Send to Kindle for Mac 1.0
Amazon has released Send to Kindle for Mac 1.0, which enables you to transfer documents and images to your Kindle reader or Kindle app on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. The Send to Kindle app offers three ways to transfer files: drag-and-drop onto the app’s Dock icon or main window; select one or more files in the Finder and choose Services > Send to Kindle from the contextual menu; or choose the Send to Kindle virtual printer when printing from any Mac app to send a PDF. You can send only a limited selection of file types, including PDF, Microsoft Word (.doc and .docx), text documents (.txt and .rtf), and the usual grab bag of image files (for a complete
rundown, see this Amazon help page). Additionally, Adam Engst notes that it quietly supports Mobipocket ebook files as well (see “How to Download EPUB, PDF, and Mobipocket to the Kindle Fire,” 22 April 2012), but EPUB is not supported at all. Document files are sent to your Kindle or Kindle app over Wi-Fi, though you can choose to use Amazon’s Whispernet service for a fee of $0.15 per megabyte within the United States ($0.99 per megabyte when traveling internationally). The Send to Kindle app is also available in a Windows version. (Free, 8.1 MB)
Unfortunately, what can't be sent to your Kindle: ePubs.
Convert them yourself - it's simple. One wholly appropriate solution would be to use Amazon's free Kindle Previewer app to do the conversion to mobi format - and then send that resulting file to your device. You also need to install the related free KindleGen app for this method to work.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?docId=1000765211
Once the pair are installed, open the Previewer app and just drag'n'drop your EPUB file onto the Previewer window - the converted mobi file pops out automatically. The conversion is trivially easy once it's set up the first time.
Conversion is easy, but I don't recommend it for anything but books with incredibly simple formatting, since the results tend to be much uglier than the source.
And it's not necessary - if you read my referenced article above, it's easy to get and install an EPUB reader that's better than the Kindle app.
The main downside is that you end up with books in multiple locations, based on format.
For anything but the simplest books, the conversion is not trivial, as KindleGen drops and adds formatting, requiring extensive editing of the source files. In fact, I found I have to create invalid ePub markup to get a valid Kindle mobi file.
You could also say "convert them yourself" about Word or RTF docs. And, yes, I know there are other ways to get ePubs to a Kindle – I'm just pointing out a glaring omission in this utility.
In any event, what Send to Kindle appears to do is convert documents to PDF and then send them to your device, so you're not exactly transferring source documents.
I find Amazon's attitude toward EPUB truly obnoxious - since it could compete with the Kindle app and the Kindle Store, they ensure that you can't get an EPUB reader from the Amazon Appstore for Android, and they ensure that EPUB isn't a supported format in their Kindle Personal Documents Service (which is what both this app and the email delivery service use).
I'm pleased to note that the Send to Kindle app also allows you to send files to Kindle on Android devices.
Send to Kindle is far better than converting via email and Whispernet and paying. I have successfully uploaded many TC eBooks, as well as other notebooks. You can also upload any pdf doc for later review while traveling or out of the office. Just for kicks I uploaded a Mobi vs of a TC book. ePub is another question for another time. :)