Give Kindle Books as Gifts!

Jeff Bezos hinted that it was coming and it has now arrived: but you can now give Give Kindle Books as Gifts! Amazon says you can pick from 725,000 books and the ones that I glanced thru that don't work are the ones that are free (with those, you'll have to let the person know and they'll need to buy it themselves). This is a feature that has been asked from from nearly the first day the Kindle was introduced and now you can give a book to anyone with an email address. If they are new to Amazon, they'll have to set up an account (presumably they can use any email address, not just the one you email it to, otherwise those of us with multiple email accounts would have to have multiple Kindle accounts, as well) and they can read the book on their Kindle or any Kindle app.

If the person already has the book or doesn't want it, it works just as I have been advocating (here and in the Kindle forums) all along: the recipient can simply accept the amount as a gift card, instead. Neither the giver nor the recipient needs a Kindle (although the giver must have an Amazon account) and you must know the email address of the person to whom you are sending the book.  I've seen several authors who have made offers of gift certificates to people, to be used to purchase their books (presumably for reviews), and this new feature should give them a bit more control over the process (although the person receiving it can still turn it down and use the money for something else). It also means those great-aunts and cousins that always gave you paperweight books at Christmas can now do so electronically and you can spend it as you wish without the hassle of a post-Christmas return to the local bookstore.

Frequently Asked Questions about Giving Kindle eBooks

• Do I have to own a Kindle to give or receive a Kindle ebook as a gift? No. Kindle ebooks can be given and received by anyone with an e-mail address. Kindle ebooks can be read either on Kindle or on your PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, or Android Phone using one our our free reading apps.
• What if the recipient doesn't like or want their gift? Kindle ebooks received as gifts can be exchanged for Amazon.com gift cards.
• Are all Kindle ebooks eligible to be given as gifts? All ebooks available for purchase in the Amazon.com Kindle Store can be given as gifts.