First a confession of sorts. I operate with folders on my hard drive. Although I do have loose bookmarks, mostly I create folders of topics and within that find the sites I want to return and visit. When I do have a loose link, it's generally because I am not yet sure I want to keep it.
Now why I do this, I am not sure but maybe it's a tidiness gene. Maybe it's to play around when I am between ideas to write. But it has carried over to my Kindle.
When I got the Kindle, I just began acquiring books. Their numbers quickly became unwieldy, and so I found where I can create folders there. The unfortunate part of technology is it never stays static; so I cannot actually tell everybody with a Kindle how to create those folders. I can just say think of your Kindle as a library (which it is). Your books will mean more to you and be more easily accessible if you have them in their own corridors.
I have currently 6 such corridors-- romances, classics, chick lit, nonfiction, writing, and my books. I might someday break out historic from nonfiction as right now I seem to have mostly historic books in there, but cookbooks are coming up in the stretch.
Folders make it easy to check what I have when I am in the mood to read or remember I got something I needed but where was it? A lot of these books I have gotten for free by regularly checking lists of 100 top free books updated each day, as well as other sites that offer lists of freebies.
To make your Kindle more manageable, the folders are handy but something else is also needed-- learning to delete unwanted books. If you don't, the good stuff will be buried in the less good. If an author, as I just did with Bannister's Way wants to update a book, offers it free, and you want the newer version, you also need to be able to delete the old one-- most especially if the new one is offered free as it should be in that situation.
It doesn't matter in which order you do this, but I'll start with the easiest as you will want to delete it two places.
From Amazon-- Managing your Kindle
Amazon has a list of all the books you ever purchased for your device. It will enable you to add them if you purchase a new Kindle. If you want to ever get a newer version of the book or you know you hate it, this is the place to go to delete the eBook you do have.
If you don't have a business folder (naturally I do), type in www.amazon.com. Type Kindle eBooks in the search line. It will take you to books to buy but alongside there is a link called Kindle eBooks. When you get to that page, at the top in small print, there is a list of functions. Look down it and find Manage Your Kindle. Here you might have to sign in again. but do it.
There they are, every book you ever bought and at the end of the line with the book info is a box to click [actions] with options including delete this book. They warn you that you will have to repurchase it if you delete it; but if you want it gone, you don't want to repurchase. You just have to hope you can remember its title to not make the mistake of getting it twice and hating it.
Deleting from a device Part I
For me, with mine having a small keyboard at the bottom of the device and little buttons, it's pretty easy. Turn it on with a sliding key at the bottom. I would also do it with the wireless off (I do that from the menu button), touch the button labeled home, then find the title I want.
To get specific, let's say I wanted to delete a recent freebie, Backpack Gourmet by Linda Frederick (I don't), I would bring my pointer down to it using the arrows (they are alongside the button that you click to do things and there are 4 tiny directional arrows). When I am on the book, I click the arrow pointing right which takes me to another page where I could add it to a collection (thinking of a cooking one) or by looking down that list, I see-- Remove from Device. If I went down there, I'd be able to take it off my own Kindle quite easily.
For me removal is two stages. I can take it off my device and leave it on my Amazon list-- or take it off both. When I wanted the free, new version of Bannister's Way, I had to delete it both places to then get the new one.
I am not sure how this works with Farm Boss's Kindle touch screen; so he is finding out and will write the next instructions.
Deleting from a device Part II
For those with a touch screen device; go to the home page using the four bars at the bottom of the device. Find the title you want to delete and touch it, hold it until a menu appears. Select the option-- move to archive. From now go to your online [manage your kindle] and follow above instructions for the steps.
