Since everything went online, are we even surprised to have e-books? Of course not. It’s nothing new, and there are even specialized devices for reading such books. Amazon introduced us with their own e-reader in 2007, and ever since, it’s updating and improving. One of the best updates so far is the ability to share your e-books with friends and family.
If you have come across a book that you know some of your friends or family members are going to love, instead of telling them the title and letting them search, now you can simply share the book with them. And it’s way better, since most likely if you needed to send them a message, you would forget about it. Also, instead of landing your Kindle on someone else, you can share the book with them and continue your own reading.
Let’s see a short guide on how to share Kindle books with your friends and family in just a few steps.
Table of Contents
How to share Kindle books with family
The easiest way to share e-books is via Amazon’s Family Library. Of course, this feature, as the name itself says, is meant to be used among family members. Family Library lets you add two adults and four children to the same Library, sharing Kindle books, apps, and audio files with each other. Now, the good thing is that two members reading the same book won’t affect anything since everyone is accessing it from their own device. Therefore, read at your own pace and do not worry if someone is ahead or behind you.
Since you need to be a member of a Family Library to be able to share e-books and apps with others, here is how to add a member to your Library.
- Go to Manage Content and Devices
- Select Preferences > Households and Family Library
- Click on Manage Your Household
- Tap on Add Adult/Add children/Add a Teen
- Enter Amazon account email and a password of your family member
- Click Yes to allow both of the parties to share payment methods
- Choose books you’d like to share with one another
- Tap on Finish
Now you have your family members added, and you can already share with them anything you want. If, after creating a Family Library, you come across the content you want to share, here is how.
- Go to Manage Content and Devices
- Select Manage Family Library under the Content tab
- Select books you want to share and tap on Add to Library
- Choose a family member you want to share it with and click OK
That would be it, and books are now shared between you and your family members.
How to download a book from Kindle Family Library
Once someone has shared a book with you, you need to download it before reading it. Here is how to do so.
Note: You can also convert kindle book to PDF, Read my last guide.
- Go to Manage Content and Devices
- Choose books you want to send to your app or device and click Deliver
- Select where the books should be sent and again tap on Deliver
That would be it. Books are now downloaded to your app or a device.
How to share Kindle books with friends
Yes, it’s possible to share Kindle books outside of a Family Library. However, the process is a bit more complicated. Here is how to do so.
- Navigate to the Kindle Store on your computer and look for the book you’d like to share with your friends
- Click on the book once you see it
- Click Loan this title and enter the recipient’s email address
- Click Send Now
Your friends will receive an email notification about the lent book and be able to start reading.
Another way to loan a book to your friends can be through Manage Content and Devices page. Navigate there and click on the Actions button next to the book you would like to loan. Enter the recipient’s email address and tap Send now.
Important to know
When lending a book to a friend, there are some restrictions you should be aware of. For a start, your friends have 14 days to read the book. It means that they have two weeks from the moment the book is sent to start reading. If they do not accept the book within 7 days of sending it, it comes back to your Library. Also, you can share one book only once. During the two weeks, you won’t be able to read that same book before it’s returned to you. The reader will need a Kindle app, Kindle e-book reader, or a Fire tablet to open the book. And as of last, I’d like you to know that not all books can be loaned. Sometimes, publishers impose restrictions on lending, meaning you cannot share it with anyone outside of your Library.
How to return a loaned Kindle book
If your friend doesn’t know how to return the book to you after reading it, here’s a short guide.
- Log in to your Amazon account and go to Manage Content and Devices
- Click on Actions next to the book’s title
- Select Delete
- Click OK to confirm
After your friend has deleted the book from their library, it’s returned to yours.
Now you know how to share your e-books. However, since sending is possible only once, use the possibility wisely.
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