Looking for Kindle help? Don't get taken advantage of by opportunists

A convenience fee: something you pay when your time is too valuable to waste looking up Kindle info.

A stupidity fee: when you pay a stranger cash for information that is not only free, but easier to access in its free version.

My point: before you pay anyone for any Kindle guide or manual or “free books” list, think about whether that person is providing any real value to you, or if he’s just trying to take advantage of you. Every dollar you throw away on free, easy-to-access info is money you could put toward buying a book.

This morning I had a question about image zooming on the Kindle, and I came across a Kindle ebook selling for $1.49 that promised to show me how to do this. Actually, “ebook” is too strong a word, since everything you can know about zooming on the Kindle takes just 310 words.

I hate this author–”scavenger” is more appropriate–and I want to push him into a volcano. It probably goes without saying that he has at least half a dozen titles for sale that offer these one-page excerpts of content that’s probably already on your Kindle, and definitely on the Kindle Support section of Amazon. I’m a little surprised he’s not selling “How to press the ‘next page’ button on your Kindle.”

This jerk isn’t the only one hoping to rake in a little extra cash by intercepting Kindle owners and selling them information that’s not just free, but only a few clicks away. The schemes I hate even more are the “where to find free ebooks” titles (hint: if you’re paying for this advice, the ebook has already failed to deliver). The homemade user guides are almost as frustrating.

So before you pay someone for scraping Amazon’s own guide and any number of free websites, forums and blogs, please check out these FREE sources:

1. Your Kindle manual on your device. It shipped with one. If you deleted it, you can download free copies from the Kindle Resources page on Amazon.
2. This blog and others like it. For starters, the “Free Ebooks” section above lists lots of places where you can find free ebooks.
3. Amazon’s “Kindle Support” section provides access to an HTML version of your user guide, plus lots of helpful FAQ content. “Kindle Bestsellers” is the easiest and fastest way to scan for good deals if you don’t have time to look elsewhere.

Disclosure: I use an affiliate code in the Amazon links I post on Booksprung.

(Photo: kodomut)