Where do folks go to get DRM-free epub books when they're trying to avoid Amazon and Barnes & Noble?
I use bookshop.org and thriftbooks.com for my hard copies of things, but I LOVE my eBooks too.
Right now the only advantage to Amazon is that I can legally break the DRM, so the book is truly mine once I purchase it (I won't buy eBooks I can't unlock). But I'd really like to find alternate sources of DRM-free books. Ideas?
@hollie smashwords, kobo.
@hollie How is it legal to break Amazon DRM but not Adobe?
If it's legal, is there a howto? I've tried but haven't succeeded, so on the rare occasion that I buy a DRMed ebook, I go to Kobo rather than Amazon.
HumbleBundle.com and StoryBundle.com sell bundles of DRM-free ebooks; Humble is mostly nonfiction computer books but occasionally has sci fi fiction, sometimes from well-known authors and publishers; StoryBundle is mostly indie SF/fantasy.
BaenBooks.com is DRM-free (SF/fantasy).
@akkana Breaking DRM is here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Calibre/comments/1ck4w8e/2024_guide_on_removing_drm_from_kobo_kindle_ebooks/
Thanks for the links!
@hollie
Ah, I've relied on Everand (previously Scribd) for unlimited ebooks and audiobooks. It's similar to a streaming service so some previously read books may disappear over time. While I do reread audiobooks occasionally, I don't greatly mind going back to purchase books that I chose to reread. When I'm stuck on a specific book, I use Libro.fm which gives money to local bookstores. That's only audiobooks though.
#AmReading
@hollie I've found @WeightlessBooks to be great for independent stuff (I get my Clarkesworld subscription through them, and have found some wonderful books and authors browsing through their catalogue.
Here's a list of over 400 DRM-free ebook, digital comic, magazine, and RPG bookshops to help you get started.
All manually checked by me. All legit. All DRM-free.
@libreture I’m getting a blank page.
That's due to Mastodon hitting the server every time a link is shared and federated. The site is back up and running now.
@libreture you, are an absolute fucking hero.
Well done!
@hollie storybundle and humblebundle and KKR is always putting hers up Kickstarter. A few authors I read do patreon and Kickstarter as well.
And breaking them with calibre
Storybundle: https://storybundle.com/nevertooold
Humble Bundle (books and games): https://www.humblebundle.com/books
KKR and Dean Wesley Smith: https://wmgbooks.com/
ESpec books: https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/e-specbooks
@daNanner How on earth did I know about humblebundle but not storybundle? This is awesome, thanks! :D
Smashwords is my favorite ebook store, but I've also been picking up epubs from authors on Ko-fi and Itch.io.
@hollie so, it's niche, but NASA & ESA have lots of ebooks, space related
@ColmDonoghue Oooo, that's a great niche though, thanks! :)
@hollie https://dragonmount.com/store/
Dragonmount, a Wheel of Time fansite, has a drm-free bookstore, with a combination of Tor and some Indie books.
@hollie There are a lot of DRM-free ebooks on Kobo's storefront. Not all of them, but we've come across a lot of them.
-F
@hollie Do mainstream publishers (as in the Penguin Random Houses and HarperCollins of the world, not small special-interest publishers) even offer their books to DRM-free channels? I was under the impression that they didn’t.
@acb I'm not sure!
@hollie I've been using Humble Bundle but not for single books though.
@hollie You should not look at libgen, zlib and anna's archives. You will find no books of interest there.
@atom_skillz Good to know. :)
@hollie standardebooks.org has public domain books, edited to very high standards. You'll find something worth reading in there :-)
@hollie
Thanks for starting this discussion, bookmarking. I’ve used thriftbooks.com as well, but to-date my favorite purchase was @pluralistic Humble Bundle. He runs he’s own DRM free shop https://craphound.com Would be great to get a list of authors that do something similar so we can get them more exposure. But more recently I’ve been utilizing my local library more and more via Libby app. Off to check out some new recommendations in replies, thanks all. #bookstodon
@justforfun @hollie @pluralistic
I'm satisfied w/ Libby & Hoopla since I have no interest in keeping the books once I've read them.
@hollie Have you tried your local public library?
@seth I was asking about purchasing, not borrowing.
@hollie Ah, I misunderstood.
Though you can get DRM-free eBooks from the library (at least, you can at my library).
@seth Really? I'm not sure if I can, mine usually say "read on Kindle or in Libby" so that isn't an option (but it works okay as my Kobo can access the library).
@hollie Hmm, this is apparently my imagination. I might be recalling my university library or something else, I'm certain that I've checked out PDFs before. But now it looks like my library only has apps (like Libby and a few others) for eBooks.
As a book publisher, I think you should by physical books though
@seth Oh don't worry, I do that too. Probably way too much, but then I don't believe in the "too much" concept when it comes to books really.
@hollie Me neither, as evidenced by the number of boxes of books that I had the last time I moved.
@hollie Have you tried Project Gutenberg? https://www.gutenberg.org/
70k free titles.
Your public library most likely has e-books you can borrow for free. Not to mention paper books, CDs, DVDs, magazines, e-zines
@hollie has anyone mentioned memoryoftheworld yet?
@nitinkhanna No, and that's an interesting site, thanks!
@hollie Itch.io is a good place to go; so is Smashwords.
@hollie I usually buy from Kobo if it's a release by a major publisher. If it's an indie author, depends on where they deploy their titles to, but that also usually winds up being Kobo or Smashwords. _Unless_ the author has their own website and store, in which case I could buy directly from them.
Small presses will also sometimes often have their own stores you can buy ebooks directly from.
I'll also add Draft2Digital to the list of mentioned sites here, since they're the owners of Smashwords now.
(Disclaimer: indie author here, so have a bit of experience with seeing what other indie authors are doing.)
@annathepiper This is great info, thank you! I didn't know Smashwords was now Draft2Digital. I just checked them out and at least in a quick glance, they seem like a neat company, I like their model.
@hollie Right now Smashwords remains its own distinct site, but yeah, they're owned by Draft2Digital. I kinda expect that D2D may eventually merge the two sites, but so far that hasn't happened.
Both sides run on the same general kind of idea, though. Indie authors can use them as platforms to deploy their books out to other channels (such as, say, Kobo or Barnes and Noble, I use Smashwords for that). But you can also buy directly from Smashwords, for any author who has their titles for direct sale up there.
Smashwords does big sales at least twice a year, too, so that's a good thing to keep an eye out for.
@annathepiper Thsnk you so much for this info!
@hollie You're very welcome. :)