?

Smashwords is good for self-published authors, but I don't read very many of those. I've found the overall quality to be too poor to waste money on the books unless it's been recommended to me.

I just went to Fictionwise. It says (has different prices for) "Club". What do you have to do to get the lower price/become a "Club" member? I found a book that was cheaper than Amazon, but w/o the club price it was almost a $1 more! Does becoming a club member cost money? I registered, before I added the book to my cart, so that is not the issue.

I've only used Amazon so far.

Terri wrote: "I just went to Fictionwise. It says (has different prices for) "Club". What do you have to do to get the lower price/become a "Club" member? I found a book that was cheaper than Amazon, but w/o ..."

The Fictionwise club was a discount club that you used to be able to purchase a membership for. But they discontinued the club last year for new members. The only reason it still lists a club price is because people still have active memberships.

Fictionwise isn't as good as it used to be now that Barnes and Noble bought them. =[

Thanks Ralph!! Do appreciate the help, and I did notice that B&N was the "owner" now!

when I had a computer at home I got books from any site and just read them on my computer. I get kindle ebooks from amazon.com however.

Amazon, mostly. Occasionally the publisher.

Terri wrote: "I just went to Fictionwise. It says (has different prices for) "Club". What do you have to do to get the lower price/become a "Club" member? I found a book that was cheaper than Amazon, but w/o ..."

Terri - Fictionwise constantly has 40%,50% & 60% discount codes but it does not apply to some publishers (can't remember which at the moment)....I usually get the codes from various groups here

My first port of call is the publisher's website. Most sell all formats so it doesn't matter what reader you have, but check first. Other than that I do tend to use Amazon as I have found them very reliable and their customer service second to none. But, yes, there are many others. My own books sell really well on Smashwords, they also sell all formats.

So far all my ebook purchases have been from amazon. I use a Kindle.

I have a Kindle because at the time I bought it, it got the very best reviews of any reader, and I also do most of my book shopping via Amazon. It didn't make sense to me to buy a reader that I couldn't easily load up with books from Amazon.

However, I still have many other sources for the books I read. I have bought ebooks from Book View Cafe (one of my favorite sites), from Source Books, direct from other publishers. I have downloaded free pdfs. And one of my favorite uses of a Kindle--I load my own work-in-progress or work that I'm reading to give notes to my Kindle.

Calibre is a great (free) software that makes it possible to convert and load almost any kind of file onto my Kindle.

One more thing. "Over 70 sites for e-books." I hope people aren't including pirate sites in that bunch, because not only are pirate sites the same as stealing from authors and publishers, but they are often the source of viruses, etc.

Patricia wrote: "I have a Kindle because at the time I bought it, it got the very best reviews of any reader, and I also do most of my book shopping via Amazon. It didn't make sense to me to buy a reader that I cou..."

Wow, thanks Patricia, that is a great list to add to my growing collection!

I like using Amazon for ebooks because I trust them as well, but I've found some other sites that are also pretty interesting.

http://www.smashwords.com/

I'm publishing my book through this site, and they have a nice selection of ebooks in a variety of formats. I really like them.

I like Smashwords too. I intend to publish through it.

Smashwords has really helped me, and their formatting guide is awesome and easy to follow. You should definitely check them out, Mhairi!