Content Project Gutenberg and other places.

BookCat · 01-25-2011, 10:00 AM

I'm happy with my Sony at the mo, but a friend of a friend is thinking about buying an ereader and being swayed towards the Kindle. However, I've read that it's not possible to put project gut and books from other places which are not Amazon on the reader.

For example, if Susanna (the person in question) wanted to put a gutenberg book or trawl the darkside - sorry, but she's not a member of MR and I'm not responsible for her morals

- on the Kindle, would it be technically possible? Or do Kindle and Co limit books to those downloaded from their "official" site?

I hope this makes sense.

I'm trying to talk her into a Sony, but she's seen a Kindle a closer friend of hers has and has the kindle bug!

jgaiser · 01-25-2011, 10:16 AM

Any file in mobi or pdf format can be side-loaded onto the kindle with usb. And Calibre is your friend.

DMSmillie · 01-25-2011, 10:28 AM

As long as a MOBI or PRC file is DRM-free, it should work on the Kindle (so, for example, Project Gutenberg MOBI ebooks should work fine). The only real restriction is not being able to read EPUB files directly on the Kindle, and not being able to read ebooks which have non-Amazon DRM. But there are scripts and plugins for stripping DRM from ebooks for personal use, and Calibre can convert EPUB and other formats to MOBI format which can be loaded onto the Kindle.

BookCat · 01-25-2011, 12:21 PM

So it's okay to convert txt files into a kindle format using Calibre?

Thanks for the help.

jgaiser · 01-25-2011, 12:31 PM

And if fact, books from Gutenberg do not need to be converted. Gutenberg now provides fairly well formatted mobi files for download.

HarryT · 01-25-2011, 12:34 PM

Where do people get this odd idea that you can only load Amazon books onto the Kindle from? It's complete nonsense. As has been stated, you can load any DRM-free Mobipocket-format book onto the Kindle.

TheKindleWorm · 01-25-2011, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BookCat

So it's okay to convert txt files into a kindle format using Calibre?

Thanks for the help.

You don't need to convert .txt files - they can simply be placed straight onto the Kindle

susan_cassidy · 01-25-2011, 12:50 PM

A lot of the more popular books from Gutenberg have much better version available here on mobileread.com.

BookCat · 01-25-2011, 12:53 PM

Harry, I don't know where the notion comes from, it was something I heard/read. Maybe folk think that because of the wifi?

KindleWorm: I know that txt doesn't look great on the sony prs 505, especially if you prefer justified margins, which I do. I always convert txt into rtf using a template I created for the purpose. But that's just me!

JeremyR · 01-25-2011, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Where do people get this odd idea that you can only load Amazon books onto the Kindle from? It's complete nonsense. As has been stated, you can load any DRM-free Mobipocket-format book onto the Kindle.

It's not a great mystery considering how for a long time, Amazon and the Kindle were constantly being attacked here for using a "proprietary" format and "locking you in" and not supporting epub and so forth.

01-25-2011, 10:00 AM	#1
BookCat C L J Posts: 2,912 Karma: 21115458 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Birmingham UK Device: Sony e-reader 505, Kindle PW2, Kindle PW3, Kobo Libra2	Project Gutenberg and other places. I'm happy with my Sony at the mo, but a friend of a friend is thinking about buying an ereader and being swayed towards the Kindle. However, I've read that it's not possible to put project gut and books from other places which are not Amazon on the reader. For example, if Susanna (the person in question) wanted to put a gutenberg book or trawl the darkside - sorry, but she's not a member of MR and I'm not responsible for her morals - on the Kindle, would it be technically possible? Or do Kindle and Co limit books to those downloaded from their "official" site? I hope this makes sense. I'm trying to talk her into a Sony, but she's seen a Kindle a closer friend of hers has and has the kindle bug!

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01-25-2011, 10:16 AM	#2
jgaiser Omnivorous Posts: 3,281 Karma: 27978909 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Rural NW Oregon Device: Kindle Voyage, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle 3, KPW1	Any file in mobi or pdf format can be side-loaded onto the kindle with usb. And Calibre is your friend.

01-25-2011, 10:28 AM	#3
DMSmillie Enquiring Mind Posts: 562 Karma: 42350 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: London, UK Device: Kindle 3 (WiFi)	As long as a MOBI or PRC file is DRM-free, it should work on the Kindle (so, for example, Project Gutenberg MOBI ebooks should work fine). The only real restriction is not being able to read EPUB files directly on the Kindle, and not being able to read ebooks which have non-Amazon DRM. But there are scripts and plugins for stripping DRM from ebooks for personal use, and Calibre can convert EPUB and other formats to MOBI format which can be loaded onto the Kindle.

01-25-2011, 12:21 PM	#4
BookCat C L J Posts: 2,912 Karma: 21115458 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Birmingham UK Device: Sony e-reader 505, Kindle PW2, Kindle PW3, Kobo Libra2	So it's okay to convert txt files into a kindle format using Calibre? Thanks for the help.

01-25-2011, 12:31 PM	#5
jgaiser Omnivorous Posts: 3,281 Karma: 27978909 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Rural NW Oregon Device: Kindle Voyage, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle 3, KPW1	And if fact, books from Gutenberg do not need to be converted. Gutenberg now provides fairly well formatted mobi files for download.

01-25-2011, 12:34 PM	#6
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Where do people get this odd idea that you can only load Amazon books onto the Kindle from? It's complete nonsense. As has been stated, you can load any DRM-free Mobipocket-format book onto the Kindle.

01-25-2011, 12:50 PM	#8
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	A lot of the more popular books from Gutenberg have much better version available here on mobileread.com.

01-25-2011, 12:53 PM	#9
BookCat C L J Posts: 2,912 Karma: 21115458 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Birmingham UK Device: Sony e-reader 505, Kindle PW2, Kindle PW3, Kobo Libra2	Harry, I don't know where the notion comes from, it was something I heard/read. Maybe folk think that because of the wifi? KindleWorm: I know that txt doesn't look great on the sony prs 505, especially if you prefer justified margins, which I do. I always convert txt into rtf using a template I created for the purpose. But that's just me!