Titles Not Available on Epub, but on Kindle

[SameOldStory]

Originally Posted by Clancy_s

ATD is right about how to tell if it's without DRM.

It might also interest you to know that the drm on most Amazon books (the .azw ones) is very easy to remove, although doing so is illegal in some countries, for which reason I can't link to instructions here (google is your friend). They say it can also be done for .tpz files but that it's harder - I've never had to try.

Unfortunately with the Amazon drm stuff there's no easy way of telling if it's .azw or .tpz until you've downloaded it.

Buying non-DRM books from Amazon is fine with me. But I would rather not encourage them by buying DRM books, no matter how easy it would be to strip the DRM.

[nashira]

Originally Posted by SameOldStory

Buying non-DRM books from Amazon is fine with me. But I would rather not encourage them by buying DRM books, no matter how easy it would be to strip the DRM.

I second this. While it is good that DRM is breakable, I still can't really stomach supporting it because they will think it's working - even if people buy books in DRM they can break and do. And DRM will only get tighter the way they're going, which isn't good for us even if it helps publishers sleep better at night.

Personally, I'd rather reward and support those who do offer DRM free books.

[m-reader]

Originally Posted by nashira

I second this. While it is good that DRM is breakable, I still can't really stomach supporting it because they will think it's working - even if people buy books in DRM they can break and do. And DRM will only get tighter the way they're going, which isn't good for us even if it helps publishers sleep better at night.

Personally, I'd rather reward and support those who do offer DRM free books.

I wholeheartedly agree and support buying non-DRM books.
However, at the end of the day if I want to read a book and the only one available is DRM, then to hell with it. I strip the DRM, convert to EPUB and read it my own way.
So long as I pay for it and do not re-distribute the book, I couldn't care less.

[nashira]

Originally Posted by m-reader

I wholeheartedly agree and support buying non-DRM books.
However, at the end of the day if I want to read a book and the only one available is DRM, then to hell with it. I strip the DRM, convert to EPUB and read it my own way.
So long as I pay for it and do not re-distribute the book, I couldn't care less.

I download amazon samples to my ipod when I'm bored so I can read a chapter of books that look interesting, even the drm ones... and then if I like it I put it on my tbr list. Try the libraries or whatever if I really want to read it Right. Now. And I might buy a book every now and then with drm if I really want to read it but personally I see it as rewarding bad behavior.

Deeply considering sending emails to authors of books I like the look of to tell them why I won't buy their infested books when I would have and I'll probably end up just not reading them. Might not help... but can't hurt.

...though some writers genuinely so seem to consider even buying fans/readers potential criminals if not outright criminals. Why do these people bother publishing at all if their work/idea/personal interpretation of it is such a special snowflake their fans are ruining it by reading it on the wrong format/getting the wrong impression/whatever?

[m-reader]

Originally Posted by nashira

I download amazon samples to my ipod when I'm bored so I can read a chapter of books that look interesting, even the drm ones... and then if I like it I put it on my tbr list. Try the libraries or whatever if I really want to read it Right. Now. And I might buy a book every now and then with drm if I really want to read it but personally I see it as rewarding bad behavior.

Deeply considering sending emails to authors of books I like the look of to tell them why I won't buy their infested books when I would have and I'll probably end up just not reading them. Might not help... but can't hurt.

...though some writers genuinely so seem to consider even buying fans/readers potential criminals if not outright criminals. Why do these people bother publishing at all if their work/idea/personal interpretation of it is such a special snowflake their fans are ruining it by reading it on the wrong format/getting the wrong impression/whatever?

I think both your and mine approach serve the same purpose in the end (provided people do not rip DRM with the purpose of sharing the e-book on darknet of course).
You ignore DRM-ed book by not buying them, and I ignore them by stripping the protection.
Either way they should be getting the message loud and clear that customers do not like DRM.

[TamElsil]

I've got the reverse problem. I have a Kindle and there are a number of books in epub that I would love to get.

What really irritates me is that for one series in particular the second and third books of a trilogy are available for kindle but not book 1.

What kind of nonsense is this?

[Clancy_s]

Originally Posted by TamElsil

I've got the reverse problem. I have a Kindle and there are a number of books in epub that I would love to get.

What really irritates me is that for one series in particular the second and third books of a trilogy are available for kindle but not book 1.

What kind of nonsense is this?

Calibre goes both ways: buy the epub, convert it to mobi, side load it to your kindle.

If it's drm again you'd have to strip it first.

I mostly agree with the boycott drm approach - I'd only consider it for a new book in a series I really like and of which I own the others in pbook.

To date I've bought one each drm epub, pdf and kindle, had not trouble getting all of them free and into Calibre under linux.

(for comparison I've also bought about 60 non drm epub, in the 6 months I've owned my reader and downloaded about 60 free books from various sources)

[J. Strnad]

Originally Posted by m-reader

I think both your and mine approach serve the same purpose in the end (provided people do not rip DRM with the purpose of sharing the e-book on darknet of course).
You ignore DRM-ed book by not buying them, and I ignore them by stripping the protection.
Either way they should be getting the message loud and clear that customers do not like DRM.

Nope, that doesn't work. If you still buy the book with DRM, the publisher still gets your money. They don't care if there's a scowl on your face when you do it. They're still getting your money. They don't care that you disapprove and maybe even send an angry letter. They're still getting your money.

The people who sell products that people gripe about but buy anyway...they're laughing at you. Really. They will lean back in their Herman Miller chairs, lace their hands behind their heads and tell you to your face: "If you don't like it, don't buy it!"

And that's what you need to do.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

They don't care that you disapprove and maybe even send an angry letter. They're still getting your money.

"If you don't like it, don't buy it!"

And that's what you need to do.

You need to not buy it and still send an angry letter so they know why.

The question I have is ... If sales of ebooks decline, will the publishers remove the DRM or stop offering ebooks?

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Fbone

The question I have is ... If sales of ebooks decline, will the publishers remove the DRM or stop offering ebooks?

Until ebooks are much more popular I don't see anything that will motivate them to drop DRM. DRM for digital music didn't really start getting dropped until it had become pretty popular and I don't know why books would be any different.

Of course we could hope a big publisher would see it doesn't work and drop it and the others would follow suit, but...

[Genaro Zamora]

all I can think is that it depends on the publisher, if they have a distribution deal with Barnes and Noble nook. Or it could be in the process of making the nook, but hasn't gotten delivered yet.