Can I buy an audio book on CD or get it in another format and then transfer
it to the Kindle?

Here is the story on the audio books. Right now the only "official" site for purchasing audio books for your Kindle is Audible.com, which is actually an Amazon company. The books have to be downloaded to a PC and then uploaded back to the Kindle via USB or SD card. You must use the AudibleManager to activate your Kindle so you can use them. The problem is the software is Windows based so if you have a MAC, you will need to find someone with a Windows PC to help you get it set up.

Instructions for using audio files with Kindle also appear in Chapter 3 and Chapter 8 of the Kindle User's Guide (.PDF). Kindle User Guide.pdf

And here is the link to the FAQ on Audible on the Amazon site: Audible FAQ on Amazon

The pricing on the audio books is not as attractive as the pricing on the regular Kindle books. For example, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception By: Scott McClellan is $9.99 as an ebook download for the Kindle, but is $23.07 on Audible.com as an audio book download. Audible does have volume pricing plans available, but may not be an option if you just want to try it out.

Your other option is you can upload an MP3 audio book to your Kindle. You can transfer your MP3 files to Kindle by copying them to the "music" folder on your Kindle or SD memory card. Scroll to the Menu and select Experimental

Select Play Music on the screen shown

This will continue to play until you click the Stop Music option in Experimental (or the Alt+P keyboard shortcut). You can jump to the next track using Alt+F.

I have also read that you can transfer MP3s to the Audible folder on the device or on your SD card. Once you have the MP3 files in the Audible folder, the Kindle treats them just like other audiobook files allowing you to jump back 30 seconds, skip ahead 30 seconds, play and pause audio.

Hopefully this is enough information for you to decide if it is worth trying. You may just want to try it with a Podcast for fun or check out this website which has downloads for free of public domain books: http://librivox.org/

Reprinted from ereadworld.

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