I’ve been an advocate of Amazon Prime for a long time because it saves me a lot of money in shipping. When they added streaming video, it was like icing on the case for me. The new announcement today has me ecstatic!

Amazon has announced a new agreement with Disney-ABC that will add “800 popular titles from ABC Studios, The Disney Channel, ABC Family, and Marvel.” Series will include Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Phineas & Ferb, Greek, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

Amazon has been adding more titles as Netflix has been announcing more lost titles. Right now I use both and used to use Netflix more but can see myself using Amazon more in the future given how much Disney my family watches.

If you are interested in trying out Amazon Prime, you can get a free one-month trial, which includes the Instant Videos. It’s a great time to try it if you intend on using Amazon for holiday shopping anyway.

Amazon has updated their list of free Kindle books and some of the new ones have great reviews! Here are just a couple that we have our eye on.

The Oak Leaves (Maureen Lang) (rated 5 stars) “Two time periods—Regency England and contemporary Chicago—are woven together when Talie Ingram finds an old journal belonging to her great-great-great grandmother, Cosima Escott. Through Cosima’s entries, Talie learns that her family was once considered cursed with feebleminded offspring, the result of a genetic disorder (Fragile-X) that may have been passed down to Talie and her sister. Unwilling to face the implications their discovery might have on her own life, Talie tucks the journal back into secrecy, until she begins to see signs of developmental delay in her son.”

Finding Grace (Sarah Pawley) (rated 5 stars) “race is seventeen. She is bold, intelligent…and unmarried. In the eyes of her family and her mountain born neighbors, she is hopelessly willful. But she is determined to forge her own path, come what may. When her parents try to force her hand in marriage, she flees, seeking out her brother and his wife, who once watched over her. Settling down with them, she finds a new life…and possible romance with a handsome neighbor. But the past will come back to haunt her, possibly destroying the happiness she has worked so hard to find.”

From now through February 14, you can send a free song to a friend on Amazon. The instructions on there are a little bit confusing but essentially you get a $2 off code (VDAYMP3S) that you can apply to any song that you send to a friend. As long as you pick a song less than $2 (of which there are many), the song is free. You do still need to have a credit card registered for your Amazon account. However, it will not be charged as long as you follow the terms and conditions properly.

Amazon has some cute suggestions for songs to send to “True Love,” “Hot Date,” “Best Friend,” “Crush,” “Pity Partier,” “Anti-Romantic,” “Ex You Want Back,” “Ex Who Wants You Back,” and “Anyone You Love.” Lots of choices there.

The code can only be used for MP3 downloads and only one per person. Click here for more information and full instructions.

(Edited to add that it is free today on both the Kindle and the Nook!)

Last month I asked my friends on Twitter for book recommendations based on books that I have read in the past and one of the books recommended to me was The Apothecary’s Daughter by Julie Klassen. Although it was outside of my regular reading genre, I decided to give it a chance. I ended up really liking it and actually just sent my copy home with my mother-in-law! Although the book is set in a different age, the language is actually very modern. In that way, the book allows you to feel comfortable in the era without having to struggle through heavy reading. The book has 4.5 stars on Amazon, so that should tell you something.

I’ll give you the plotline from Publishers Weekly at the bottom of the post but what is even more important right now is that it is one of the free Kindle books on Amazon today! Remember that even if you do not have a Kindle, you can still get Kindle reading apps for a lot of other devices (I have mine on my phone). Amazon rotates out which Kindle books are free pretty regularly so if you have any interest in the book whatsoever, you should jump on it immediately. The easiest way that I have found is to go into the Amazon website and add the free book to my account. Then I open up my account on my device and download it there. For some reason, it just seems easier to find the free books from the web interface than the device.

Apothecary’s Daughter Free Kindle Edition

From Publishers Weekly:

“Klassen’s debut novel, Lady of Milkweed Manor, was a Christy Award finalist, and her new Regency promises the same thanks to fine storytelling and knowledge of the apothecary’s art. Lillian Haswell yearns to leave her father’s apothecary shop in their small town and happily accepts an invitation to live in London. She leaves behind a handicapped brother, friends, her lonely father and memories of her lost mother, but finds that London holds its own troubles. Will Roger Bromley propose? What about the timid physician Adam Graves? And the dastardly Roderick Marlow? Will her humble origins ruin her chances of a good match? Complications ensue as Lillian is called home when word comes of her father’s ill health. She takes over the apothecary shop—illegal, because a woman could not dispense medicine—and begins again thanks to her father’s former assistant Francis Baylor. Klassen blends her tale well; each ingredient—romance, friendship, healing arts, mystery—is measured to produce a lively, lengthy tale that will satisfy Regency aficionados and general readers, too.”

Amazon on Demand is giving away a free $5 credit if you link your Twitter account and your Amazon account.

By clicking the button on the promotion page to get the credit you will:

* Connect your Amazon.com and Twitter accounts.
* Automatically follow @amazonvideo. The message “I just got a $5 credit for instant movies and TV shows @amazonvideo. Click http://amzn.to/hh8gTP to get yours. #get5″ will be automatically tweeted from your Twitter account.

I had to refresh the page a couple of times to get it to work, but it eventually did. It could just be that so many people are trying to do it right now. Once I was able to complete it, the page refreshed to tell me “Congratulations” and the Tweet immediately appeared in my stream.

We have a Roku that we stream our Amazon movies to, so I just need to go in now and pick a movie and click on the “Rent for 48 hours” button to add it to my account. Even new releases are only $3.99, so your $5 credit will get you at least one rental. Toy Story 3 is only $.99 for some reason, so you could actually get 2 new-ish rentals for your $5 credit. I’m not going to try it yet because whatever movies I decide to rent will be for all of us to watch this holiday weekend.

I’ve seen a few people take advantage of the deal and then immediately delete the Tweets from their stream. While I understand that you don’t want to advertise in your Twitter stream, I think that is cheating. If you take the $5, you should leave the Tweet. I guess I look at it from the business owner perspective since I have paid for Twitter ads myself and would be angry to find out that they Tweeted to get the money and then deleted them before people could see them. Am I wrong?

I think this is a pretty cool deal and hope that people will try it out, especially if they have never tried Amazon on Demand before. The offer ends January 1, 2011 and is available only for certain movies. I haven’t seen any yet that it didn’t apply to, but there are some movies that I would expect them to have that they do not (like Tron). Click here for more details.

I am a big believer in Amazon Prime. In fact, my husband actually said to me the other day “If you love Amazon Prime so much, maybe you should marry it.” Clearly he was making fun of me, but only because I go on and on so much about it! Amazon Prime is a great way for me to order single items (especially at the last minute) and not get nickeled and dimed for shipping. Because we have a fulfillment center not far from us, I tend to get everything I order with Amazon Prime in about 24 hours.

But enough about me, let’s talk about Amazon Mom. It’s a catchy name but it really applies to any caregiver. You sign up for Amazon Mom and put in your kids’ first names and birthdates. When you sign up, you get 3 free months of Amazon Prime. After that, you get additional months free based on baby items that you purchase through Amazon. In addition to the Amazon Prime benefit, you will also get up to 30% off of items like diapers and wipes. It has been awhile since I have bought them, but I still remember how expensive they were!

If you are expecting a baby or are the parent of a baby or toddler, you should definitely check out Amazon Mom. Anything that will help save money and make life easier is a welcomed membership!

My husband has been talking about wanting a Kindle for a very long time. I love to read (about a book a week), and he “likes” to read (a book every other month). We’ve been on the fence about the Kindle and finally decided to try the free Kindle Apps on our phones. We downloaded the apps and he paid to get his first book. I still wasn’t sold that I would even want to waste my money on one book. Luckily, I found free Kindle books!

At first when I was looking through the free Kindle books, it seemed that they were all old books. Things like “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” and “Treasure Island.” I decided that I would pick out an old book that I have not yet read just to try the app. Much to my excitement, I discovered that there are other free books as well. I downloaded “Compromising Positions” by Jenna Bayley-Burke because it looks cute and it has great ratings.

At any given time you can check out the Top 100 Bestsellers in Kindle Books and look specifically for those that are free. Let someone else do the work of reading through all of the book titles and ratings and just peruse the top 100. If you are on the fence still like I am, hopefully using a free Kindle app along with one of the Top 100 Free Kindle books will help you make up your mind.

The Amazon Prime free trial is back! Amazon Prime is a program where you pay $79 a year but then get free two day shipping on qualifying purchases at Amazon. It’s a great deal if you buy a lot through Amazon. If you are not sure if you would actually use it, now is a great time to try it because it is FREE! Amazon is currently offering a free month trial of Amazon Prime. You can cancel at any time before the end of the month and not get charged.

There is no minimum purchase necessary to receive free shipping when you are a member of Amazon Prime. In addition, you can upgrade purchases to one day shipping for only $3.99. Note that this free trial is only for NEW Amazon Prime customers.

If you are looking at buying anything at all through Amazon in the next few weeks, you should definitely check out the Amazon Prime Free Trial offer. It does not say how long it will last, but what better time to try it than during the holidays when most people shop most anyway?

From November 16-22, you can enter to win a slew of Disney prizes from Amazon, including a trip to Walt Disney World!

The Grand Prize in The Magic of Disney Wish List Sweepstakes includes a 5 day trip for 4 to Orlando, FL, a Nintendo Wii and a variety of Disney-related merchandise. The trip includes air fare, accommodations at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, Park Hopper passes, and $100 per person per day in gift cards to use for food and souvenirs.

Other prizes in the contest include Up (4 Disc Combo Pack with Digital Copy and DVD) [Blu-ray], Toy Story Mania for Wii, a Nintendo Wii, Club Penguin: Collector’s Edition Bundle for Nintendo DS, Nintendo DS Lite, Disney Christmas Storybook Collection (Disney Storybook Collections), Santa Buddies Gift Set (DVD plus Five Plush Buddies), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Collector’s Book Set) [Blu-ray], Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure (Two Disc plus BD Live) [Blu-ray], Cars [Blu-ray], and
G-Force [Blu-ray].

You can enter the contest by creating an Amazon Wish List, adding an item to one of your existing Wish Lists or sharing one of your Wish Lists via the “Share with Friends” feature on the Wish List page. Then follow the instructions on the website to enter the Sweepstakes.

Click here for full details on how you can enter The Magic of Disney Wish List Sweepstakes from Amazon.

Are you an expecting mom or the parent of a newborn? If so, you should check out the Amazon Dream Baby Registry Sweepstakes. One winner will be selected each month to win a Dream Registry (worth over $3000) plus a year’s worth of Huggie’s Supreme Diapers.

The rules are pretty easy. You essentially just have to create an Amazon Baby Registry with at least 10 items. There are some extra requirements if you created yours before the contest began. Winners will be chosen each month through December 31, 2009.

Click here for the full Amazon Dream Baby Registry Sweepstakes Rules and Entry information.