Hijacked by Pencils

Well, very generous idea, for which many thanks.
But what about those who do not have and do not want a Kindle? (Or a smart phone?)
A PDF version would be really nice …

Cheers

Roger, the Kindle interface is available for Windows machines too:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000426311

And for Mac:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000464931

And the Kindle Cloud Reader:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/cloud-reader/icdipabjmbhpdkjaihfjoikhjjeneebd?hl=en-US

Amazon isn't going to miss much :)

Yep- thankfully there are lots of options to view it on.
Paperback is always an option, but I can't give those away =P

Hi Lanian

My concern is that Kindle format is what we called a 'closed' format, as opposed to 'open' formats like PDF or even TXT. History shows that closed systems always die out when open systems move in. People do not like being constrained by the owners of the closed systems.
Death to the DMCA…

Cheers

Many thanks. I'll check it out on the plane.

NM

"My concern is that Kindle format is what we called a 'closed' format, as opposed to 'open' formats like PDF or even TXT."

But you can read PDF and TXT files on a Kindle (and DOC/DOCX files, RTF files and more).

Unfortunately Amazon gives me few (none) options in that regard. I opted out of the DRM because of how much I hate it, but besides that I don't have much say in formatting. For people who don't have Kindles, I know there's a free kindle app available. There's also a free "kindle for pc/mac" program that lets you read it right there on your computer.

> But you can read PDF and TXT files on a Kindle (and DOC/DOCX files, RTF files and more).

So what? I don't have a Kindle. I don't want a Kindle.
But I can read TXT and PDF on anything.

The widest history of computing shows that Open Format always beats proprietary – always.

Cheers

"History shows that closed systems always die out when open systems move in."
Not sure I'd agree in todays age. Linux didn't kill Windows, Bittorrent didn't kill iTunes, etc. It just made the beasts get stronger. I do agree that people don't like being constrained, but I don't see any uprising revolutions over it.

if you don't have a kindle, just download the software for whatever device you do have.

"My concern is that Kindle format is what we called a 'closed' format, as opposed to 'open' formats like PDF or even TXT. History shows that closed systems always die out when open systems move in. People do not like being constrained by the owners of the closed systems."

It appears the OP is a budding author who is trying to sell his novel. It can be purchased on Amazon as a book or in a Kindle edition. For a very short period he allowed folks to download it for free.

I cannot speak to his reason for this, but it would seem logical that he might get good reviews from these downloads that might possibly lead to positive reviews and potentially more sales.

If this is the case, you would NOT want to distribute it in an open format that could easily be copied, freely distributed, or pirated.

"The widest history of computing shows that Open Format always beats proprietary – always."

PDF is by Adobe.
DOC is by Microsoft.
GIF was originally by Compuserve

All are now considered standard file formats.

Many times commercial standards become defacto universal standards.

Are they now open? Depends on what you consider open. People can, and will, split hairs all day on that definition.

But I do know that in the computer world, many times what was considered a proprietary system is now, more or less, universally adopted in many cases. (Look at how many e-reader applications support EPUB and MOBI format)

So you may not have a Kindle app. And this is cool. But you may as well rail against not wanting to use a PDF reader, look at GIFs or open a Doc file.

Counter point? How many of us send ODT files, esp in he business world? :)