How to Proofread on a Kindle: 5 Easy Steps

Correct store signby C.K. MacLeod

Are you a beta reader or an editor? You don’t have to review or proofread a book on your computer. You can proofread it on a Kindle, or any device with the Kindle app loaded on it.

Here’s how:

1. Sign up for an Amazon account if you don’t already have one.

2. Add your reading device to your Amazon account, if it hasn’t been added already. Your device is automatically added to your Amazon account when you download the Kindle app onto it.

Once added to your Amazon account, your device will have an email address with an @kindle.com extension associated with it. To find this email address for your device, go to Your Account, Manage Your Content and Devices, and click on the Your Devices tab.

Amazon Your Devices

3. Go to your personal email account — your gmail account, for example. Email the book file as an attachment, from your personal email account to your @kindle.com email address. You can email a variety of file types, including .docx files or mobi files (one of Amazon’s formats).

Note: You need to email your book from the email account that’s associated with your Amazon account. If you use another email account, it won’t work. If you have more than one reading device linked to your Amazon account, make sure you’re emailing the document to the right device.

4. Turn on wifi and sync your Kindle or your device with the Kindle app on it. The book should arrive on your reading device within a few minutes.

5. Use the Notes and Highlights feature on your Kindle, or in your Kindle app, to proofread the book. If you’re a beta reader, share the Notes and Highlights (your feedback) with the author.

Proofreading on a Kindle is easy. Further, proofreading a book in a new environment can help you to see errors that you’d otherwise miss.

Thanks to Carla Douglas at Beyond Paper Editing for teaching me this trick.

Image by M. Appelman

2 thoughts on “How to Proofread on a Kindle: 5 Easy Steps”

  1. I’ve been using this method for a while now. I send out books to proofreaders . All that’s needed is that they register your email address on their ‘Approved Personal Document E-mail List’. To find that they need to go to the ‘Manage Your Content and Devices’ link at the bottom right of any Amazon page. They’ll need to sign in and use the ‘Settings’ tab on the page.
    A great feature of using a Kindle Fire (or Kindle Keyboard or Touch) is that the Kindle will read the text to you aloud. It reads what is actually there rather than what you expect to be there. That feature isn’t available on the newer Kindle e-ink devices or on the Kindle App.
    To have your document read to you on a different device such as my Nexus 7 is more involved. First convert the document to an epub file. I use Calibre, a free program, for that. Next I send the file to my Nexus and read it using Moon+ Reader Pro. It’s much simpler with a Kindle Fire – so much so that it’s worth investing $99.00/£79.00 for one just for proofreading.

    1. John,
      Thanks for the Amazon email tips! You’re right about the read-aloud feature on the Kindle Touch. I’ve held on to this older Kindle because the read-aloud feature is a terrific proofreading aid, as you’ve pointed out. Our ears can sometimes catch what our eyes miss. Also, viewing a document in a new way — on a smaller e-ink screen that’s not back-lit — can sometimes help you to catch errors, too.

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