Amazon to allow downloads of DRM free books - Page 19

jhowell · 01-29-2026, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.p.s

image-0-1.jpg 249x51 883,002 (249*51*3 = 38,097 !!!)

I took a look at that file since it is ridiculously large. The bulk of it is Adobe Photoshop DocumentAncestors metadata tracking changes to the image over time.

It is completely useless and to me it indicates a failure by Tor to clean up their files prior to publication.

JSWolf · 01-30-2026, 06:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shamanNS

The Way of Kings, with ASIN "B003P2WO5E" has that "download epub/pdf" option on Amazon. Chrome for Android downloads it with zip extension instead of with epub extension.

It's a Chrome issue. Switch to a different browser if you want the ePub to download properly. But don't switch to one that's chromium based.

JSWolf · 01-30-2026, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Sure, but each book has to be individually enabled. I've never bought one, so I can't check.

Also, didn't he self publish a few? There was a thread by one of his assistants a few yeats ago.

I did pick up The Way of Kings when it was free. Is there anything you want to know about it vs the non-Amazon ePub?

DiapDealer · 01-30-2026, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It's a Chrome issue. Switch to a different browser if you want the ePub to download properly. But don't switch to one that's chromium based.

Or simply tell Chrome you want to select the location of each download (in Chrome's download settings) and then change the filename (including the extension) to whatever you want before downloading. Since one knows they're downloading an epub beforehand, how hard is to change an extension before begining the download? Or just rename it after downloading. No need for drastic browser switches.

lkmiller · 01-30-2026, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.p.s

^ What is the file size of the EPUB from Tor?

Kobo: 44,304,830 bytes
Tor: 102,291,440 bytes

You can download it from this page (requires being signed into the website):
https://reactormag.com/some-of-the-b...20-is-out-now/

JSWolf · 01-30-2026, 10:24 AM

You do not want to get eBooks from Google if they have hi-res graphics other then the cover and title page.. I just tried the Tor 2020 eBook and it's a lot smaller then it should be because the hi-res graphics have been reduced in resolution.

lkmiller · 01-30-2026, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Sure, but each book has to be individually enabled. I've never bought one, so I can't check.

Also, didn't he self publish a few? There was a thread by one of his assistants a few yeats ago.

I have one of Sanderson's books published by Dragonsteel in Oct 2025 and it has an epub download. The other five I have are all Tor and have downloads (3 epub, 2 pdf).

Sirtel · 01-30-2026, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You do not want to get eBooks from Google. I just tried the Tor 2020 eBook and it's a lot smaller then it should be because the hi-res graphics have been reduced in resolution.

For most of my books this doesn't matter at all.

JSWolf · 01-30-2026, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirtel

For most of my books this doesn't matter at all.

This is true. I'll update my post.

JSWolf · 01-30-2026, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

Jon, just in case you are forgetting, a Kobo kepub is an ePub. They pass epubcheck. They will display on any ePub renderer without issue that I've seen since that mass of extra spans are, visually speaking, null operations. You may consider anything that is not coded to your idiosyncratic formatting choices as not being valid ePub but a kepub is standards compliant and is an ePub.

But I don't want KePub. I want the ePub. I want to see how compressed the graphics are with the ePub. The graphics in the KePub are compressed. I don't know of Kobo did it when converting to KePub or it's like that in the ePub.

When I compare some of the graphics from the Amazon ePub and the Tor ePub, the file sizes and resolution are the same. So it looks like the graphics with an Amazon ePub have not been modified at all.

Kye · 01-30-2026, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Does anyone know whether any of Brandon Sanderson's books are available from amazon as EPUB?

Shadows of Self, The Bands of Mourning, and The Rithmatist download as PDF.

Most everything else downloads as EPUB.

The Reckoners series and the Skyward series don't have a download option.

I'm not sure about some of his most recent books, though.

lkmiller · 01-31-2026, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kye

The Reckoners series and the Skyward series don't have a download option.

Those two YA series are with Delacorte Press (Random Penguin) and have DRM.

JSWolf · 01-31-2026, 07:21 AM

The Brandon Sanderson books from Tor should all be able to be downloaded.

Kye · 01-31-2026, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lkmiller

Those two YA series are with Delacorte Press (Random Penguin) and have DRM.

Good point. I was just mentioning them to be as thorough as possible.

I forgot to mention that Edgedancer is also not downloadable for me. However, I appear to have an older version, so that's likely why. Intererestingly, the metadata for my copy says it's from Tor Publishing Group. The current version is from Dragonsteel.

j.p.s · 01-31-2026, 09:39 PM

Thank you very much to everyone that had information and suggestions regarding ebooks by Brandon Sanderson available as EPUB from amazon. Based on posts by Sanderson's editor, Peter Ahlstrom, in the thread https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=311429 I decided to try Tress first and got a few pleasant surprises for the KF8.

The EPUB is only a little larger than the azw3. 4.4MB vs 3.9MB. As expected, based on the above thread, the EPUB has quite a few GIFs. (Of course, amazon could have converted them, but at least in this case, they did not.) I thought amazon converted publisher supplied GIF to JPEG for azw3, but they not only kept the GIFs in the azw3 and they are byte for byte identical to those in the EPUB. Many of the JPEGs were also byte for byte identical to those in the EPUB. Interestingly, some azw3 JPEGS only differed in that they are 1 byte larger. (All the other bytes are identical value, I guess amazon requires JPEG images to be an even number of bytes in size.) I also see from the above thread that amazon converts PNG to GIF, so I guess the GIF format is expected to be retained after all. Kind of sucks regarding PNG if that is still true.

It looks like amazon cares a lot more about file size than image dimensions. There are a couple of images about 1200x1800 and 250KB in the EPUB that are about 780x1200 and 123 KB in the azw3. None of the images were quite the sort I'm looking for, so I'll probably select another one soon.

01-30-2026, 10:24 AM	#276
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 81,920 Karma: 150266009 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	You do not want to get eBooks from Google if they have hi-res graphics other then the cover and title page.. I just tried the Tor 2020 eBook and it's a lot smaller then it should be because the hi-res graphics have been reduced in resolution. Last edited by JSWolf; 01-30-2026 at 10:43 AM.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
No more DRM-free downloads as Amazon's ComiXology app set to disappear inside Kindle	Paperbackstash	News	23	03-01-2022 09:51 AM
Google Books Offers ePub Downloads Of Free Books	AprilHare	News	19	05-17-2011 11:02 PM
Amazon to provide DRM free books formats	mmiesi	Amazon Kindle	14	04-17-2011 12:43 AM
DRM-Free PDF Downloads	davidbrucehughes	Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links)	6	12-09-2009 09:03 AM
Amazon DRM limits downloads	Angst	News	1	06-24-2009 12:17 PM

01-31-2026, 07:21 AM	#283
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 81,920 Karma: 150266009 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	The Brandon Sanderson books from Tor should all be able to be downloaded.

01-31-2026, 09:39 PM	#285
j.p.s Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,919 Karma: 106187745 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: pb360	Thank you very much to everyone that had information and suggestions regarding ebooks by Brandon Sanderson available as EPUB from amazon. Based on posts by Sanderson's editor, Peter Ahlstrom, in the thread https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=311429 I decided to try Tress first and got a few pleasant surprises for the KF8. The EPUB is only a little larger than the azw3. 4.4MB vs 3.9MB. As expected, based on the above thread, the EPUB has quite a few GIFs. (Of course, amazon could have converted them, but at least in this case, they did not.) I thought amazon converted publisher supplied GIF to JPEG for azw3, but they not only kept the GIFs in the azw3 and they are byte for byte identical to those in the EPUB. Many of the JPEGs were also byte for byte identical to those in the EPUB. Interestingly, some azw3 JPEGS only differed in that they are 1 byte larger. (All the other bytes are identical value, I guess amazon requires JPEG images to be an even number of bytes in size.) I also see from the above thread that amazon converts PNG to GIF, so I guess the GIF format is expected to be retained after all. Kind of sucks regarding PNG if that is still true. It looks like amazon cares a lot more about file size than image dimensions. There are a couple of images about 1200x1800 and 250KB in the EPUB that are about 780x1200 and 123 KB in the azw3. None of the images were quite the sort I'm looking for, so I'll probably select another one soon.