When viewing a listing for one of the books on Smashwords, there will be a section entitled “Available ebook reading formats.” If the book is free, there will be several options for viewing or downloading it. If it’s a title for sale, you’ll have to buy it, check out through the shopping cart, then return to the options to access the book.
If you are reading on a PC/Mac, the suggested options will be “Online Reading HTML” (the first option) or PDF. You will either read the book on the site, or save the PDF file to your computer where you can then read it with a standard Adobe reader.
If you are using the Kindle, it should have its own e-mail address for receiving books. This will take on the form ofyouruniquename@kindle.com. On Smashwords, you will then choose the Kindle (.mobi) download. Once you save it on your computer, simply e-mail it to your kindle address, then sync your Kindle.
If you do not know what your Kindle’s e-mail address is, refer to the setting in your Amazon account. Under “Your Account” choose the option “Manage your Kindle.”
From the next screen, select “Manage your devices,” and the e-mail address should be listed there. If you don’t have one, you’ll have to first set this up from your Kindle itself.
Alternatively, if you have an Android phone or tablet, you can install the free “Amazon Kindle” reader, then set up your @kindle.com e-mail address from the settings. This app is also available for iPhone/iPad, and is slightly more “Smashwords-friendly”: when the .mobi version of the book is downloaded from the Smashwords site, the iPhone will offer the option to open the book directly in the Amazon Kindle reader.
