The Kindle Challenge

Kindle had me clambering around the slippery snakes and ladders of techno-learning this week. There I was happily following Tiffany Dow's  experiences and starting her this month's Kindle Challenge when my Kindle app for PC threw down a challenge of its own.

" Won't. shan't, can't make me," it taunted to every attempt l made to open it.

I booted, rebooted, tried to run it as administrator. crept away and rushed back in the middle of the night when it least expected me.

Tried starting from various icons and through files--nada.

What do you do when your Kindle app with all your edited books and books for review expires?

But then common sense kicks in and you trawl through the search engines to find an answer to the problem.

The Good News

• You are not alone.

• Tech support from Amazon may be able to help. Tech support from Kindle forums is excellent.

• Best of all, not one of the books you've bought from Amazon is lost.  Even the freebies are still there on your Manage My Kindle accounts page.

The Bad News

• Anything you have acquired through another publisher is not there.

• You're going to have to be brave and tinker with some hidden files.

• It takes time you don't have when you're on a deadline.

But then that's when these things always happen isn't it?

The Solution for Windows?

1. Click on Documents and find the folder named My Kindle Content. If you have any non- Amazon books which you want to keep there, back up this file on  flash key or external hard drive.

2.Click on start menu, click on Amazon, click on Kindle for PC and finally uninstall.

3. Check that the uninstall has deleted your Kindle content.

4. Check your user files--that's the folder with the name you gave your PC, usually heading the right hand column on the Start menu--find data apps then open local then Amazon. If nothing has uninstalled there back up that file by copying it onto your flash drive. Only then, shut your eyes and bravely delete. It is essential to remove the kindle.info file.

5. Back to Amazon to deregister your app and download a new one.

6. Remember to register your new Kindle app when you first open it or you won't be able to download your books again.

7. Copy any other Kindle books from your back up drive straight into the My Kindle Content documents folder (each one has three files.)

8. Check all is working well. Treat yourself to a restorative drink and consider yourself an IT whizz kid.

Why Does the Kindle App malfunction? 

I had downloaded some new software which may have disagreed with it. Others find it happens because Amazon updates the app automatically and then it may have software incompatible issues. Sometimes downloading an older version of the app and unchecking the updates box in its menu tab does the trick.

For the moment, mine's as good as gold and l've no more excuses to get between me and writing that long promised eBook.

But l'd be interested to know if anyone else has suffered from Kindle or Kindle App or any other e-reader glitches.

 Oh and if you're looking for more writing challenges find the Writer's Digest popular fiction and short story competitions mentioned at Slow and Steady Writers,

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 Anne Duguid is a senior content editor with MuseItUp Publishing and   her New Year's Resolution is to blog with helpful writing,editing and publishing tips at Slow and Steady Writers far more regularly than she managed in 2011.