Where Can I Find Free E-books for my Kindle?

I've written this article to help Kindle owners stock their kindle library with free e-books. Free e-books are available at many places on the web. You can download new and popular titles as well as public domain classic books. Read on!

Here's a secret: Amazon doesn't make a ton of money by selling you a Kindle. In fact, the bulk of their Kindle-related revenue comes two places. First, by placing advertisements on discounted Kindles with the "Special Offers" feature. Second, by selling Kindle formatted e-books through their site. Bet you'd like to know a bit more about finding free e-books, wouldn't you?

It's all very well and good to shell out $10 for that bestseller you wanted to read and support an author's income. However, keeping fresh books in your Kindle library can really start to rack up the dollars. If you read a book a week, a Kindle book averaging at $10, that adds up to $520 spent on e-books a year! Fortunately, there are several ways to diversify the books available on your Kindle with free-ebooks without shelling out a fortune to exclusively purchase Kindle e-books.

1) First, take advantage of what's already free. There's a ton of great books in the public domain available on the web in free Kindle e-book format. Books in the public domain are old enough to have an expired copywrite: Generally, this includes books over 50 years old.

If you can't find it the title you are looking for in a Kindle format, try PDF. It's not quite as spiffy, but it's certainly readable on a Kindle. Many free e-books come in this form, though it's becoming for common to find Kindle formatted editions.

• Project Gutenberg is my favorite source of free classics. They have a huge selection, easy to use interface, and most of the books have professional formatting.
• ManyBooks is another great source of free e-books in a variety of formats.

2) Invest in Amazon Prime's Lending Library. Amazon Prime members get tons of bonuses for a yearly fee ($79, worth it depending on how much stuff you get shipped), from free shipping and downloads to free kindle e-books. The Lending Library allows you to check out one book a month. You can keep this book as long as you like, but you must return it in order to borrow another one. A good way to add hotter titles to your Kindle e-book library.

If you are a college student, you are eligible for the a free Student Prime subscription. Unfortunately, this prime account type does not allow you to download e-books from the lending library. It's an extra $40 to upgrade, so the cost will pay for itself in four books.

3) Sign up with your local library! County and local libraries are an excellent source of free e-books. You can get them in a variety of formats. Kindle formatting is a bit sparser in the world of library e-books, but PDF's are pretty common. If you plan on reading any popular title, be warned, there will be a waiting list.

The library only has a limited number of "copies" of free e-books. I know what you're thinking: "How can there be a limited number of copies? It's all electronic, right?" Well, it's all about purchasing rights and respecting copyright laws. If the libraries allowed the download of hundreds of book copies each day when they only paid for 16 copies, it would basically amount to legalized bootlegging.

There is likely a waiting list for any book worth reading. You won't get the free e-book right away. I recommend signing up for a couple of books at once, and they'll trickle in over the course of a few weeks. On top of the wealth of free classics you downloaded, you'll be guaranteed to have something to read.

I have yet to actually pay for an e-book. Using a combination of these free e-book sources, I always have something to read on my kindle. Best of luck in building your Kindle e-book library!

If you found this useful, check out my hub on the best Kindle for Traveling. I'm an avid reader and a bit of a globetrotter. I like saving money on books and spending it on travel instead.