Use Coinstar machines to get Amazon Gift cards
I’m sure you have lots of coins sitting in a jar somewhere in your house. Did you know that if you take them to a Coinstar machine you can change them for credit on an Amazon gift card? As long as you make the exchange at the CoinStar machine for an Amazon “gift card” you DO NOT pay any percentage to CoinStar for the automated counting of your change! You get FULL CREDIT by way of your Amazon Gift Card.
Keep in mind that not all Coinstar machines offer the gift card option. Go to www.coinstar.com to find a machine in your area that does.
So how does this work? Piece of cake:
- Follow the instructions on the Coinstar touch screen, at the prompt touch e-certificate, it will then give you various retailer options.
- Touch the Amazon logo and then dump your coins.
- When it is done counting it will ask you again if you want the Amazon certificate. When you tell it yes, it will print out a receipt (the e-certificate) with a confirmation number (combination of numbers and letters).
- When you get home go to the Manage Your Account section on the computer and choose add an e-certificate or gift card, put the confirmation number in the box, hit enter and Wallah – it tells you that you have $xx.xx on your account.
- When you buy something from Amazon it will ALWAYS take it from your gift card/e-certificate balance first before charging a linked credit card. You can also easily check your balance anytime in the same spot!
Be careful – there’s a minimum amount of change required for gift cards/certificates. I believe the minimum is $5. I got caught in this while dumping a jar of change before I moved. It was mostly pennies, so it didn’t add up to much, but I was right under the $5 limit and had to pay the coin counting fee and not get a gift certificate.
This is a great way to use your spare change. I know a couple that had been saving their coins for quite a while and ended up getting almost $500 in credit! They used it to grab a new Kindle DX ereader and are really enjoying it.
How to read in the tub with your Kindle
Keep your Kindle and Kindle Dx dry
Nothing is as relaxing as a nice bubble bath in the tub while reading a great book. But the Kindle, as any electronic device, will get ruined if you accidentally drop it in the water. The perfect (and cheap!) solution for this is the Kwik Tek Dry Pak Multi-Purpose Case
It is also great for taking your Kindle outdoors, on a boat, or to the beach since it will keep the sand out. And don’t worry, there is no glare caused by the bag so you can read with no problems.
How to download PDFs with your Kindle DX ereader
The Kindle DX ereader comes with a basic web browser. You can use this browser to download PDFs directly to your kindle installing a small tool. With this you can download PDFs by simply clicking on a link to a PDF file.
So… how do you do it?
- Download this file
- Put this installer .bin file at the root of your kindle DX
- Update kindle from menu -> settings
If you want to remove this trick then:
- Download this other file
- Put the uninstaller .bin file at the root of your Kindle DX ereader
- Update your kindle.
This is the message you will see if you click on a a hyperlink to a PDF file on your Kindle DX browser
This is the message you will see after installing the file to your Kindle DX
How To Get Suze Orman’s 2009 Action Plan For Free On Your Kindle
Thanks to Oprah and Suze Orman, teaming up for the next week, anyone can go to Oprah’s website and download Suze Orman’s latest book which is her 2009 Action Plan. When you download the book it will be in PDF format.
If you would like to convert the PDF book to put on your Kindle you have some options.
- Option 1 Pay 10 cents and email the file to your Kindle’s e-mail address (“name”@Kindle.com) the file will be converted and delivered to your Kindle wirelessly.
- Option 2 If you would rather not pay the 10 cents you can send the file to (“name”@free.kindle.com), the file will be converted and e-mailed back to you at the e-mail address that is associated with your Amazon account. Then you can transfer the document from your computer to the Kindle using your USB connection.
- Option 3 Use MobiPocket Creator
One of the main complaints I’ve heard about the Kindle
How To Use MobiPocket Creator To Convert PDF Books To Kindle Books
One way to convert an eBook in PDF format to a Kindle book is to use free software by MobiPocket. When you download MobiPocket Creator make sure you get the MobiPocket Creator Publisher edition, because it has the PDF option.
- Start MobiPocket Creator Publisher Edition
- From the main screen on the right choose “import from existing file” and choose PDF
- Select which files you want to import.
- Click On Import
- Then Select Build From The Top Menu
- This will create the file
- Then Select “open folder containing ebook” and click OK
- In this folder find the file with the .prc extension
- Copy the .prc file into the Kindle’s Document Folder
How To Get Your Book Published On Kindle
You authors out there may be wondering how to get your book or ebook published on Kindle. It’s not as daunting as one may think. The first thing you need to do is sign up with Amazons Digital Text Platform.
Here you will find all kinds of information including how to use the dashboard, how to format, an extensive knowledge base, and forums. Just to make things easier here is a link to the Quick Start Guide in PDF format.
In fact one of my favorite bloggers, Pat Doyle, got her ebook published when the Kindle first came out. You can read about her adventures in Publish an Ebook in Amazons Kindle Book Store here.
