Kindle Instant Preview

KindlesmileLove it or hate it, Amazon is always looking to try new things to benefit their customers, which of course usually benefits the sellers as well. Recently I got an email from them about a new opportunity for books sold via their Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) program. Most of you are familiar with their “Look Inside” feature that allows potential readers to see the first few pages of a book, but this is only while on the Amazon site itself. The new feature, the Kindle Instant Preview, lets people read a sample of your book directly from your own webpage.

For the reader, it’s amazingly simple. Just click on a link. No signing up for anything, no downloading anything, no jumping through hoops. Rather than being directed away from your website, where they could very easily get distracted by something shiny, they can now read the sample directly from your page, and still be on your page once they’ve finished. If you’ve got an extensive backlist, they can go from one sample to another while never leaving your page.

Sound easy? It is. Easy for you, too. Here’s the process:

1.       In your browser on Amazon, find your Kindle book.

2.       Click the “Embed” link next to the other sharing options to get the Kindle instant preview.kindle preview 1

3.       Copy the URL or embed the HTML code that’s provided in a pop-up.

Kindle Preview 2

4.       Add the link to your webpage wherever appropriate.Kindle Preview 3

Boom! You’re done. This same link can also be shared via email, text, or other apps. The sample has adjustable font sizes so the reader can choose a view that works best for them. Kindle also includes a direct “buy” link, just in case the reader has gotten so wrapped up in the sample they can’t wait to read more. I don’t know about you, but it sounds like a win/win to me.

If you’re interested in putting this previewer feature into your blog’s sidebar, check out the tutorial from AC Flory here.

Author: Melissa Bowersock

Melissa Bowersock is an eclectic, award-winning author who writes in a variety of fiction and non-fiction genres. She has been both traditionally and independently published and lives in a small community in northern Arizona. Learn more about Melissa from her Amazon author page and her blog.

19 thoughts on “Kindle Instant Preview”

  1. Would you mind posting a link in comments here to a page on your site that has one of these links? I’d love to see how it works. Thank you! 😀

  2. Many thanks, Melissa. I asterisked the email from Kindle way back when and then, like Joe, promptly forgot about it. I SO appreciate the clear, specific how-to’s that you and all the IU bloggers post!

Comments are closed.