Looking for free Kindle books
March 20, 2013 6:32 AM Subscribe
Which websites list Kindle-compatible books which are free for a limited time?
I recently learned about Bookbub, where you sign up for free and everyday, they send you a list of Amazon books which have been discounted or are free for a limited time. I did some google searching and came across Ereader News Today as well as Pixel of Ink, both of which do the same thing as Bookbub.
What other sites am I missing?
I'm not looking for books which are out of copyright and therefore are free all the time. I'm specifically looking for books which are discounted to free for a limited time.
I've gone to Amazon's website and been able to muddle through to where they list their freebie Kindle books, but most of them are so obscure or on topics I have zero interest in, it wasn't helpful to me. These websites send out the links to books which people might actually have an interest in.
I also want to be able to subscribe via e-mail or (less ideal) through an RSS feed instead of having to check back on the site every day.
Thanks in advance!
I recently learned about Bookbub, where you sign up for free and everyday, they send you a list of Amazon books which have been discounted or are free for a limited time. I did some google searching and came across Ereader News Today as well as Pixel of Ink, both of which do the same thing as Bookbub.
What other sites am I missing?
I'm not looking for books which are out of copyright and therefore are free all the time. I'm specifically looking for books which are discounted to free for a limited time.
I've gone to Amazon's website and been able to muddle through to where they list their freebie Kindle books, but most of them are so obscure or on topics I have zero interest in, it wasn't helpful to me. These websites send out the links to books which people might actually have an interest in.
I also want to be able to subscribe via e-mail or (less ideal) through an RSS feed instead of having to check back on the site every day.
Thanks in advance!
Books on the Knob allows you to subscribe through email or RSS. It's not Amazon-exclusive, but she does a pretty good job of marking the source for the books.
posted by specialagentwebb at 6:47 AM on March 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by specialagentwebb at 6:47 AM on March 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
There's also Kindle Review, which has a link at the top of each blog post to subscribe by email.
posted by jessypie at 6:52 AM on March 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by jessypie at 6:52 AM on March 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: This recent blog post by MeFi's own webmutant is written from an author's prespective as places to announce your free e-book. Many of them have email newsletters you can subscribe to, and/or RSS feeds and twitter feeds.
posted by Lokheed at 7:17 AM on March 20, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Lokheed at 7:17 AM on March 20, 2013 [3 favorites]
Have you checked with your local library? Many libraries offer ebooks that guests can checkout for a certain amount of time.
More information on can be found on the Amazon website here.
posted by nikkorizz at 7:32 AM on March 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
More information on can be found on the Amazon website here.
posted by nikkorizz at 7:32 AM on March 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
freebooksifter.com has an "added today" section which tends to include anything that is only temporarily free.
posted by contrarian at 7:56 AM on March 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by contrarian at 7:56 AM on March 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: There was a Metafilter FPP about this several months ago. I don't know about RSS, but some sites have emails they will send you daily. Pixel of Ink was the best one I found via that FPP, which you already know about.
posted by jb at 8:26 AM on March 20, 2013
posted by jb at 8:26 AM on March 20, 2013
The other sites I've used are Free Kindle Books and Tips and Ireader Review.
posted by jb at 8:28 AM on March 20, 2013
posted by jb at 8:28 AM on March 20, 2013
cilantro: you don't need an account, just add /.rss to the end of pretty much any Reddit page.
Annoying that the signal to noise ratio is so low for free/cheap ebooks. I end up paying £8 a book just for the curatorship.
posted by forgetful snow at 8:46 AM on March 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
Annoying that the signal to noise ratio is so low for free/cheap ebooks. I end up paying £8 a book just for the curatorship.
posted by forgetful snow at 8:46 AM on March 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
Your local library. I am an IT admin at a library. Libraries allow you to take out kindle books as if they were hardcopy books. Usually this is done through their website.
posted by majortom1981 at 1:01 PM on March 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by majortom1981 at 1:01 PM on March 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
Tech Support Alert has a List of lists of Free Kindle Books. (It also lists free eBook lists that meet other criteria.) Most of the lists I looked at highlight just a few. One that lists a lot of them at a time is Daily Free Books, which has user selectable options.
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:02 PM on March 20, 2013
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:02 PM on March 20, 2013
The EBook Index of Free EBooks for the Kindle was recently released, as a page where ebooks can be identified and immediately downloaded. I did not try it on a Kindle, but rather on the Kindle Reader on a PC. It worked.
posted by yclipse at 1:05 PM on March 20, 2013
posted by yclipse at 1:05 PM on March 20, 2013
Amazon themselves list the topselling free books, which are often free for a limited time only, here. Free books are on the right.
posted by freezer cake at 2:09 PM on March 20, 2013
posted by freezer cake at 2:09 PM on March 20, 2013
As an aside, Amazon recently changed its rules to penalize/disqualify affiliates that primarily promote free ebooks, so don't be surprised if some of these sites disappear. More detail here.
posted by cmaxmagee at 2:31 PM on March 20, 2013
posted by cmaxmagee at 2:31 PM on March 20, 2013
I enjoy the University of Chicago who offer a free ebook to download each month. Although they don't offer a kindle compatible version for free, it is possible to convert to a kindle friendly format once downloaded.
You have to enter your email address to download the months free ebook, and once you have done so, you will receive an email at the start of each month telling you the free ebook.
posted by mnfn at 2:41 PM on March 20, 2013
You have to enter your email address to download the months free ebook, and once you have done so, you will receive an email at the start of each month telling you the free ebook.
posted by mnfn at 2:41 PM on March 20, 2013
Upon clicking through to the Reddit link: "kindlefree: this subreddit has been banned"
posted by Lexica at 7:57 PM on March 20, 2013
posted by Lexica at 7:57 PM on March 20, 2013
cilantro: "http://www.reddit.com/r/kindlefree/ - if you set up a reddit account, there's probably some way to set up an RSS feed to individual subreddits."
I'm getting a "this subreddit has been banned" message.
posted by Dr. Zira at 3:19 PM on March 30, 2013
I'm getting a "this subreddit has been banned" message.
posted by Dr. Zira at 3:19 PM on March 30, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by cilantro at 6:38 AM on March 20, 2013