Another chance to get David Young’s first novel, Shiver on the Sky for free.
Although he’s raised the regular price to $3.99 (closer to the usual cost of self-published Amazon ebooks), right now he’s taking advantage the fact that the Amazon program he’s on allows a five-day free-book promotional period.
So there you go. You can get Shiver on the Sky in Kindle format for $0.00 and not even have the obligation to write a review. Though I’m sure he’d still like it if you did.
Having finished the book, I’m rating it four stars (out of five). It does show some signs of being a first novel — particularly in talky passages past the halfway point. But it’s a good, adventurous, unusual read. I think we’re going to be seeing more good tales from David in the future.
Thanks again!
OK, I went to the Amazon link and “purchased” the book. The only option offered was to download to the “Cloud Reader”, so I did. The book comes up in Firefox and is in a readable format. I can not find the file on my machine anywhere. So, do I have to log into Amazon every time I want to read it on my laptop? Seems very cumbersome to have to do that. Is there some way for me to get the file physically on my laptop? If not I can’t see me buying any books in Kindle format.
Woody, dunno nothin’ about that “Cloud Reader,” but based on its name, I’m not surprised the file isn’t on your machine. I have David’s permission to send my .pdf copy to anybody who’ll agree to do an Amazon review. Want me to do that? I’ll use the addy on your comment. Just let me know.
Thanks Claire, that will help a lot. If Amazon thinks this delivery method will convince me to buy a Kindle they are mistaken, big time. I always said I would buy an eReader when they get to $49.99 and not before. 🙂 I might have to wait a bit longer, ya think?
Woody, well, I’ll be waiting right along with you. They’re getting darned close on your $49.00 price point. But I don’t hear ’em doing anything about the much bigger problem of ereader privacy. And yeah, the cloud. I’m sure it has its uses, but …
Oh, I’d also like an ereader that I can safely use in a bathtub and that’ll float if I drop it. 🙂
Your .pdf is in the mail. 🙂
Woody- Everything in your cloud reader should be available on your Kindle, too. Just like everything on my Kindle is also available on my cloud reader. Maybe you need to “sync” them.
I just “bought” it too.
Oh, sorry, Woody, I just saw you say you have no Kindle. In that case I think you’d hafta read it on your computer in the cloud. Other than the pdf plan.
I said back when the Kindle was $300 that they should sell ’em for $12.99. Or just stack them on street corners. I mean, did they or did they not want to win the e-reader wars?
Though I think now I was probably wrong. They seem to be winning anyway.
As far as privacy goes, it’s _your_ Kindle if you buy it. There’s no actual requirement to turn on wi-fi or 3g, and if you don’t Amazon will have no idea what you’re doing with the thing. They’ll know what books they sold you, of course…but that’s about it. You can easily transfer books using USB. And convert using Calibre. And I’ve heard some people even (gasp) remove DRM from the books it infects.
Why am I plugging the Kindle? I dunno. I just like mine…or I did until it was stolen. I expect to like the new one even more whenever it gets here. I had a light-arm dingus that sorta worked, but the built-in light and increased battery life (8 weeks???) just sound cool. And I believe them about the improved display, but I don’t actually care ’cause my Kindle 2 was easier to read than any paper-type book I own.
I don’t understand what the Kindle Fire’s all about, though. I mean, it’s just an Android tablet. Not a bad thing, but where’s the connection? (I realize I’m probably wrong here from a business perspective.)
David, How does one transfer a book via USB if Amazon doesn’t transfer the file to your computer and instead demands that you read it in the Cloud Reader? I know I’m missing something in the process I just don’t know what.
If they insist that I use the cloud or they want access to a personally owned eReader that the user can’t even back up to an external drive they will have to do without my business.
PS: I’m enjoying the book. Thank you.
Woody-
The download/transfer bit works best if you own a kindle. You tell the site which device you want to transfer it to, and it pre-encrypts.
But you can also download the kindle for PC/Mac application, which will store the books on your hard drive. Ah…if you use an older version, I’ve heard rumors that there are tools available to decrypt the file, at which point some people apparently transfer and/or convert the file to read it using other software or devices. The PC/Mac app is free.
Also, it’s easy to back up a Kindle…just use the USB cable and transfer files.
More importantly: I’m glad you’re enjoying the book! Readers are my only reason for writing, so…thanks.
OK, I’ve installed the Kindle Reader on my laptop. I am able to read the book while offline so it must be resident on my hard drive. Thanks again.
I have tried to post a review on Amazon but to no avail. Apparently Amazon doesn’t like something about my browser security settings or possibly something else. Every time I try to post a review it kicks me back to the original page and asks me what I want to review. Sorry.
That’s weird, Woody. But thanks for the try. Maybe David will have some idea what’s up; he’s very techie. In the meantime, if you want to, you could post your review here in the comments.
Wow. I know you need to have bought something from Amazon, sometime, for them to post the review (free downloads don’t count for this), and you need to specifically tell them to use your “real name” or an alias (I think they call it something else).
Beyond that, all I can suggest is trying another browser. :-/
Also, yes, thank you for trying!