Where do you buy ebooks?

[GlenBarrington]

Kobo for me too. Baen is good too for my Science Fiction fix. In the short time I've had with the Sony bookstore, I've grown to hate their non existant customer service. Though I really like my PRS300, Sony is my book vendor of last resort. It's worth $.50 or $1.00 more to know I'm going to get what I pay for.

[BearMountainBooks]

Looks like forgetting Kobo was a bigger mistake than forgetting Apple...who knew????

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

Thanks Ficbot. I forgot Kobo. AND I meant to allow people to select more than one place. But somehow I munged that too. It's my first poll...

What you could do is redo the thread/poll and have a moderator delete this thread.

[dgillette.rm]

Your poll only allows for one choice. I buy some books from Sony. I buy most of my Sci Fi at Webscriptions, which is a none of the above on your list.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What you could do is redo the thread/poll and have a moderator delete this thread.

A good suggestion. I am learning quite a bit though, even though it is flawed!!! Flawed!!!

I'm grateful people are taking the time to answer in the comments and inform me of their favorite places. One of the reasons for the poll was because a number of authors were wondering if going with smashwords for distribution was worth the time/effort. We're just now seeing our books go up at Sony (and Apple.) A number of authors opted to go direct with apple with the belief Apple would be the big Kahuna, if not immediately, some day (could be, but this poll has yet to show anyone who has bought a book from Apple, never mind shop there regularly.)

To put my books on Sony takes a very small extra effort and small expense on my part (purchase an ISBN through Smash; not a big deal.) To put my books on Kobo and Sony means I may see my books discounted (not a big deal either, but the new contract with Amazon means they will discount to match--and the discount in all cases comes out my pocket, not the retailers.)

I'm okay with all of these things and considering Sony has been around a very long time, it's actually good to see that people are shopping there. At least people on these boards are shopping there. Same with Kobo. I had never used the site until I heard of it via smashwords.

Another finding of the poll: People do open multiple accounts with different vendors. I'm generally loathe to have too many accounts open--so the deal has to be good or it has to be a site I think I'll come back to.

The other interesting thing is that the last poll a number of people said "Fictionwise" but many mentioned their buying there had tapered off. Looks like that is the case because so far we're running low on those responses.



maria

[Clancy_s]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

I'm also completely guessing, but it seems that experience e-readers might find they have to strip DRM to get the selection and pricing they want/expect/deserve.

It's not price but access that's led to me dabbling in the drm stuff: I've been able to buy Kindle for pc stuff from the US that I couldn't otherwise buy without a US address and card.

Also I run linux and manage my library and reader with Calibre under linux, stripping the drm is needed before I can do that properly.

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

A number of authors opted to go direct with apple with the belief Apple would be the big Kahuna, if not immediately, some day (could be, but this poll has yet to show anyone who has bought a book from Apple, never mind shop there regularly.)

That's pretty much a given since you put this poll in the Sony sub-forum and afaik (I'm not cutting edge) there's no way to run access the Apple store on a Sony reader atm.

If you're trying to get a general idea of people's buying habits and you do another poll maybe you should put it into the general section instead.

[BearMountainBooks]

Looks like Book on Board is fairly popular as well. All good info. Thanks again for all the helpful comments!

[simplyparticular]

Since April 1 (Big 5 Agency mess), I have purchased from:

Barnes & Noble (2x)
Fictionwise (1x)

I have downloaded 60+ free books from my local library's Overdrive system.

And I've read 3 classics from ManyBooks.

[warrigal]

Likewise, Baen books are really good, plus they have quite a few free ebooks, sample these to see if you like the author

Originally Posted by tulsa

In addition to the Sony bookstore, I buy a lot of science fiction at Baen books. (webscriptions). The main reason being the content and the fact that they are drm-free.

[BearMountainBooks]

Y'all have aaaaaaalmost convinced me that it's important to be in as many stores as possible. Okay, it's true that I suspected that to be the case, but I really did wonder how popular the Sony store was. I hadn't even started to wonder about the Kobo store--so that was bonus info for me.

Yeah, as soon as I can manage the Baen store, I'll do that.

Thanks for the input. Your kindness is much appreciated!

Maria

[neilmarr]

It's as hot as Hades here on the French Riviera, there's a heatwave alert (which is kinda serious in such a naturally sweltering neck of the woods) and folks with heart conditions (like me) have been instructed by medical experts to take as much liquid as possible.

So I've had several gallons of beer so far today on doctors' orders and am a little befuddled as a result (though still firmly in the land of the living, according to my pulse).

Here's the deal such befuddlement has prompted: Pop into my publishing site (linked below), go to the bookstore section, pick out two or three titles that catch your eye, email me, and -- for tomorrow and the weekend -- I'll send them over in the ebook format of your choice with our compliments. (Some earlier work is still in PDF only, but -- until we've converted the whole catalogue -- most, and all recenty titles, are also in ePub and Mobi (carefully prepared in house rather than through an automatic conversion process, so no problems).

There really are some beauts there. I know a lot of you, though, will only read free books. This is fair enough because you might just pass on a good word to some sucker who's willing to blow the cobwebs off a credit card and actually stump up a few bucks. So it's not really a free gift, it's called promotion.

Also, it's a wee way of saying thanks for your company this week, chaps and chappettes of MobileRead.

Cheers and happy reading. Neil ... ntmarrATbewrite.net (but use the @ sign, natch)

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by neilmarr

It's as hot as Hades here on the French Riviera, there's a heatwave alert (which is kinda serious in such a naturally sweltering neck of the woods) and folks with heart conditions (like me) have been instructed by medical experts to take as much liquid as possible.

So I've had several gallons of beer so far today on doctors' orders and am a little befuddled as a result (though still firmly in the land of the living, according to my pulse).

Here's the deal such befuddlement has prompted: Pop into my publishing site (linked below), go to the bookstore section, pick out two or three titles that catch your eye, email me, and -- for tomorrow and the weekend -- I'll send them over in the ebook format of your choice with our compliments. (Some earlier work is still in PDF only, but -- until we've converted the whole catalogue -- most, and all recenty titles, are also in ePub and Mobi (carefully prepared in house rather than through an automatic conversion process, so no problems).

There really are some beauts there. I know a lot of you, though, will only read free books. This is fair enough because you might just pass on a good word to some sucker who's willing to blow the cobwebs off a credit card and actually stump up a few bucks. So it's not really a free gift, it's called promotion.

Also, it's a wee way of saying thanks for your company this week, chaps and chappettes of MobileRead.

Cheers and happy reading. Neil ... ntmarrATbewrite.net (but use the @ sign, natch)

Neil,

You've got some GREAT covers out there. Really impressed and quite envious. I'll send you a request--but here's the titles that caught my eye:

Capable of Murder by Brian Kavanagh
http://www.bewrite.net/mm5/merchant....egory_Code=HUM

Allakazzam by Daniel Ableman
http://www.bewrite.net/mm5/merchant....egory_Code=HUM

The Devil Can Wait by Marta Stephens
http://www.bewrite.net/mm5/merchant....egory_Code=HUM



Maria

[neilmarr]

Just drop me a line of which formats you'd prefer, Maria, and I'll send them over: ntmarrATbewrite.net (but with the @ sign). Interesting to see in your post that two of the titles you've chosen are actually books within a series; I'll send you the complete series of each -- but attached to two or three separate emails so's not to give your postbox a heart attack. Cheers. Neil

[carld]

I usually buy from Amazon as I'm already set up there, and it's the most convenient, but I'm open to buying from anywhere.

[Dalwyn]

Thanks for the link neilmarr, will review your selection when I get home. Wife has given me my credit card back, so I can purchase more stuff now.

Maria,
Just to add to my selection "Sony Store":
Kobo
BooksonBoard
Borders (they just started selling ebooks in epub format)
and WHSmith in UK when I can't get the ebook in the US.

Regards
Dale