Hi,

I have a nook and love it.  I recently got a fire and started the free month of prime and unlimited at kindle.  My concern is that I can't really find any of my authors on either site.  The owners lending library, I couldn't find anything on.  The unlimited section I found some of Shelly Laurenston's books but few others.  It seems to me that most of the books on prime, lending and unlimited are the under 4 kind.  I'm just not seeing the benefit to joining the service but have heard so many people say good stuff about Amazon that I wonder if I'm missing something?  I usually read romance, paranormal, adventure, thrillers Evanonvich, Cussler and so on: if that helps. 

I'm also have a problem with the searches.  Is it normal to get other authors when you search for a specific author.  For example when I search for a paranormal author I will get all sorts of paranormal authors with the author I'm searching for mixed in.  It's very annoying.  When I search on BN I only get that author and when I search on amazons website I don't have that issue.  Am I doing something wrong?

I can't help but think I'm missing something with my fire.

Lots of the big name authors wont be on the unlimited section because they want to sell their books.   None of the authors I read are in that service.
The lending side depends really on the publisher if they allow it to not.

Your best bet is to search your authors and see if they are listed, and then decide if you want to renew the unlimited side of things.
Prime is good if you watch movies and listen to music.  Lots of stuff on that side of thing.

prime is a whole mess of services.  The publishers are in a hate fest with Amazon, so they don't put the books in for lending, they think it devalues the books and you won't pay for them.

If you are interested in ebooks (or audiobooks), try the library.

This one allows out of state memberships for a $50 fee and has a lot of books.  digitalbooks.brooklynpubliclibrary.org

do some searches by author and see if you think it is worth it to you.

I also belong to my local library, but they don't have much of a collection.  This site will link you to the libraries that use their service to deliver the digital content.  overdrive.com   you can search and see if your local library is using it.

It is also true that publishers are not making all the books available to overdrive and hence the library & then your library might decide not to buy it.

I'm just not seeing the benefit to joining the service but have heard so many people say good stuff about Amazon that I wonder if I'm missing something?

well, there's amazon, and then there's the various amazon services or subscriptions.  i am perfectly happy with my e-ink Kindle (not a Fire) and amazon in general, and i don't subscribe to any of the prime/unlimited/anything else they have.  i do read a lot of library e-books.  the lending is only available when the publisher says it's ok, so nothing from the biggest publishers is available for lending.

if you've only got the Fire for the Prime and Unlimited hoping for big authors, you're likely to remain disappointed.

i don't know about the searching thing, i shop through the website and then have things sent to my Kindle.  i had to turn around and request a return/refund too many times when i accidently clicked to buy something instead of just look at it.  as a plus, they do make that super easy.

another library where you can buy a membership is the Free Library of Philadelphia.  if a library is something you're interested in, check the selection before deciding which seems best for you.  different libraries focus on different things.

I have 50 items in a wishlist for Kindle Unlimited books, and an additional 77 in a wishlist for KU books with narration (i.e. audio books).

Some of the well known authors on my lists are Rita Herron, Dawn Thompson, Connie Brockway, Bobbi Smith, Constance O'Banyon, Sharon Sala, Lisa Jackson, Donna Kauffman, Debra Webb, Coreene Callahan, Julia London, Octavia Butler, Sherrill Quinn, Delilah Devlin, Laura Landon, Gerri Russell, Sylvia Day, Suzanne Collins, Alison Kent, Fern Michaels, Dani Harper, Susannah Sandlin, Cynthia Eden.

Of course that list reflects my interests, which are mostly romance, but still, a lot to choose from.

As for searching, that issue is not just with books, it's anything you want to search for on Amazon. Trying inputting Kobo Glo and see how many Kindles come up in the search list. On the left, you can narrow things down. As well, there is usually an Author Page which you can click on, which lists most or all of an author's books. You can also search by genre.

Here is a link to a search result for KU books with narration (i.e. free audio books) which is the main reason I am currently using KU.  To be honest, I like the subscription service Scribd better, it is a wonderful service for romance readers and listeners. I got a half price sub to KU for 6 months, but not decided if I will continue it afterwards.

The last book in a series I am listening to was just released this month, and Scribd already has the audio book! My libraries don't! So I am totally in love with Scribd. The book is Crouching Tiger, Forbidden Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks. I am getting ready to start #12 in the series, I've loaded all 5 of the ones left in the series onto my phone in case they should disappear, just to be safe! (I got a no contract android phone, specifically for this purpose).

Scribd is definitely better for big name authors, so you should check it out. You can read them on your Kindle Fire, as well as listen to their audio books via the Fire.

Prime isn't a good investment just for the 1 free borrow every month.  It's just an added perk which may or may not be useful to some.  I have an Amazon Prime but I use it for the video service and the free shipping. 

I no longer have the KU program because I'm going back to school and don't have as much reading time. But I kept my KU wish list and it was over 100 books long.  Yes most were under $5 just to buy but if you read more than 2 books a month then you've covered the cost of the KU service.  But it won't work for everyone. I also read mostly romance and found many on there from well known authors but also some from authors I had never heard of but ended up enjoying their books.

If that's the only reason you bought a Kindle then you wasted your money. But now that you have it, you can buy a yearly out of state card to the Free Library of Philadelphia or Brooklyn if your own public library doesn't have much for Kindle books. I read a lot and have 2 out of state cards.  They cost me $50 each.  But I figure if I only read 10 books a year from each then I've paid less for the subscription than what buying those books would have cost me.  But I looked for some of my WL books first on each library and what they'd cost to buy to make sure first. 

I used to spend $300-$400 a year on my reading habit, if not more.  Now I only spend about $150 between the 2 libraries and the occasional credit or cheap ebook purchase. All because I got a Kindle.

Also check out the TOP 100 kindle freebies everyday.  You can narrow it down to different categories. It's under the Kindle Ebook section on Amazon under the tab called Kindle Best Sellers. There's a paid and free tab.  I regularly find freebies from well-known authors.  A lot of romance and mystery authors will release their older titles and first in a series books as a freebies to get you interested in their writing. 

I was actually able to purge over a dozen of my print books because they popped up as freebies.  And I bought more than a few of my PBS WL books that were super cheap on Kindle and just not being posted here.

Thanks for all the kindle hints and suggestions.  I really was thinking I wasn't looking in the right places or missing something.  I got the kindle as a gift and was really excited to be able to try the subscription services.  I'd also bought the Fire for my Dad so that he could read and listen to audio books.  So I was worried that I had bought a bad gift.  It's hard to explain how to use something when your not sure yourself.

I did the month free with scribd, they didn't have the 3 month deal going, which was a bummer.  I really liked the scribd site and have read a lot of books that were on my wishlist. 

I'd read about joining different libraries and I don't know why but the one I checked out was the NY library and it didn't have a lot.  I checked out the Brooklyn one that someone recommended and WOW it had a ton.  I'll check out the other one as well. 

I'll start checking out the top 100 freebies, I love it when an author offers an old book for free or discounted. 

Thanks again

I find a lot of my kindle books right here on the discussion sites for free or very little cost.  I check Historical Fiction, Paranormal, Love and Romance discussion groups for the "post freebies here" links.  We have some wonderful, generous people on PBS that post these freebies for the rest of us to enjoy.  A great big THANK YOU! for all of you that take the time to post these freebies!  You are truly appreciated.

also note that all the books at the library are not in a format for kindle.  on the fire you should be able to add a epub reader app.

also the books automatically expire on the date set.... if you are not connected with an e-ink reader, they will stay until you do connect. (not sure if you can do that with a fire)