eBook Stores and Sources in 2017/2018

[Dr. Drib]

Amazon
Mobileread

To go anywhere else is simply.....INSANE!

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

Oh I download and de-DRM them all, just don't see the need for the extra hassle of having Amazon software installed as well as Adobe.

I buy ebooks from amazon and don't have software from amazon. adobe, microsoft, or apple installed on my computer.

[ottdmk]

Kobo & Gutenberg, mostly. I've bought a couple of Kindle books from Amazon, but mostly graphic novels that I wouldn't read on my Kobo anyways.

I need to get K4PC running on my Linux partition so I can Alf a couple of novels though. (An author I like is Amazon exclusive. Annoying.)

[disconnected]

I buy primarily from Amazon and Kobo.

I do my browsing on the Amazon site because it’s easier to navigate. Once I’ve found a book I want I search for it on the Kobo site. If the prices are close I buy from Kobo. I have no worries about Amazon going out of business but I want to do my bit to keep Kobo alive in the US – partly because I prefer Kobo ereaders and partly because I think competition is a good thing.

Kobo’s VIP program works well for me, even though the annual free book selection hasn’t had much that appeals to me lately. The points add up to a few free books every year and the discounts on the non-agency books often make them a bit cheaper at Kobo than at Amazon.

I strip DRM, keep everything in my Calibre library (with multiple backups), and sideload everything. I don’t care about the features of the various ecosystems.

[issybird]

I picked Amazon as likely to be around the longest, but I'm going to change that to Kobo. Kobo will be around long enough for my purposes and its much handier to have the option of downloading directly to my devices.

[Fbone]

Lately, it's been Google and Kobo. Google for the promotions. Kobo for price matching and direct downloads.

I've reached the point I just want to buy and read and not use Calibre.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by disconnected

I do my browsing on the Amazon site because it’s easier to navigate. Once I’ve found a book I want I search for it on the Kobo site.

How funny. The company that is primarily responsible for showrooming is not being showroomed.

[4691mls]

The Sony store I used to buy from when I first got an ereader no longer exists. However, the main reason I got the ereader was for library books and I get still books from the Overdrive library as well as Google Play and Booksamillion.com.

[MikeB1972]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

I buy ebooks from amazon and don't have software from amazon. adobe, microsoft, or apple installed on my computer.

I'm guessing you don't read on a Kobo then

[spindlegirl]

Originally Posted by Celestial

A lot has changed in the world of eBooks the past fifteen years. I'm curious... If you were to start your eBook collection all over again, what store(s) and/or legitimate source(s) (Project Gutenberg, et al.), would you primarily obtain them from?

In a way, I kind of have. When I first got my ereader I went for freebies and tons of freebies. My e-reader was stuffed with books I really didn't have much of a curiosity about except for the fact they were free.

A while ago I reviewed my library, and looked at what I am actually interested in keeping, and deleted a bunch of books I knew I would never read. Several hundred, actually. Most of what I kept were from MR, Gutenberg and books that had actually cost me some money.

I now mostly buy from Amazon and Google play, I focus less on the cost, (although I still have a limit) and more on the "do I want the book?" aspect.

Being more judicious in my choices has helped me maintain more of an interest in my reading.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by spindlegirl

In a way, I kind of have. When I first got my ereader I went for freebies and tons of freebies. My e-reader was stuffed with books I really didn't have much of a curiosity about except for the fact they were free.

I suspect many if not most went through a freebie phase. I was lucky, I suppose, in that most of the freebies were from Amazon and I've never had a Kindle, so the freebies languished since it wasn't worth the bother of doing anything with them. I also didn't grab everything and I came to my senses relatively early on at that, decided to make my Amazon library more muscular and did the big purge. Then you could only delete books from your Amazon account one. book. at. a. time. and it was an excruciatingly slow process. (Even now it's pretty slow, but at least you can do ten books at a time.) It was a salutary lesson and I was lucky at that, since I know for many their Amazon libraries are irretrievable in any useful sense.

Even now, I'll take a quick look at my Amazon library occasionally and see what can go. I wish it were smaller still. The two major areas remaining for the chopper are the public domain books I "bought" to get Whispersynced priced classics and the Open Road Media books from a year ago. The first, of course, should go because they'll always be free somewhere, and with the second, while I restricted myself to authors I've liked and books of interest, the reality is that most will never be read. I've done some purging, but I need to be more aggressive. As for the PD books, which I do expect to read (listen to) at some point, I figure they do no harm and are an easy way to access the content since they're already in my library.

[Gardenman]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Yes, and if (as I do) you have K4PC set up as your "Default Device" at Amazon, books get sent there automatically on purchase, so it's just a case of buying the book, running K4PC (which causes any bought books to download) and copying from there into Calibre.

I am sure Harry knows this but others might not. Calibre can be set to automatically import the books from K4PC

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by MikeB1972

I'm guessing you don't read on a Kobo then

Actually, I do, but not very often.

[svenlind]

Originally Posted by Gardenman

I am sure Harry knows this but others might not. Calibre can be set to automatically import the books from K4PC

Thank you.
I for one did not know that. Are you using settings Add Books -> Automatic Adding
to accomplish that?

[svenlind]

Originally Posted by svenlind

Thank you.
I for one did not know that. Are you using settings Add Books -> Automatic Adding
to accomplish that?

To answer my own question:

Go to Preferences -> Adding Books -> Automatic Adding

Here you can specify the folder that K4PC uses to place the books.
I have only checked Check for duplicates when adding files

Please note that Calibre deletes all files that are imported from the specified directory.

I started with deleting all files in the specified directory.

It will not be practical to use K4PC as an ebook reader, but that is of no concern for me.

It works very well. Buy a book from Amazon and let K4PC be your Amazon standard reader. The book appear auromatically in Calibre and the apprentice has done his magic.