When you subscribe to Amazon Prime you get access to a number of benefits that allow you to read ebooks for free or loan them out to friends if you live in the United States, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada, India, and Mexico. Every day online blogs and news media make reference to Prime Reading or the Kindle lending library. What do all of these programs do and how do they work?
When you subscribe to an Amazon Prime subscription you get access to an entire fleet of ebook programs that many people are not aware of. Prime Reading, Amazon First Reads, Kindle Lending Library and a six month trial to the Washington Post. There is also Audible Channels, which is not specifically book related but does feature in-house podcasts and original audio series with an ensemble cast.
Prime Reading is a relatively new service that gives unlimited access to a selection of top-selling Kindle ebooks, audiobooks, popular magazines, comic books, children’s books, and short reads. There are 1,000 items currently available and you can borrow up to 8 titles at a time before you have to send them back. Sending them back is accomplished by a new feature round on the Kindle app for Android and iOS, but can also be done via an internet browser.
Here is how you can view the Prime Reading material and send it to your Kindle. You need to visit the main Kindle Store and then select Prime Reading Eligible. It lists a bunch of genre-based categories with carousels that show new and notable stuff and you can further refine your search by clicking on things like comics or magazines.
Prime Readings ebook selection is not too bad. There is a bunch of Kindle Singles titles and Amazon Original Stories. This is thanks to the effort of Julia Sommerfeld who is the editorial director of these two programs. Aside from that, there are tons of full-length novels from authors who have a major publisher behind them.
Amazon First Reads – Every month, Amazon Prime members can download one upcoming book from one of Amazon’s imprints for free. Everyone else can purchase one book for $1.99. The books are chosen by Amazon’s editors. Prime members can also sign up to receive a monthly email announcing new Amazon First Reads picks, so they can remember to borrow a new one.
Kindle Owners Lending Library – With Amazon Prime, Kindle owners can choose from more than 800,000 books to borrow for free with no due dates, including current and former best sellers and all 7 Harry Potter books. The program is primarily designed for the e-ink Kindle e-readers and Fire Tablets but not the Kindle app for Android or IOS.
This platform allows users to borrow one ebook a month with no due dates. There are 1.4 million ebooks to choose from, but there are none from any of the big five publishers such as Random House or Simon & Schuster. The vast majority of the books available are from indie authors who self-publish on Amazon and opt their books into the Lending Library. There are only 40,000 books available from outside of Amazon, such as minor publishers or deals Amazon worked out directly for specific titles.
It is important to note that Kindle Unlimited is not apart of Amazon Prime, but it is a similar list of titles as the Kindle Owners Lending Library. Unlimited users can download eight titles per month, whereas KOLL only gets one. There are also audiobooks available, which is useful if you want to do immersion reading, where you can have the audiobook play on your Kindle and the text is highlighted at the same time.
Okay, I am completely new to this, but then we learn everyday i will help my eye closely on the article, read some more and learn some more. It is even greater that it has some materials ..it looks very useful to me and like I said I will look more at it. Thanks for the article.
Hi John!
Glad you liked it. Let me know if you have any other questions
thanks for stopping by!
Marios
I am so glad I came across this article. I have been an amazon prime member for well over a year now and didn’t even realise prime reading existed. I love reading on my kindle as well so the kindle owners lending library is of special interest. I do like to have a few books on the go at the same time. I noticed you said you can borrow one book a month. Do you know whether I can keep hold of a book I borrowed and still take out a new book the following month?
Hi David!
I’m glad you liked this post! You can only borrow one book at a time. According to Amazon’s site, ” If you’ve already borrowed a book, you’ll be prompted to return that book before you can borrow a new title.”
Hope this helps!
Marios
I had been wanting to join Amazon prime for a while and I finally did! I am still finding out about all the benefits prime members get. I didn’t know that you can read books for free. I’m super excited about that because I am a massive book worm! There’s nothing better than to read a good book at the end of a long tiring day!
Hey Hollie,
It is great to find a fellow bibliophile! I’d say that, if it’s just for books, try Kindle Unlimited.
You can get it, even though you don’t have a Kindle, just the app for
the iOS. Prime has more offers, such as free delivery, Video streaming,
music streaming etc…
I’m glad I’ve helped!
Marios
I found this article to be very interesting Marios. I heard about Amazon Prime e-books but I have never pay much attention on it as I was thinking that it would cost a lot. Now that I see this blog, I will upgrade to Amazon Prime because my kids enjoy in comic books so it will be great for them.
Hay Daniel,
If it’s just for books, you could also try Kindle Unlimited.
You can get it, even though you don’t have a Kindle, just the app for
the iOS. Prime has more offers, such as free delivery, Video streaming,
music streaming etc…
I’m glad I’ve helped!
Marios
First time with this for me. I have been Prime for a few years not and had no idea. I was just there and had a look and the selection seems to be pretty good.
I don’t have a kindle reader so can’t do the library. I just have the app, but have purchased books without knowing this.
Hey Stew,
If it’s just for books, try Kindle Unlimited. You can get it, even though you don’t have a Kindle, just the app for the iOS. Prime has more offers, such as free delivery, Video streaming, music streaming etc…
Thanks for stopping by!
Marios
Now i would really like to have a kindle and start borrowing new books via Amazon Prime. And wow- there’s so many options to choose from including audiobooks. Any genre one can think of with unlimited access. Truly good value you’re getting.
Even new upcoming books. Thanks for an informative article.
Hey Cheriri,
If it’s just for books, try Kindle Unlimited.
You can get it, even though you don’t have a Kindle, just the app for
the iOS. Prime has more offers, such as free delivery, Video streaming,
music streaming etc…
I’m glad I’ve helped!
Marios
I have been tossing around the idea of getting an e-reader of some sort for my Mother. She’s a little less terrified of technological advances then she used to be so, it may be better timing now.
I will double-check with her to see if she has Amazon Prime ..I suppose that could be a great gift idea too though.
My fear is getting her something too complicated for her and, I’m clear across the country so I would have a hard time showing her how it works.
Amazon Prime e-books sounds like a great product for me but, do you have any suggestions for non-tech-saavy Moms? Maybe a reader I could get her and send her or, order her credits towards books a few times a year?
Hey Fyre,
If you want just books, I’d suggest Kindle Unlimited. It’s just for books and allows the user to borrow and read books, with a small fee. Check it out!
Thanks for stopping by 🙂