Authors are increasingly using itch.io to offer their ebooks, as an alternative to Amazon and other big name retailers, and with good reason. As well as being able to offer ebook downloads without DRM (the thing which can prevent you from transferring, say, a Kindle ebook to another ereading device), and giving readers the confidence that their files won’t disappear if Amazon decides to yank the license later on, itch.io takes a much smaller cut of each purchase price.
In short, if you want to support independent authors – like me! – buying their book from their itch.io store will mean more of your money ends up in their pocket. Meanwhile you get the reassurance of those ebook files being safely saved on your computer, not just in the cloud.
Most people selling ebooks on itch.io (and other platforms, like direct sales from their own website) are offering files in the EPUB format. That’s a generic ebook file type, pretty much the open standard in the industry. Some authors also offer PDF files, another common document type. Regardless, when you buy them from an itch.io store – or anywhere else – you can download them (they’re usually saved to the “Downloads” folder on Windows or Mac).
If you’ve already got a Kindle ereader you want to keep reading on (I get it: those eye-friendly e-paper displays are great!) the good news is that it’s pretty straightforward to transfer over the EPUB and PDF files you’ve bought from an author. Here are three options, ordered from the easiest…
‘Send to Kindle’ is probably the easiest way
Amazon doesn’t talk about “Send to Kindle” as a feature much – maybe because it would rather you just buy Kindle ebooks from its own virtual shelves – but it’s one of the most convenient features of Kindle ereaders. Basically, you send ebooks (or other documents) as email attachments to a certain address, and it’ll automatically forward them to your Kindle and (optionally) add them to your Kindle library.
You’ll need to check three things, before you can get started. First, your Send to Kindle email address: it’s at Manage Your Content & Devices > Preferences > Personal Document Settings.
Second, you’ll need to check your own email address is registered in the Approved Personal Document E-mail List on that same settings page. You can currently save two email addresses there, and when you send a document, it has to come from one of those accounts. This means random people can’t just start bombarding your Kindle with ebooks.
Finally, the document you want to send needs to be a compatible file type (the part after the last period in the filename: for example, “ebook.pdf” is a PDF file). Amazon actually supports a decent selection, though the main ones you’ll probably be dealing with are EPUB, PDF, DOC, or DOCX. However, Send to Kindle can also handle TXT, RTF, HTM, and HTML documents, plus PNG, GIF, JPG, JPEG, and BMP images, though they might not look great on a monochrome e-paper display.
You can transfer ebooks to your Kindle via USB
If you don’t want to email transfer ebooks wirelessly via Send to Kindle, you can do so via a direct connection. Depending on the ports on your computer, and which cable came in the box, you might even be able to do it with the same USB cable Amazon provided for charging the Kindle.
Amazon has free Send to Kindle software for both Windows and Mac. Once you’ve downloaded and installed it your computer, and plugged in your Kindle via USB, you can open Send to Kindle and then drag and drop ebooks (and other files: the same variety as the email version, in fact) onto the app. It should automatically transfer them, and they’ll show up on your Kindle.
Even faster, (and once you’ve tweaked a few security settings if you’re a Mac user: Amazon has simple instructions here, and you should only have to do it once) Send to Kindle integrates with the menu you get when you right-click on an ebook file in Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac). For Explorer, there’s a new “Kindle” option in the “Send to” menu; for Finder, there’s a “Send to Kindle” option in the “Quick Actions” menu.
If you don’t want to use Amazon’s software, Calibre is the answer
If you’ve ever wanted to organize an ebook library, convert file types, and generally get a grip on your reading addiction, Calibre is usually the answer. Free to use, it’s hugely capable, but it can also be used as a simple way to transfer ebook files from your computer to a Kindle.
Again, you’ll need to connect your Kindle ereader via a USB cable. You’ll also need to import your ebooks into Calibre, which can be as simple as a drag-and-drop (though it might take a couple of minutes to complete, if you have a lot of files). There’s a guide to the whole process at Calibre’s site.
For most people, Amazon’s own Send to Kindle tools are probably sufficient. However, Calibre’s big advantage (or, well, one of them!) is the breadth of file types it supports: there’s a much longer list than Amazon’s software can handle.
Looking for some books to get you started? I have some new bundles exclusive to itch.io…