How to Update a Kindle Book to the Latest Version

Books get updated all the time, less so for fiction, but being a writer is a learning process. I’ve had to update my books from my novice years to meet my improved narrative here twenty books later. If you’re not quite sure how to get the latest version, here are the critical parts:

Step 1: Make sure you have automatic updates on.

METHOD 1

Go to your Amazon account and select “Manage Content and Devices” or “Content and Devices” from the drop-down menu.

METHOD 2

If you click “Hello, (name) Account & Lists” you may see this screen:

With METHOD 2 you will need to click this next box: “Change your digital and device settings”

METHODS 1 & 2

Both methods will bring you to this screen next. Click on “Preferences”

You will then see a list of options. Scroll until you see Automatic Book Updates and make sure they are set to “ON”

Often this doesn’t update your current book because you may have notes or highlights you want to remember, so you have the opportunity to save them before downloading the new version. If this is already ON then you are in good shape for the next part.

Go to your reading app or device and find the book you want to update. This may be on a Kindle device or an app on a phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop.

You may have two different screens with options. First, you need to find the old book and remove it from the device. Do not delete it permanently or you will have to buy it again. If it says you may lose highlights, then you’re only removing the download from your device, not your cloud purchases. If you see “you will have to repurchase” then you will be deleting the book permanently–avoid this if you can.

Step 2: Remove Downloaded Book.

Go to your library on your app or device and right-click (computer) or tap and hold (handheld device) to get the menu.

Select Remove Download, not Permanently Delete

If you select permanently delete, you will get this message, warning you that you will have to repurchase the book after if you want to read it again. It is one way to get the updated content, yes, but then you’re paying for it twice. Nobody wants to do that, right?!

Step 3 Search for the book and redownload it.

You should find the book in your (purchased) library, just not in your downloaded items. It may still show the old cover, but when you open the book after downloading it, the content should be updated.

For the Infinite Spark Series, this is the old introduction:

This is what the new version should look like. The rest of the series should start this way. If it doesn’t, you can repeat the above process (Steps 2 and 3) and get the new versions.

The new versions include a nice series image of the five books (one on preorder) so far. I hope you like the changes and continue the series! I hope this also helps you update other books in your libraries!

Evusviia vi itu ahna, (Stars be with you) – Xahu’ré language, Red Shift

Elysia