Free e-books are available on every different subject you
can think of in both fiction and non-fiction. There are free e-books
available for adults and kids, and even those tween and teenage readers.
If you love to read but hate spending money on books, then this is just
what you're looking for.
It may seem overwhelming to be able to
find and download free ebooks, but with the steps below you'll be just
minutes away from getting your first free ebook.
Looking for more ways to get books for free? Find out how you can get more free books including free audio books.
What You'll Need Before You Can Get Free Ebooks
Before
you can get free ebooks you'll need to have some way of reading those
e-books. That means you'll either need an e-reader or an e-reader app.
A popular way to read an ebook is on an e-reader, such as a Kindle or a Nook, but you can also read ebooks using your computer or smartphone.
Most
ebook files will open on your computer using a program you already have
installed, but with your smart phone you'll need to have an e-reader
app installed. I like to use ebook reader apps on my computer as well
because it really makes reading and organizing my ebooks easy.
Here are some of my favorite e-reader apps that are all free to download:
- Kindle Ereader App - Allows you to read Kindle books on your Android phone, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, PC, or Mac. Besides being able to read most types of ebook files you can also get free Kindle books from the Amazon store. A big advantage of the Kindle reading app is you can download it on several different devices and it will sync up saving the page you are on across all the devices. Here are full reviews for the Kindle iPhone App and the Kindle Android App.
- Nook Ereader App - Download this free reading app for your iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows PC (here) and you can get free Nook books as well as other types of e-books. You can read the reviews of the Nook app for the iPhone and the Android Nook app.
- Kobo Reading App - This is another nice e-reader app that's available for Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Android, iPhone, iPad, and a Windows PC.
- Apple iBooks - A very cool e-reader app that's only available for the iPhone, iPad, and OS X. Here's a nice review of Apple iBooks.
If you are thinking of purchasing an e-reader this e-reader buying guide and e-reader comparison guide are must reads before you do so.
Where to Get Free Ebooks
Now that you've gotten something to read your ebook on, it's time to go and get your free ebooks.
If you have a Kindle, a Nook, or their reading apps, then I can make it really easy for you:
Here
are some of my favorite websites where you can download free ebooks
that will work with just about any device or ebook reading app.
- Project Gutenberg - More than 50,000 free ebooks you can read on your Kindle, Nook, e-reader app, or computer.
- ManyBooks - Download more than 33,000 e-books for every e-reader or reading app out there.
- FeedBooks - Select the Free Public Domain Books or Free Original Books categories to find free ebooks you can download.
- Bookyards - They have more than 21,000 free ebooks available.
- GetFreeBooks - Original e-books that authors give away for free.
- Obooko - Obooko offers thousands of ebooks for free that the original authors have submitted.
You can also borrow and lend Kindle books to your friends and family. Here's a guide on how to share Kindle e-books.
Make Sure the Free Ebooks Will Open In Your Device or App
Every
e-reader and e-reader app has certain types of files that will work
with them. When you go to download a free ebook, you'll want to make
sure that the ebook file you are downloading will open.
Here are some of the most popular file types that will work with your device or apps. You can see much more detailed information in this ebook file compatibility chart.
- Kindle / Kindle Ereader App - Opens files that end with .azw (from Amazon), .mobi, .pdf, .txt, .prc.
- Nook / Nook Ereader App - Opens files that end with .epub, .pdf., and .png.
- Sony / Sony Ereader App - Opens files that end with .epub, .pdf, .png, and .txt.
- Apple iBooks App - Opens files that end with .epub and .pdf.
Download Your Free Ebooks
If
there's more than one file type download available for the free ebook
you want to read, then select a file type from the list above that is
compatible with your device or app.
Use the download link to download the file to your computer.
Open the Free Ebooks
If
you're downloading a free ebook directly from Amazon for the Kindle, or
Barnes & Noble for the Nook, then these books will automatically be
put on your e-reader or e-reader app via the wireless connection.
Follow these links to learn how you can take the free ebooks you
downloaded on your computer and transfer them to your Kindle or your Nook.
If the ebook is in a .pdf file format and you want to read it on your computer, then you'll need to have a free PDF reader installed on your computer before you can open and read the ebook.
If
you want to move the free ebooks onto an e-reading app on your phone,
then you'll need to connect your phone to your computer and move the
files over. In most cases, when you connect your phone to your computer,
your phone will appear as another storage drive.
