Owning the Kindle has a few secret bonuses – one is that you get a TON of free books. We really do mean a ton.
In 2009 there were 166 Free Books offered in the Kindle Store.
Note: While the trends indicate that free book offers are increasing there’s no guarantee this’ll continue or even stabilize.
Free Books for 2009 Grand Summary
Across 2009 we had -
- 166 free books in the Kindle Store.
- 137 free books outside the Kindle Store.
- 5-10 $1 or less Kindle Book Deals every month in the latter half of 2009.
- An average of 1 buy one get one free offer.
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In terms of Free Kindle Books by month we had -
- December 2009 – 25 free kindle store books, 39 free outside the kindle store.
- November 2009 – 34 free kindle store books, 7 free outside the kindle store.
- October 2009 – 13 free kindle store books, 4 free outside the kindle store.
- September 2009 – 14 free kindle store books, 12-16 free outside the kindle store.
- August 2009 – 14 free kindle store books, 13 free books outside the kindle store.
- July 2009 – 13 free kindle book store books, 12 free outside.
- June 2009 – 12 free in the kindle store, 6 free outside.
- May 2009 – 7 free in the kindle store, 8 free outside.
- April 2009 – 5 free in the Kindle Store, 18 free outside.
- March 2009 – 27 free in the Kindle Store (17 are Harlequin romance novels), 7 free outside.
- February 2009 – 1 free in the Kindle Store, 5 free outside. This might not be accurate.
- January 2009 – 1 free in the Kindle Store, 6 free outside. This might not be accurate.
Might have missed offers in the first two months or perhaps huge sales of the Kindle 2 led to people suddenly becoming aware of the potential.
Details on Free Books for 2009
There are extensive details for the last six months of 2009 and just brief details for the first 6 months.
December 2009 – Free Books from the Kindle Store and Elsewhere
How was December for free kindle books?
- There were 25 free books from the Kindle Store. Half of them were religion themed so perhaps only half would interest you.
- There were also 6 free whitepapers from MIT Press in the Kindle Store.
- There were 39 free books from outside the Kindle Store.
- There were also 7 free online books and 9 free audio-books from Audible (they usually have only 1-2 free audiobooks a month).
- Finally, there were a ton (over 100) free romance novels from AllRomanceEBooks.com.
What about Kindle Deals?
- The Kindle Store had 2 buy one get one free Kindle deals.
- It also had 30 romance novels from Harlequin for $1 or less.
- 8 $1 Kindle Book Deals.
- 4 1 cent Kindle Book Deals.
The free books in the Kindle Store were -
Exposure: A Novel by Brandilyn Collins.
Dark Pursuit: A Novel by Brandilyn Collins.
The Sculptor.
The Queen’s Dollmaker by Christine Trent.
The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival by Ken Wheaton.
Murder Takes the Cake by Gayle Trent.
All God’s Creatures by Carolyn McSparren.
Mossy Creek by Deborah Smith.
Once Bitten by Kalayna Price.
The Crossroads Cafe by Deborah Smith.
Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson.
The Kiribati Test by Stacey Cochran.
Weaving Words by Kim Knox.
Midnight in Madrid by Noel Hynd.
Conspiracy in Kiev by Noel Hynd.
The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow by Joyce Magnin.
5 free whitepapers from MIT Press including Civic Potential of Video Games, Living and Learning with New Media, and more.
MetaGame by Sam Landstrom.
Atomic Lobster by Tim Dorsey – A free pre-order.
Vanish by Tom Pawlik.
Monday Night Jehad by Jason Elam and Steve Yohn.
Philippians: The Fellowship of the Gospel by Kent R. Hughes.
The WallFlower – A Hunting Love Story by Dana Marie Bell.
Grace Notes – December Free Preview by Philip Yancy.
The Spirit of Revival: Discovering the Wisdom of Jonathan Edwards by Sproul and Parrish.
Already Dead: A Novel by Charlie Huston.
Witch Fire by James Clemens.
The free books from other sources were -
8 free books from Deseret Books.
Homefront by Kristen J. Tsetsi.
A Plague of Hearts.
4 free romance mini-novels from Samhain.
Wake by Lisa McMann free from Simon & Schuster.
I was Just Dead by Edo Segal.
Free Sci-Fi book from Kevis Hendrickson.
More free audiobooks at Audible including Free by Chris Anderson and Summer’s Path by Scott Blum.
Paul Carr of TechCrunch had his book, Bringing Nothing to the Party for Free.
Harper Collins had 3 more books free online.
Eloise J. Knapp had a free book.
Dave Conifer had free books.
The Internet Archive added Kindle format support for 1.8 million books.
A Christmas Carol from Audible.
Free Sci-Fi novel from Tor.
What Matters Now by Seth Godin.
Raising Atlantis by Thomas Greanias.
Whores of the Court by Margaret Hansen.
Two free audiobooks from Audible – Ringworld by Larry Niven and A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.
Baen had two free collections of short stories.
Free Audio Book of Peter Pan from Cooler Books.
Neil Gaiman’s Caroline free online.
4 free online books at Harper Collins including Vampire Diaries and The Amanda Project.
Deviation Series by Elissa Lacohm
Come Toy with Me by Cara Summer.
Mark T. Sullivan had a free book The Purification Ceremony.
University of Chicago Press had Headless Males Make Great Lovers.
Cory Doctorow had a free book Makers.
All Romance eBooks had 146 free romance novels.
Robert Burton Robinson had 4 free books.
Ruth Ann Nordin had 3 free PDF romance novels.
November 2009 – Free Kindle Store Books
How was November for Free Kindle Books?
- 34 free books in the Kindle Store.
- Note that half or so were religion themed books.
- 7 free books outside the Kindle Store. Guess didn’t search enough - must have been more offers.
- There were 12 or so $1 or less kindle book deals.
Perhaps more people started offering free books in Kindle format after the November and December explosion in eReader interest.
The free books in the Kindle Store were -
Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker – Recipes for Entertaining
The Twelve Lies of Christmas by Kate Johnson.
Hotter After Midnight by Cynthia Eden.
Dying Scream by Mary Burton.
The Renovation: Carter Mansion by Terri Kraus.
A Catered Birthday Party by Isis Crawford.
With Extreme Pleasure by Alison Kent.
Immortal by V. K. Forrest.
House of Danger by R. A. Montgomery.
Hostage by Don Brown.
Black Sea Affair by Don Brown.
Defiance by Don Brown.
Treason by Don Brown.
Halley’s Bible Handbook.
Understood by Maya Banks.
Skinny: A Novel by Laura L. Smith.
Heaven: Biblical Answers to Common Questions by Randy Alcorn.
The Pawn by Steve James.
Look What Santa Brought by Annmarie McKenna.
Adoption is a Family Affair – What Friends and Relatives Must Know. by Patricia Irwin Johnston.
Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches From Growing by Geoff Surratt.
The Dude Abides by Cathleen Falsani.
Sin Boldly by Cathleen Falsani.
Apprentice by Steve Chalke and Joanna Wyld.
The Christmas Lamp by Lori Copeland.
Fireflies in December by Jennifer Erin Valent.
A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton.
Trading In Danger by Elizabeth Moon.
The Best of Robert E. Howard – Part 1: Shadow Kingdom.
Bound for the Holidays by McKenzie MacKade.
Unleashing the Power of Rubberbands by Nancy Ortberg.
By Reason of Insanity by Randy Singer.
The Hunters by Jason Pinter.
Spinning Forward by Terri Dulong.
The free books from outside the Kindle Store were -
14 free romance novels at AllRomance eBooks.
Armageddon Quest Book 1: Tazo.
Price of Passion by Susan Napier.
4 free romance mini-novels from Samhain.
Refuge of Delayed Souls.
Boomerang.
The Birthday Book by Censorinus from The University of Chicago Press.
Baen’s new CD at The Fifth Impaerium.
October 2009 – Free Kindle Store Books
October saw -
- 13 Free Books in the Kindle Store.
- 4 free books outside the kindle store. Definitely didn’t check much this month so there were definitely more free non-kindle offers.
- 9 kindle book deals for $1 and less.
- 5 free books online.
The Free Books in the Kindle Store were -
Mania by Craig Larsen.
Darkness Unleashed by Alexandra Ivey.
The Mane Squeeze by Shelly Laurenston.
Huckleberry Finished by Livia J. Washburn.
Unbreakable by Sydney Somers.
When Night Falls by Margaret Daley.
Affirming the Apostle’s Creed by J. I. Packer.
Witch and Wizard by James Patterson.
The Naked Gospel by Andrew Farley.
The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry.
The Demon Awakens by R. A. Salvatore.
Starfist: First to Fight by David Sherman and Dan Cragg.
Giving Chase by Lauren Dane.
The Free Books outside the Kindle Store were -
Boneyard by Michelle Gagnon.
The Hunters by Jason Pinter (this made it to the Kindle Store in November).
Triple Threat by Jennifer Labrecque.
Divine Begnnings by P. C. Cast.
5 free online books from Harper Collins including The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett.
September 2009 - Kindle Store Free Books
In September we had -
- 14 free books in the Kindle Store.
- Somewhere between 12 and 16 free books outside the Kindle Store.
- 9 books for 1 cent or $1 or less.
The free books in the Kindle Store were -
Discovering Dani by N. J. Walters.
The Mark by Jason Pinter.
The Music of Razors by Cameron Rogers.
The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancy.
Holidaze by L. Divine.
The Keeper by Sarah Langan.
According to Jane by Marilyn Bryant.
Urge to Kill by John Kutz.
Paradox I.
Shopping for Time: How to do it all and Not be overwhelmed.
Changelings by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough and Ann McCaffrey.
Perdido Street Station by China Meiville.
Full Moon Rising by Riley Jensen.
I Heart Bloomberg by Melody Carlson.
August 2009 – Kindle Store Free Offers
August in the Kindle Store saw -
- 14 free book offers in the Kindle Store.
- 13 free books outside the Kindle Store.
- Found out about Baen’s Fifth Impaerium which has loads of Free SciFi books.
The free books in August were -
Legacy by Cayla Kluver.
The Sari Shop Widow by Shobhan Bantwal.
God ain’t Blind by Mary Monroe.
Hostile Intent by Michael Walsh.
Raising Jake by Charlie Carillo.
Yorkshire: Richard and Rose by Lynne Connolly.
Dark Blue by Melody Carlson.
Suffering and Sovereignity of God by John Piper and Justin Taylor.
Lessons in Love by Kate Davies.
200 Pomegranates and an Audience of One by Shawn Wood.
Brass Bed by Jennifer Stevenson.
The Briar King by Greg Keyes.
Queen of the Orcs: King’s Property.
Free by Chris Anderson.
July 2009 – Free Kindle Store Books
July saw -
- 13 free book offers in the Kindle Store.
- 12 free books outside the Kindle Store.
The books in the Kindle Store were –
The Angel Experiment by James Patterson.
Killing Joe by Marie Treanor.
Haleys Cabin by Anne Rainey.
Thorn Queen by Rachel Mead.
Anybody but Justin by Shelli Stevens.
Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar by James Marcus Bach.
Rebel Doctor’s Bride via Harlequin.
My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent.
Worst Enemies, Best Friends by Annie Bryant.
No Little People by Francis A. Schaeffer.
Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning.
Manifold: Time by Stephen Baxter.
Loving a Lost Lord by Mary Jo Putney.
That’s it. For the remaining months just have the totals.
Closing Thought – 166 Free Books in a Year is a LOT
2009 saw 166 Free Books in the Kindle Store.
- That’s nearly 14 a month and it’s been increasing with time.
- January 2010 has had 13 free books in the first 11 days.
- Even if you like just one out of every 5 free book offers that’s still 3 free books a month.
Getting free books offers on the Kindle is a big advantage even though no one ever talks about it as an advantage of owning the Kindle.
Every month you get – 3 free books you’ll like and another 11 you can explore.
You get more offers on the Kindle than on any other platform. You can also read the 10-20 books a month that are free in PDF and Kindle formats outside the Kindle Store.
Filed under: free books Tagged: | free book statistics, kindle free books
Thank you for a very interesting summary. However, I think you do a disservice to perhaps the most committed supporter of free e-books, Baen Publishing. Baen has a large number of free books available in their Free Library and offer cheap “Webscription” bundles of books monthly. The books are all available in a multitude of formats and come without DRM! Cheers.
John Adkins
I have no idea how writing about free books for the Kindle is a disservice to Baen.
My point is that in a fantastic post about free books for Kindle it makes no sense to not mention the publisher that has done the most for free e-books. Each year Baen releases more free e-books for the Kindle than perhaps any other publisher. My point is simply that any summary like this should include Baen.
John
[...] – 166 free kindle books. That’s nearly 14 free books a month. The rise over the course of the year is fascinating – [...]