Amazon and DRM changes

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But what will you do when an Amazon exclusive author releases a new book in a series you've given a good amount of reading to? When you can no longer download it in a way you can remove any DRM and convert?

That happened to me. I'd gotten several books into a KDP-exclusive series and had been planning to continue it until the change. I just abandoned it.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But what will you do when an Amazon exclusive author releases a new book in a series you've given a good amount of reading to? When you can no longer download it in a way you can remove any DRM and convert?

I don't really follow series.

But to give you a better answer, I'd really like to see the Mr. Mercedes TV series. But I don't want to see it bad enough to subscribe to Peacock. You can't have everything you want.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

...I'd really like to see the Mr. Mercedes TV series. But I don't want to see it bad enough to subscribe to Peacock.

I've abandoned a couple of shows as well. I don't want to have to subscribe to Peacock. And to Paramount+. And to Disney+. And to Netflix. And to HBO Max. And to Hulu. It's getting quite ridiculous. If books start heading down this stupid path and I have to subscribe to Amazon, and to Barnes & Noble, and to Kobo ... I will abandon books too.

"Exclusive content" is not the Golden Goose they think it is. More like an Albatross around their necks.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

In other words ... it's surprising to me (and apparently issybird) that so many people would buy books from Amazon to read on a device that a) doesn't support KindleBooks natively and b) has its own integrated store with which to buy books that don't need to be diddled and converted first.

Perhaps if there were more books on Amazon that were not in KDP Select so the only place to purchase them is Amazon, that might be more surprising to people. As it is, the choices are either to purchase from Amazon or to locate a pirate copy and, to me, the second choice is not a choice I will make.

As for diddling? Other than library loans, very few books arrive on my Kobo ereaders without a trip through various utilities and a final touchup in Sigil so not a biggie to me. Converting AZW3/KF8 to epub is also not a big deal thanks to DiapDealer and KindleUnpack. Did I remember to say thanks for your work on calibre plugins and Sigil?

I'm rather fussy about how I like my ebooks laid out and after a few years of practice, most epubs takes less than 10 minutes to fix up.

[jhlovestoread]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Perhaps if there were more books on Amazon that were not in KDP Select so the only place to purchase them is Amazon, that might be more surprising to people. As it is, the choices are either to purchase from Amazon or to locate a pirate copy and, to me, the second choice is not a choice I will make.

As for diddling? Other than library loans, very few books arrive on my Kobo ereaders without a trip through various utilities and a final touchup in Sigil so not a biggie to me. Converting AZW3/KF8 to epub is also not a big deal thanks to DiapDealer and KindleUnpack. Did I remember to say thanks for your work on calibre plugins and Sigil?

I'm rather fussy about how I like my ebooks laid out and after a few years of practice, most epubs takes less than 10 minutes to fix up.

This is very interesting. What is it about an ebook and the way it's been formatted that you do not like that you need to reformat all ebooks before reading them? I'm genuinely curious since I mostly just read via the Kindle app and I get what I get.

[langshipley]

Originally Posted by JoeC

ConvertLit takes me back... Microsoft, RocketBook, and Fictionwise all inspired me to only buy from providers that have a means to remove DRM just in case they disappear.

Gosh, Fictionwise. That was a long time ago...

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by jhlovestoread

This is very interesting. What is it about an ebook and the way it's been formatted that you do not like that you need to reformat all ebooks before reading them? I'm genuinely curious since I mostly just read via the Kindle app and I get what I get.

Personally, I like to remove anchors from the eBook ToC to fix gaps in the Kobo's chapter-length graph.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by jhlovestoread

This is very interesting. What is it about an ebook and the way it's been formatted that you do not like that you need to reformat all ebooks before reading them? I'm genuinely curious since I mostly just read via the Kindle app and I get what I get.

Not whom you're asking but... I like to add jackets to all the books, paragraph indented in the same way aside of the first one in the chapter and the first one after a break in a chapter, that I like defined in the same way. I remove every marketing section, copyright.... everything that is not the book.... I would be too much in a hurry for reading a book to read it without editing. To each their own, I guess.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by langshipley

Gosh, Fictionwise. That was a long time ago...

Yes.... and AllRomance... and Samhain...

[rantanplan]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But what will you do when an Amazon exclusive author releases a new book in a series you've given a good amount of reading to? When you can no longer download it in a way you can remove any DRM and convert?

In this case you can see what your own convictions are worth

[rantanplan]

Originally Posted by haertig

I've abandoned a couple of shows as well. I don't want to have to subscribe to Peacock. And to Paramount+. And to Disney+. And to Netflix. And to HBO Max. And to Hulu. It's getting quite ridiculous. If books start heading down this stupid path and I have to subscribe to Amazon, and to Barnes & Noble, and to Kobo ... I will abandon books too.

"Exclusive content" is not the Golden Goose they think it is. More like an Albatross around their necks.

Why do you feel bound to specific streaming sites? There are enough tracking sites that allow you to see what services which show is on so you can subscribe to just one service at a time. That's what I usually do. Strange New Worlds on Paramount+? Wait until it's finished and subscribe for a month. Want to watch His Dark Materials and TLoU? Wait until the season is finished and subscribe to a month of WOW. Want to watch another season of Shadow and Bones? Subscribe for a month to Netflix.

Want to read a series on KU? Wait for another 2 months of free KU and subscribe for that time.

It's not that hard.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by jhlovestoread

This is very interesting. What is it about an ebook and the way it's been formatted that you do not like that you need to reformat all ebooks before reading them? I'm genuinely curious since I mostly just read via the Kindle app and I get what I get.

What I don't like is the following...

• L/R margins
• paragraph spaces
• Line height
• different font sizes
• small font sizes
• most embedded fonts
• large wasted space for chapter headings
• section breaks too small with just blank space
• full screen images not fill screen (90% or so)
• generic covers
• en/em dashes with space around them
• ellipses with space around then
• left justify in CSS for the entire book
• widows & orphans
• HTML ToC and links to it

There could be other things but that's the bulk of it. And yes if you fix up eBooks often enough, you get good at it and it doesn't take all that long.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by jhlovestoread

This is very interesting. What is it about an ebook and the way it's been formatted that you do not like that you need to reformat all ebooks before reading them? I'm genuinely curious since I mostly just read via the Kindle app and I get what I get.

I don't like the handling of the app and the defaults in the devices - that's why I don't use it.
Regardless of that, I read left aligned, with Arial, line spacing 110%, no paragraph indentation, but paragraph spacing.
Also, I only read in two columns in landscape format.

[grizedale]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I'm rather fussy about how I like my ebooks laid out and after a few years of practice, most epubs takes less than 10 minutes to fix up.

Same here, reduce margins for Oasis (-60), no indent first paragraph, 1 em for all other paragraphs.

[John F]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I don't really follow series.

But to give you a better answer, I'd really like to see the Mr. Mercedes TV series. But I don't want to see it bad enough to subscribe to Peacock. You can't have everything you want.

If you don't mind DVDs, check your libraries.