Amazon to allow downloads of DRM free books - Page 18

hyegeek · 01-28-2026, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhowell

I am starting to doubt that they will make this information available prior to purchase. Even if they do I doubt that it will distinguish between EPUB or PDF being the available format.

You're probably right. With Amazon, it seems being customer friendly is a 1 step forward two steps back sort of thing.

At this point, I'm less likely to buy from them given the lack of information.

jhowell · 01-28-2026, 05:26 PM

One of the book purchases in my library, Some of the Best from Tor.com: 2020 Edition, showed as both having a download and also having an update available.

I had purchased that book on January 5, 2021 and downloaded a copy in Kindle format at that time. As a test I downloaded the EPUB available for this DRM-free book and then chose to accept the available update. After that I downloaded the EPUB again along with a copy of the updated book in Kindle format.

I found that the updated version of the book now includes a short story, The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex by Tamsyn Muir, which was missing from the early 2021 version of the book. A surprising thing to me was that the EPUB I downloaded was identical both before and after accepting the update and matched the newer version of the book. So for books that have been updated by the publisher, the version you have on Kindle may not match the one available via download.

This is more significant than it appears at first. When you purchase a Kindle book from Amazon you are usually locked into whatever version of the book was current that the time of purchase. If the publisher later updates the book that update is not normally made available to previous customers unless the update makes a significant change or fixes a serious problem. The bulk of publisher updates, which are simple corrections to typos and minor formatting errors, do not get passed along. However it appear that they will be reflected in EPUB downloads.

gbm · 01-29-2026, 08:36 AM

Baen in working on this no eta.

bernie

lkmiller · 01-29-2026, 09:45 AM

Apropos of probably nothing: I purchased Some of the Best from Tor.com: 2020 Edition from Kobo on 8 Jan 2021. I cannot find a copy downloaded at that time. But now checking both the epub download and the kepub from Kobo Desktop shows the Tamsyn Muir story. Presumably I have Tor to thank for that since Kobo normally doesn't provide updates. Maybe Kobo never had the truncated version. Although I just downloaded a copy directly from the (Reac)tor.com site and it was still missing the story.

j.p.s · 01-29-2026, 11:15 AM

^ What is the file size of the EPUB from Tor?

fordan · 01-29-2026, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhowell

This is more significant than it appears at first. When you purchase a Kindle book from Amazon you are usually locked into whatever version of the book was current that the time of purchase. If the publisher later updates the book that update is not normally made available to previous customers unless the update makes a significant change or fixes a serious problem. The bulk of publisher updates, which are simple corrections to typos and minor formatting errors, do not get passed along. However it appear that they will be reflected in EPUB downloads.

Amazon has always allowed publishers to update ebooks. When I look through my content, there are books showing "Update available" that aren't available in different formats, and some that show it and do have different formats available.

Also I apparently need to go through my content and apply all the updates. Give us more filtering options, Amazon!

JSWolf · 01-29-2026, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.p.s

^ What is the file size of the EPUB from Tor?

This is the 2020 Tor eBook I got from Kobo since it's free.

44,305,052 macmillan_drmfree-epub-a6b9d2c3-a09e-4100-b102-74da3b7d3b72.epub

This is the version in ePub I got from Amazon US.

103,061,250 ebook-content.KID_0006015983122_e8267a00_CR!2GN7SQ96BX00 KEZJGNV3HV5PW6VW.epub

j.p.s · 01-29-2026, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

This is the 2020 Tor eBook I got from Kobo since it's free.
44,305,052 macmillan_drmfree-epub-a6b9d2c3-a09e-4100-b102-74da3b7d3b72.epub

Thanks! (I still would like to know the size from Tor directly.)

Can you list the file size and dimensions for the TOR.COM logo and the first story cover and title page images in the Kobo supplie EPUB? (How Quini the Squid...) For the amazon supplied EPUB, I have:

Code:

image-0-1.jpg 249x51    883,002 (249*51*3 = 38,097  !!!)
image-0-3.jpg 1626x2442 3,055,429
image-0-4.jpg 1620x2431 1,303,953

The TOR logo JPEG is somehow also TIFF:

Code:

file image-0-3.jpg  
image-0-3.jpg: JPEG image data, Exif standard: [TIFF image data, big-endian, direntries=12, height=2476, bps=0, PhotometricIntepretation=RGB, orientation=upper-left, width=1650], baseline, precision 8, 1626x2442, components

and a recompressed logo with default settings is only 2902 bytes

Code:

djpeg image-0-1.jpg | cjpeg > ~/Downloads/image-0-1.jpg
ls -l ~/Downloads/image-0-1.jpg
-rw-rw-r-- 1 2902 /home/???/Downloads/image-0-1.jpg

FWIW the file name and size I got from amazon match yours exactly, so no personal information in the name.

JSWolf · 01-29-2026, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Thanks! (I still would like to know the size from Tor directly.)

Can you list the file size and dimensions for the TOR.COM logo and the first story cover and title page images in the Kobo supplie EPUB? (How Quini the Squid...) For the amazon supplied EPUB, I have:

Code:

image-0-1.jpg 249x51    883,002 (249*51*3 = 38,097  !!!)
image-0-3.jpg 1626x2442 3,055,429
image-0-4.jpg 1620x2431 1,303,953

The TOR logo JPEG is somehow also TIFF:

Code:

file image-0-3.jpg  
image-0-3.jpg: JPEG image data, Exif standard: [TIFF image data, big-endian, direntries=12, height=2476, bps=0, PhotometricIntepretation=RGB, orientation=upper-left, width=1650], baseline, precision 8, 1626x2442, components

and a recompressed logo with default settings is only 2902 bytes

Code:

djpeg image-0-1.jpg | cjpeg > ~/Downloads/image-0-1.jpg
ls -l ~/Downloads/image-0-1.jpg
-rw-rw-r-- 1 2902 /home/???/Downloads/image-0-1.jpg

FWIW the file name and size I got from amazon match yours exactly, so no personal information in the name.

L1.jpg (Tor logo) is 883,002. Resolution is 249x51.
b2-cvi.jpg (first story cover) is 894,016. The resolution is 1626x2442.
b2-tp.jpg (title page to first story) is 1,303,953. The resolution is 1620x2413.

Also, Kobo is lying to the customers. They say this is File type: DRM-FREE EPUB. But it's not. It's KePub.

j.p.s · 01-29-2026, 07:18 PM

Does anyone know whether any of Brandon Sanderson's books are available from amazon as EPUB?

JSWolf · 01-29-2026, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Does anyone know whether any of Brandon Sanderson's books are available from amazon as EPUB?

They should be because they are from Tor and DRM-Free.

j.p.s · 01-29-2026, 07:56 PM

Sure, but each book has to be individually enabled. I've never bought one, so I can't check.

Also, didn't he self publish a few? There was a thread by one of his assistants a few yeats ago.

shamanNS · 01-29-2026, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Does anyone know whether any of Brandon Sanderson's books are available from amazon as EPUB?

The Way of Kings, with ASIN "B003P2WO5E" has that "download epub/pdf" option on Amazon. Chrome for Android downloads it with zip extension instead of with epub extension.

DNSB · 01-29-2026, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Also, Kobo is lying to the customers. They say this is File type: DRM-FREE EPUB. But it's not. It's KePub.

Jon, just in case you are forgetting, a Kobo kepub is an ePub. They pass epubcheck. They will display on any ePub renderer without issue that I've seen since that mass of extra spans are, visually speaking, null operations. You may consider anything that is not coded to your idiosyncratic formatting choices as not being valid ePub but a kepub is standards compliant and is an ePub.

jhowell · 01-29-2026, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Does anyone know whether any of Brandon Sanderson's books are available from amazon as EPUB?

I have 28 Sanderson book purchases and of those 18 have downloads available. Most that don’t are comics and collaborations with other authors.

(I have yet to see any comic that allows downloads.)

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01-28-2026, 05:26 PM	#257
jhowell Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,267 Karma: 95018123 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Charlottesville, VA Device: Kindles	One of the book purchases in my library, Some of the Best from Tor.com: 2020 Edition, showed as both having a download and also having an update available. I had purchased that book on January 5, 2021 and downloaded a copy in Kindle format at that time. As a test I downloaded the EPUB available for this DRM-free book and then chose to accept the available update. After that I downloaded the EPUB again along with a copy of the updated book in Kindle format. I found that the updated version of the book now includes a short story, The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex by Tamsyn Muir, which was missing from the early 2021 version of the book. A surprising thing to me was that the EPUB I downloaded was identical both before and after accepting the update and matched the newer version of the book. So for books that have been updated by the publisher, the version you have on Kindle may not match the one available via download. This is more significant than it appears at first. When you purchase a Kindle book from Amazon you are usually locked into whatever version of the book was current that the time of purchase. If the publisher later updates the book that update is not normally made available to previous customers unless the update makes a significant change or fixes a serious problem. The bulk of publisher updates, which are simple corrections to typos and minor formatting errors, do not get passed along. However it appear that they will be reflected in EPUB downloads.

01-29-2026, 08:36 AM	#258
gbm Wizard Posts: 2,246 Karma: 8888888 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Kobo Clara HD,Hisence Sero 7 Pro RIP, Nook STR, jetbook lite	Baen in working on this no eta. bernie

01-29-2026, 09:45 AM	#259
lkmiller Laura Posts: 1,632 Karma: 24000000 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: Kobo Sage, Kobo Elipsa, Nook Glowlight 4 Plus, Kindle Oasis 2	Apropos of probably nothing: I purchased Some of the Best from Tor.com: 2020 Edition from Kobo on 8 Jan 2021. I cannot find a copy downloaded at that time. But now checking both the epub download and the kepub from Kobo Desktop shows the Tamsyn Muir story. Presumably I have Tor to thank for that since Kobo normally doesn't provide updates. Maybe Kobo never had the truncated version. Although I just downloaded a copy directly from the (Reac)tor.com site and it was still missing the story.

01-29-2026, 11:15 AM	#260
j.p.s Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,961 Karma: 106589921 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: pb360	^ What is the file size of the EPUB from Tor?

01-29-2026, 07:18 PM	#265
j.p.s Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,961 Karma: 106589921 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: pb360	Does anyone know whether any of Brandon Sanderson's books are available from amazon as EPUB?

01-29-2026, 07:56 PM	#267
j.p.s Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,961 Karma: 106589921 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: pb360	Sure, but each book has to be individually enabled. I've never bought one, so I can't check. Also, didn't he self publish a few? There was a thread by one of his assistants a few yeats ago.

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