Kindle ebooks are becoming more and more popular – and the good news is that you can still read them even if you don’t own a Kindle, or you don’t have your Kindle with you. As authors, we can be glad that as large as the market is for Amazon Kindle, the market for Kindle ebooks is even larger.

Why Would You Want To Read Kindle Ebooks On Other Devices?

You may wonder why anyone would buy Kindle ebooks if they don’t own a Kindle. However, the fact is that most Kindle ebooks are very competitively priced – some are even free – making them more affordable than many other books and ebooks. There’s also a huge convenience to getting your ebooks delivered instantly, instead of having to go out to the store or waiting for items to be delivered. By making Kindle ebooks available via multiple types of devices, Amazon makes it easy to buy and read ebooks from them.

Whether or not you own a Kindle you may want to download one or more of the free apps so you can check the formatting of your ebook before publishing to Kindle.

Kindle For PC, Mac, iPhone and iPod Touch, iPad, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7

Amazon offers free applications for reading Kindle books on both Mac and PC. The app is simple to use and makes use of the full size of your screen for reading ebooks.

If you own an iPhone or an iPad then don’t think you’re limited to Apple’s own ebook reading app. In fact, go to the app store and you’ll find Kindle available to download for free, helping to expand its use even further.

Amazon has also made apps available for other smart phones, including Adroid, Blackberry and Windows Phone 7.

If you wish to buy any Kindle books, all you need to do is sign up for an account through Amazon and purchase in the same way as you would with any other item on the Amazon website.

Shopping For New Books

In addition to reading ebooks in the Kindle app, you can also buy them through the app. (Due to Apple’s terms of service, the buy buttons have been disabled in apps that run on Apple devices. However, you can still shop for ebooks in your browser and send ebooks to your Kindle app running on an Apple device.) Search for and download free samples of books you may be interested in reading, and buy the full version if you like it. Or buy from the Amazon.com website – the choice is yours.

Whispersync Between Devices

The best thing about using the Kindle app on all of your devices is that it’s so easy to switch between them when you’re reading ebooks. Ebooks you add to the Kindle can be accessed by any of the devices running the Kindle app. For example, if you download an ebook on your Kindle iPhone app and then later open up Kindle for PC, your new ebook will be there waiting.

Even better, the Whispersync feature means that the furthest read page will automatically be updated. You won’t need to remember where you got up to on the last page you were reading from – the Kindle apps will automatically do it for you. I sometimes start reading a book using the Kindle app on my iPhone when I am away from home, then switch to the Amazon Kindle later. No matter which device I use, Kindle knows exactly where I left off.

Go to Amazon and download one or more of their free Kindle apps, then start shopping for ebooks. If you have not already tried the Kindle, you will be hooked!