I added a 2nd method of seeing latest free non-classics (latest free contemporary) but also needed to add that some international Kindle users in Europe, Canada and some other countries are in high wireless-cost areas, so Amazon charges about $2.30 for the otherwise free book, sorry to say. Amazon hopes to be able to change this someday with low-cost local arrangements.
If you want to always be able to see the latest currently free non-classics Kindle books without waiting for someone to tell you which are free today, do bookmark these two pages:(1) the Latest Free Nonclassics page (shortcut http://bit.ly/latestfreenonclassics)) and
(2) the Late-Listed Free Nonclassics page (shortcut http://bit.ly/latelistedfreenonclassics), to see the 55 to 65 non-classics or non-public domain books that are free at any particular time (very often only briefly)
This set, in two views, is the main source for free-book information used for blogs though many will prefer newest ones pointed out daily. However, you can catch them even earlier this way if you use the link before the new books are reported. The free non-classics usually last a few days, some less, and some stay on for quite some time.
While I omit the hundreds of 'excerpts' for the ongoing Amazon contest, be aware that a very few of the new free non-classics displayed on these pages are promoting a "Chapter" or two. They are clearly marked but can still be missed.
Although the first group is sorted by 'publication date,' Amazon's publishers will sometimes offer for free -- suddenly and temporarily -- books that were published even a year to 3 years ago. So latest free ones can be in the middle.
Often they're so new that they're listed as least-selling of course, so I've added a link for that method also. Use these links whenever you want to, and you'll see quickly which ones are new though.
ALTERNATE VIEWS OF THE SET
While at the page, you can choose at top right to see them sorted by Bestselling and Average Customer Rating as well. I've used only one image for this article, as you will quickly see which currently free e-books might be of interest depending on genre and product descriptions there.
The new free books are dominated by the Christian Fiction genre, and some will find those inspiring while others are looking for more general-interest books or for other genres.
FREE BOOK HIGHLIGHTED IN IMAGE ABOVE
The book whose image you see for this blog article is Bite Me, by Parker Blue who is offering the book free as a promo for his more recent book. Bite Me has 9 customer reviews averaging 4-1/2 stars. The paperback is listed at $12.78 and the Audible audio version at $13.10.
The book is described as "An edgy book for teens that spans the gap between YA and adult fiction..." and, as with so many bestseller books today, it has a vampire-hunter theme.
[From original posting, unchanged]
FREE BOOKS THAT DISAPPEARED WITHIN A DAY, AND AGENCY-PLAN SOFTWARE CHANGES
There were temporarily-free Kindle books released as free the last couple of days which are currently missing from the Kindlestore lists -- there may have been a glitch that caused the listing of a bunch of HarperCollins free-books that are currently missing. There are also longer-term free books that are temporarily missing due to the rather huge programming changes needed to convert the store price calculations to Agency for the Big5 publishers and all their many imprints, not easily identifiable usually as under the big tent of the larger publishers.
So, missing books are likely due to programming changes being made (or errors) in the rush to program store-wide price calculation changes needed by the time of Applestore's opening Saturday to make sure prices are as high as Apple and Big 5 publishers insist they be from now on.
The big switchover to Apple's Agency plan requires that iBookstore publishers get all other online bookstores to change to the higher-pricing Agency plan for their e-books as a condition for their inclusion in Apple's store.
In previous blog entries I've noted there will be taxes on these also, as that is based on states where the publisher of the book has a presence.
The larger publishers have been very pleased to find a new bookstore willing to (and even recommending that publishers) raise prices 30-50% while demanding that other online e-bookstores do as well.
But that meant that other bookstores like Amazon's and Fictionwise are having to switch to the Agency plan with its higher customer-pricing.
"Competition" has brought on non-competitive prices that are, coincidentally considerably higher.
Therefore it's not super likely that HarperCollins, who just made an Agency agreement with Amazon, would be likely to have lots of free books for more than a day or two. If they do bring those back, as a promo, it'll be a nice surprise, but they disappeared after one day -- and if they're not brought back, then it was entirely a network programming error. We'll see.
See the ongoing Guide to finding Free or Low-Cost Kindle books and Sources
There is also a page of links that confine searches to mid-range priced e-books for those looking for a larger selection of non-classics below $7.
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