Your favorite epub vendor?

[Calenorn]

Anyone care to recommend an online vendor for epubs?

I'm looking for a company that deals within the US; one that isn't limited to a particular company's aps and devices. In other words, a company that will allow the purchase of a single epub that can be used on multiple devices from different manufacturers?

Also interested in good customer service.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience!

[gweeks]

Baen for SF and related genres. There are several publishers that use the store.

www.baenebooks.com

All Romance for romance genre.

http://www.allromanceebooks.com

There are a bunch of very small web sites selling ebooks such as http://www.scifi-az.com/ but there are many others as well.

I'm mostly using Amazon now for anything that's not on Baen.

Greg

[Calenorn]

Thanks, Greg!

Does anyone know of a listing of indy sites like the scifi-az site Greg mentioned? A list like that would be a good resource.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

Anyone care to recommend an online vendor for epubs?

I'm looking for a company that deals within the US; one that isn't limited to a particular company's aps and devices. In other words, a company that will allow the purchase of a single epub that can be used on multiple devices from different manufacturers?

Also interested in good customer service.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience!

Can't Google Books be used on any device that reads epub?

Shari

[Calenorn]

Originally Posted by shalym

Can't Google Books be used on any device that reads epub?

Shari

Good question! I'd like to keep using my NOOKs in the event that B&N croaks.

Anybody want to share their experience using Google Books?

[crich70]

Oddly enough, despite some problems, I'd have to say Kobo is the best epub vendor I know. They aren't perfect by any means but they do sort out any problems in the end.

[Calenorn]

Originally Posted by crich70

Oddly enough, despite some problems, I'd have to say Kobo is the best epub vendor I know. They aren't perfect by any means but they do sort out any problems in the end.

But you use a Kindle, right? Isn't Kobo all epubs?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

But you use a Kindle, right? Isn't Kobo all epubs?

Irrelevant. It's trivial to convert from ePub to Kindle format, or vice versa.

[Calenorn]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Irrelevant. It's trivial to convert from ePub to Kindle format, or vice versa.

(I hope you will all forgive my beginner type questions.)

Trivial, well, I think I know what you mean.

But since B&N now prevents the downloading of their book files, it's no longer possible to convert from their epubs into mobi. Isn't that right? So no vice versa in their case?

And I would need ADE to purchase from most companies, wouldn't I?

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Irrelevant. It's trivial to convert from ePub to Kindle format, or vice versa.

Not without breaching the terms of the license contract.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

But since B&N now prevents the downloading of their book files, it's no longer possible to convert from their epubs into mobi. Isn't that right? So no vice versa in their case?

No, not right. Download the book using "Nook for PC". You now have the ePub which can be converted.

[Calenorn]

Originally Posted by HarryT

No, not right. Download the book using "Nook for PC". You now have the ePub which can be converted.

That's the pre-windows 8 software, yes? I would not be surprised if B&N plugs that hole in the near future.

At any rate, I'm still wondering what would be the best source from which to purchase epubs (other than Barnes & Noble) that I can side-load onto my old NOOKs.

I have two NSTs and I intend to never turn their wifi on again!

[GeoffR]

My favourites would be Baen and some publisher shops such as Spatterlight Press: All their books are DRM-free and without georestrictions, if only it was like that everywhere. Unfortunately not a big range, and nothing from the big publishers.

Otherwise my favourite is whoever has the best price on the day. In New Zealand that is usually Kobo (they charge in New Zealand dollas so no currency conversion or credit card fees, and most books are eligible for promo codes including the majority of the big publisher's books).

I've never had an issue with any retailer's customer service. All my problems have been fixed or a refund offered. (Edit: Although if the problem has to do with book content or availability I think it is better to deal with the publisher direct rather than go through the retailer.)

[eschwartz]

My favorite EPUB vendor is... well, actually Amazon. Great service and any book can be easily converted to EPUB using calibre.

Unless you'd prefer Kobo's recent habit of making books KEPUB only, or
B&N's partitioning of the userstore to hide your books, plus violating everyone's trust when they removed the download buttons.

And right now they are the three main publishers and your best chance of getting ANY book you are interested in.

Google Books may be the only non-Amazon, sane option left since all their books can be downloaded via .acsm into ADE.
And Apple is a joke that shall not be further mentioned.

Yes, there are workarounds... there are almost always workarounds.
KEPUBs can be downloaded via the desktop program and imported with a magic plugin (Nate has it somewhere) and B&N has greasemonkey scripts or Nook for PC (which many people have had problems with)... but the hassle...

[crich70]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Not without breaching the terms of the license contract.

Maybe, but then I'm not posting the books to torrent files for others to download either. Instead I'm just converting them for my own use. I think that should make a difference. And I imagine that many book sellers (including Kobo) expect that at least some buyers will convert books once they have bought them from them.