Downloading 101 – Internet Explorer

Originally posted March 7, 2010

find - download - put on Kindle

We will get a book from Manybooks.net, download it to your Desktop, then transfer it to your Kindle. Well, actually we won't. You will.

Do NOT confuse manybooks net with the same name but .com at the end of it. Whoever owns that domain name hasn't decided what to do with it yet.

Manybooks.net is a great place to find wonderful (free) books for your Kindle. You can graze for daze and never scratch the surface. It is one of my favorite watering holes.

If you have a PC, you have Internet Explorer to surf the Internet. Click the "big E" on your Desktop and you will be off and running. In the address box at the top of the Internet Explorer window, remove what is already there (http://whatever....) and type manybooks.net (no need to type the http:// stuff). Press the Enter key on your keyboard to go to the site. Browsers have come a long way in the last several years. You can type a web address without the http:// or www and your browser is smart enough to know you are typing in a web site as long as you don't forget the .net, .org or .com part... saves a lot of typing in the long run. The browser automatically puts the http:// part in so you don't have to.

When you arrive at the front page of manybooks.net, you will see there are lots of links to begin browsing with. If you know a particular title or author you would like to concentrate on, there is a search box just under the logo on the left. Click in it once (so you see a blinking cursor), then type what you are looking for and press the Enter key on your keyboard.

To begin practicing, click any of the books on the front page. This will take you to a special page just for that book where you will see more information on it. If you would like to see more from that particular author, click the author's name at the top. If there are more from that author, there will be a link to a page with that author's other works listed, with links to the individual books on manybooks.net. Just below the image of the book cover, you should see a Download box with a little arrow to the right of the words select format. Click the little arrow to see the format choices (they will drop down when you left click the arrow). My personal choice is Mobipocket (.mobi) because the title stays pretty much intact, but Kindle (.azw), Mobipocket (.prc) and Plain text (.txt) are also easily used on your Kindle. Any of these four file types can be downloaded and transferred to your Kindle without conversion.

Left click on your file type choice. The drop down menu will disappear. Click the download button just below to begin your download. The next window you will see will be to choose to open or save the file. Choose Save by left clicking the Save button. You will then see another little window where you can choose where to put the file. I always choose Desktop because that way I don't have to go hunting for the files when I am ready. I use the Desktop as a staging area. After the files have been transferred to my Kindle, they are then either deleted or stored in a special folder in my main Documents folder, just for ebooks I have downloaded.

After you have chosen where you want to save your file, look at the bottom of that little window. You will see a  File name box with the file name in it (don't change this.. just look) and you will see a File type box with the type of file in it (just look).

Click the Save button when you are satisfied all is well. The last little window you will see will tell you the download is complete. Click Close on that one and you will be ready to take your book file to your Kindle. Close your Internet Explorer browser window. You won't need it any more (unless you are going to get more books).

Taking it to the Kindle...

Find your book file on your Desktop, right click on it and choose Copy. Then connect your Kindle to your computer with the USB cable. Once connected, you should see a window with choices appear. Choose Open folder to view files with a single left click.

When your Kindle folder opens, click on the Documents folder to open it. Right in in any empty white area and choose Paste. This will put a copy of your book file right in the Documents folder on your Kindle, where it needs to be. Repeat the process for each book. Disconnect your Kindle from the computer and your new books should be at the top of your Home screen with the word New next to them.

Want More? If you find this helps, you can get a daily dose of helpful tips and tricks (not to mention great heads ups on free books) for your Kindle by subscribing and reading this on your little machine. Just type mrs wizard on your Kindle (no need for capital letters) and toggle your 5-way switch to the word store. Press in on the 5-way to search the store. You should see the From the Desk of Mrs. Wizard blog right away. Press in on the 5-way again to subscribe or toggle up to read more.  Enjoy automatic delivery to your Kindle the first two weeks FREE!

Tomorrow: Downloading 101 - Firefox