Want to read an e-book, but you don’t have an e-reader? Not to worry, there are lots of options! And you can always wait for the print edition (at least of my books) if you prefer to read on paper. I find paper books much better for my favorite place to read, the bathtub.

Without further ado, my favorite non-e-reader ways to read e-books.

1. On my phone with the Amazon Kindle App. This allows me to seamlessly read e-books I’ve purchased on Amazon and is quite handy for the bus.
2. On another device with the Amazon Kindle App — your tablet, laptop, or desktop computer all options. I actually find my phone to be the easiest these days, but all the others are also options. Remember to use the same account to purchase the book and log into the Kindle App.
3. Don’t want to purchase e-books from Amazon? Well, it gets a bit trickier. When my e-books aren’t in exclusive distribution with Amazon, you can purchase non-Amazon Kindle formats (.epub and .pdf). I find reading books with the epub files slightly easier to navigate than with PDFs.
   1. The EPUB files can be read with a variety of phone apps from the iTunes or Google Play stores.
   2. I like to read EPUBs with Calibre on my laptop computer
   3. The PDF file can be read with Adobe Reader as well as other PDF apps.

I hope this is helpful! Feel free to email Cat if you have questions about how to read an e-book or inquire in the comments.

Updated June 2019 to reflect current Amazon e-book gift instructions

Physical books are awesome as gifts (and by all means, get a physical copy of my books as a gift), but sometimes people want an e-book. This can get a bit tricky, particularly if you don’t know how they read e-books.

How to purchase an Amazon e-book as a gift

1. Confirm they have an Amazon Kindle or want the gift of an e-book for the Kindle system, and know their personal email address.
2. Go to Amazon and select the Kindle version of the book.
3. As of June 2019, select the quantity and the “Buy for Others” button on the right of the book product page and follow the instructions to add a delivery date, gift message, and email address. You can also have the gift email sent to you and you can forward it on. You will need to have one-click ordering enabled.

There are additional details on this Amazon page (see the “Purchase Kindle Book as a Gift” second section).

Any questions? Cat at Silurian Press can help ( [email protected] ) with technical questions.