Congrats on winning a direct-to-Kindle copy of one of my books!
So, you won a direct-to-Kindle copy of a book in a giveaway. And then I sent you a message asking you for your Kindle email address and telling you to make sure Gmail was an approved sender.
Now you're like, "HUH? Kindle email address? Approved sender? What in the world are you talking about? I just want to read my new ebook, Carmen!"
I've been asked how to do this and where to find this information more times than I can count. So, I decided to put together a little tutorial for you. These screenshots were all taken from my Android phone, but the same principle applies if you're on an Apple device or on a desktop computer.
I promise this is MUCH simpler than it looks. I'm just breaking everything down into little baby steps so I don't lose you, but all of this combined will take you about two minutes.
Note: The Kindle screenshots are from the U.S. app. A friend of mine in Canada has informed me that it's different if you're in another country. So, if you're in a country outside the U.S., just scroll down to the screenshots from the Amazon website, as that's universal on ALL Amazon sites.
FINDING YOUR KINDLE EMAIL ADDRESS ON YOUR KINDLE
These instructions are for finding your Kindle email address from your Kindle or Kindle app. YES, this is my real Kindle email. YES, you may send me ALLLLLL the ebooks! NO, I can't promise to read or review your book in a timely manner. I do review all books that I enjoy, but my TBR list is a mile long and I'm SUPER behind on my reviews. I do promise that I'll get to it eventually, though.
STEP ONE
Open your Kindle app and look at the bottom of the screen. Click "More." (YES, I have my own books in my Kindle library. So shoot me.)
STEP TWO
Click "App Settings."
STEP THREE
Once you're in "App Settings," you'll want to do two things.
First, make sure that "Show Personal Documents in Library" is checked. This is how you'll be able to see any personal documents from your phone in your Kindle library (such as any books/bonus epilogues that you may have downloaded from sites like BookFunnel). And it's also how you'll be able to see any direct-to-Kindle documents that people send you.
Second, right below that is your direct-to-Kindle email address. This is what I need to be able to email an ebook directly to your Kindle.
(What? Your Kindle email has an underscore and a bunch of random letters and numbers? Don't worry! If you want to change that, I'll show you how in the next set of instructions!)
CHANGING YOUR KINDLE EMAIL AND ADDING AN APPROVED SENDER FROM THE AMAZON WEBSITE
Does your send-to-Kindle email address have a bunch of gobbledegook at the end? Would you rather change it to something easy to remember? Do you need to add an approved sender for Kindle documents to your account? Here's how to do it! Again, YES, this is my real Kindle email. And YES, you can send me books. But NO, I can't promise to read and review them in a timely manner.
STEP ONE
Go to www.amazon.com/mycd and click on "Preferences" at the top of the screen.
STEP TWO
Scroll down and click on "Personal Document Settings." Both things I'm going to show you below are in this section.
STEP THREE: CHANGING A KINDLE EMAIL ADDRESS
Go to "Send-to-Kindle Email Settings." You'll see your direct-to-Kindle email addresses for ALL of your devices here. If you would like to change your Kindle email address, you can do it here. Just click "Edit" next to the device you want to change the Kindle email for and update it. You cannot use the same email address for multiple devices, but if you'll refer to the note in italics, you'll see that doesn't matter much.
Then, make sure that Personal Document Archiving is ENABLED.
Note: If you have an actual Kindle device AND the app on one or more devices, you will have a separate Kindle email for each device. I have changed my Kindle email address on my phone and my main Kindle email (as you can see by the fact that the Kindle email here is not the same as the one you see in the app screenshots above). However, if you have an actual Kindle, any documents sent to your Kindle's send-to-Kindle email address will appear on ALL devices by enabling archiving as shown here.
STEP FOUR: ADDING AN APPROVED SENDER
Remember how I told you to make sure you had Gmail added as an approved sender for your Kindle? Were you lost? Don't worry; it's simple. Here's how:
Go to "Approved Personal Document Email List." Then, click "Add a new approved email address" at the bottom.
It'll tell you to enter an email address. You can add a specific email address here, but you can also add JUST a domain name. So, when I told you to make sure Gmail was an approved sender, just add @gmail.com to your list and save it. Now ANYONE with a Gmail address can send ebooks to your Kindle. Want to do the same thing with another common domain like Yahoo? Just rinse and repeat with that domain.
Most authors I know use Gmail or Yahoo to send their direct-to-Kindle books. But some of them have their own custom domain email that they'll send it from. If that's the case, all you have to do is add the email they gave you to your approved list, and you're all set. You only have to do it once, and it'll stay on your list forever!
And that's it! You're all set! Just make sure you see @gmail.com in your approved personal document email list and then reply to the message I sent you with your direct-to-Kindle email, and I'll send your prize right over! It can take a few minutes, but you should see your prize in your Kindle library with the rest of your ebooks.