[nic_x]

Hi all,

I've been browsing the forums here for several weeks as I've been researching the purchase of a Kindle. I have learned a lot here--thank you to all who contribute!

One of my concerns with the purchase is having a way to back up my Kindle books to my Mac's hard drive, similar to the way I back up all my music (I use iTunes, but have an automatic backup of all the music files on my hard drive.) I want to be certain I have my own backup of each book I purchase that is separate from what's on Amazon's server.

I've purchased a few Kindle books and downloaded the Kindle for Mac application. I did see that when I open a book there, it is saved in the Documents folder of my Mac as a separate file with an .azm file name. When I click on one of those .azm files, it automatically opens the book using the Kindle for Mac application.

If I create a new folder and move all those books to it, and back it up each night, is this all I need? Is there anything else you'd recommend? Do I need to convert these .azm files to some other format to save them long-term and have access to them?

I am a multipublished fiction author as well as an avid reader, so it's essential that I keep a lot of the fiction I purchase (yes, I read for pleasure, but these books are essentially work materials for me!) If I were to lose these books--let's say that in fifteen years Amazon goes belly up or gets acquired or what have you--I would likely have to repurchase a good number of them, so that's why it's essential I have some type of backup. I realize it's unlikely to happen, but it's a big enough financial risk for me that I must consider it.

Thoughts? Input is greatly appreciated. I love the idea of saving space in my house (which is overrun with books!) but can't risk losing books I purchase, either. I want to purchase a Kindle, but this is the one thing that's holding back my decision.

nic_x