Category Archives: Did You Know?

How to see the books you’ve read in Kindle Unlimited

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I’ve been a subscriber to Kindle Unlimited since last August. Since I also subscribe to Scribd as well as purchase my own books, I like to periodically check and make sure that I am using the service enough to justify the cost. While I do keep track of the books I read on Goodreads, I just don’t always remember to make a note that I have read them through  the Kindle Unlimited service.

Did you know that there is a way to check which books you’ve read through your Kindle Unlimited subscription?

First, log in to Amazon and go to your Account >  Manage Your Content and Devices page. Go to the Your Content section of the page.

MYK_ books

Click the books box to expand the menu and select and click Kindle Unlimited.

MYK_KU

Note that the box that formerly said all, now says books. The list of books below this section shows you the titles you currently have borrowed from Kindle Unlimited. It also shows the date the books were borrowed. You can sort these items by title, author, and date borrowed.

MYK_books_box

Click on the books box to expand the menu. There are four menu items: books, all, audio books, and returned.

MYK_returned

Books and all show you the currently borrowed books you have on your device. Audiobooks shows you any audio book versions automatically included with any KU books you have borrowed. The returned option shows you all the titles you have borrowed and returned from Kindle Unlimited. the returned books can also be sorted by title, author and date borrowed.

And that’s it! It’s that easy! 🙂 If you are  doing a 30-Day Free Trial of Kindle Unlimited, it is a great way to see if you are using the service enough to make it worthwhile for you. If you have tried the program, please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

NOTE: The method described in this article was not working for me briefly in early 2019. You can find an alternative method here.

How to check your Amazon No Rush shipping credits

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nrshipping1Many people know that Amazon frequently offers a credit for Prime members who choose no rush shipping for deliveries.  The offers tend to vary: The promotional credit might be for Amazon video, MP3 music or Kindle books. Video, as well as software and games credits are occasionally offered. Sometimes, the credit is for $1 or $2; other times, a $5.99 Prime Pantry shipping benefit is offered instead. When an eligible order is placed, Amazon sends an email noting the credit and the expiration date for getting the promotional discount.

But did you know that there is a way to check the amount of unused credits you have remaining on your account? Buried in the digital music section, Amazon has a page where you can go to check the unused credits on your account. When you click to check your balance, a pop-up opens with a  breakdown of the balances for eligible products: Amazon gift cards, MP3s, Kindle books, Amazon Video, software and games:

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(Click photos to enlarge)

What the page does not list are the expiration dates of the credits themselves. The site advises that you check the original promotion emails for the expiration dates. This page shows all of your available credits except for Appstore credits.

Interestingly, when I had previously looked in the past, I had not been able to find this information. But according to the page itself, it says I should be able to check the account credit balance on any Digital Music detail page by clicking the “Redeem a gift card or promotional code and View Balance” button. To check, I went to the detail page for Mozart For Your Mind – Boost Your Brain Power.  As you can see in the picture below, on my current version of Amazon, I don’t have a link or a button with that label. Instead, on the right side of the item detail page, there is a box under the buy button that says more options. Without being told, I would have no idea to look there to check my balance.

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Clicking on the more options button reveals further choices, including  “Add a gift or promotion code” instead of the  “Redeem a gift card or promotional code” link I was looking for.  The check balance part of the label is missing entirely. Once again, I would have no idea to look there if I wanted to check my balance without being told.

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If you click on the “Add a gift or promotion code” link, the following pop-up screen appears:

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I was then offered a choice of using my gift card balance or my MP3 credit. No other balances are shown to me.

Checking for video credits was a completely different process. I tested it on the detail page for an episode of The Walking Dead. Underneath the buy buttons, this page did have a link that was worded “Redeem a gift card or promotional code.” Clicking on the link revealed a different pop-up which included the addition of Apps for Android credits, as seen in the picture below:

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Strangely, the video page is the only one that shows all your various available credits in one place.

Checking the ebook and software item pages revealed no way of checking credit balances. (I don’t know if it made a difference that I had no existing credits in those categories.) The ebooks detail page had a “Enter a promotion or gift code” link buried under the “Add to Wishlist ” button and the choices available were only either to enter a promotion Code or an Amazon Gift Card.  None of the software detail pages had a button or link to add or redeem a code of any kind nor a way to check a credit balance.

The App store detail page was again different from the previous pages. (I don’t think that it is technically a part of the No Rush shipping credit program – or at least I have never seen it. All my past app credits have been tied to other Appstore purchases.) Clicking the “Redeem a gift card or promotional code” link on this page only yielded two choices, a gift card balance or an Appstore credit.

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So, it seems that while there are several ways of reviewing your credits, the easiest, most straightforward way of checking the credits is the page designated for checking the account.

As a Prime member, I am a huge fan of the No Rush shipping credits. I can get extras for things that I am already buying. But, personally, I have had unused credits expire on more than one occasion because I forgot I had them. I was delighted to figure out to check my credits. 🙂

Did you know: Sale prices at your favorite vendor

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question markDid you know that if you see a e-book on sale at one online store, there’s a good chance you may be able to find that same title in your preferred format at the retailer of your choice? Many books are put on sale by the publisher and not the retailer, and in those cases, you are  likely to find the sale price on another site.

The Hum and the Shiver book coverFor example, today the Nook Daily Find is Alex Bledsoe’s The Hum and the Shiver: A Novel of the Tufa (Tufa Novels Book 1) for $2.99. Since I prefer to read on my Kindle, I looked on Amazon for the book. Sure enough, The Hum and the Shiver is also $2.99 today so I bought it there. The book is also available at Google Play, Kobo and iTunes for the sale price.

This doesn’t always work. Sometimes the book prices are discounted by the store, not the publisher. Some stores are slow to change prices. I have often seen sale prices at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo that weren’t reflected at iTunes, but the prices carry over often enough that it is worth the extra step of checking at your preferred vendor.

Did You Know: How to take a screen shot on a Kindle

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Did you know that you can actually take a picture of your Kindle’s screen? And, no, it’s not in the manual. Nate from The Digital Reader blog has a great how-to post for taking screen shots that gives instructions for each model of e-ink Kindle. He also gives some tips for Fire owners as well. You do need to hook the Kindle up to a computer to locate and download the screen shot. 🙂

Managing your Google Play Books Library

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Screenshot_2014-08-04-20-02-16Here’s a nice tutorial with screenshots from the folks at Android Central on how to manage your Google Play Books library on your Android device.

The article shows two methods for removing books: one from the Play Books home screen and the other for removing from “My Library.”

Note that this article refers to removing books from your phone or your tablet. The procedure is slightly different for the web version of the Play bookstore.

 

 

Did You Know: Quick Fix for a Frozen Screen

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Here’s a quick fix for when your Kindle is running slow or freezes entirely:

  • Press (or slide) the power button and HOLD for 20 seconds.
  • After 20 seconds, release the power button.  (On the Kindle Fire, press the power button again.)
  • The Kindle start up screen will appear shortly.

Here are more troubleshooting tips,  with pictures, including a nifty timer to count down the seconds to hold down your power button. 🙂

 

New Category: Did You Know?

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question markI get asked a lot for tips and tricks and how-to information, so I thought I would add a category where I could post small bits of information that wouldn’t normally be substantial or long enough for a traditional blog entry.

So, to start:

Did you know that your Kindle reads every book and document you put on it? It does this so that it can index every word and make them searchable. It does this even if you add the books yourself (a process called sideloading). The indexing process can take a while, especially if you add a large number of books. It really drains the battery, making it very important to keep your e-reader plugged in when you have just added new books. So don’t fill your e-reader right before a cruise or a long flight – otherwise, your battery may let you down. 😦