Fictionwise has shut down!

[lfeuln]

Oh wow. I had 25 books or so from eReader.com (Palm and early iOS days) and had to remove the drm and covert to epub for my Nook to read them. If they can officially be part of my Nook library now with the benefit of syncing, etc. I'll be thrilled.

[banjomike]

These days I'm never too surprised when a big company craps on the customers of a small company they bought out.

[HarryT]

I've just received the following e-mail from FW (I'm in the UK):

Dear Fictionwise and eBookwise Customer,

As you may know, in March of 2009, Fictionwise, comprised of several eBook retail websites, including Fictionwise.com , eReader.com and eBookwise.com, was acquired by Barnes & Noble.

Fictionwise is in the process of winding down its operations, and Fictionwise.com (including eReader.com and eBookwise.com) will end sales on December 4, 2012. Please note, you will not be able to access your Fictionwise Bookshelf after December 21, 2012.

An Easy Transition to Barnes & Noble's NOOK® Reading Experience

We know how important eBooks are to you, and we'd like to offer you the opportunity to transfer your Fictionwise.com Bookshelf to a NOOK Library by following the steps below.

You will be able to read the transferred eBooks that you purchased at Fictionwise (including eReader.com and eBookwise.com) by downloading NOOK's free mobile app to your iOS or Android smartphone or tablet, or you can read your transferred eBooks with your PC/Mac web browser, as well as on the award-winning NOOK® devices. If you would like to transfer your Fictionwise eBooks in your Fictionwise Bookshelf to a NOOK Library, simply opt-in by following the steps below.

Step 1:

Click through to the link below to go to the opt-in page, where you'll be instructed to confirm that you would like your Fictionwise eBooks in your Fictionwise Bookshelf transferred to a NOOK Library. Please opt-in by December 21, 2012.


Step 2:

Once you opt-in, you will receive an email from Barnes & Noble.com with an access code and instructions for redeeming this code. This access code represents the Fictionwise eBooks in your Fictionwise Bookshelf that are being transferred to a NOOK Library for you. You will also see a link to a code redemption page.

Click through to the redemption page and simply enter your code as prompted. This will move your existing eBooks into a NOOK Library. Please redeem this code by January 31, 2013.

How Will the Transition Work?

· Once you enter your access code, if you do not already have a Barnes & Noble.com account you will be prompted to create an account connected with this email address.
· When you create your Barnes & Noble.com account, you will be asked for a credit card. A credit card is required to access some secured titles. Please note, however, that your credit card will not be charged for any of the titles that you transferred from Fictionwise nor for the transfer itself.
· A few Fictionwise titles may not transfer due to discontinued publishing programs. You will be able to see which titles are not able to be transferred by clicking here. In most cases, you can back up these Fictionwise files to your personal hard drive on a Mac or PC. To learn more about backing up these files, please click here http://www.fictionwise.com/BN-Transition-FAQ.htm.
· AudioBooks will not be part of this transfer process. If you want to continue to access audiobook files, we recommend that you back up those files if you haven't done so already. To learn more about backing up and downloading these files, please click here http://www.fictionwise.com/BN-Transition-FAQ.htm.
· Personal files that you may have uploaded to your eBookwise library (i.e., any file in your eBookwise library that was not sold to you by eBookwise) will not transfer.
· Subscriptions to magazines will not transfer. Please note that these subscriptions have been fulfilled through November 2012. Any remaining balance in your subscription will be refunded and subscription holders will receive a separate communication regarding this refund.

Please note that once the Fictionwise eBooks are transferred to a NOOK Library, the eBooks will be in ePub format. The ePub titles that will appear in your new NOOK Library cannot be read on Fictionwise legacy applications and devices.

If you elect to opt in, please note that any eBooks you have purchased at Fictionwise.com from October 23th to December 4, 2012, will not be part of the initial transfer process, but will be automatically transferred to your NOOK Library starting December 10, 2012. No action is required on your part once you have opted in.

A reminder: Whether or not you opt in to have your Fictionwise eBooks transferred to a NOOK Library, by December 21, 2012, you should download any titles and/or files you plan to read on an application or on a device that does not support ePub. You can learn more about downloading your Fictionwise files here: http://www.fictionwise.com/BN-Transition-FAQ.htm.


To transfer your Fictionwise eBooks to a NOOK Library, click here to go to the opt-in page.

[deleted]

Please opt-in by December 21, 2012.


What if I don't opt-in to have my eBooks transferred?

After December 21, 2012, your Fictionwise Bookshelf will no longer be accessible via the Fictionwise.com website. If you decide not to opt-in to have your Fictionwise Bookshelf transferred to NOOK, you will need to make sure that, if you haven't done so already, you have downloaded your eBooks to continue reading these eBooks through Fictionwise legacy applications and devices. Since AudioBooks, any personal files created, and subscriptions to magazines will not be available to transfer to a NOOK Library, please make sure you have previously downloaded these files, or please download these files before December 21, 2012. You can learn more about downloading your Fictionwise files here: http://www.fictionwise.com/BN-Transition-FAQ.htm.


Information about Micropay Accounts and Buywise Club

Please take a moment to use your Micropay Dollars at Fictionwise.com, as they will not be valid after December 4, 2012. Please note that any eBooks purchased at Fictionwise after you have opted-in to transfer to a NOOK Library at Barnes & Noble will not be part of the initial transfer process. As noted above, a second transfer will be possible for titles purchased between October 23 December 4, 2012 and you will automatically be eligible for this second transfer once opted-in.

If you don't use your Micropay Dollars by December 4, 2012, you will receive a separate email regarding the refund on any balance in your account.



For more information about how you can transfer your Fictionwise Bookshelf to a NOOK Library, including additional details on how the transition will apply to current Buywise Club members, eMagazine subscriptions, Micropay Dollars and more, please visit our FAQ web page: http://www.fictionwise.com/BN-Transition-FAQ.htm

We greatly appreciate your support of Fictionwise over the years. Together, we helped pioneer eBooks and eReading.

Thank you.


The Fictionwise Team

[latepaul]

It's been a long time since I checked my account at eReader.com. Back in the day I used to think they had the best software going.

Anyway I had to reset my password and when I went to my bookshelf it was only showing a couple of books with a download link. Both of those links lead to a 404 page. The other books wanted me to enter up to date credit card info to re-activate the links. Which I'm not sure I want to do to recover a handful of books when the site is going out of business.

Anyone actually managed to download their files?

[HarryT]

Hmmm. OK, I've done the B&N migration thing, set up a new account and, so far, only 6 of my FW books have appeared in it. Let's hope that more show up over time!

Interestingly, it's migrated me to B&N US, even though my UK account at FW is clearly a UK one.

[sabredog]

I got a similar email.

After what happened to me at Diesel back when Agency pricing was the new kid on the block, I backed off my library on Fictionwise long ago.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by sabredog

I got a similar email.

After what happened to me at Diesel back when Agency pricing was the new kid on the block, I backed off my library on Fictionwise long ago.

Absolutely. I've said time and time again that your eBooks are never safe until you have them, DRM-free, on storage media that's under your control. Never assume that books will remain available at the store where you bought them.

[fjtorres]

I clicked on the transition link and it claims my email doesn't match their records.
The same email address they sent me the fictionwise shutdown notice to which is the same email address for my (vestigial) Nook account.
Ah, B&N is still B&N, even when they try to do something right.
Mind you, I never bought anything from Fictionwise I couldn't de-DRM and promptly did so, but still...

I'll try again later but I have no expectations of any change.

[HarryT]

Given that I currently have 6 books out of the 350-ish I've bought at FW, I suspect you haven't lost much . (Obviously I have all mine safely backed-up, too!)

[junkml]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Given that I currently have 6 books out of the 350-ish I've bought at FW, I suspect you haven't lost much . (Obviously I have all mine safely backed-up, too!)

Similar for me. I've got 223 books with Fictionwise. Only 22 of them transferred.

[wallflower75]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

I clicked on the transition link and it claims my email doesn't match their records.
The same email address they sent me the fictionwise shutdown notice to which is the same email address for my (vestigial) Nook account.
Ah, B&N is still B&N, even when they try to do something right.
Mind you, I never bought anything from Fictionwise I couldn't de-DRM and promptly did so, but still...

I'll try again later but I have no expectations of any change.

Same here--and I've got two separate accounts with Fictionwise/eBookwise. Neither of them worked.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Given that I currently have 6 books out of the 350-ish I've bought at FW, I suspect you haven't lost much . (Obviously I have all mine safely backed-up, too!)

Nope.
But it's the principle of the thing!
Making promises and all that.

[booklover6]

This sucks. Another reason to never shop at B&N. I loved buying at FW and bought tons and tons of books there. I loved their sales. Guess I will be heading over to the publisher web sites and Amazon for my (non-big-6) books.

[Quake1028]

I only have 6 or 7 books there, never bought much from them. Doubt I will even bother with the transfer, they are all MF and backed up on my PC.

[Elfwreck]

"Over the past three years there has been a significant decrease in demand for many of the eBook formats that the Fictionwise Websites sell. In contrast, the eBook format supported by Barnes & Noble--ePub--is growing in popularity."

Unspoken: Because B&N dropped all support for other formats, and didn't allow Fictionwise to grow--they haven't been accepting new publishers for over a year, and I'd heard back from one publisher (Wildside) that they'd given up on putting new books out at FW because the process had gotten so tangled it wasn't worth the effort.

Also unspoken: We couldn't be bothered to support the features that made FW successful--Buywise and micropay--so we substituted a gimmick of "Every week there'll be a discount!" guaranteeing that most customers just waited for 40% or more off list price. So of course, revenue has dropped, and rather than admit publicly that that's because of our active suppression of the site's business model, we're going to imply it's because people don't want non-DRM'd mobi ebooks anymore.

Because that format has no widespread commercial appeal, right?

(They also had formatting glitches. I bought one book that the "Kindle" version only had the cover, and the "mobipocket pdb" version had the text, but no cover. I wrote to them about it; never got an answer.)

Damn. I'll miss multiformat ebooks. I'll miss what FW was before B&N bought them out.