Light My Kindle

As an avid reader, I’m constantly finding books I’m interested in reading but don’t have time for right now. Pre-Kindle this would frequently result in me leaving Barnes & Noble with a pile of books that would sit in the corner until I got around to reading them. Thanks to the Kindle, I no longer have to spend the money upfront. Using the Save for Later List built into the Kindle, I can add hundreds of titles to my to-be-read list without buying them and letting them gather dust in the corner of my apartment.

[Yes, I realize I also could have written down titles while browsing B&N to save money. However, these lists tend to get lost and don't provide the same satisfaction as a physical pile of books. The Save for Later list, however, feels similar to a pile of books. I can browse it when I want to (and even see the book covers and prices) and when I decide to read it, I can even Try a Sample to make sure I like it before buying. And when I am finally ready to buy, all it takes is a few clicks and the book appears in my hands.]

Here’s how I make sure I get the most out of my Save for Later List:

1. Keep the Kindle nearby when reading the Sunday paper, Entertainment Weekly’s book section, or other book review-type materials. As I browse the weekly Ideas & Books section of The Boston Globe or the Books section of Entertainment Weekly, I keep the Kindle in sleep mode nearby, ready to jump to the Kindle Store at a moment’s notice to add a book to my Save for Later List.

2. Bring the Kindle with you to bookstores. This is easy if you always have your Kindle with you, as I do. A little harder to remember for spontaneous shopping trips, though. While I’m browsing Barnes & Noble, Waldenbooks, Borders, etc., I keep my Kindle handy, again in sleep mode, in case I see a book that would typically be an impulse buy for me. Within seconds I can look it up in the Kindle Store and add it to my Save for Later list.

3. Browse the new releases and best-sellers in the Kindle Store. You never know what you might find to add to your list. Plus, they may be $9.99 now, but in a few months the price might drop once the book is out of the spotlight.

4. Be prepared to not find your book in the Kindle Store. Sometimes, despite a stock of over 140,000 titles, your book might not be in the Kindle Store. Either the publisher hasn’t made it available yet, or it won’t ever be available. I like to keep a list of these books separately and check the Kindle store for them once in a while.

5. Have a system for checking your Save for Later list. If you don’t check it often, it can get out of hand. I prefer to browse through mine every time I finish a book, that way I have a chance to start a new one from the list if it’s more interesting that the ones I have already downloaded. You may prefer a weekly check, or monthly - use whatever works best for you so that the Save for Later list doesn’t become where your to-read list goes to die.

That’s how I manage my Save for Later list. If you have any tips to add, please share them in the comments.

Before I discovered the Try A Sample feature of the Kindle bookstore, the Save for Later list was my favorite feature. It’s a to-be-read list of the Kindle books you’re interested in. It’s incredibly easy to add books to the list, and equally as easy to find and purchase an item from your list.

To get started, make sure your wireless switch is turned on and navigate to the Kindle Store. Once there, find a book you’re interested in, but don’t want to purchase right now. On the book’s information page (where you see the image of the book in the upper left corner, with a description, reviews, the price, etc. below) you can find the Save for Later option on the right side of the screen. Use the scroll wheel to select Save for Later (just as you would select Buy if you were purchasing the item), and it will be added to your Save for Later list.

To get to your Save for Later list, select the Menu button with your scroll wheel from anywhere in the Kindle Store and choose “Save for Later” Items. All the books you have added to your Save for Later list will display just as books do in the Kindle Store. You can delete items or click through to the information page to purchase them.

An added featured of the Save for Later list is that books you have already added to that list will have the Save for Later menu option shaded out and changed to read “Saved for Later” so you don’t have to worry about accidentally adding the same book to your list multiple times.

One of the most brilliant things about the Kindle Store is that you can try a sample of any book. There are two ways to do this. One is through the Kindle Store on Amazon.com. On any book page, click the Try A Sample button (as seen at left). A sample of the book will be sent wirelessly to your Kindle.

The other way to do this is to go to the Kindle Store on your Kindle. On any book page, there are a series of bullet point choices along the right-hand side (Reviews, Write a Review, etc.). From that side, choose Try A Sample, and you’ll have your book sample in seconds.

This weekend I discovered a fantastic feature of the Kindle.

I was reading the Amazon Daily Al Dente blog post about a giant Wilton cupcake pan on my Kindle (since the Amazon Daily blog is delivered free) and was excited to learn Amazon sells the pan. I had been searching the art store and other baking supply outlets for weeks trying to find it.

Just out of curiosity, I clicked on the link in the post that linked to the Amazon product page for the cupcake pan and tried to purchase it. Within seconds I had signed into my Amazon account and bought the pan.

I estimate it took me less than a minute and a half to get from clicking the initial link to getting the confirmation page you see at left.

If you have a credit card saved in your Amazon account, you can purchase items from Amazon using the Experimental Web Browser, not just the Kindle Store, just like you can on a mobile device.

I would assume this means that you can shop from any online store that has a mobile site, although I haven’t tested it yet. Has anyone else had success shopping online from your Kindle?

This one will probably be obvious to Kindle owners who have had their Kindle for several months, but it was great news to me when I figured it out.

All magazine and newspaper subscriptions for the Kindle come with a 14-day free trial. Yes, I said all. And yes, I said free. Everything from The Boston Globe, to Fortune magazine, to The New York Times comes with 14 days free, whether it’s a bi-weekly or a daily.

The trial is a perfect way to gauge your reading time, and your interest in the subject. For example, I signed up for The Boston Globe but only read one or two days during the trial. It turns out that I only really appreciate the Sunday Boston Globe. However, I signed up for the trial of Fortune magazine, a magazine I had only occasionally read before, and now I read it consistently.

You can start your free trial by choosing a newspaper or magazine through the built-in Kindle Store on your Kindle, or visiting the Kindle Store at Amazon.

As an avid Kindle user, I’m constantly searching for tips & tricks on improving the Kindle experience. These Tips & Tricks posts will be my place to share what I find with my readers.

The first tip, one I just learned recently, but use constantly, is how to display the time on your Kindle. It’s so very simple - press ALT + T. If you’re on one of the menu pages or the Kindle store, the time displays as it would on a digital clock (ie: 10:15). If you’re reading a book, the time displays written out longhand (ie: Fifteen past ten). It’ll show up in the lower left-hand corner and only shows for a few seconds.

Some users may be disappointed with the time not being a constant, but I think it’s a great thing. I think if there were a clock constantly in my face, I’d check it compulsively while reading, which would detract from my reading experience.