Please Help Me Get a Fictionwise Book onto My Sony 505

[disney_mommy]

Okay, I'm so frustrated I'm about to throw my Sony 505 out the window! Okay, not really, but I'm mad!

I have a new-ish Sony 505 (in Navy Blue, which I understand has made me more intelligent) and so far have only gotten books from Sony Connect. The free LOTR books lured me to Fictionwise, though, and I need some help getting the book from Fictionwise to my Reader.

I bought it in the Mobi format. I get it to calibre okay (which is a miracle in itself!) and do the format conversion thing. When I click to send it to my Sony, it only downloads the front page which just says something about how this book was purchased by me and cannot be dowloaded because something about the format is wrong, blah blah blah. (I can type out the whole message if someone thinks that might help them diagnose my problem.)

I tried downloading it in different formats from Fictionwise to my computer to see if that would help (at last count, I think I had 5 versions), but it's always the same outcome.

If someone needs more info, just ask and I'll do what I can to get it. But I would really appreciate someone trying to help me out here. TIA

[JSWolf]

What you need to do is strip the DRM from the Mobipocket eBooks and then Calibre can convert to LRF or ePub for your 505.

Have a look here....

http://darkreverser.wordpress.com/

[disney_mommy]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What you need to do is strip the DRM from the Mobipocket eBooks and then Calibre can convert to LRF or ePub for your 505.

Have a look here....

http://darkreverser.wordpress.com/

Thank you, JSWolf for your quick response!

I can't access that site from work, it's blocked (stupid web filters!). Until I can get home and look at it, do you mind me asking a few questions? (And will you be around this evening so I can get help then?! )

Do I download this new program to strip the DRM? How exactly do I go about stripping the DRM (do I upload the book from my computer?) Did I buy the correct format from Fictionwise? When I download from Fictionwise, what format should it be in? Am I correct when I download it to my computer, then use calibre to search for it and upload it?

Okay, that was more than a few questions... I truly am what you would call Type A - I like to have a list with steps showing me exactly what to do, in order, in plain terms!

[Xenophon]

Originally Posted by disney_mommy

Thank you, JSWolf for your quick response!

I can't access that site from work, it's blocked (stupid web filters!). Until I can get home and look at it, do you mind me asking a few questions? (And will you be around this evening so I can get help then?! )

Do I download this new program to strip the DRM? How exactly do I go about stripping the DRM (do I upload the book from my computer?) Did I buy the correct format from Fictionwise? When I download from Fictionwise, what format should it be in? Am I correct when I download it to my computer, then use calibre to search for it and upload it?

Okay, that was more than a few questions... I truly am what you would call Type A - I like to have a list with steps showing me exactly what to do, in order, in plain terms!

The problem is that if any US person answers your questions too directly, they have committed a felony under the DMCA. For DRM-polluted formats, mobi is OK, but the order of preference would be ePub, Lit, mobi, ereader. It is possible to strip DRM from all of them, but for legal reasons we can't tell you how. I will say, however, that google is your friend.

Speaking very generically, what you are going to do is download the book from fictionwise, process it through some piece of software that removes the DRM, then use Calibre on the DRM-free result. This process may or may not be legal in the US when done for personal use on legitimately acquired content -- legal scholars disagree and no court has yet ruled. Note, however, that providing the DRM-free bits to another person outside your household is probably a violation of both copyright law and the DMCA.

My personal stand is that stripping DRM from a book you have acquired legitimately is a perfectly reasonable and morally unobjectionable choice -- as long as you do not then share it beyond your immediate household. Certainly it's a choice that causes no harm to the copyright-holder -- not even a single lost sale!

Xenophon

[disney_mommy]

Thank you, Xenophon, for your answer. I wasn't even thinking about the legality of the process. I was just thinking that I bought this book and now I want to be able to read it! Silly me.

Also, thank you for the quick rundown of the order of things - that's basically what I was looking for. First do this, then that, etc.

So, once it's in calibre, all stripped naked and bare, then I need to convert it from mobi to LRF, is that right?

And never fear, all of you law-abiding citizens (of which I count myself, of course!), nobody else will even see the book, so I won't be costing the publishers one red cent.

Thanks again for everyone's willingness to help, I appreciate it.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by disney_mommy

So, once it's in calibre, all stripped naked and bare, then I need to convert it from mobi to LRF, is that right?

Convert it to LRF or to ePub. You can try both, that freedom is what DRM-free ebooks gives you.

[disney_mommy]

Isn't LRF what works best on the Sony? Did I read that somewhere?

[disney_mommy]

Okay, I'm still stuck - I can't even download the book from Fictionwise. I've tried all of the formats and all it downloads is this message:

This zip file was downloaded from Fictionwise.com and contains eBooks purchased by ******* *******.

CONTENTS

ebooks_2009-04-23_2208.csv - This file contains information about each eBook downloaded. It can be viewed by most spreadsheet programs or word processors.

ERRORS
The following eBooks could not be downloaded because they are not available in the format that you have selected for bulk download. Please download them individually in one of their available formats.
The Fellowship of the Ring [Lord of the Ring Series Book 1] by J.R.R. Tolkien

Can someone please tell me what I'm doing wrong?

[JSWolf]

Try downloading each eBook one at a time.

[wallcraft]

The FictionWise MOBI help page is setup for PDA's. In your case I assume you intend to initially read on a Windows PC. Make sure you have Windows Desktop MobiPocket Reader (MR). If not, I suggest downloading the Beta version. Open MR, select Reading Devices (left pane), then click on the button next to the PC picture. This will bring up the 10 character PID, which you will need to enter on FictionWise. Now in your web browser go to FictionWise and click on BookShelf -> Update My Profile -> Secure Mobipocket Personal ID. Enter the 10 character PID from MR (use your mouse to cut and paste). Go back to your bookshelf and make sure Secure Mobipocket is selected. The PID should be included above the download button for each of your Secure MOBI ebooks. Click to download the file. The make sure it opens ok in MR. Then you are ready to strip the DRM with mobidedrm.

[disney_mommy]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

The FictionWise MOBI help page is setup for PDA's. In your case I assume you intend to initially read on a Windows PC. Make sure you have Windows Desktop MobiPocket Reader (MR). If not, I suggest downloading the Beta version. Open MR, select Reading Devices (left pane), then click on the button next to the PC picture. This will bring up the 10 character PID, which you will need to enter on FictionWise. Now in your web browser go to FictionWise and click on BookShelf -> Update My Profile -> Secure Mobipocket Personal ID. Enter the 10 character PID from MR (use your mouse to cut and paste). Go back to your bookshelf and make sure Secure Mobipocket is selected. The PID should be included above the download button for each of your Secure MOBI ebooks. Click to download the file. The make sure it opens ok in MR. Then you are ready to strip the DRM with mobidedrm.

Perfect, wallcraft! That worked perfectly. Thank you so much for laying it out one step at a time. I'm very new at this and all of the tech talk is a little over my head.

Of course now I can't get to the next step and I know it's taboo to discuss, so I'm going to use my Micropay credit to get a $14.99 worth of books that will actually work on my Sony and forget about the Tolkien.

Thank you to all who tried to get this technophobe into the 21st century.