FREE/BARGAIN — Audiobooks

[lxpose]

"As of January 18, 2019, Tantor will no longer sell digital downloads directly through tantor.com.

We ask that if you have previously purchased downloads on tantor.com that you download them to a personal device or computer as soon as you can. Any downloads located in My Bookshelf will remain accessible to you until 3/31/2019; after that time the My Bookshelf section will be removed from the site and the downloads will no longer be available."

[Tarana]

Well, that's a bummer. These were DRM free, so easy to archive.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by lxpose

"As of January 18, 2019, Tantor will no longer sell digital downloads directly through tantor.com.

We ask that if you have previously purchased downloads on tantor.com that you download them to a personal device or computer as soon as you can. Any downloads located in My Bookshelf will remain accessible to you until 3/31/2019; after that time the My Bookshelf section will be removed from the site and the downloads will no longer be available."

Thanks for the heads up

At least we're getting a couple of months to download our books.

Here's the full email from Tantor that was sent out this morning:

Spoiler:

To Our Valued Tantor Customers,

As of January 18, 2019, Tantor will no longer sell digital downloads directly through tantor.com.

Please note we are continuing to produce all your favorite audiobooks and our products will still be available through major distributors such as Amazon, Audible, Google Play, iTunes, Audiobooks.com, and Kobo as well as through library distributors such as Hoopla, OverDrive, and RB Digital.

We ask that if you have previously purchased downloads on tantor.com that you download them to a personal device or computer as soon as you can. Any downloads located in My Bookshelf will remain accessible to you until 3/31/2019; after that time the My Bookshelf section will be removed from the site and the downloads will no longer be available.

If there are any questions about accessing downloads before they are removed please contact us directly at customerservice@tantor.com.

Thank you for your continued patronage over the years, we look forward to producing many more titles for you in the future.

Sincerely,
Your Tantor Audio Team

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Well, that's a bummer. These were DRM free, so easy to archive.

From the email:

Please note we are continuing to produce all your favorite audiobooks and our products will still be available through major distributors such as Amazon, Audible, Google Play, iTunes, Audiobooks.com, and Kobo as well as through library distributors such as Hoopla, OverDrive, and RB Digital.

All of these vendors have DRM. Think they'll sell Tantor titles DRM-Free?

[issybird]

Dang. Bad enough with Tantor; I hope Downpour isn't next.

And yes, at least we've got sufficient notice.

What a pity, though.

[skinmaan]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

From the email:


All of these vendors have DRM. Think they'll sell Tantor titles DRM-Free?

Google and Audiobooks.com don't have DRM, at least for Tantor titles. I have bought at least 1 Tantor title from Google and it is available for download.

[tubemonkey]

Daily Deals -- exp 09 Jan @ 11:59 PM PT

• Audible -----> TBA ---- Holding -- Graham Norton --> mystery
  
• Downpour --> $2.95 -- Unselling -- John D Hughes --> NF business
  
• eStories ----> $14.99 -- New York 2140 -- Kim Stanley Robinson --> sci-fi

* Unselling: The Independent Consultant’s Guide to Trusting God for More Business, Faith, and Life

[tubemonkey]

Downpour -- Rental of the Week -- exp 14 Jan

• $1.99 -- Fletch, Too -- Gregory Mcdonald/ Dan John Miller --> 5.7 hrs --> mystery

The Fletch Mysteries (book 9)

After a heck of a week at the News-Tribune with only a few minor blunders, Fletch is finally getting married to his blushing bride, Barbara. As the small gathering of friends and family converge on the gusty bluff for the ceremony, Fletch is handed a curious envelope by a mustached stranger that contains something almost unbelievable—a letter from his supposedly dead father, inviting him and his new wife to Africa for a visit.

More than just a little curious, Fletch convinces the skeptical Barbara to forgo the skiing adventure they had planned to find the father he’s never known. But upon their arrival in Nairobi, just as the hunt begins for the elusive Fletch Senior, a murder threatens to derail the trip before they even leave the airport.

Rental FAQ

Spoiler:

When does my rental period begin?

Your rental timer will begin counting down when you first initiate the download on your device or 10 days after purchase, whichever comes first.

How long can I listen to a title?

All digital rentals provide a minimum of 30 days to listen to a book from the time you initiate your first download. With some of our longer books, such as Atlas Shrugged (63hrs), we extend the listening period to 60 days. You do have the option of purchasing a 5, 10, or 20 day extension after you have made your rental purchase.

How many times can I listen to my rental?

You may listen to a rental as many times as you would like until it expires.

Can I extend my rental time period?

Once you are logged into your Downpour.com account, you can purchase a time extension for any of your previous rentals via THIS link. After clicking “Extend Rental,” you have the option of purchasing a 5-day ($1.95), 10-day ($2.95) or 20-day ($4.95) extension. If your rental has not yet expired, the purchased time will be added onto your rental. (Example: if your rental has one day remaining, and you purchase a five-day extension, you will now have six days total before your rental expires.) If your rental has already expired, the extension will allow you to listen to your book again for the amount of time purchased.

Can I have the same rental on more than one device?

You may listen to your audiobook rental on as many personal devices as you own. Your rental time will be synced across all devices on which you have installed the Downpour app.

[tubemonkey]

Now that Tantor is exiting direct sales, we bid a fond farewell to their free monthly classic titles. I picked up 40 of these free books over the years and thank them for the offers.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by skinmaan

Google and Audiobooks.com don't have DRM, at least for Tantor titles. I have bought at least 1 Tantor title from Google and it is available for download.

Thanks, that's good to know. Maybe their titles will remain DRM-Free on the other DRM vendor sites.

[skinmaan]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Thanks, that's good to know. Maybe their titles will remain DRM-Free on the other DRM vendor sites.

Unfortunately Audible/Amazon and iTunes don't give vendors the option to be DRM-free. That's the reason you'll find no Corey Doctorow titles on these sites. I don't know what is going on with Kobo. They are using Overdrive's engine, but they added a DRM component several months ago. I froze my Kobo version just before this and disabled auto-update. The only sites I know that have some DRM and some not is Google and Audiobooks Now.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Now that Tantor is exiting direct sales, we bid a fond farewell to their free monthly classic titles. I picked up 40 of these free books over the years and thank them for the offers.

Now I've got to decide which of the free monthly titles I'm going to download. Realistically I'll never feel like listening to some of them, so there's no point. I'm going to start with the purchased stuff in any case.

[ApK]

I only have 20 items total, and though I'm sure I've downloaded many of them in the past, it was easy enough to just to download them all to be safe.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by issybird

Now I've got to decide which of the free monthly titles I'm going to download. Realistically I'll never feel like listening to some of them, so there's no point. I'm going to start with the purchased stuff in any case.

Mr cheap monkey never spent any money there. I think Audible is the only site I've ever spent any real money on.

We keep losing vendors offering free monthly audiobooks. Penguin hasn't offered up a free monthly book in the last two months, so I'm not sure if they're offering them anymore. They still offer free books every now and then through Tryaudiobooks, but that's random and you never know when new ones will arrive and when they'll disappear. So that leaves christianaudio as the only vendor still offering a free monthly audiobook.

[skinmaan]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Mr cheap monkey never spent any money there. I think Audible is the only site I've ever spent any real money on.

I was quite happy to throw some money at Tantor most every time they did the $4.99 sale since I got DRM-free titles. I prefer that for just this sort of occasion. I'll seriously lament the loss of Tantor. I had 75 titles in my library on their site. In addition to the freebies, I helped them beta-test their current website back in the day. Maybe that is why it is a little clunky...