WOWIO nearly ready to relaunch site

carld · 07-30-2008, 02:10 PM

As many know, WOWIO (a great site for free PDF ebooks) has been down as they get ready for a "global relaunch". I went to the site just now, and saw that they have a 24 Hour countdown clock running. It's just under 23 hours till the site relaunches.

WOWIO

JSWolf · 07-30-2008, 04:49 PM

Should be interesting to see the new site. I'm going to have to have a look and see how their PDF work with the new 505 firmware.

carld · 07-31-2008, 12:58 PM

Wowio is back up, and it's terribly disappointing. You can still read books online for free, but downloads cost $$. The fees aren't cheap either.

daffy4u · 07-31-2008, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carld

Wowio is back up, and it's terribly disappointing. You can still read books online for free, but downloads cost $$. The fees aren't cheap either.

There was someone here in the past couple of days asking about reading books online. This seems to be the site for them.

DaleDe · 08-01-2008, 12:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daffy4u

There was someone here in the past couple of days asking about reading books online. This seems to be the site for them.

If you check the wiki for Free Books you will find lots of locations that offer free online reading. The page is divided into online reading and free downloads.

Dale

WillAdams · 08-01-2008, 08:57 AM

They're gradually rolling out more advertising partners --- the big difference is now, advertisers can pick a particular category of ebooks to put their ad in, which makes sense and should help them attract more advertisers.

William
(who is finally getting the end of the _Southern Knights_ comic saga courtesy of EA Sports)

JSWolf · 08-01-2008, 09:07 AM

Wowio is now totally useless. The reading online interface is awful. And they are now charging a lot for PDF. The site may as well just go away because it is now so bad.

rhadin · 08-01-2008, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Wowio is now totally useless. The reading online interface is awful. And they are now charging a lot for PDF. The site may as well just go away because it is now so bad.

I agree and have already deleted WOWIO from my favorites list. Why would someone pay $12.99 to read a PDF with advertising?

carld · 08-01-2008, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhadin

I agree and have already deleted WOWIO from my favorites list. Why would someone pay $12.99 to read a PDF with advertising?

At first I thought it might not be so bad. I'd pay a little bit for some 50's SciFi classics I was interested in. But to see something copyright 1957 priced for $12-$13 or even higher was laughable. Sorry, but no.

WOWIO is off my favorites list as well. If I'm going to buy books (and I do), it certainly isn't going to be from an outfit with a limited selection, and high prices that only supports PDF.

WillAdams · 08-01-2008, 11:18 AM

If you pay for a .pdf, it won't have advertising --- I believe it'll be branded w/ your name, ``secured'' &c. though.

William

JSWolf · 08-01-2008, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillAdams

If you pay for a .pdf, it won't have advertising --- I believe it'll be branded w/ your name, ``secured'' &c. though.

William

Still why pay ridiculous prices for branded PDF? That's just a bad idea. Its time Wowio went back to their previous model.

WillAdams · 08-01-2008, 03:15 PM

Their previous business model apparently wasn't sustainable, hence the change --- I got a lot of .pdfs which were branded by Wowio, which meant that they were paying the royalty fee out of their own pocket.

On the bright side, they've eliminated the download limits, so as long as an advertising contract holds up, one can download as many books as they're willing to pay for (as opposed to just the 3, 4 or 5 they used to allow per day).

William
(who has finished d/l'ing all the _Southern Knights_ comic books and looks forward to reading them over the weekend on his Fujitsu Stylistic)

carld · 08-01-2008, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillAdams

On the bright side, they've eliminated the download limits, so as long as an advertising contract holds up, one can download as many books as they're willing to pay for (as opposed to just the 3, 4 or 5 they used to allow per day).

Have you found advertiser supported free books? I've searched, and looked at a good number of books. None of them were free downloads.

Carl

IanHelgesen · 08-01-2008, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carld

Have you found advertiser supported free books? I've searched, and looked at a good number of books. None of them were free downloads.

Carl

Apparently they're now selling ads by category. If you go to your library, you should see something saying "You have gifts waiting". Click on it, and it will show you a list of sponsored categories. You can download anything in those categories for free (up to some limit). So far, it seems to be just "Articles and Essays" and "Comics and Graphic Novels" that have sponsors.

07-30-2008, 02:10 PM	#1
carld Wizard Posts: 2,698 Karma: 4748723 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	WOWIO nearly ready to relaunch site As many know, WOWIO (a great site for free PDF ebooks) has been down as they get ready for a "global relaunch". I went to the site just now, and saw that they have a 24 Hour countdown clock running. It's just under 23 hours till the site relaunches. WOWIO

07-31-2008, 12:58 PM	#3
carld Wizard Posts: 2,698 Karma: 4748723 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Wowio is back up, and it's terribly disappointing. You can still read books online for free, but downloads cost $$. The fees aren't cheap either. Last edited by carld; 07-31-2008 at 01:00 PM.

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07-30-2008, 04:49 PM	#2
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,120 Karma: 144284184 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Should be interesting to see the new site. I'm going to have to have a look and see how their PDF work with the new 505 firmware.

08-01-2008, 08:57 AM	#6
WillAdams Wizard Posts: 1,258 Karma: 3439432 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (300ppi), Samsung Galaxy Book 12	They're gradually rolling out more advertising partners --- the big difference is now, advertisers can pick a particular category of ebooks to put their ad in, which makes sense and should help them attract more advertisers. William (who is finally getting the end of the _Southern Knights_ comic saga courtesy of EA Sports)

08-01-2008, 09:07 AM	#7
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,120 Karma: 144284184 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Wowio is now totally useless. The reading online interface is awful. And they are now charging a lot for PDF. The site may as well just go away because it is now so bad.

08-01-2008, 11:18 AM	#10
WillAdams Wizard Posts: 1,258 Karma: 3439432 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (300ppi), Samsung Galaxy Book 12	If you pay for a .pdf, it won't have advertising --- I believe it'll be branded w/ your name, ``secured'' &c. though. William

08-01-2008, 03:15 PM	#12
WillAdams Wizard Posts: 1,258 Karma: 3439432 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (300ppi), Samsung Galaxy Book 12	Their previous business model apparently wasn't sustainable, hence the change --- I got a lot of .pdfs which were branded by Wowio, which meant that they were paying the royalty fee out of their own pocket. On the bright side, they've eliminated the download limits, so as long as an advertising contract holds up, one can download as many books as they're willing to pay for (as opposed to just the 3, 4 or 5 they used to allow per day). William (who has finished d/l'ing all the _Southern Knights_ comic books and looks forward to reading them over the weekend on his Fujitsu Stylistic)