If you get unexplained emails every now and then stating that you have an ebook gift, I might be the cause. You can send me an email and ask if the title mentioned was sent by me. Amazon web page coders have improved their page that lists egifts sent, both those accepted and those hanging, awaiting acceptance. I have given nearly 1000 such gifts and about 1 in seven has not been accepted.
I don't usually check with the person I am sending a gift ebook as to whether they want the book. I don't ask if they have the book already. I don't ask if they know what an ebook is or have any experience with ebooks. If there is some likelihood that the book is fairly inexpensive and that the book will fit the interests that the recipient has mentioned, I may pay for the book and Amazon sends them a notice. Unless they accept the book, the gift hangs in limbo. I think the record for a hanging, potential gift is 7 years. The person I sent it to died so they aren't around to accept it.
Of course, if you get an offer for a free ebook, you might not want such a book in your possession. The contents might be offensive. Maybe you have tried ebooks and find that you dislike using them. Quite a few of my friends say they prefer "real books", by which they mean traditionally made books of paper. I find lower prices are often available for an ebook than for a traditional paper book. The fact that the
storage of such books takes up no shelf space, and gathers no dust,
that the book is easily transported,
can arrive through the air without any sort of connection,
and that the Kindle software combines highlighted passages (made with a fingertip, which is easily available) into a single file that comes in email -
all these factors make ebooks very useful.
I prefer the actual Kindle reader for personal ebook reading but the app to receive and read them is available for smartphones, iPads and other tablets and computers. You can start reading an ebook on a smartphone, open the same book to where you left off on a computer and continue reading when you have time and interest.
I don't usually check with the person I am sending a gift ebook as to whether they want the book. I don't ask if they have the book already. I don't ask if they know what an ebook is or have any experience with ebooks. If there is some likelihood that the book is fairly inexpensive and that the book will fit the interests that the recipient has mentioned, I may pay for the book and Amazon sends them a notice. Unless they accept the book, the gift hangs in limbo. I think the record for a hanging, potential gift is 7 years. The person I sent it to died so they aren't around to accept it.
Of course, if you get an offer for a free ebook, you might not want such a book in your possession. The contents might be offensive. Maybe you have tried ebooks and find that you dislike using them. Quite a few of my friends say they prefer "real books", by which they mean traditionally made books of paper. I find lower prices are often available for an ebook than for a traditional paper book. The fact that the
storage of such books takes up no shelf space, and gathers no dust,
that the book is easily transported,
can arrive through the air without any sort of connection,
and that the Kindle software combines highlighted passages (made with a fingertip, which is easily available) into a single file that comes in email -
all these factors make ebooks very useful.
I prefer the actual Kindle reader for personal ebook reading but the app to receive and read them is available for smartphones, iPads and other tablets and computers. You can start reading an ebook on a smartphone, open the same book to where you left off on a computer and continue reading when you have time and interest.
