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Bottom line: It's not a problem that I can fix. I buy my eBooks for places that I assume are reputable (which is Amazon for me, 95% of the time). And I rent them from places that I assume are reputable as well (my local libraries via Overdrive). And I do not do further research beyond that to prove to myself that what I buy/rent this way is legit or not.
In the last few months I have checked out two library books that certainly seemed a little suspicious. They had covers (only visible after I downloaded them, not when I checked them out) that were generated by Calibre. This was obvious to me since I generate books covers this way myself, for self-created PDF files and stuff. There's nothing wrong with using Calibre to author your eBooks, but I doubt many big name authors do it this way. While I can't remember the titles of the books with these suspect covers, I know they were from bigger name authors ... because that's the only books that my libraries seem to carry. They don't have obscure, unknown authors (that's one of my gripes about libraries actually - they tend to stick to standard fare, popular stuff). Oh, and now I remember that I had another Overdrive checked out book that had a cover that said "Microsoft" (this was a fiction novel, not a textbook). Huh? What was that? Seemed a bit suspicious too.
But who am I to know or judge? Microsoft may indeed have some eBook generating software that is commonly used by authors. And other authors may indeed use Calibre to create their eBooks. And it may be normal practice for some authors to not worry about creating more standard looking book covers. All's I know is that my library's Overdrive website should not be considered a pirate website for me to shun. If I can't trust that, and I can't trust Amazon, then where else would be considered a more trusted source to get eBooks from?
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